The Sun. — London, England, 1860-04-04 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT• HOUSE OF LORDS-(YESTERDAY.) Their lordships assembled at three o'clock. ROYAL COMMISSION. The Royal Assent was given by commission to the fol lowing bills : Stamp Duties Bill. Income Tax Bill. _... Droylesden Gas Bill. Leicester Gas Bill. Banbridge, Lisburn, and Belfast, and Ulster Railway Companies Bill. Belper Water Bill. Wem and Bronygarth Roads Bill. Inverness and Aberdeen Junction Railway Bill. The Royal Commissioners were the Duke of Argyll, Marl St. Germans, and Lord Sydney. The following bills received the Royal assent on Satur day last : Consolidated Fund (£350,000) Bill. The Mutiny Bill. Marine Mutiny Bill. Endowed Schools Bill. Benefit Societies Rules Amendment Bill. Silverdale and Newcastle Railway Bill. Their lordships adjourned during pleasure. Lord CRANWORTH, in the absence of Lord Redesdale, took his seat on the woolsack at five o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The Hendon Corporation and Borough Improvements, the Marple New Mills and Hayfield Junction Rail way, Stockport and Woodley Junction Railway, Glossop and Marple Bridge Railway, Brecon and Merthyr Tydvil Junction Railway, and Mirfield Gas Bills were read a second time. The Monklands Railway and Montrose and Bervie Rail way bills were read a third time and passed. CHURCH RATES. Lord TAUNTON presented petitions from places in Somersetshire, praying for the abolition of Church-rates. Lord LYVEDEN presented a petition from Northamp ton, with a similar prayer. LEGAL REFORMS IN INDIA. The Marquis of CLANRICARDE said he had given notice for returns from Mr. E. H. Lushington to the Com missioner of the Mudda district, dated 23d of October, 1859, and relating to the treatment of natives by European planters in India, and also that he intended to present a petition from certain natives of India, praying for legal reforms and their admission into higher offices of Govern ment than are now open to them ; but owing to the absence of the Earl of Ellenborough and several noble lords who took an interest in the subject, and the very small number of peers present he should postpone his mo tion until after Easter. Lord STANLEY of ALDERLEY said he should also postpone the presentation of a petition he had in his posses sion on the same subject. Their lordships then adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—(YESTERDAY.) The SPEAKER took the chair at three o'clock. • PRIVATE BUSINESS. The Tenbury and Bewdley Railway Bill was read a third time and passed. The Andover and Redbridge Railway Bill was committed, and ordered for third reading. ROYAL COMMISSION. Mr. CLIFFORD, the Yeoman Usher of the Black Rod, summoned the Speaker and hon. members to the Upper House to hear the Royal assent given by commission to diferent bills, for which see Lords' report. IMPRESSED STAMPS ON NEWSPAPERS. Mr. LAING, iu reply to hen. members, said that it was not the intention of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to discontinue the impressed stamps on newspapers, and with regard to any further information relative to this matter it would be more desirable to postpone it until the bill of his right hon. friend the Chancellor of the Exche quer was introduced. COUNCIL OF THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA. Lord STANLEY asked the Secretary of State for India whether it was his intention to bring in a bill in the course of the present session for the reconstruction of the Council of the Governor-General of India, and whether he intended to bring in a bill for the amendment of the laws relating to the civil service in India? Sir C. WOOD said the subjects alluded to had been under the consideration of her Maje3ty's Government, and it was his intention to bring in a bill relative to them after Easter. In the state of public business it was not in his power to do so at an earlier period of the session. THE ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOUSE.-RE FORM BILL STATISTICS. Lord PALMERSTON roved that the house at its rising should adjourn till Monday, the 16th inst., a motion to which he imagined there would be no opposition. (Hear, hear, and a laugh.) Sir J. PAKINGTON had no intention of dividing the house upon the motion of the noble lord ; but he wished to ask the President of the Poor Law Board in what manner the numbers of houses at various amounts of " gross esti mated rental," in the cities and boroughs of England, as given in the return upon the table of the house, were ascer tained. In the course of the debate upon the second reading of the Reform Bill he stated his belief that this return was delusive, and that the numbers shown in it were not the number of houses actually let and rented at the amount stated in the towns mentioned, but were founded upon a statement of the number of houses which had in those dif ferent places been estimated by local valuers at the different amounts for purposes of rating. The difference was very material, because it was notorious that in all places the valuation upon which premises were rated was less than the amount for which they would actually let. In support of his opinion he mentioned that in two places—Pontefract and Newark—the number of £lO voters upon the register was greater than the number of £lO houses included in this re turn. He was followed in the debate by the right hon. baronet the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, who informed him that he was mistaken, and attributed the discrepancy which he had pointed out to the circumstance that the scot and lot voters had been omitted from this return. This might be so with regard to Pontefract and Newark, but the fact was that there were no less than 44 boroughs in this return in regard to which the same anomaly existed, and in many of which there were no scot and lot voters. In Droitwich, for instance, there were only a few freemen, and no scot and lot voters. The number of £lO voters on the register for that borough was 392, but this return showed only 327 £lO houses. He believed that he had suggested the real cause of this discrepancy; and it must be evident to any one That if such was the case the real addition to the constitu encies under the Reform Bill would be much larger than that shown by this return. It had also been suggested to him that in the case of persons compounding for the pay ment of the rates of a large number of houses the number of compounders, and not the number of tenements com pounded for, had been inserted in this return. He should be glad if the right hon. gentleman the President of the Poor Law Board could inform the house upon both these points. _ Mr. C. P. VILLIERS believed that he was in a position to allay the alarm of the right hon. baronet, and to assure him that this return was the most complete and accurate one that had ever been laid before Parliament upon a sub ject such as that to which it referred. The discrepancy be tween the number of £lO voters upon the register and that of £lO houses was one which was very likely to exist. In many places the register had not been properly revised for many years, and there would therefore remain upon it the names of persons who were dead or disqualified. There would ci ould also be u p on i t t h e names of others whose ualifica ion was Mad e up partly of a house and partly of land ; and there would be in addition in some places the scot and lot voters. These three causes would, be believed, fullyac count for the dis crepancy i n the case of all the 44 boroughs to which the right hon. b aronet had referred. The right e hon. baronet supposed that th e re t urns represented merely the property and not the person s th a t would be en titled to vote. It was not so. A speci a l circular was sent to the clerk of every union, directing him to make careful inquiries as to the persons who would be entitled to vote under a particular qualification, and the returns were framed upon that principle. Under the Reform Act the overseer was the person directed to make out the electoral list. He took it from that column in his book which showed the gross estimated rental, and not from that which ex hibited the rateable value only. The returns, therefore, were made from the very lists which were now submitted to the /revising barristers, and upon which the House of Commons was returned, but they were also drawn up, as he had stated, with special reference to the persons who would be entitled to vote. Great pains had been taken to get return of all occupiers whose rates had been compounded for by their landlords, and only in a few boroughs, including some of the metropolitan boroughs, had it been found im possible to obtain a list. But additional returns were in course of being prepared, and he had no doubt that when the house resumed consideration of the Reform Bill it would have in its possession full and accurate information upon all points connected with the scope and effect of that measure. Sir J. PAKINGTON said the right hon. gentleman had not given a distinct answer to his question. What he wanted to know was, whether the returns represented the tenements actually let at certain amounts, or the tenements which appeared on the rate-books estimated according to their rateable value. Mr. VILLIERS thought he had