The Sun. — London, England, 1846-08-13 00:00:00

IM .PE RI AL PARL lAMEN T. Th e : -OUSE OF CO MMON S, August 12. S pEAICEn. took the Chair at Twelve o'clock. Oo DRAINAGE OF LANDS BILL. l aird tfie motion of Mr. ESTCOURT, this Bill was) read a time end passed. LORDS' AMENDMENTS. to e I ..ords' amendment s t o th e f o ll ow i ng till s were agree d so ei ,7 t ,s eth and Clyde Navigation and Bowling Bay Improve -442 hianchester, Bolton, and Burr Canal Navigation and S hltl ' a va37, and Matichest r and Leeds, Railways Amalgamation ; 2) ; e? Ise Embankment; West /*tiding Union Railways (No. AI Wolverhampton Stis r ,endiary Justice. EFFECT OF SHOT' ON STEAM VESSELS. ts, es WA WN gave iveice that he should to-morrow ask ' questions on this stibject sa DUKE 0 - e' NORFOLK'S ESTATE. itSt t he motion of, Mr. ESTCOURT, it was agreed that an r, r uction b e giver, to the Committee of Selection to fix the )i s ealTittees on th e Duke of Norfolk's Estate Bill, and on th ose Bills h a ' ie leave for eport the same day. t Lord m ess . PRIVATE BILLS. "ale tho--`-'"? of pr iv ETHate obtained leave to bring in a Bill to regu- On 0: Bills. th SMOKE PROHIBITION BILL. hlz Lo r d e r arder of the day for this Bill being read, dORPETH said that if the lion. Member (Mr. session, `! an) w o uld consen t t o w i t hd raw h is Bill for the present he s , o . in which there appeared little probability of its passing, Now Ad assure him, on the part of the Government, that he lee • Rive his best attention to the subject, with a view to its ement, early next year. i.Nlr, MACKINNON felt himself to be in a delicate situation, pn r o lle had this very day received communications from Liver , Leeds, and Manchester, urging him to press th ! . Bill forward. Prom a printed statement, it appeared ini.not less than fio,ooo/. a-year were spent more in soap, t Jsiverpool alone, than would be necessary if the smoke stn lisance were abated, and taking the whole of t he manufac 00,1r distries, there were not less ths, 180,0001. a-year ‘O 7 O .itely lost in this way, so that there, was every inducement i_otee the matter osa. lie had indeed been already censured 14:_ersesupineness, tr i the puhlic prints. Yet he felt by 4 verie g this course, he would be Injuring his th e eaur,. in he was aware that at this period of hfo:,„r Th i ' e e r " . .osi it was impossible for any individual k „ to press any naea , ure against the opposition of the o eD - sment. All an individual Member could do was to 'ter; a matter continually before the House, until the public el, 4 alive to the fact that it was to their interest to have it 0 . ried into effect, and thus to create that pressure from with -I°t which would have a salutary effect within. He had done b 1 that one individual Member could do, and he trusted et in th us handing his pet child over to the Noble Lord, that yrould be exonerated from blame. by those influential papers , w woleh h a d previously accused him. lie trusted that his child exi e . el d he properly nursed, and at last carried into a healthy stence. sasIZMOTIPET trusted that the Hon. Member would be 14; e "wi'h his assurance. Wisi,d,,,7ACKINNON intimated his assent, and the Bill was lait . , 4 Ttt: 4,40-ln 11 INSOLVENT DEBTORS' BILL. was read a second time, and ordered to be corn ,orrew. This T RNIKE ROADS (IR BILL. FU went ro thegh C ommittee, and was ELAND) ordered to be l ead a third time on Friday. LUNATIC ASYLO)MS (IRELA ND) BILL. hra Com m i ttee on this Bill was postpon ed till to-morrow. WRECK AND SALVAGE BILL. This Bill was read a third time and passed. RELIGIOUS OPINIONS BILL. On the motion for the :douse going into Committee on this Mr. WALPOLE objected' to the Bill being taken up now, on the ground that it was so similar to soother Bill previously in troduced in the present session by the Hon. Member for Kin sale as to place it in that category which precluded its being adopted tesmrding to Parliamentary usage. The SPEAKER decided that it was net so similar as to put lt i,r.o that position. slr. ESCOTT conceived that it would be better to go on 'With the Bill, but believed that the Bill as it came down from the House of Lords was the best form it could be placed in. Yet he believed that the amendments which he had to pro- P°ara were necessary to make it perfect. These discussions were always pai n f u l, an d b y sett li ng t h e quest i on now , t h e ,_, of another discussion would be altogether saved. Lord JOHN RUSSELL said that if the Commons were to send up Bills with a number of amendments, which en litelY Altered the nature of the Bill, they could not l?Pract otherwise but that it would be thrown out. ',rancher truth we,s, that the Bill introduced by the Hon. ',rancher for Ic.insale was only lost by a majority of four on the 1 4 1 1, ° „, tie b nf„or going into Committee, in a House of 200 Members. o - „",', l ss as it came from the Lords had been very maturely t tli a - 7 , e'.ed, and he certainly should oppose any amendments • l aight be made in it. Mr. HENLEY thanked the Noble Lord for his straight rtward d ea li ng i n t h e matter, an d sa id t h at t h e H on . M em b er roc Winch es t er propose d t h e cur i ous anoma l y o f sav i ng t h e pa i n e' h aying one more discussion next year, in order that he toight have the pairs of two discussions this. Mr. ESTCOURT said that as he had been the means of -4 "ing the rejection of the previous Bill, he had been asked Zhat couree he intended to pursue on this occasion. Te this replied, that, seeing the state of the case, he was prepared to w ow the Bill to pass as it was; he should oppose any amend la , e an kind come from what side of the House it might. * li s „ * ' , HAW should also oppose the amendments of the Member for Winchester. ss is , Th e Earl of ARUNDEL and SURREY approved of the •ic e4 ,dreents, a n d if hi s Hon. Friend divided the House he ° ,,, t i t _td feel i t h is d uty to di v id e w i t h hi m . o°o Hou se t h en wen t i nto C ommit t ee , a nd the first and d clauses were passed. ivi o the third clause being put, Lf.t s' SCIDI'T proposed the introduction of the words in part i l n ; s eetisequent thereon," which . would have th_e effect of to cli: 4l penalties, which the Bill in its present with the 3 . I T:U . SSELL said that his object was to carry this *" in the form in which it had come down from the House 14 f Lords. It had been prepared by Lords Lyndhurst, Campbell, a nd Br oug h am, an d t h e w h o l e , of the matter had been fully and " 1 9 Considered. They did not propose to make that only to which was prev iously . illegal by commonlaw, wnow allowed L u abrog ate s h e p e nalties imposed for that wh ich to be no fault. His d..isire was to carry the Bill as it came from the Lords , . The SOLICITOR GENERAL contended that the clause as it now st ood was perfectly correct, and better without the proposed words than with them. The Bill took away the severe penalties, but left any breach of the common law just as it stood before. Mr. ESCOTT believed that the Noble Lord was of his own opinion, and he thought that opinion ought not to be made is succumb to the How- of Lords. Lord JOHN RUSSELL explained that he objected to the discussion being taken on the point at that late period of the session, when but a small number of Members interested in the subject were present. After some conversation the House divided, when there a PPeared.— For the Amendment. lO Against it Majority against the Amendment .... 43 Mr. R. YORKE appealed to the Hon. Member (Mr. Escott), after the decision of the House, the lateness of the session, and the small number of Members present, to with draw the remaining amendments. Mr. ESCOTT had great respect for the 'opinions of the lion. Member; and although he was dissatisfied with the de cision of the Committee, and considered that the House of Commons would also be dissatisfied, he should not press the other amendments to a division. At the same time, he wished to state that he should not relax his opposition to the Bill in its future stages. - - - _ The amendments were then withdrawn, and the Clause was agreed to. Mr. SPOONER objected to the next clause on the ground that it would violate the oath of supremacy and the oath taken by Members of that House, \void' set forth that no foreign Pontiff should be allowed to interfere in any way with the religious opinions of the subjects of this realm, whereas the Pope would have the nower of issuing bulls affecting the opinions of the people of this country by this Bill. He pressed the Noble Lord to postpone the clause until next session, in order that it might be more fully discussed. He moved the omission of the objectionable words, and expressed his intention of dividing the House on the subject if the explana tion, of the Government was not satisfactory. Lord JOHN RUSSELL defended the clause, and held that as it was framed, the Pope would not have the rower of inter fering with the religious opinions of the people of this !ountry, or any portion of them professing religion , In the way pointed out by the Hon. Gentleman. According to his understanding of the oath, he did not think there was anything in the oath which was inconsistent with the fact, as it is or would be aft .r the passing of this Act. If the introduction of any bull were unlawful at present, it would be unlawful hereafter; and if there were any bull which it would be lawful to introduce now, it would be lawful hereafter. What be understood by the oath was, that there was no jurisd iction to be exercised in this country by the Pope which could be enforced by any of the courts of law, o recognised by the Chief Justice of the Court of Queen' Bench. There was a bull of the Pope a shor tim e since which forbid the Roman Catholic Bisho e ps to interfere in any p olitical q uestion, as thir concern was entirely with spiritual affairs. His Hon. Friend represented to him that the rescript said that they should not too much concern themselves in any political transac tions.