already answered that question. He had stated that the returns represented not only the property entered on the books of the overseers, but the persons who would be entitled to vote. Mr. E. JAMES believed he was correct in saying that the noble lord the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, when he stated that his bill would not add more than 210,000 or 217,000 new electors to the existing constituences, underestimated the probable increase by 200,000 or even 250,000. (Hear, hear.) In Norwich alone there were no fewer than 12,162 tenements rated to the owners instead of the occupiers, who, consequently, were not included in the returns. He believed that in his own borough 5,000 or 6,000 persons whose names did not appear on the rate-books would be entitled to vote under a £6 franchise. In Finsbury the number would be 8, 00•') or 10,000. One landlord might own a whole street; each house might be subdivided into three or four dwellings, and, if the landlord did not live in it, the occupier of each ten etient would be entitled to a vote. Every one of the 12,162 rev ements in Norwich might pro duce two votes, and the Cour t of Common Pleas had decided that if a landlord paid the rate, s, the tenant was entitled to vote. He was convinced that ;when the returns were nar rowly examined, it would be Round that a £6 franchise would extend the right of voting .to between 200,000 and 300,000 persons in addition to the number stated by the noble lord the Seemtau for Foreign _Affairs. (Hear.) Sir G. GREY tho night the estimate of the hon. and learned gentlema n Was gre qtly exaggerated. Ult proceeded on the assumption that every man who was included in a compos'i tion. would be entitled to vote under the Reform Bill. But that measure would enfranchise only those tenants who-oc cupied houses of a certain value, and who should not 'only become liable to the payment of rates but should actual - ly pay them. He reminded the right hon. member for Dro it wich that a return, dated the 10th of March, had been pro duced since the return to which the right . hon. member had adverted was laid on the table. From this return it ap peared that no less than 50 boroughs had scot and lot voters, some very few, but a great proportion very many, and ha was inclined to think that the majority of the 44 boroughs. to which the right hon. baronet had referred were borough s containing scot and lot voters. Mr. BENTINCK thought it impossible to overrate the importance of this matter—(hear)---and he did not think that any satisfactory information had been given to the House by the Government. He had submitted the return on the table to a good authority, who stated that, as the franchise was to be fixed on a £6 rental, the return stopped short at a point where it was most desirable it should be continued on ; and the question was raised whether the £6 rental franchise would not give the right of voting to a large number who were not rated at £6, and perhaps not at £5 ; so that it would be desirable to know how many were rated between £4 and £6, and how many who inhabited tenements of £6 rental were entitled to vote under the new Reform Bill. As far as he was able to understand the re turns presented to the house, he believed that the noble lord the member for London was wrong in his calculation about 100 per cent. (Hear.) It was indispensable that the house, before coming to a decision on the Reform Bill, should have in its possession reliable returns, so that the house might know what it was doing, and not legislate in the dark. (Hear.) Sir G. LEWIS observed that it was perfectly certain that the hon. gentleman's authority either did not understand the subject of rating, or had not examined the return, inas much as his criticism was inapplicable to it. The Govern ment did not mean to take credit for doing what was their manifest duty, but the return now on the table was an at tempt to lay before the house a complete statistical account of the basis on which it was proposed to found the new ex tended franchise. The instructions for making this return were very precise and detailed, and certainly the efforts made by the Government to obtain accurate information were unquestionably honest and sincere. The house would hardly suppose that the Government had had any sinister ob ject in seeking for this information. (Hear.) The only in formation which it was possible for the Government to ob tain was an accurate abstract of the poor-rate books, and such the present return was. He wished the house clearly to understand what was the nature of that information, be cause it certainly was not understood by the correspondent of the hon. gentleman. According to the existing law, the rate-book contained two columns, one showing the gross estimated rental. That column showed, or ought to show, the rent really paid for the tenement ; and it was his belief that in the great majority of instances it did fairly indicate the real rental. (Hear, hear.) Perhaps the right hon. baronet had confounded two different things. The second column represented the rateable value upon which the rate was actually assessed, that being subject to certain legal deductions for repairs and insurance, so that it was con siderably reduced from the gross estimated rental ; and it was also sometimes further reduced by improper deductions made by overseers. The rateable value did not exhibit the rental, bat the first column did in the great majority of in stances. It had been said that the return did not go low enough, and that the house did not know the total number of persons whose rental was £6, because the rateable value was lower than the rent ; but he thought that it would turn out on investigation that the figures in this return in respect of the gross estimated rental of £6 would accurately represent, with the exception of tenants compounding for their rate, the total number of occupiers to that amount to be enfranchised under the Reform Bill, subject, of course, to further deductions to be made for various causes con nected with the qualification. With respect to those cases adverted to by the right hon. baronet, where the number of persons on the register was greater than the number of £lO householders as exhibited by the return, it would be found in many instances that if the scot and lot voters were de ducted the discrepancy would be explained, and the excess in other cases might be owing to the causes which had been explained. Lord STANLEY said that with respect to the borough he represented the return gave an addition by the operation of the new Reform Bill of 50 per cent. to the number of electors, but the result of careful local inquiries made the addition between 90 and 100 per cent. (Hear, hear.) Mr. MALINS thought it quite evident that the returns were made on a principle calculated to be very fallacious. The hon. and learned member for Marylebone stated that after careful examination the proposed bill would add 450,000 electors, instead of 220,000 to the borough constituencies. His right hon. friend (Sir J. Pakington) had received letters from various boroughs informing him that the number of electors under the bill would be much larger than that stated in the return ; and the noble lord (Lord Stanley) had de clared that, instead of 50 per cent., the number of electors in his borough would be increased from 90 to 100 per cent. When by the side of these statements it was remembered that the Foreign Secretary had made a strong impression on the house by affirming that his bill would only add 220,000 to the borough constituencies, he asked whether the point now under discussion did not raise considerations of the highest possible importance. (Hear, hear.) The Go vernment were making an experiment upon the constitution of the country which, as men of all parties acknowledged, was fraught with the greatest peril. (No.) The hon. mem ber for Birmingham, and those who agreed with him, might think that there was no danger in intrusting the representa tion to mere numbers, without. regard to education or pro perty; but it was impossible to go into society or to con verse with hon. members generally without finding a wide spread apprehension of the consequences which would follow from the admission of such a horde of voters. (Hear, hear.) If, then, there was danger in giving the franchise to 220,000 additional voters, what was the peril when they found that the total number enfranchised in boroughs would be nearer 500,000 ? (Hear.) The Government had no doubt acted with fairness in making these returns, but the fact that it was the first attempt to obtain accurate information on the subject afforded conclusive evidence that the returns could not be depended upon. (Hear, hear.) He hoped the house would not be induced to take this leap in the dark on a subject in comparison with which all others that could come before them sank into insionificance. Mr. AYRTON thought that much of the difference of opinion which had been expressed arose from confusing two things which were really quite distinct. One question was as to the number of persons in the towns of England who occupied houses of £6 value. Now, in point of fact, every working man in the least degree skilled in his calling paid a rent of 2s. 6d. a week, or ever £6 a year. Theoretically, therefore, all these persons would be entitled to vote, but in point of fact none of them would. Take the Tower Ham lets as an example. In that borough there were 84,000 houses, and theoretically there were now 60,000 persons en titled to vote, but in reality under 30,000 were on the re gister. This was owing to the difficulties which the bill of 1832 threw in the way of a vote, and which the present measure perpetuated, the result being that while, if you adopted the theoretical view of the case, you would find 500,000 or 600,000 persons entitled to vote in boroughs, practically that number was restricted to one-fifth or one sixth. Under the existing law no man who lived in a com pounded house could get a vote unless his landlord choose ; and altogether a very large number of persons were and would be unable to get the votes nominally conceded to them by the Act of 1832 and the present measure. Mr. BONHAM-CARTER believed, from inquiries he could h a ciyn, only d had instit u t e d, th at t h e returns in question had been pre pared with grea t er care, and were distinguished by greater a akthanbff e e r r e a e n u t returns beforena sr os parishes et sh m e a firstde o n column this v ari of f question the much,; r a ea u -e t be they oorod lug to the con s t ruc ti on of the necessarily person who levied the rate. There was no doubt discrepancy in some of the returns, but that arose a in a great houses al so oceupyingme la a n su d re from pe rsons w h o Inoccu pied some of the smaller boroughs the differenc e was striking. Thus in Wallingford there were 369 persons on the register, but only 357 occu piers of £lO houses. At Cricklade ther on the register, but only 385 £ lO occupiers. a wer e 470 subject persons The: of compounding was an important mutter, and he hoped would receive full consideration. Mr. J. LOCKE wished to know when a return in upon n this should subject which he h ad moved for some we e k s be produced. It was most im p ortant that the housee ld know the real number of persons occupying houses the rates for which were compounded for by the landlord. As re garded the borough of Southwark, the Government re turns were tolerably accurate, except that they h a d taken the register of 1858 as their guide, instead of the register of 1859. The number of electors in 1858 was 10,600, but in 1859 it was upwards of 11,000. In the column showing the number of houses rated at £lO and upwards, 16,000 was inserted, leaving a difference of 6,000 between the number of electors and the number of qualifying houses. The ex pected addition to the constituency by extending the fran chise to £6 occupiers was 3,000, so that the real addition to the constituency might be about 9,000. He wished to know whether the 200,000 increase spoken of by the noble lord would aris e on ly f rom th e new £6 voters, or wh ether any calculation had been made of the number of those who were entitled to be upon the register but were not there. He thought the Government ought to take care and provide a proper machinery for the working of a new Reform Bill. There were several Corrupt Practices Bills introduced by private Lumbers before a committee, and it was absolutely necessary that a Reform Bill should be accompanied by something of that kind to make it work. (Hear, and a laugh.) It would be impossible to add so many electors to the constituencies and leave them with out any assistance to enable them to vote. In the Reform Bill of the late Government there was a provision for addi tional polling places—(hear)—but in the present bill there was nothing of the kind. The SPEAKER intimated that as the Corrupt Prac tices Bill and the Reform Bill were measures before the house to be discussed upon a future occasion, thehon. mem ber was irregular in commenting upon them at present. Mr. LOC K E apologised for any unintentional irregularity but had only followed the example of previous speakers. Mr. NEWDEGATE hoped that the house would not be called on to discuss the Reform Bill after Easter without THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY !EVENING., APRIL 4, 1860. some information being given by the Government as to the basis on which they had calculated the increase of rates in the counties. THE LORD-LIEUTENANCY OF LONDONDERRY. Colonel FRENCH wished to know if it was correct that a gentleman who possessed only 100 acres of land in the county of Londonderry was appointed lord-lieutenant for that county. He hoped that after Easter full informa tion would be given. ' BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE. In reply to Mr. DEEDES, Sir G. C. LEWIS said that it was not his intention to proceed with the Ecclesiastical Commissions Bill and the Highways Bill immediately after the Easter holidays. Lord PALMERSTON stated, with respect to the ques tion of the gallant member (Col. French), that the subject would be inquired into, and every information would be afforded after Easter. If hon. members moved for any returns calculated to render the bases of the electoral fran • chise more correct than at present, Government would afford every facility for that purpose. stale claims, and unreal grievances are again and again brought before the house in successive ses sion. The discussion is languid, the attendance is thin, and the most eminent members of the house are generally absent. Indeed, it is not uncommon to find it cut short by a count-out. The only por tion of the time of the house allotted to independent members which seems to us generally to produce interesting and animated discussions, is that which is given to the debate on the adjournment from Friday to Monday. Then all the scores of the week are cleared off, all the salient topics of the day receive notice, and in the course of some three or four hours matters of more interest to the public are treated of than in all the rest of the week. So convenient has this form of discussion been found, that while, on the one hand, it has seriously en croached on the privilege of asking questions of Ministers on ordinary nights, it has, on the other hand, very much prevented the practice of making formal motions, and has thus reduced Tuesday and Thursday to the languid state we have described. But this practice of speaking on the adjournment, so useful and convenient in itself, is a dreadful inroad upon the time allotted to the indispensable business of the session. The convenient practice has been preserved and the inconvenien c e ob viated by a very simple expedient. The house has resolved to assign Government business to Thursday, and to give Friday, with its motion for adjournment, to independent members. This ought to satisfy all parties. It will give Government four or five hours a week more for the transaction of necessary business, and it will preserve a practice far too convenient to be given up, and which, under the appearance of wasting, really, by the formal motions it prevents, economises the public time. But we are satisfied that this change, although good as far as it goes, is by no means sufficient, and that by a more judicious economy of its time it is in the power of the House of Commons not only materially to lighten its own labours, but to give increased facilities to discussion, an d b y th a t means to improve the quality and the usefulness of its legislation. The whole subject should be reconsi dered, sufficient time should be allotted for the ne cessary business of the session, and the disgraceful expedient of compensating by a spasmodic and overstrained diligence for former remissness and indolence should be avoided.—Times. into the ocean. Without doubt, in a day or two we shall have to record the full particulars of a most terrible tragedy.—New York Courier and _Enquirer. F TAL BOILER EXPLOSIO Y. The Newcastle-on-Tyne colliery district appears destined to a fearful notoriety this spring through explosions in mines and explosions of steam boilers. Following the awful Burradon explosion we re corded a destructive colliery boiler explosion last week, and we have to-day to report another colliery boiler explosion, which has been extremely destruc tive. The underviewer at Blaydon Main, where the boiler exploded l as t wee k, h appened to be a brother of Mr. Johnson, the underviewer of Burradon ; and by another singular coincidence, the colliery where the explosion we are about to record has happened is closely adjacent to Burradon, and formerly be longed to the same owners, we believe, the " Grand Allies," both collieries rising the same waggon way for conveyance of their coals to the, places of ship ment. Seaton Burn Colliery belong to Messrs. J. Bowes and Co., the owners of a large amount of col liery property in the north, and the mine is under the charge of Mr. S. C. Crone, viewer. In carrying on the workings of the colliery two engines were generally employed, one for pumping and another for winding, a third, which has been superseded by one of these,being kept in reserve, and occasionally used in feeding ;the boilers when the pump;ng en gine was off work. The steam required for this ma chinery was supplied by six boilers, each measuring 32ft. by fift; 10in., which were arranged on one bed to the north of the engine-house, with their ends pointing east and west. The outside boiler, at the north end of the row, was a new one, and, besides