—(Laughter.) Would his Honourable Friend think that the Roman Catholic bishop was criminal for attending to that rule, and wit'drawing from Conciliation Hall, or ceasing to interfere with the repeal agitation He did not see in the At then before the House anything at all to affect the oath of supremacy as it then existed. Mr. ESTCOURT made some observations which did not reach the gallery. Mr. SHAW said that it was quite clear, as the Noble Lord bad said, that in all respects, except as to the penalties and Punishments, the law should remain the same as it was then. Ile thought that these punishments were unnecessarily severe, and ought to be withdrawn. Mr. WALPOLE thought that it would be unjust to retain those penalties referred to by the Noble Lord, and he hoped that the Hon. Member would not press the House to a division on the clause. Mr. SPOON ER said that it was a dangerous principle to Put a construction upon the oath of supremacy which was different from the terms of that eath. The omission of the Words in the oath showed that such a construction was never intended to be put upon it. He, for one, would not consent to allow any jurisdiction, spiritu al or tem p oral, by any foreign Power, over any subject w ithin these realms. Mr. SHBIL said that the words of the Right Hon. Baronet, the Secretary for the Home Department, " bishops and archbishops," recognised the persons bearing that title as Persons having spiritual authority. The word " ministers" Was formerly used. Mr. B. ESCOTT said that the passing of this Act was opening the way for sweeping away all this rubbish, and the time would come when they would cease to punish men for their religious opinions. The remainder of the classes were agreed to without dis cussion. The Bill was then reported to the House, and or dered to be engrossed, and read a third time to-morrow. GAUGE OF RAILWAYS BILL. On the motion for the third reading of this Bill. Mr. MUNTZ r o s e to add a clause to the Bill. It was in order to give the people of Birmingham that accom ixtodation on both gauges to London to which they were entitled. Ac cor ding to the provisions of the present the inhabitants of Birmingham, would be in a much worse_ position than the people of Wolverha m p ton, who would have lines on both gauges to London, whereas Birminham would be restricted to the narrow ga u g e. The clause he proposed was in effect to make it imperative that th e Birmingham and Oxford line from Birmingham to the point at whi c h it j o ined with the Oxford, Worcester, and Wol verhampton Railway, should be laid down on the broad as well as the narrow gauge. In justice to the people of Birmingham , he felt bound to submit this clause. The clause having been brought up, and read from the chair, • Mr. MILNER GIBSON rose to oppose the adoption of clause. In doing so he went into the circumstances that le 460 a t nidlgtin of Mita% jt re Misgt4 vs - the report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into j the gauge question, and a Committee which had s at on the ' question confirmed the reeomnsendations of that report. 'The Bill had passed through the House of Lords, from whence it had come down to the pre,ent House. He complained of the Hon. Member for Birmingham proposing his clause at this late stage of the Bill, when he had had many opportunaies before of submitting his amend ment, and when he might have brought the special case involved in his clause under the consideration of the Com. mittee that sat on the question of the gauges. Had the case been submitted to the Committee, and they considered it founded in fairness, they would, no doubt, have specially re ported in its favour. Under the circumstances he must give his oppositic n to the clause. Mr. SPOONER supported the clause, as absolutely neces sary for the great trading interests of Birmingham. He had heard no reason whatever against the (douse, but the complaint that his Hon. Colleague had introduced it too late. If the clause was a just one, he thought such an objection should not for a moment be entertained against it. Mr. P. M. STEWART begged to inform the Hon. Member for Birmingham that the suggestion for making the broad gauge from Birmingham to Oxford was submitted to the Com mittee referred to, but after a full consideration of the point, and referring to the report of the Commissioners, the suggestion was laid aside. But he opposed the clause on national grounds, as he would not be a party to support an extension of a gauge whioh he had no doubt would ultimately be given up by the whole country. The break of gauge was a great inconvenience, and any exten sion of the broad gauge would, in his opinion, increase that evil. Some equitable mode should be discovered for making a uniform gauge throughout the country. This resolution would militate against the recommendation of the Com missioners appointed by the House. If he were a shareholder in the Birmingham and Oxford Company, he would object to the broad gauge principle. The Bill would go beyond the resolutions of the House; and then came the proposition of the Hon. Member for Birming ham to sanction for the length of thirty miles what was looked upon as a great evil—vis., a diversity of gauge. Uniformity must eventually be established throughout the country. if the alteration contemplated in the gauge near Birmingham was ever to be made it had better be deferred until the country had resolved upon an uniformity of gauge from John e' Groat's House to the land's end.—( Hear, hear. ) Mr. HAY TER said the Right Hon. Gentleman ithe Vice • President of the Board of Trade laboured under a mistake when he said, in opposition to this clause, first, that it would sanction a complete violation of the principles by which the Commissioners came to their resolution ; and, secondly, that, in point of form, this resolution ought to have been pro posed when they were in Committee on the Bill ?—( Hear, hear.) The resolutions of the House did not militate against the clause proposed—in fact, they made an exception with respect to that part of the country to e'bich the resolution of the Hon. Member for Birmingham referred.—(Hear, hear.) The Bill proposed to interfere with two parts of the kingdom— the Birmingham district and a Welsh county—on which the Gauge Commissioners had not reported. The clause now pro posed was only simil,r to that which was inserted in the Ox ford and Birmingham Railway Bill, and he thought that the House ought to allow it to be inserted in this Bill.--(Hear.) .Mr. WILLIAMS supported the clause. The a dvantages to the public of having a continuity of gauge from Birrninufhabm. to Rugby were incalculable, and those advantag wo .n d t e obtained by the insertion of the proposed clause i t h _ e blie pr w op o o u s l e d d sa e continuityan gauge,nse am o a u e n d ii to money T b h y, the thought that the Right Honourable Gentleman the Vice- President of the Board of Trade, had utterly failed in showing that the clause ought not to be agreed to. The public were fairly entitled to the clause, which would tend in a great measure to put an end to the monopoly which at pre sent existed on the railways in the district in question.