other appliances, was fitted, as an experiment, with Mr. Archer's safety-valve. To each of the others were attached two escape -valves and two floats, one of the common description, and the other an alarm whistling float. The boiler which exploded stood third from the outside, and, in addition to the valves and floats just mentioned, was furnished with one of Scheffer's steam pressure gauges. This boiler, it appears, suffered severely from an explosion which took place at the same col liery about 12 years ago, and had at that time to be almost entirely rebuilt. Last week some of the rivets having been discovered to be loose, it was laid offon Friday and Saturday till the necessary repairs could be effected, and since that time it has been in constant work. The engines and boilers were intrusted to two men, one of whom remained in charge during each shift, and there were always two stokers in attend ance to look after the fires. At the time of the ac cident on Monday forenoon there were, as was always the case, only five of the boilers in operation, the sixth, which in this instance was the one imme diately adjoining the engine -house, being laid off work. During the shift commencing on Sunday evening a man named Bowman had been in charge, and he alleges that on examining the boilers about 8 o'clock on Monday morning, previous to his going off duty, he found the valves and floats all right. W. Younger, the engineman who succeeded him, is also stated to have examined the gearing some short time after, and satisfied himself that everything was as it should be. The whistling float gave no alarm, and no one appears to have had the slightest suspicion of danger. when suddenly, about 20 mi nutes to 9 o'clock, the boiler, which stood third from the outside, sprang from its bed with tremendous force, unseating four of the adjoining boilers, besides slightly lifting the fifth, tearing the bed to pieces, and projecting the stone and brickwork of which it was composed in all directions. The exploded boiler flew into the air to the height of the furnace chimney, and the principal portion, weighing about six tons, taking an easterly direction, alighted in a garden on the opposite side of the North-road, about 150 yards distant, where it lay spread out into a huge sheet, covering, we should say, nearly 50 square yards of ground. A smaller fragment fell on the road, about 50 yards nearer to the pit, while another, also of comparatively trifling dimensions, was carried southward over the engine -house, and deposited on the pit-head. When the crash took place 'Younger, the engineman, was standing at the fire-hole, in company with two stokers, named Robert Ewing and John Turner. They were all three over whelmed in the falling rubbish, Turner and Ewing being killed, while Younger was severely bruised and scalded. The pit-head, situated to the south west of the boilers, was at the time crowded by from 120 to 150 men and boys about to descend into the pit to commence work ; and had the exploded boiler gone in that direction the destruction of life must have been fearful. As it was, with stones and bricks flying about in all directions in such abundance that the roofs of the houses to some considerable distance were completely riddled by their fall, it was impossible but that a considerable number should be injured in a greater or less de gree. Of casualties from this cause, James Rous and Conolly Mullen, coal hewers, who were stand ing on the bank, were struck by falling fragments, and cut in several places, but not seriously. SVm. Chevil, a labouring man, who was working on the colliery tramway to the south of the engine house, received a severe blow on the head, from the effects of which he is scarcely expected. to recover. A woman, named Isabella Tennant, while walking along by a row of houses, at some distance, was struck by a brick on the breast, and was on Mon day night considered in a rather precarious condi tion. Jos. Collins, one of the blacksmiths, and Ralph Nichol, a banksman. were each struck on the head, but not materially injured. W. Younger, the engineman, was reported yesterday to be extremely ill and in great danger. HEALTH OF LONDON DURING THE WEEK. (Front the Report of the Registrar-General.) The health of London is at - present far from being in a satisfactory state. Last week the mortality was exceedingly high. The deaths, which were in the first week of March 1,397, have during the rest of the month shown a constant increase, for they were 1,563 and 1,611 in the two following weeks, and they further rose in the week that ended last Saturday to 1,708. In the 10 years 1850-59 the average number of deaths in the weeks corresponding with last week was 1,382; but, as the deaths now returned oc curred in an increased population, they should be compared with the average raised in proportion to the increase --namely, with 1,520. The comparison shows that the deaths of last week were more nu merous by 188 than they would have been if the average rate of mortality had ruled. The deaths in the present return exceed those of any corresponding week, except that of the year 1853, when they rose to 1,748 in consequence of the prevalence of pulmonary complaints, from ex treme cold, the mean temperature of the air in the previous week having been so low as 33.3 deg. In the last four weeks the deaths from pulmo nary diseases, exclusive of pkthisis, were 387, 450, 485, and 476 ; those f rom w h ooping -cough 42, 45, 62, and 72 : those from phthisis or consumption 143, 171, 167, and 202. This last disease exhibits a striking increase in last week ; 100 of its victims were in the period of life 20-40 years. Bronchitis and pneumonia last week carried off respectively 272 and 162 persons, the corrected averages being only 146 and 106. Seven children died from whooping cough in the sub-district of Islington West, sin that of Bow. Smallpox was fatal in 35 cases, scarlatina in 49, diptheria in 11. Influenza, was returned in 8 cases. Eleven persons, all women except one, died at the age of 90 years and upwards, of whom one had attained the great age of 101 years. A man died in the Almhouses, Fulham-{gelds, at the age of 87 years, who had assisted at the victory ob tained by Lord Howe on the Ist of June, 1794. Nine children died by accidental suffocation, 7 of these in bed ; 13 persons died from burns and scalds ; a varnish-maker from turpentine taking fire ; a labourer at a distillery fell into boiling mu riate of lime; a female servant was burnt when in a fit; two children of labourers, each aged 3 years, from their clothes taking fire; also, from the same cause, the daughter of a labourer and the daughter of a general dealer; the daughter of a dock labourer was burnt from being left alone in the room ; 5 chil dren were burnt or scalded by means not specified in the returns. Last week the births of 1,018 boys and 941 girls, in all 1,959 children, were registered in London. In the 10 corresponding weeks of the years 1850.59 the average number was 1,828. At the tioyal Olx.ervatory, Greenwich, the mean height of the barometer in the week was 29 . 378 in. The readings fell from 29.G1in. on Monday, the highest in the week, to 28.62 in., the lowest, on Sa turday. The mean temperature of the air in the week was 45.3 deg., which is 2.6 deg. above the average of the same week in 43 years, as deter mined by Mr. Glaisher. The mean daily tempera ture, which was below the average on the first three days, was above it the rest of the week, and on Wednesday rnd Thursday this excess was mere than 7 deg. The thermometer in the shade fell to its lowest point on Tuesday, 34 . 1 deg., and it rose to its highest on the following day, 59.5 deg. The range in the week was therefore 254 deg, The mean daily range was 12.3 deg. The mean temperature of the water of the Thames was 46'4 deg, The dif ference between the mean dew-point temperature and air temperature was 6.8 deg., indicating 'dryn ess of the air. The mean degree of humidity was 79, com plete saturation being represented by 100. After the first three days, when the wind was generaoutlly ih n d s the north-west, it blew from the west an west. On four days its maximum pressure wa s 81b and 101 b on the square foot , Rain. fell t o the atnount of 0.23 in. in the week) about half o f I,k4ieb, flea On Saturday. THE PORTUGUESE GOVERNNENT AND SIR MORTOY The Portuguese Government are attempting to mitigate the effect of the recent exposure of their dealings in the matter of the railway concession lately withdrawn from Sir Morton Peto and handed over to M. Salamanca. They omit, however, as is frequently the case in defences of this kind, to touch upon the main point at issue. The Portuguese Cabinet had a technical right to annul the conces sion to Sir Morton Pete, and therefore no formal complaint can be raised against them on that score, whatever may be the opinion of their conduct by those well-informed of the details of the case. But Sir Morton had a pecuniary claim for specific expenses, and the allegation is that the Finance Minister recently admitted the principle on which this claim is based, but, upon being pressed to con firm in writing what he had stated verbally, de clined taking any steps, on the plea that it might prejudice the success of the Ministry in certain discussions pending in the Cortes. For a Govern ment to attempt to evade, or indefinitely to post pone, a money question with an individual to serve political aims of its own would be looked upon in England as highly discreditable, and it is in this aspect the matter at present stands. Can the Por tuguese Government give it a different face ? If so, they will have an opportunity, as the claim has been placed in the hands of Lord John Russell. Meanwhile, it will be useless for them to seek to raise a cloud by taunting Sir Morton Peto with the fact that he was willing to undertake the railway on condition of receiving Portuguese Bonds, and that it is " a contradiction in terms " for him now to say a word that would prejudice the character of these securities. The English public have no con cern with Sir Morton's opinion about Portuguese credit, but if they are to be asked for further loans they have a considerable interest in ascertaining if the Portuguese Government are at this very hour, after all their past lapses, acting meanly and in had faith to any one who has placed trust in them. Moreover, even if Sir Morton has experienced a change of view, this is nothing more than com monly occurs with a creditor who fails to get his bill. Possibly, also, Sir Morton was ignorant of the fact that Portugal has for some time past been in the habit of creating bonds and putting them from time to time on the London market with as much secrecy as possible, to avoid the honest formality of an open loan. The correctness of the belief professed by the Finance Minister, that £4,500,000 could now be raised in London at a price, including all expenses, much higher than 33, is, of course, a point to be settled only by actual experiment. He considers that some measures lately introduced for benefiting the Portuguese revenue should impart confidence, but, as the first among them appears to be " the suspension of the sinking funds of all the loans," the prospect for fresh loans seems not to be rendered more inviting. Something is added about the benefits the railways themselves will produce in the country. The railways, how ever, have yet to be made, and when made they will be worked under Portuguese management. As to the increase of commerce that is talked of, we must bear in mind ,that the latest commercial fact in con nection with Portugal is that when she found the English duty on her wines would be reduced, with out any stipulation on out part, she at once denied an intention previously attributed to her of modi fying her restrictive system with respect to the admission of English merchandize,—Times. FROM THE GAZETTE OF LAST NIGHT LORD CHAMBERLAIN'S OFFICE, MARCH 30. Notice is hereby given that the Queen will hold Drawing Rooms at St. James's Palace on the following days, at two o'clock :--Saturday, April 28 next, and Friday May 18 next, to celebrate her Majesty's birthday.—N.B. The Knights of the several Orders are to appear in their collars at the Drawing Room on May 18. Notice is hereby given, that the Queen will hold a levee, at St. James's Palace, upon Saturday the 21st of April next, at two o'clock. ST. JAMES'S PALACE, MARCH 31. The Queen has been pleased to appoint George Francis Robert, Lord Harris, to be one of the Lords in Waiting in Ordinary to her Majesty, in the room of George Anson, Lord Byron, resigned. The Queen has been pleased to appoint George Anson, Lord Byron, to be an Extra Lord in Waiting to her Ma jesty. WAR-OFFICE, PALL-MALL, APRIL 3. Chaplain's Dep ar t men t—Th e Rev. Matthew Robert Scott, Chaplain Royal Artillery, to be Chaplain of the Second Class; the Rev. 'Walter Melvin Wright, Chaplain Royal Artillery, to be Chaplain of the Third Class. Artillery Company of London—Sergeant Joseph Eglise to be Ensign. ADMIRALTY, MARCH 29. Corps of Royal Marines—Gentleman Cadets Jame 3 Sandys Bird, Suffield Hamilton Browne, Willbraham Evora Evelyn Morley, Montagu Philip Hall Grey, Michael Allen Stapylton Bree, Frederic Vincent Godfrey Bird, and Percival Robert Champion to be Second Lieute nants. COMMISSION SIGNED BY THE QUEEN. 2(1 Royal Surrey Regiment of Militia—Charles Howard Chaplin, Gent., to be Quartermaster. CROWN OFFICE, APRIL 2. MEMBERS RETURNED TO SERVE IN THE PRESENT PARLIAMENT. City of Norwich—Edward Warner, of Iligham Woodford, in the county of Essex, Esq., in the room of Henry Wm. Schneider, Esq., whose election has been de termined to be void. Sir William Russell, of Charlton Park, in the county of Gloucester, Bart., C. 8., in the room of the Right Hon. W. Coutts Keppel, commonly called Viscount Bury, whose election has been determined to be void. COMMISSIONS SIGNED BY LORDS LIEUTENANT. County of Stirling—The Right Hon. Geo. Ralph Campbell, Baron Abercromby; William Forbes, Esq„ Robert Cun ningham Cunningham Graham, Esq., and Major Charles Graham Stirling to be Deputy Lieutenants. BANKRUPTS. John Clarke, grocer, Lichfield, to surrender, April 16, and May 7, at eleven, at the Birmingham District Court. Joseph Slater, stone merchant Leeds, April 23 and May 21, at eleven, at th e Leeds District Court. Robert Goldie, draper, Ouudle, April 18, at half-past one, and May 16, at one, at the Court of Bankruptcy. William Henry Unwin and Joseph Greenwood, builders, Limehouse, Middlesex, April 17, at three, and May 22, at one, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Joseph Oldroyd, blanket manufacturer, Britley, April 16 and May 21, at eleven, at the Leeds District, Court. John Wm. Greaves, chemist, Birkenhead, April 12 and May 7, at eleven, at the Liv er p oo l Di str i ct Court. Walter Faithfull, linen agent, Ironmonger-lane, City, April 17, at half-past two, and M ay 22, at twelve, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Edmund Underwood, grocer, Soham, Cambridgeshire, April 13, at half-past eleven, and May 10, at two, at the Court of Bankruptcy. John Underwood, stationer, M‘Lean's-b u ildi ngs , New street .square, City, Ap r il 16, at ono, and May 21, at eleven, at the Court of Bankruptcy. SCOTCH BANKRUPTS. George Gibson Dodds, coalmaster, Strathaven, Lanark' shire. John Marston Hall, doctor of medicine, Edinburgh. Egbert Moxham, architect, Stornoway. William Ovenston Campbell, grocer, Kirkwall. James Murphy Anderson, ironmonger, Glasgow. Henry Craven Griffiths, professor of music, Glasgow. Alex. Stewart, grocer and spirit dealer, Irvine, Ayrshire. COUNTRY MARKBTS. LIVERPOOL--APRIL 3. The arrivals from Ireland and coastwise since this day week have been trifling. From foreign ports there have been received 2,473 qrs of barley, 796 qrs peas, 2,668 qrs 0 ' beans, and 900 barrels of flour. The exports in the sable time comprise 1,051 quarters of wheat, 3,686 qrs of Is: dian corn, 635 loads of oatmeal, and 1,725 sacks and 46 5 barrels of flour. Weather stormy ; generally seasonable. A very fair attendance of millers and dealers this morn' ing, and wheat and flour met a moderate business ; p r ices were fully maintained. Oats and. oatmeal a retail sale, A t late rates. Barley, beans, and peas at extreme rates' In Indian corn a fair business done. ITALY. Mr. KINGLAKE gave notice that after Easter he would ask, whether Government were prepared, consistently with the interests of the public service, to afford the house any additional information relative to the territorial altera tions effected by the treaty of Turin. He would also ask for some information in respect to the extraordinary despatch of M. Thouvenel to Count de Persigny, dated the 26th ultimo. LAND IMPROVEMENT (IRELAND). Mr. HENNESSY obtained leave to bring in a bill to facilitate the improvement of land in Ireland. MISCELLANEOUS SERVICES. Mr. WISE nominated the select committee on miscella neous services :—Lord H. Vane, Mr. Adderley, Mr. Laing, Sir S. Northcote, Sir R. Peel, Mr. K. Seymer, Mr. Bright, Sir H. Willoughby, Mr. Baxter, Mr. Deedes, Sir J. Shelley, Mr. Corry, Mr. A. Smith, Mr. rhilipps, and Mr. Wise. Power to send for persons, papers, and records. Five to be the quorum. ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION (IRELAND) BILL. Mr. E. P. BOUVERIE moved for leave to bring in a bill to abolish the jurisdiction of the Ecclesiastical Courts in Ireland in cases of defamation and brawling.—Agreed to. NAVY. Sir C. NAPIER moved for returns of the expense of lengthening the Hogue, Blenheim, and Ajax; and the names of the builders ; and, of the expense of lengthening the Nelson, -- Neptune, and Trafalgar.