— ( Hear, hear.) The manufacturers of the northern districts suffered much from the inability of those railways to accom modate them in the carrying of their merchandise. Mr. MARK PHILIPS briefly opposed the clause. He thought that this proposition had come upon the House by surprise. At so late a period of the session, it had been supposed that the Bill would not have been at tempted to be altered. He certainly could not agree to the introduction of the clause, which would net, in his opinion, confer the advantages anticipated by Hon. Members. Mr. BERNAL thought that the public were entitled to the insertion of this clause. Sir GEORGE GREY said that the question was fully discussed when tha resolutions were before the House, and the President of the Board of Trade of the late Government brought in a Bill founded on these resolutions, which Bill was the one now under discussion. During the debate on these resolutions no mention was made of the present pro posal ; and he thought it extremely inconvenient to re-open the question now de none. Without entering into the merits of the question, he thought that the safe course would be to adhere to the Bill, and to remit the clause, as being contrary to precedent and the ordinary usages of the House with regard to Bills at that stage. Mr. HENLEY supported the clause, inasmuch as it was within the spirit of the exceptions allowed by the resolutions. Captain MANGLES opposed the clause. The merits of the question had been already fully discussed, and the pro moters of the broad gauge had the sole opportunity of being heard before the Board of Trade, without making the present proposal. Under these circumstances, he did not think the House of Commons was a fit tribunal to reverse the decision of the authorities, who supported the course determined upon by the Board of Trade and sanctioned by themselves, in passing the resolutions on which the present Bill was founded. Mr. MUNTZ replied, and said it would be a great injustice if they rejected the clause on the technical ground of its not being printed. The House then divided, when the numbers were— For the clause Against it Majority against the clause —3l The Bill was then read a third time and passed. EJECTMENTS (IRELAND) BILL. The House went into Committee on this Bill, and the se veral clauses were read and agreed to. The House resumed, and the report was ordered to be brought up to-morrow. RATEABLE PROPERTY (IRELAND) BILL. On the motion for going into Committee on this Bill, Mr. SHARMAN CRAWFORD moved, " That it is the opinion of this House. that any new law for the valuation of rateable property in Ireland, should be made in conformity with the recommendations contained in the report of the Select Committee on the TownlandValua , ion of Ireland (July 18,1844), viz., that there ought to be only one valuation for all purposes of local taxation, framed on the net annual value to let, determined on the principles laid down in the Poor Relief Act." He said that it was new required to put taxation on real value, and not proportionate value ; and if they adopted that course they would have no necessity to resort to this cumbrous ma chinery. Was it not preposterous that after the real value had been decided by the assistant, the petitioner might find his property by some plan or other cause taxed according to the proportionate value? He thought the valuation for poor rate should be made at the expense of the public. An endless number of valuations would result without any benefit, but, on the contrary, causing a greater confusion in what was already too confused. He thought it was unreasonable, when so many of the Irish Members were absent, to pass a measure of such importance as the present. He admitted that the rating of property in Ireland was most important, and he trusted that it would form one of the beneficial measures it was proposed to introduce ; but he thought, from the considerations he had stated, it would be better to postpone it for the present. Mr. LABOUCHERE said he could assure the Hon. Gen tleman who had just sat down that there was no individual to whose suggestions on the social condition of Ireland he would be more resdy to attend, but in the present case he could net advise the Government to postpone this measure. He agreed with the Hon. Gentleman as to the importance of this measure; but its postponement would lead to the postponement of other desirable measures for Ireland. At the same time, concur rently with this measure, there would be a valuation on the principle suggested by the Hon. Gentleman. The motion was then withdrawn, and the House went into Committee on the Bill. The House immediately afterwards resumed. MESSAGE FROM THE LORDS. Messengers from the House of Lords brought up several Bills and rep sets. The House again resolved itself into Committee on the Rateable Property (Ireland) Bill. Having disposed of forty clauses (there being eighty-seven in the Bill), the House resumed, the Chairman reported pro gress, and obtained leave to sit again on Friday. MARRIAGES (IRELAND) BILL. On the motion of Mr. PIGO l'T (who stated that he would propose some amendments in Committee), this Bill was read a second time, and ordered to be committed on Friday. HOUSE OF COMMONS OFFICES BILL. This Bill was reported, and ordered to be recommitted to morrow. NAVAL AND MILITARY DEPARTMENTS BILL. This Bill was postponed till to-morrow. PUBLIC WORKS AND FISHERIES. This Bill then went through Committee, and the report was ordered to be brought up to-morrow. COMMONS INCLOSURE (No. 3) BILL. The Bill was then read a third time and passed. WRECK AND SALVAGE BILL. Mr. MILNER GIBSON having moved the third reading of this Bill, Captain PECHELL hoped that it would not be allowed to pass. If it passed, the Admiralty Court, in which there was an amount of robbery yearly' committed, which it was not convenient at this period of the session to detail, would be still further enriched by the spoils which this Bill would produce for those who practised in that Court. He knew of a case, lately decided in the Admiralty Court, in which the amount awarded was but MK , and the law expenses 33ii/. It would be ruinous to the shipowners of this country. The law of wreck and salvage certainly did require the most extensive improvement, but he did not expect that such a monstrous remed y as this Bill would have been proposed. He hoped that his Right Hon. Friend, the President of the Board of Tradelwouldrelinquish this measure of the defunct Ministry. He (Captain Paella') had, for the last ten years, done his utmost endeavours to purify the Admi ralty Court ; and if this Bill were passed, be should never rest satisfied until it was repealed. Mr. GEORGE Pto LMER also opposed the Bill, which, in his opinion, involved the greatest difficulties. Mr. MILNER GIBSON hoped the Hon. Member would allow the Bill to be read a third time, and the amendments might be considered on a future occasion. The Bill was then read a third time, and further proceedings on the Bill were postponed till to-morrow. BRITISH POSSESSIONS BILL. This Bill was read a second time. Captain PECHELL moved for copies of all the correspon dence which has taken place between the Committee of Council of Education and the York and Ripon Central Diocesan So ciety for the Education of the Poor.—Agreed to. Captain PECHELL moved for a return from the several Tice-Admiralty Courts ( according to the schedule annexed to the Act 5 and 6 Vic. c. 91) of all cases which had been ad judged in the said Courts respectively from the 10th August, 1842, to the latest period at which the same can be made Agreed to. men CORPORAL PUNISHMENT. Mr. HUME moved for certain orders respecting the cor poral punishment of Europeans and natives in British India, and also a return of the number of priswters who suffered corporal punishment in the different mil►tary prisons in England, Ireland, and Scotland.—Agreed to. The other orders of the day were then disposed of, and the House adjourned at six o'clock. A ROGUE.—A man, named Joseph Pye, a flagger and Mater, who assisted the Preston Temperance Excursion ConuniLt , e to get up the cheap trip to Liverpool on Thurs day week, was deputed on Monday last to call upon the parties who had sold tickets, to collect the money, in order that it might be paid over to the Railway Company. He succeeded in collecting about 1801., with which he decamped, and although two persons were immediately. dispatched in pursuit, he has not yet been discovered. He was traced as far as Birmingham, and from circumstances which have transpired it is thought that he has crossed over to France.-- Liverpool Courier. ICE FROM GREENLAND.