—Ordered. The motion for the adjournment of the house until the 16th inst. was agreed to. ADULTERATION OF FOOD AND DRINK BILL. The house NN ent into committee on this bill, and some amendments were agreed to in order to render it applicable to Ireland. The different clauses, as amended, were agreed to, and the house resumed. CUSTOMS BILL. This bill went through committee. CUSTOMS ACTS. Mr. MASSEY brought up the report on this bill, which was received. The bill was then committed pro forma, in order to introduce certain amendments. Mr. FARItANT. In reply to Mr. E. JAMES, Mr. C. FORTESCUE stated that this gentleman, the editor of the Friend of China, had been recently set at liberty. The,house adjourned at 20 minutes to six o'clock, until Monday the 16th inst. BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE OF COIIXONS. The rules for the internal arrangement of the House of Commons may appear to many persons matters of small consequence and little interest, except to those whom those rules immediately con cern. This would, however, be a very serious mis take. For good or for evil, the House of Commons has contrived to take into its hands the whole busi ness of the country. It makes our laws, nominates our Executive Government, it regulates our finances, it imposes our taxes, and, in addition to all these functions, it has lately taken on itself to discuss and to deliver the most unqualified opinions upon the politics of Europe. The manner in wnich such a body arranges its business and disposes its time cannot possibly be a matter of indifference to those whose actions it regulates, whose money it spends, and whose opinions it undertakes to represent. In order to understand the change which was effected last Monday we must offer a brief explana tion of the basiness which has to be done, and the manner in which that business is got through. The House of Commons sits during the session five days in the week, of which two are popularly said to belong to the Government and three to indepen dent members. This division, however, by no means expresses the real truth of the case. It would be more correct to say that the house, having five days a-week at its disposal, devotes two of those days to that portion of its business which is absolutely in dispensable, and three to that other portion which, however important it might be, can be set aside without bringing public affairs to a standstill. If what is called Government business be postponed or neglected, there is no remedy for it but that the house should sit till it has been disposed of. Here, then, to begin with, is a very striking fact. N o thi ng is more bitterly complained of than the exorbitant length of the session, avid yet towards the transac tion of that business upon which the length of the session depends the house can only allot two days out of five, leaving three other days for business which has no such tendency. The Government must out of those two days find time for all the business connected with the financial statement, for all the examination tho Eotimatoo in dotail, and for all, or nearly all, the legislation of the year, for it has come to be an axiom that no bill of importance can be carried unless the Government takes it up. If we were to pause here, we think that we should be entitled to say that the first Representative Assem bly in the world manages its business on principles which no assembly, ancient or modern, and no meet ing of gentlemen collected together for any pur pose, public or private, would for a moment tole rate. But we have by no means done justice yet to the strange manner in which it is the pleasure of the House of Commons to squander the time it ought to economize, and stint the discussions it ought to encourage. From these two-fifths of its time which it allots to the real business of the ses sion the house makes many and serious deductions. In the first place, there is the privilege ofevery mem ber to bring forward any measure he pleases, and speak upon it at any length he pleases, on going into committee of supply—a privilege which very frequently abstracts four or five hours from the 14 hours a-week allowed to Government business. Then there is the claim of every member who has a charge to bring against the Government to have a night given him for the purpose, whicii often effects another serious diminution. Then there is the so much discussed motion for adjournment on Fridays, which may be said to deprive the house every week of at least one-fourth of the time devoted to indis pensable business. It is easy to trace the result of these strange ar rangements. Independent members enjoy a super abundance, while Government suffers under the most miserable scantiness, of time for the discus sion of its business. The measures of first-rate importance must, of course, have a hearing, but most of what may be called second-rate legislation never practically gets a hearing at all. It is brought on after 12 o'clock at night, when an understanding prevails that nothing opposed shall be gone on with. The condition of success, there fore, is not that the measure shall be found good after a careful examination, but that it shall be of such a nature as to provoke no opposition at all. There is only one way to protect a measure from opposition; that is, to strike down all its dis putable parts, and tone it down to a state in which nothing is left to object to. Opposition in these eases cannot be overcome, and must therefore be anticipated. A long list might be given of measures excellently conceived and carefully prepared, which, simply because they could not be discussed before 12 o'clock, have been deprived of all their characte ristic merits, and reduced to a state in which, in order not to provoke the hostility of their enemies, they resign all claim to the sympathy and support of their friends. For the same cause, even on mea sures which do attain the privilege of being debated, the discussion is left to a great degree in the hands of their opponents, because the friends of the bill know that the best service they can do is to be silent, and not, by arguing in its defence, encroach upon the little time that can be allowed for its con sideration; but the time arrives at last when even this method of doing business becomes impossible. After having lounged over the first four months of the session, the time comes, generally at the begin ning of June, when it is necessary that an effort should be made to wind up the business of the year. A third dav—Thursday—is then generally handed over to is n dovernment ; b u t even thi s concess i on , if made longer soffeit deearlier,m f igh e t n have donete device all e thate o is wanted, f morning sitti ngs i s resorted to—, and h that is to say, dur ing the three hottest months of the year, June, July, and August, the House of Commons commences its sitting at noon, and, with an i n t erva l o f two hours for dinner,g. continues them till t wo or t h ree thess Committees,pub.ic and p r i va t e , bell in el theot summonses th m e o s r a n m i morning. time the h i re in fulla l activitycommitteemenThe their inquiries, which the announcement of the nu mbers dismisses them to resum e , till tllioeyorare on ce more rung in to decide o n questions the me nts for and against which they h ave never heagrud-, and of the very terms of which they are often t ignorant. Can it be wonde red that a system suc h meunsatisfactory not sipriing than as we have descr ibed should often lead to unsatis factorytithseNr,e areresults l t ps o results,re riot even or rather, is it b eco mes i , n( l e n pe t n h d e e m nt ea i n n w em hi b l ( e 4s o p f th T e oe t s h d r o e y e e d to motions, Wednesd a y and Thursday are allotted da l y ‘ s rh a a ll t otted to to the passing of bills , wh ich, large number of members , a questionable device of speaking against time, and re if often d e i n sp ci e e a fe s a n t i e g d t b o y any which, if they are to pass at all , of the hands of their proposers and must adopted be Government. Tuesday and Thursday are g iven to by the out motions, and cases over and over again decided, WRECK OF TILE ROYAL CHARTER. Mr. Weldon sends his compliments to the editor of The Sun, and hopes that he will find a space for the accompanying letter, &c. : " Sir,—Our attention has been directed to the copy of draft of memorial in the Liverpool Mercury, of March 8, suggested by you in reference to the anre covered property in the wreck of the Royal Charter. While fully aware that your efforts are prompted alone by a benevolent feeling for the unhappy suf ferers, there are some inaccuracies in your proposed memorial, which you will, we are sure, allow us to correct. " The salvage operations, which were necessarily discontinued during the winter, are now being re sumed by us. The ship's manifest, which has just come to hand, shows that there still remains a defi ciency of gold of £24,000, for which bills of lading are held, and which we must endeavour to recover for the underwriters and others interested. " As regards the amount of passengers' money on board, we:only know what the Rev. Mr. Hodge states in fiis diary, viz., that about £7,000 was placed by 'passengers under the captain's care ; this, of course, we are also hoping to recover. " You may rely upon our best exertions in this matter, as we have endeavoured throughout to leave nothing undone to relieve the distress which this terrible calamity has occasioned.—We are, &e., GIBBS, BRIGHT, & CO. " Rev. R. G. Weldon, Rose Mount, Girvan." Under these circumstances, which are very far different from what the newspaper reports led me to suppose, and which could not, I dare say, be contradicted till the arrival of the Australian mail, and as Messrs. Gibbs, Bright, and Co. hold so de servedly high a place in the mercantile world, and pledge themselves in the above letter to do their utmost to recover the property, I do not see how the Government rightly could interfere, were it advisable for them to do so; for conflicting interests would be created, and the efforts soon to be resumed to recover the property might thereby be baffled, if not set aside. I conceive, therefore, that I best serve the interests of the sufferers by not presenting the memorial to the Treasury, but by leaving the mat ter—where I have every confidence in leaving it— in the hands of the agents who have thus come forward with a promise to do their best, which does them infinite credit, and which I must say they have already, as far as they were able, fulfilled. I cannot take leave of this sad matter, which I trust, under God's good providence, may yet turn out better than has been anticipated, without thank ing Sir James Ferguson, Bart., M.P. ; H. J. Rollo, Esq., W.S., of Edinburgh ; and his friend, Mr. Maconocbie, of the English bar, for their kind aid and sympathy it my exertions to recover the pro per (Signed), "R. G. WELDoN. Rose Mount, - Girvan, March 17. A TRAGEDY ON THE 111GH SEAS. On morning, ab ou t 6 o ' c l oc k, th ree men,in the a bay off St a t en I s l an d , di scovere d whileWedn an oyster sloop with her sails torn to shreds and hanging over her side, which, with the gene ral appearance of the craft, induced them to be lieve that she had been abandoned. Accord ingly, they boarded the sloop, which proved to be the E. A. Johnsen, of Islip, Long Island. Her bowsprit was gone, and she was aban doned. The deck was full of clotted blood and hair. On entering the cabin large pools of blood were found on both sides of the stove, and in the companion way. The starboard quarter on the out side had mush blood on it, apparently finger prints. Her boat was gone. In the cabin were found a pair of India rubber boots, several shirts, bedding, and a number of other articles, which could have been easily taken away if the vessel had been honestly abandoned. The sloop was fast drifting ashore when the steam -tug Ceres, Captain Storens, took her in tow and brought her to the city. As soon as the sloop was brought into the Fulton market slip, information was immediately given to the coroner and Captain Weed of the Second Pre cinct, who boarded her. , The deck of the vessel presented the appearance of a slaughterhouse. Everything was covered with blood from stem to stern ; matted hair was found upon the deck, and full and complete evidence of a terrible massacre was plain. An examination was next made of the cabin, and the sight here, if possible, was worse than upon the deck. Floor, tables, chairs, and washstand were besmeared with gore, and every thing was disarranged, giving evidence of a furious struggle. A hammer, weighing about three pounds, was found upon the floor, covered, like all else, with blood. Considerable hair was also found upon it, and it is probable that the assassin or assassins used it for the purpose of consummating their villainous deeds. Dr. Bouton, after making a further exami nation of the cabin, discovered a coffee pot, and this, like the3hamsner, was besmeared with blood and covered with hair. It looks as though the crew, being attacked in the cabin, made a desperate resistance, and that during the struggle all avail able means of attack and defence were used. After the examination of the cabin had been concluded the deck was again visited, and a close inspection of it still more satisfied everybody that a barbarous murder had been committed. From the cabin door there was an unbroken line of blood to the guards ; but there was the appearance of a struggle, as the pool blo ody w h as and vy large s er wei.ese then, en; uponagain, theguar mksof guard, and a hatchet mark. Blood ran down the outer side also. Forward, at the mast, there was more evidence of a terrible struggle. A large pool of blood, yet fresh, lay around, extending to the bow; and here, again, human hair was found. The mast and sails were slightly besmeared, and on the guards, near by, were more imprints of bloody hands. Taken altogether the scene was a sickening one. The name of the captain of the ill-fated sloop was Geo. Burr. He was a man about 34 years of age, and has a family living at Islip, Long Island. He sailed from the foot of Spring•street, on the 15th inst., having on board three deck hands, two of whom were named Smith Watts and Oliver Watts ; the name of the third party was not ascertained. The sloop was bound for Virginia for a load of oysters, and it is believed that the captain had upwards of 500 dohs. in money with him, with which to pur chase the cargo. He called at Keyport, leaving there on Sunday afternoon, and this was the last seen of the sloop until 3 o'clock on Wednesday morning, when she was run into by the schooner John B. Martha, Capt. Nickerson, off Staten Island. Capt. Nickerson says there was one man aboard her then, who ran towards the bow, as the vessel was about to strike. The sloop struck the schooner about mid scohrfeiplsss,a,onnfedtayhrelhylseselieitikko,nitseshgr her. No words passed between the vessels, e v ht eialsoedsroedoll.3eir, orders and the the sloop dropped astern, but when found by the Telegraphs, as already stated, outside e i‘ wasaler arrest ht abandoned si\e ; rei cm C k a se p rt tso.obnl be andbe dt absota•ergdaargdosotdhirsotuenrdribsluemaffoafimr.oTnheye.JTohhnis fact was doubtless I; no ::•n to the river pirates, who, fright ene d from the East and North Rivers by the Harbour Police, have taken refuge on Long and Staten Islands. These villains had probably gone on board the sloop at night, surprised the crew in the cabin, after first killing the man on deck, and murdered them all, afterwards throwing their bodies ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE. NORWICH CIRCUIT—NORWICH, April 2. (Before the Lord Chief Justice and a Special Jury.) _ WRIGHT V. WILKIN. Mr. O'Malley, Q.C., MJ Keane, and Mr. D. Browne for the plaintiff; Mr. Sergeant Parry, Mr. T. H. Terrell, of the Chancery bar (both specially retained), Mr. C. Cooper, and Mr. Couch for the defendant. This was an action of ejectment. Much litigation has already taken place with respect to this pro perty, both in the Court of Chancery and the courts of common law. The last trial was an action of ejectment, tried on the 3d of December last, in the Court of Common Pleas, at 'Westminster, before the Lord Chief Justice Erle, in which the defendant obtained a verdict. The plaintiff claims as heir-at-law, and the de fendant as devisee of a Miss Mary Ann Mann, who died at Lynn in the month of December, 1856, at the age of 84. That lady left landed property to the extent of £B,OOO or £lO,OOO i n va l ue. The pedi gree of the plaintiff was not gone into, as it was agreed that this question, if necessary, should be referred to his Lordship's decision ; but the learned counsel stated him to be "the great great grandson of the grandf a th er o f t h e mot h er of the testatrix." The plaintiff is at present a clerk in the brewery at Chatteris, in the Isle of Ely. The defendant is an attorney residing at Lynn, and managed Miss Mann's affairs during he last two or three years of her life. For many years Miss Mann's affairs had b een manage d b y Mr. W. Jarvis, an at torney and banker at Lynn, a gentleman of about the same age as Miss Mann. It appeared that Miss Mann had been for many years on intimate terms with Mr. Jarvis's family, and in October, 1853, she made her will, by which she gave to her servant, Jane Burton, the sum of £5OO, to another servant, Sarah Burton £2OO, to Margaret Hennington £2OO, to Mr. W. J arv i s £4OO, to the West Norfolk hospital £2OO, and some other minor legacies • and she then ga ve t o M r. Whincop Jarvis, the so' n of Mr. W. Jarvis, all the residue of her real and per sonal estate. At the same time a document was drawn up and signed by the testatrix by which she desired Mr, Whi ncop Jarvis to convey as soon as possible after her decease to the vicar and church wardens of the chapel of Tylney St. Lawrence, near Lynn, 17 acres of land belonging to the testatrix, for the purpose of keeping the chapel in repair. Upon this chapel Miss Mann had in her lifetime expended £2,500. in December, 1853, the defen dant, who at that time resided in London, came to Lynn for the purpose of conducting an action for defamation brought by Jane Burton, one of the two sisters in the service of Miss Mann. Jane Burton had been accused of destroying a child of which her sister Sarah was the mother, and to clear herself from this charge she brought the action. It was tried in this city in the year 1853 before Lord Campbell, a n d resu l ted in a verdict for the plaintiff. About the same time the defendant in this action was also employed by Jane Burton to defend ber against a charge of forgery which had been made against her, and which charge was dismissed by the magistrates. These charges against her servants, both of who m were great favourites, caused Miss Mann great uneasiness, and in the course of the fre quent interviews which she had with defendant upon this subject she became very favourably impressed with his assid u it y an d i ntelligence. The defendant after this c ons t ant l y came to Lynn, and on several occasions saw Miss Mann. About this time that lady appeared to have conceived some resentment against Mr. W es t on J arvis on account of his advising her with some pertinacity to get rid of the two Burtons, and some other interferences of a petty description in her domestic affairs. Of these, accord ing to the defendant's statement, she made frequent complaint to him, and eventutilly, in the month of April, 1854, s h e i