—An importation of ice has just taken place from Greenland, by a ship named the Edger cumbe, having on board 110 tons weight of this singular ar- WA 44;0;44140x MARYLEBONE ASSOCIATION. PAROCHIAL CONIMITTEE. The fifteenth anniversary of this association, which was formed for obtaining equal parochial rights for the inhabitants of this extensive parish, was celebrated yes terday by a dinner, in the Marylebone Theatre, at which John Williams, Esq., Oxford-street, presided ; G. Daniel, Esq., being vice chairman. Henry Charles W:lson acting as honorary secretary on the occasion. The business of the day was conducted by a number of gentlemen, who fulfilled their stewardship admirably. Through the liberality of Mr. Loveridge, the proprietor of the theatre, a gentleman who, by the exercise of ability and honourable condact, has been enabled to build this theatre, and assume his present position in society, the use of the structure, and the gas-light was given gratis. Another gentleman gratuitously boarded the pit over, so as to render the place eligible for the pur pose. Many other instances of a similar spirit might be noticed. The best use was made of the space, and this agreeable little theatre presented a scene of friendly con viviality unusually pleasing, even on such occasions. Indeed, the arrangements were excellent. The dinner, provided by Mr. Sarson, of the Windsor Castle, was liberal, and put on the table in his usual style. The vocal corps comprised Mr. Ransford, Mr. Collyer, and Mr. Sporle, who, with the assistance of a brass band, greatly enlivened the proceedings of the day. The at• tendance was very numerous and highly respectable; and the meeting was graced by ladies, who filled the boxes. Among the company present were Sir C. Napier, M P., J. Williams, Esq., M.P., and , with the bulk of the most respectable inhabitants of the district. The cloth having been withdrawn, Non Nolis was sung admirably by the vocalists. After this, The CHAIRMAN said that he had a toast to propose, which he was quite sure would be acceptable to the men of Marylebone. That toast was " The Queen."—( Ap phase.) Raves a curious and singular coincidence that this country had always flourished when a Queen was the Sovereign, and it was the peculiar merit of our pre sent Queen, that she was the first who had governed simply with a view to the benefit of the people, and not with a view to class interests. This was the case now, and he trusted the men of Marylebone would do their ac customed justice to themselves. Glee—" God save the Queen." The next toast which the CHAIRMAN had to propose, and it was one which he was quite sure would meet with a ready response, was " The health of the Prince of Wales, the Prince Albert, the Duchess of Kent, and the rest of the Royal Family resident in England." He trusted every gentleman would charge their glasses with bumpers, as he felt assured every heart would respond to the toast, for he felt equally sure that the Queen would pay as much attention to the education of the Prince of Wales, as the Queen had done to her own. Glee--" God save the Prince and the Queen." The next toast was "The Parochial Committee of Marylebone." For fifteen years, through good report and evil report, the Parochial Committee had been zealously engaged in obtaining the prin ciple of self government. During the whole of that time, since the Poor-law Commissioners had been appointed, the members of this Parochial Committee had been opposed to the principle of cen trelisation. He had always been opposed to this prin ciple, and had been annoyed by the way in which the magistrates of England had suffered themselves to be insulted by the three Commissioners of Somerset House. Every parish in London succumbed to this despotic Government but the men of Marylebone ; but the wealth, the energy, and the nearness of the parish to the seat of the Government, had enabled the Parochial Committee to oppose with success the endeavours of those despotic monarchs, end had thus brought back the good old Saxon rule of parochial self government. The parish had hurled back into the teeth of those potentates the assumption of power which they had, without any sufficient authority, taken up. This parish—and not only this parish, but the whole country—were indebted to his Hon. Friend Sir Charles Napier for havingbrought this subject. forward, and for having forced upon the House of Commons the consideration of this subject ; and he trusted that ere long he should have the advantage and the enjoyment of celebrating the utter downfall of those potentates. Ills friend, Mr. George Daniel, who did him the honour this day to face him, would respond to the toast, and while calling upon the assembly to listen with attention to what fell from his friend, he would assert that a more energetic, able, and persevering man he had never met with in the parish of Marylebone. Mr. DANIEL felt that in the respondence to this toast a great task had been committed to him, but still he felt that it was a task which ought to be agreeable to any man ; and in doing so he would only glance at what had occurred of late years in the business of the parish, and he would only allude to the principles which had been carried out by their com mittee, and the first of these was, that of self-govern- This had been exemplified in the present contest in a remarkable manner. Mr. Daniel proceeded through the several points of the discussion, and con cluded an able and eloquent speech, by stating that the objects of this association , was the highteat of all— Glory to God, and good principle towards men. Song—" The Vestrymen of Marylebone." Mr. JOSEPH proposed the next toast, and after stating that after having had fourteen or fifteen years' experience, he would say, no man who was a member of the vestry was otherwise than a poor man's friend. (Mr. Joseph here read a letter of apology from Sir B. Hall, which apologised for his absence on the plea of a pleasure excursion to Scotland, which would prevent his attendance.) He did not think this apology satisfactory—(Applause)—and when the asser tion was made he would exempt the Member who was present (Sir C. Napier), who, whenever he was re moved from his present or his future position—whether that position vacated his seat or not—would carry with him the good-will of the electors of Marylebone. Mr. Joseph concluded an able speech by proposing the "Health of the Members for the borough." Sir CHARLES NAPIER returned thanks, in the course of which proceeding he stated his satisfaction at having attended every meeting within the last two years whereat the feelings of the constituency were expressed. After speaking of Sir Robert Peel as going by a cir cuitous course in forwarding the objects of the people, he said that the present Ministry had had a severe lesson some time ago, and it must be allowed that all the secondaries had been largely incorporated, and he was perfectly satisfied, that if the same course was pursued, it would lead to large and beneficial measures. He must say that the constituency of Marylebone was the most easy with which he had ever had to deal, for his door was open from nine in the morning till three or four o'clock in the evening, and it was only three or four times a week that he was applied to, either on public or private objects. With respect to the lunatic asylum, he must say, after a patient inquiry, that the pauper had every relief which was necessary, and that if the parishioners would wait till next session, they would obtain every enfranchisement which they desired from the thraldom of the Poor-law Commissioners. Glee—" Should mirth our moments crown." Mr. SAVAGE proposed the health of Mr. Protheroe, M.P. for Halifax, a friend who had come forward in the hour of need, and a friend in need is a friend indeed. Mr. PROTHEROE said that in returning thanks, which he most cordially did, he must disclaim the honour of having come forward in the first instance without solicitation. In the first instance he had been returned for Bristol on the principle that Dissenters were not to pay any part of the expenses of the members of the Established Church, and it was on that principle that he had accepted this invitation. An Hon. Friend of his had alluded to the House of Commons, and in doing so he might say that it was his rule to begin at the beginning of the session, and go on to the end of it. Mr. POTTER proposed the next toast, for the pre vention of centralisation, and stated that in the pro position of this toast he saw individuals from every parish of the metroplis. He was inclined to repudiate the Bill that was called the Metropolitans' Bill, but he was decided to put the saddle on the right horse, and call it Protheroe's Bill, and it was to that man above all in the House of Commons that the debt of gratitude was owing. He rejoiced, at any rate, at the presence of one of the members of the borough, but there was one man whose progress through Parliament he bad watched, and he was bound to say that there was one who bad always been the advocate of the many, and not of the few, and that man was Mr. Williams, the member for Coventry. The toast was drunk with great applause. Mr. WILLIAMS returned thanks, and in doing so said that nothing could be more gratifying to the feelings of a public man than the approbation of his neighbours. lie had felt nothing more than the honour of being elected to a membership of the select vestry, and he re gretted that he had not had so many opportunities for attending on this vestry so often as