nformed him that she intended to revoke her will in Mr. Whincop Jarvis, i s favour, and to leave her property to himself; and requested the def en d an t to prepare a w ill accordingly. This, the defendant said, he at first refused to do but Miss Mann insisting upon it on several occasion s , he at len g th acce d e d, upon th e con ditionthat tw o responsible wit nesses were c a ll e , in to witness the execution of the will. The defendant then said that Miss Mann gave into his hands the will ma d e b y her in favour of M r . Jarvis, which he read over , marking in pencil th e alterations which Miss Mann suggested, the effect of which was to substitute the defendant's name in the place of that of Mr. Whin cop Jarvis as residuary devisee, to leave two lega cies of £4OO to the Messrs. Jarvis, and to introduce a clause by which, instead of the separate document already alluded to, £BOO was directed to be ex pended for the benefit of the chapel at Tylney St. Lawrence ; in other respects the will was the same as before. The executors of this will were Mr. Lep pings and Mr. Carte r , gentlemen of high respecta bility residing at Ly nn. The attesting witnesses, two medical gentl emen residing at Lynn, and other medical gentlemen and others acquainted with Miss Mann, were called, an d were unanimous in express ing their opinion that Miss Mann, although some what capricious and self-willed, was perfectly com petent to make a will. At the co nc l us i on of the evidence in support of the will, a long legal argument ensued upon points purely technical, which were ultimately reserved by his lordship for the consideration of the Court of Queen's Bench. APRIL 3. This case was resumed this morning. Mr. Whin cop Jarvis and several other witnesses were called for the plaintiff; the principal object of their evi dence being to show the propriety of the conduct of the Messrs. Jarvis, in connexion with the testa trix and her servants and in the management of her affairs. Mr. O'Malley having summed up the evidence, the jury found a verdict for the defendant. The Mysterious Power of the Magnet is most beautifully developed by Mr. F. M. HERRING, 01 3 2, Basinghw-d" street, in his Patent Magnetic Brushes and Combs, which are the remedy for grey hair, weak or falling hair, neuralgia, nervous headache rheumatism, stiff joints, &c. His Teazle Brushes for cloth, velvet, &c., are admirable ; they not only cleanse but preserve the fabric in a remarkable manner. The public are cautioned against counterfeits.—[&nyti SHEFFIELD-APRIL 3. A smaller attendance than usual at market, and the late advance of 6d to is per load was maintained. Trade sloe' Beans and oats in demand. Other articles without change; lied wheat, per load of 3 imperial bushels...lBs Od to 19s 0 1 White .19s 6d to 21504 • • :17s od to Ws 03 New red , If •••.. New white ~ ), , , . Beans ), Peas, per qr. . * 41 13 2 86 3 : 8 :0: d dd d to tt 50 2 °l 3 9 5 s s: 61 i; Grinding barley, per qr Malting ditto, „ .. - •, , , 385 . 0 d to 435 yj Oats .23s Od to 30s v 4) es Millers' prices for flour—ls Bd, is 10d, and 2s Oil p 141 b. • _ LEEDS—APRIL 3. We have a fair demand for wheat, but at no advance 00 the prices of Tuesday se'nnight. Barley in request, at full prices. Oats as before. NORWICH CATTLE- 4- MARcll 31. Our market to •day exhibited a good show of store cattle' comprising Scuts, shorthorns, and a few Irish. A slow tide was At the eff close fully although there was a tolerable att e adanc i y one. fourth of the stock remained uns°'' Fat beasts a poor show, and buyers much less anxious. , 20 Scots, 4s Od to 4 s 6d ; shorthorns, 3s 6d to 4s ; Irish, Od to 3s 6d ; Devons, Os Oct to Os (estimated weight why" fat). Sheep—There were good supplies of sheep in the pew' Fat sheep, 8s 6d to 9s per stone ; prime, 9s 6d to 10s. Pigs —A fair supply. Store pigs 25s to 30s ; fat poll', 7. 6d to 8s Od per stone. FOREIGN MAIL PACKET LIST. In the following table E signifies that letters are despatobe J by evening mails from London, and M by morning Ngif; DESTINATIONS. Despatch Port of MP' of Mails. Despatch. due. _..../ Australia and Mauritius, visk. Al l 4 ° Southampton Aprill2,M South am p. April Ditto, via Marseilles Bahamas and Havana via New 5 York Canada, &c. (by Canatln. pckt. Cape of Good Hope, ) , April ri 1 1 4 , I , , E E E L i i v v e e r r p p o o o o l i .. : 1 i . A p p r r i i 1 1 4 Ascen sion, and St. Helen a April. 5, E Devonport May 1 China, Penang, and Sinp;a- I pore, via South am pt on !A pr i l—, M‘Southamp. APA 613 0 Ditto, via Marseill es . A pr il 10, .E Gibraltar, via Southa m pt on .. April— ,M'Southamp. Al 3 T' 0 Honduras and Blewfields ....,Aprill7. M Southamp. April India (Calcutta) and Ceylon, il 5 via Southampton April—, M Southamp. • APr,, 0 Ditto, via Marseilles India (Bombay), via South- «' ampton Aprill2, M Southamp. April Ditto, via Marseilles Lisbon, Brazils,Buenos Ayres, I f and P. Island s April , April i t Lisbon, Vigo, and Oporto Ap r il 7 , MlS out h amp, lApril' Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via l 3 S outhampton April—, M Southamp. April i s Ditto, via Marseilles Mexico and Havana Newfoundland April 7, E Liverpool.. --"' United States and British N • America (by British packet)'Ap r il 7 , E Liverpool.. April 0 Ditto (by U. S. packet) ,April — ,E'Southamp. ' West Coast of Africa, Ma-, rP ' deira, and Teneriffe .. - . April 23 E Live col • • ,April 0 West India, California, Tele, zuela, Chili, Peru, Grey town, New Granada, &c _...• .Itprill7, M Southamp. April 1 4 [ADVERTISEIVENT.]—A few more of the Extraordia 6d , Cures without M e di cine of indigestion. (dyspepsia), frai ,,„ ig f lency, constipation, nervous, bilious, and liver complainm: cough, asthma, consumption, and debility effected by Barry's delicious health-restoring Revalenta Arabica F" are here given :—Cure 5 2,422.—Bridgehouse, Frimley, y- April, 1854-33 years' diseased l ungs , sp itti ng of Wa, liver derangement, deafness, singing in the ears, eonstiP r il e tion, d e bilit y, s h ortness of breath and cough, have been er , moved by your R eva l en t a A ra bi ca. My lungs, illect, stomach, head, and ears are all right, my hearing Pel' ee p and my recovery is a marvel t o a ll my acquaintan la James Roberts, timber merchant. From the Yen ell 'iao Archdeacon o f R oss. —N o. 32,836—Three years' excessed nervousness, with pains in my neck and left arm, d general debility, which rendered my life very miserable , ti been radically remove d b y D u Barry ' s health-restorl:e, food .—Alex. Stuart, Archdeacon of Ross, Skibber;,, In tins, at Is. 6d. ; Ilb., 3 s . ; 21b . , s s. 9d . ; 51b., 125.; 1 t' 265. The 101 b. and 121 b. tins carriage free, on receipt of P,,, 0 ; office order. Du Barry an d C o ., 77, R egent-street, Lon 60, Fortnum, Mason, and Co., 182, Piccadilly; Alabis,d, Gracechurch-street ; 4, Cheapside ; 63, and 150, ()Iw o . street ; 330 and 451, Strand ; 49 and 60, Bishorro, street ; 85, Tottenham-court-road. Also at Bewley 'and Draper ; at Edinburgh, Raimes and sy at Liverpool, Nix on an d Th ew ; at Manchester, Shag lit y Scott ; at York, Raimes, Blanchard, and Co..mat 30 amnton. Randall and Son, BIRTHS. ir er LAWRENCE.—On the I s t i ns t., a t L arc hfi e ld , n ear c ham, the wife of Major-General Lawrence, of a son. to , LACE.—On the 29th i ns t., a t th e Old Hal l , Chriot le o f Cheshire, the wife of J. Verney Lovett Lace, Esql son. ti otle SOMERVILLE.—On the 30th ult., a t M a l m ai:sen; v,„ %t el Townsend, county of Cork, th e w if e o f Lieut.-C°'" Somerville, of a son and heir. MARRIAGES. GEARD—MoRGAN.—On the 29th ult , at Bramfoi,•l J. B. Geard, of St. Nichol as , Ipswich, to Ma ria, of fourth daughter of the late Mr. George Morga n ' Thornbush. DEATHS. 1; 8 0 4 4 ' APLIN.—On the 28th ult , at Brussels, John AP — ll ' formerly of Bicester, Oxfordshire. DOUCE —On the 2d l as t., at West Brompton, e Douce, Esq., aged 70. HoLLls.—On the 30th ult., at Cheltenham Major - GI : 4 John J. llolli s , on the retired full pay of 25 61 11 aged 76, HorE.—On the 18th inst., at 16, Kensington r ece, Notting. hill, Captain James Hope, late of the 92( 11 ' Landers, aged 72. 119c15 KEOGH,—On the I s t i ns t., at 9, Devonshire -terrace, r,, park, Thoma s K eog h, E sq ., Secretary to th e Boa Inland Revenue, aged 64. a fter A WEST,—on the 24th ult., at St. Germain-en Dile , ig hillP week's illness, of inflammation of the lungs/ ,J . - , co rs, Joseph West, Esq., aed 47, late of the 17th -1-4,%.,.)c f second son of the late Lines West, Esq., of Alscot 7, Wai wickshire. „.. _ S” LONDON : Printed and Published by MUR VOU DO --..... 112fof No. 112, Strand, Printer, at The Sun Office, PI °. ii Of Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the Wi ll Middleaozo Wednesday, April i f 1860. LE :NOT] GENEI be held 17th da, by Foui In rotat Auditor diate re THE GD, OI 2 1th A F 1. 1.8 . t or it Rup w p , at DePtf 0 b PROb TH S WOT PRES TIFII dad Dinin i)IieVASES Itntiful i i 7; l % Marl k:111 ac t b t i t rip n 1 ki XER e A tbeintere LOGY RE 0 krrel eases " Curia' t il l°, Win s of food A food f( nts ~P Pog i nted JOSEpy A phi EXT an beinz the In Great Scientifi c T, d Practise f 'he , thus C °VERA Debility of Energl 3 Self -Di s t Ile a ad and d nd le ' 4 11:1 m en *hole syl HINTS th e orde 'Re Auth4 yt i will fi Ltnps fc Bedford- 1 —vilford-1