he had desired, but he had other and important duties in another place. It had been his lot to be mixed up with the parishes which had a corrupt system to rely upon. The parish of Marylebone was conducted at one-third of the expense which was outlayed in the City of London. A great public writer with whom he was acquainted, had said that the great salvator of the country was to be found in the principle of self-government, and if any e g o r n ea v t ul c s a i l o a n m , i t t h y at sh th o e ul g d a rea ri t se sa , fe s g u u ch ard as or th th a e t c o o f u a nt n ry ati m on u a st l be found in this principle ; and whenever his services could avail he should be happy to place them at the dis posal of this constituency. Glee—" When shall we three meet again." Mr. WILSON, Honorary Secretary, proposed with great effect the health of Mr. Loveridge, the proprietor of the theatre, and in doing so would particularly remark the attendance of the younger men of the com munity, commonly called " Young England," and who were to be trustees of the great principles in which they were themselves engaged. He would take this oppor tunity of acknowledging the presence of the visitors, who were inhabitants of the neighbouring parishes, and he would associate with them those who had been inhabitants, but who were now members of other parishes, and he never recollected an instance in which they required assistance from the adjacent parishes in which he had ever been ready to render it. He would, therefore, couple the name of Mr. liovendon with the toast which he had to propose. Mr. HOVENDON returned thanks with much feeling. Several local toasts were afterwards proposed, and the meeting separated to prepare for the ball. THE MURDER AT AINTREE RACES.—Robert Farmes has been fully committed for trial at the approaching assizes, on the charge of having caused the death of Elizabeth Batescn, by strangulation, on the last night of Aintree races. The allitional evidence taken yesterday threw very little light on this mystecious and melancholy affair.-4iieer. pool Times. EXTENSIVE ROBBERY. —Yesterday afternoon, about two o'clock, Mrs. La Font:leg, of Wimpole street, Caven dish-square, had a reticule cut from her arm, between Temple-bar and St. Clement's-churchyard, containing 3071., that she had just received iu Fleet-street, for the rents of houses. LITERATURE, CRITICAL AND HISTORICAL ESSAYS. By Thomas Babington Macaulay. 3 Vols. Fourth Edition. A criticism upon essays which are in themselves criti cisms, appears, and with some reason, to be one of the anomalies of literature. Every one must perceive this upon reading any of the innumerable commentaries which have been written upon the labours of Dacier, and Johnson, and Gifford, and the rest of that honour able fraternity. Our remarks, therefore, upon these twenty-three essays, first published in the Edinburgh Review, must necessarily possess that characteristic; they must necessarily be anomalous. We will acknow ledge, moreover, that the many excellencies contained in these volumes, the luxuria nce , and yet the polish, of the composition ; the subtlety, an d yet the transparency, of the analysis ; the splendour, and yet the propriety, of the diction ; the simplicity, and yet the enthusiasm, of the eloquence ; all of which qualities are now generally recognised, and generally admired, render any recommen dation of them altogether superfluous. The principalpur pose, therefore, in the present notice is one of comment rather than of anatomy. We would avail ourselves of the opportunity presented, by a new edition of these productions, to particularise the various peculiarities of Mr. Macaulay's style —peculiarities which sometimes adorn the purges with a novel and beautiful lustre, but which might occasionally fascinate any inexperienced pursuer in a wrong direction. The compositions of Mr. Macaulay are unlike the compositions of any other writer ; they are as dissimilar to Gibbon's compo sitions as Gibbon's are to Johnson's, or Johnson's to Addison's. The constr uc ti o n of the sentences although always in accordance with the rubrics of grammar, is occasionally new even to eccentricity. The language is invariably selected with the most fas tidious taste ; the foreign words which have been im perceptibly engrafted upon our native tongue are rejected ; the words of a purely Saxon origin abound in every paragraph, conveying the ideas vigorous and musically. We know no writer who so entirely gains the mestery over the prejudices of his reader as Mr. Jfaeau lay. His manner is singularly disputatious; but, as he himself says of the late Lord Holland, is is " cour teously and pleasingly disputatious." His themes ap pear to have been usually selected for the purpose of rectifying some prodigious mis-statement, of disabusing the public mind of some egregious misconception, of placing important events or extraordinary charac ters in their true light, whenever they have been misrepresented, either by unnecessary aspersions or undeserved panegyrics. For example—the review of Mr. Robert Montgomery's poems was a wholesome castigation of all poetasters, and it was, we believe, the first manly criticism that revealed the fact to certain credulous old gentlemen and elderly ladies, that the man whose books they were encouraging edition after edition, whose busts were on their mantlepieces, and whose portraits were in their picture frames, was, after all, little else than a literary charlatan ; that his sublimity was rant, his tenderness puerility, his grandeur fustian, his rhymes doggrel. Again, the article on Machiavelli was a noble and successful effort to redeem a very eminent man from an obloquy which was not only undeserved but which had been sanctioned by the acquiescence of entire empires and successive generations. Mr. Macaulay, in this admirable piper, reasoned that the principles inculcated by the great Tus can statesman in his so mewhat notorious " Prince" were merely such as were in vogue among the politicians of his age—that they were principles in which his con temporaries recognised no depravity—that they were published without malice prepense—that the author of " The Prince" was at heart a patriot, and inclined to promote good government, and that whatever atrocity is discoverable in those principles should in justice be charged to the generation of which Ma chiavelli was an unit, and not to Machiavelli individually, merely because he happened to expound those principles with more perspicuity and brilliancy than any other of his countrymen. In the audacity of this endeavour to correct a blunder which had been con firmed by the accordance of millions, and by the lapse of centuries there was something chivalrous; and in the complete triumph of that endeavour there was some thing solemn and affecting. Mr. Macaulay did, with less labour, but with equal success, for Machia nelli what Mr. Carlyle has subsequently done for Cromwell. Both men have been reviled with the intensest acrimony ; one as the most callous and in tnllerant of hypocrites, the other as the most vicious and shameless of villains. Oliver Cromwell, before Mr. Carlyle undertook his vindication, had been scorned as the very impersonation of religious cant ; the digging up of his dead body, and the hanging of it up in chains upon a gibbet at Tyburn was regarded by the multitude as an ignominy not wholly unmerited ; the figure of the Protector shedding tears in his paroxysms of devotion, and alternately thumbing the Bible and fingering his matchlock, was regarded as the most contemptible spe cimen of the most heartless hypocrisy. Machiavelli, on the other hand, had been abhorred as the advocate of a diabolical system of despotism ; his memory was execrated as infamous ; his writings were condemned as demoralising, both by civil and ecclesiastical tribunals; the blackest crimes since perpe trated by tyrants have been attributed to the influence of his accursed doctrines, and in our own country his name has actually become incorporated with the language as a synonyme for villainy and depravity. Mr. Carlyle has, by a quaint earnestness and a felicity of candour, revealed to us the true Cromwell. Mr. Macaulay has, by a most lucid and a most graceful exposition of an epoch is Italian history, revealed to us the true Machiavelli. That fog of prejudice which had intercepted the popular view of those men, and which had distorted them into the most monstrous deformity, was dispelled. The distance of centuries became suddenly nullified by the clearness of the medium of vision, and we beheld the veritable forms of those veritable men, with all their real imperfections and all their real merits. Miss Balcombe, in her " Recollections of Napoleon," tells us, if our memory be not marvellously deceived, that when quite a child, at " The Briars," in St. Helena, she shuddered at the terrible news that Bonaparte was approaching the house. Her imagination was filled with the phantom of a hideous ogre, with flaming eyes, and bristling hair, and hands armed with talons, and jaws ever ready to devour a fresh victim of his demonised and bloodthirsty nature. Nor was this creature of her fancy annihilated until she saw a horseman, surrounded by a brilliant staff of officers, galloping over her father's lawn—until she saw a small, but symmetrical form—until she looked into his benign and beautiful countenance, listened to the gentle intonations of his voice, and was told that this was Napoleon. The ogre of Miss Balcombe's imagination was not more unreal or extravagant than the ogres of Cromwell and Machiavelli, such as the populace had pictured to themselves before Mr. Macaulay and Mr. Carlyle had boldly advanced and impeached the judg ment of millions of their predecessors : nor were the people less amazed on first beholding the real Machia velli and the real Cromwell than was Miss Balcombe on first beholding the real Napoleon. We have been lured into this digression from the importance which we are inclined to attach to this particular essay; because, moreover, we would direct the attention of those to it who may by possibility have hitherto re mained ignorant of its character; and especially because we conceive, that in that single article are com prised all the . most remarkable and beautiful pecu liarities of its eminent author. His impassioned an d melodious expostulations ; his elucidations by skilful antitheses; his logical enumeration of facts and arguments ; his exquisite and sometimes fantastic metaphors ; his striking alternations of abrupt ness and fluency ; his earnestness, his zeal for truth, his love of brilliant and startling thoughts ; the silver melody and exceeding purity of his diction. If Mr. Macaulay possesses one faculty in writing more remarkable than another it is the faculty of illustration. His mind teems with an astonishing profusion of images for the symbolising of any idea. Classical literature, history, the productions or phases of nature, poetry, the fine arts, fiction, manufactures, everything by turn supplies him with a similitude, dis playing at once the ingenuity of his fancy, the facile obedience of his memory, the abundance and the range of his erudition. By one of these adroit metaphors he will, moreover, convey a juster notion of his meaning to the reader than another man would do in a dozen elaborate paragraphs of explana tion; they often throw a glare of light upon a matter that an instant before was enveloped in darkness; what was previously , indistinct to the extremest limits of obscurity, under their influence, becomes suddenly comprehensible to the most mediocre understand ing. Sometimes, indeed, his illustrations in this manner are so unexpected, and there is such a vivid analogy between the two things compared as lite rally amounts to wit, and wit of the most sterling and rwebile,ieeLgtir:a.,htceeleidang,iipguttle.ihinsr3ege2at9pdo.soehtv.viecaei. lustrous description. Thus, in the paper already parti cularised, he comp the double character com of shot silk, the combination of bined in the intellect of Machiavelli to "the va riegated texture a glancing and appearance." The comparison also drawn schools of Pope and Milton, and might, .thdeed, enumerate multi the pictures of Paradise, as represented in an old wood cutthat there is scarcely a single and a masterpiece of painting, is inimitable.—Vide. V tu o d l e . s l o 9 f these similes, were it not utterly a matter of not decorated by them, scarcely a single subject that cloys not evoke them, scarcely a single train of ideas in the three volumes that does spuapgeorertougaatt.ioisra seeing not derive from them much ad ven titi ous b r i g ht ness a nd associations. Another striking peculiarity stincitlaierincienmpositions of Mr. Macaulay is that fg contrasts. y Here our author is always (Vol.is contrast of the Puritan and and the old Cavalier Pp y ( p . 49-55) ; hi s contradis tinction between the ancient philosophy and the modern philosophy (Vol. _ ee6-404) ; his comparison of Dante and Milton , of Es sex and Villiers, with a variety of u d ingenious iuo la rla of others, too numerous to particularise, are, in their way, perfect speci mens o f the chiaroscuro el letters. They impart a remarkable vividness bring out events in such a s are rea dily seized by the i mag i na ti on and indelibly i m p r i n ted on the memory; they give the ke enest chi selling to the features of a face, delinea and the brightes t colo uring to the p ortrai ture of a n tdoistiu theot groups, such ; t h ey occurrence. Among the three-and-twenty distinct papers comprised in this collection, we should be embar rassed to . make a . selection of the most meritorious. The apple of Pa ris was not reserved from a deeper to arrive at a decision than sense of ofoui ricaPscitY our judgment be withheld in this par ticular. Whateve r arti cle we have perused the latest we prefer to its companions every additional perusal alters our opinion. Nevertheless each of the essays, whether historical or critical, possesses some especial a tt rac tion peculiar to itself, and in which it admits of no mtit Mr. Macaulay is gifted with an intellect c a o ton pe cese io s n. th e tical and cont e mplative. He is equally at home when expatiating upon the elements of high art, or in accounting for the motives of a statesman. His elaborate disquisition upon Lord Bacon is a splendid tribute of mace $0 cone of greatest IBMs that was ever granted to mortal, while it rigidly ad heres t the statement of those mournful facts which invest the glorious memory of that man with so much of incongruous shame and infamy. The intellectual strength and moral weakness of our noblest philosopher are there pourtrayed with the utmost impartiality. The same veneration for truth, kindles the writer's enthusiasm in one instance, and arouses his indignation in the other. He is consistent to his own tenets ; he acts upon his ab horrence for what in one place he designates " the Lues Boswelliana, or disease of admiration ;" in another, " the idola tribes," and in a third " the Furor Biographi cus:" He contemns, and with the strictest justice that leniency to faults, that tendency to eulogium, that indiscriminate partiality evinced by biographers for the personages whose characters they have undertaken to define. Loving eternal truth and immutable justice better than sounding names, Mr. Macaulay reprobates Bacon where Bacon deserves repro bation, and reverences him when he deserves reverence. And, as an evidence that our author is not incapable of entertaining some sentiments of enthusiastic admiration for an illustrious memory where the memory is suffi ciently illustrious and unsullied to justify such sentiments, it is pleasant to peruse that earnest termination of his paper on Milton, where he pictures himself in the presence of the poet, and continues, " We image to ourselves the breath less s il ence i n which we should listen to his slightest word, and the passionate veneration with which we should kneel to kiss his hand and weep upon it." Notwithstanding the apology (volunteered by the writer himself, in his pre • face) for this essay being " overloaded with gaudy and un graceful ornament, and notwithstanding that this blemish is really apparent towards its commencement, especially in that redundant sentence where he speaks of the muse of Milton being able " to skim the earth, to soar above the clouds, to bathe in the Elysian dew of the rainbow, and to inhale the balmy smells of nard and cassia, which Me musky wings of the zephyr scatter through the cedared alleys of tl:e Hesperides,"—notwithstanding all this, our partiality for this paper on the divine genius of the writer of Paradise Lost is cordial and unaffected. It is eloquent with the heart's devotion, and is teeming with a thousand original and picturesque fancies. If indeed for nothing else, that essay would be particu larly valuable as a proof of how the ornate splendour of a young author can be modulated to a style as mellow and as luminous as that in which Mr. Macaulay now writes: how the abundance of blossoms and of foliage may be succeeded by blooming and delicious fruit. Such fruit, for example, as the essay on Lord Clive, on Sir William Temple, on John Hampden, on Boswell's Life of Johnson. The criticism on Croker's edition of Boswell is, to our thinking, one of the finest pieces in these three volumes. It begins with a terrible enumeration of the blemishes introduced into that inimitable biography ; blemishes as much resulting from the ignorance as the carelessness of its incompetent and self-sufficient editor. It then eulogises the production of that Prince of Toadies, Boswell, while it covers the latter with the deadly poison of ridiculer The passages which follow this, illustrative of the progress of literature, but especially of poetry, during the J ohn sonian era, are blended with judicious comments upon the rowers and the weaknesses of that great sage—that man who could " grapple with a whole library," and yet could not conquer the most puerile superstitions Among the most elaborate of Mr. Macaulay's critical essays are the one on Hallam's Constitutional History, the one cn Sir James Mackintosh, the one on Southey's Colloquies on Society, the one on Leigh Hunt, and the one on Horace Walpole. They are all characterised by a fastidious yet liberal taste, a lively perception of the idiosyncrasies of the various writers, and a stern and inflexible regard to accuracy. Among the historical are those on the Earl of Chatham, the Succession in Spain, Burleigh and his Times, Ranke's History of the Popes, Warren Hastings, and others already mentioned. From the singular impartiality displayed in the latter, as well as from the lucid manner of the narration, we may be readily justified in looking forward with the most sanguine anticipations to the great history which Mr. Macaulay is understood to have in preparation. Nevertheless, if we might be permitted to presume upon any recommendation of the kind, we would earnestly and respectfully commend . Mr. Macaulay to digest one or two of his conclusions upon events in English history before his volume be permitted to issue from the press. We would, for instance, hope that his acute mind might before then re-investigate the ecclesiastical con duct, so to speak, of Sir Themes More, that he would re-peruse the " Apology" of that great man, and especially the thirty-sixth chapter, and after so doing he would divest himself of what we believe, from our hearts, to be the erroneous opinion that Sir Thomas More was guilty of fanatical intolerance. The article upon Warren Hastings may be particularised as perhaps the most elaborate composition in these three splendid volumes. It is not unworthy of being a compendium and counterpoise to the grandest philippic of modern times ; it corrects the indignation aroused by the rheto rical libels of Sheridan ; it places in a correct light a subject which has possibly been more repeatedly and more egregiously misrepresented than any connected with the atrocities of war and the woes of misgovernment. It explains, that while Governor-General Hastings was most reprehensible for selling the English troops to Sujah Dowlah, for a purpose so execrable as the conquest of the unoffending Rohillas, the massacre of an innocent race, and the devastation of a peaceful country, those directors of the East India Company who were the foremost to wreak vengeance upon Warren Hastings were no less guilty than himself. That when they recommended him to govern the Indian mil lions with leniency, and at the same time required him to remit thousands of specie from an impoverished exchequer they were tempting him to the commission of fraud and despotism. Hastings is likewise vindicated from the charge of murder, in causing the execution of Maharajah Nuncomar, the great Brahmin; the whole obloquy of that ci uel deed being cast upon Chief Justice Sir Elijah Impey. Throughout the literary labours of Mr. Macaulay, it is as impossible not to recognise his pro found and untiring reverence for Truth as it is not to discern the erudition of the scholar and the accomplishments of the rhetorician in his musical periods and antithetical climaxes. One brief, but touching and eloquent paper, will ellicit the praise of every reader— we mean the beautiful tribute of affection and respect to the memory and genius of Lord Holland. We have spoken more than once of Mr. Macaulay's eloquence as a writer, and we would have it particularly observed that the word is not here employed as a mere hack phrase in criticism. Those who have perused Mr. Macaulay's productions will readily comprehend how fully the expression "eloquence" may be applied to them—how much, in that characteristic, those produc tions are akin to the Parliamentary orations of the Pay master of her Majesty's Forces—what an intimate ana logy subsists in this respect between his "Essays," his speeches, and his "Lays of Ancient Rome." Who does not, for instance, remember that noble passage com memorative of the antiquity and the stability of the Catholic Church, terminating with that superb image of her existence in undiminished vigour—" When some traveller from New Zealand shall, in the midst of a vast solitude, take his stand on a broken arch of London bridge to sketch the ruins of St. Paul's?" It would be frivolous, however, to endeavour to give any isolated passage as a specimen of these writings. It would be the fool of Hierocles all over again , bringing a brick as a sample of his house. Mr. Macaulay has, indeed, given us more than a mere inkling of his literary powers ; and though he himself may regard these essays with in difference, as unworthy of what he feels himself capable of accomplishing, they are anything but unworthy of a language which has been adorned by a Gibbon, a Gold smith, and a Burke. Mr. Macaulay may be privileged to depreciate these volumes, as he appears to do in his simple and dignified preface, but others will not be in fluenced even by that authoritative depreciation. Though sometimes abrupt, even to rigidity and ruggedness, the style is always luminous, the sentiments generally just, and the earnestness invariably unaffected. The vo umes will live to posterity. LAUNCH OF THE HADDINGTON The enterprising and extensive firm of Messrs. Thomas Vernon and Co. launched, on Saturday last, from their new yard at the south end of the town, a very fine iron steam-ship, called " The Haddington," built for the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigatio, Company, being the fourth iron vessel launched from this yard since the removal of the firm from the north shore about two years ago. The dimensions of this noble vessel are as follow : Length between perpendiculars 121 feet. Length over all Breadth of beam 35 feet. Depth of engine-room 2l feet. Tonnage, old measurement 1,303 18.94th5. i‘ new measurement, about 2,000 tons. She is to be barque-rigged, and will be propelled with paddles ; her engines are in the direct acting principle, of 450-horse power, by Messrs, Bury, Curtis, and Ken nedy. At an early hour in the morning the Haddington was thronged with a number of the workmen, and the yard was crowded with spectators ; a great number of ladies were also accommodated on a stage erected immediately in front of the bows of the vessel. At about a quarter to eleven o'clock the last support was knocked away, and the huge fabric rested firmly upon the ways, though her towering height gave to her such a toppling appear ance that some slight fears were entertained amongst the uninitiated lest she should come down on her side. The word to remove the daggers was given, and in a moment the vessel glided smoothly end swiftly away to her destined element, the baptismal ceremony of break ing a bottle of wine across her cutwater being performed in the most graceful manner by Miss Curtis, the accom plished daughter of one of the firm. The lladdington made her plunge stern foremost, in gallant style, amidst the most enthusiastic cheers and amiable good wishes of the persons assembled. We are happy to say that no accident beyond the loss of a fishing boat occurred to mar the rejoicings on the occasion, and this happened as follows :—the way of the vessel was so great, and she floated so lightly on the water, that she went Out a considerable distance into the river, and unfortunately came into contact with the boat, in which were two men, who were unable to avoid the collision, in consequence of having a net down at the time. The boat, though partially swamped, was held up by the rudder of the Haddington for a short time, during which a rope was thrown down and laid hold of by one of the men, who wa,3 at once drawn up in safety. The boat then disappeared, but happily the other man, being a swimmer, was enabled to sustain himself until drawn into the Haddington, through one of her port holes. The vessel was shortly afterwards taken in tow by a steam tug-boat, and was soon safely moored in one of the adjacent docks. After the launch, upwards of three hundred ladies and gentlemen were entertained at luncheon in the mould-room, which was tastefully fitted up for the occa sion, being lined throughout with national flags and evergreens. The repast was provided by Messrs. Fisk and Son, and was of the most sumptuous description. 14r, Veriacc, senior, presided. The usual loyal twists were given and pledged with the heartiest applause, and the healths of the various individuals connected with the firm were also enthusiastically drunk. The com pany, which was composed of the elite of our merchants, ith their ladies and daughters, were entertained for a considerable time with remarks very appropriate to the occasion from Mr. S. Holme, Mr. Curtis, Dr. Tatter shall, and other gentlemen, and separated, highly de lighted with the morning's diversion, a little before one o'clock. Illcssrs. Vernon and Co. have now on the stocks, in a forward state, two other iron steamers, the one being in tended to ply between this port and Cork, and which, it is expected, will turn out to be the fastest vessel et built, and the other is to go to Bombay. LAUNCH OF A SPLENDID IRON " LINE-SHIP" WITH AUXILIARY POWER. On Tuesday afternoon, about half-past one o'clock, there was launched from the building-yard of Messrs. James Hodgson and Co., south end of the Brunswick Dock, a large and beautiful iron ship " The Sarah Sands,"—named after the lady of Thomas Sands, Esq , one of the owners, intended to run as a regular " liner," between this port and New York, and with a steam worked screw propeller as an auxiliary to her sails. The day was line, and the concourse of spectators was very great and of high respectability, including many of the " merchant princes" of our town and their fair wives, dats;hters, and relatives. There were various stages and stands erected for their accommodation around the ship, so as to afford a good view of the launch. The ship is of very fine model, built from drawings by our talented townsman, Mr. John Grantham, and ap pears as if she would turn out " a regular clipper." The following are her dimensions : Length of keel Ditto over figure-head and taffrail 220 Beam Depth of hold 29 6 inches. Tonnage, old measurement ...about 1,000 tons. Ditto, new ditto She is clencher-built, and double-rivetted throughout, the strongest system in iron ship-building, When loaded, she will draw about 1S feet of water, and, though of beautiful form, will carry, in addition to her required 'fuel, about 1,000 tons of goods. Her after cabins ail comfortably accommodate GO passengers, and there is ample room for second and third class voyagers. The screw will be turned by a double condensing en gine, of 200 horse-power, working directly upon the shaft, on the principle patented by Mr. Grantham. The diameter of the screw is 14 feet, and is on the principle patented by Mr. Woodcroft, of Manchester. The en gines and boilers are all some feet below the load water line, and, in place of causing top-heaviness, will serve as ballast. Captain W. C. Thompson, formerly of the Stephen Whitney line, is part owner, and will command her. Her rig will be pecans:. She will, from her great length, have four masts, the two in the middle square rigged, (with yards,) and the two at the extremities with fore-and-aft-sails. The vessel is divided into six compartments, by five water-tight bulk-heads, giving great safety in ease of collision at sea, or of stranding. The ship has a fine fiddle-head, with delicately carved floriatcd on the trail boards. The launch was beautiful. The vessel, on being re leased by the daggers being struck down, glided beauti fully down the ways; but, as if impatient of her prolonged restraint, before her whole bulk reached the water, she kicked out the fore part of her cradle, as if she fancied she would have rocking enough on the ocean hereafter. She scraped the top of the river wall with her fore foot, but so slightly, that no damage resulted. The cheers, on her floating off and darting towards the Cheshire side, were loud and enthusiastic. Her name was given by Miss Sands, the accomplished daughter of the principal owner, and the young lady performed the ceremony in the most spirited manner. We noticed present, on the platform near Mr. Sands, Dr. Tattershall, Messrs. James Tyrer, W. Jevons, Joshua Edwards, W. Drury, Kerr, Mould, Foster, Moulds, Prestman, and many others of our mercantile townsmen, whom we could not distinguish in the crowd. Immediately after the launch, which took place at about half past one o'clock, the invited company, to the number of upwards of 400 ladies and gentleman, sat down to.a substantial and superb dejeun r in the mould room of Messrs. Hodgson's establishment. The apart ment, which is of great size, was cciled and completely lined with British and American flags—even the windows on all sides covered by them, as with fancy gauze curtains. There were ten tables across the soom, and one lone . table uniting them on the east side, at which the Chairman, Mr. Sands, sat, with his more im mediate relatives and friends near him. The appearance of this temporary banquet-room was truly splendid ; and Mr. Lynn, of the Waterloo, who provided the re past, did himself quite as much honour as at the dejeuner given to Prince Albert. Ho excelled all his former doings in this way, if we may so speak. The viands were excellent, and the wines of the best quality. In the confectionary line he exhibited his usual taste and tact ; there being amongst them pyramids of sweet things, surmounted by beautiful flags of pastry, banners of silk , with gold fringes, emblazoned or representing the national colours of England and America. All of these were minute and beautiful. On several of these little emblems were inscribed " The Sarah Sands." After the repast, which all seemed to enjoy, Mr. SANDS successively gave the usual loyal toasts, which were drunk with enthusiasm. He afterwards proposed the health of our worthy diocesan, " The Bishop of Chester," which was received with equal good feeling. Dr. TATTERSHALL having been alluded to in con nexion with the toast, said he knew it did not apply to one individual, but to the whole body of the clergy, and he felt the compliment the more highly on this account. He had reason highly to esteem the Bishop under whom he officiated as an excellent man and a Christian. With out religion they could have no sound morality ; and without morality no nation could enjoy true prosperity. He concluded a feeling address by proposing " the health of the lady after whom the vessel had been named." The CHAIRMAN called upon his eldest son to reply, which he did in brief, appropriate, and feeling terms. The CHAIRMAN, in a neat address, complimentary to the brotherly feeling towards the " old country," evinced by Brother Jonathan, proposed "The health of the Pre sident of the United States," which, as were the other toasts, was received with three-times-three hearty cheers. Mr. OGDEN replied. A gentleman, whose name wo did not ascertain, after some remarks on the progress of steam navigation, steam power, &c. (in which he instanced the possibility of the Queen shortly visiting, on a pleasure trip, her brother potentate, the Emperor of China!) proposed success to " The Sarah Sands," and all connected with her. Mr. SANDS returned thanks in feeling terms; and after stating that Captain Thompson, who was to com mand her, was a gentleman of great nautical experience, and he doubted not would do justice to the ship, pro posed Captain Thompson's health, which was of course drunk with repeated cheers. Captain THOMPSON returned thanks. The health of Mr. Grantham, the architect of the ship; of Messrs. Hodgson, the builders; and others, were received with equal enthusiasm; but we have to regret that there was a difficulty, from the crowned state of the room, in hearing much that was said, so that we cannot report it. Mr. WHITTY, of the Journal-office, replied to the toast of " The Press," which was proposed by the Chairman in a most complimentary manner. He con cluded by proposing "The Lancashire Witches." In the course of the proceedings, Mr.BLAIN expressed his opinions on steam navigation, and the progress of commercial end nautical science, in a manner highly gra tifying to all present. We understand the firm of J. Hodgson and Co. built the first iron ship to trade between this port and China, and the East. They are also the builders of the first iron steamer to connect Liverpool with the continent of South America, and likewise the first iron screw steamer that has ascended the River Plate. The Sarah Sands is the first liner that has been built in Liverpool for a con siderable time, and, being of iron, we have reason to hope ' Ithat Liverpool will have in time a fair share of Ameri. can building trade.—Liverpool Courier. LAW INTELLIGENCE. PRIVY COUNCIL, August 12. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council sat to-daV in the Council Chamber, Whitehall. The Lords present were , the Lord President, the Lord Privy Seal, the Lord Chief' Justice of England, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancas ter, the Vice-Chancellor of England, and the Judge of the Admiralty Court. The Attorney and Solicitor-General also sat with their Lordships as assessors. IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION OF THE PROVOST OS' ETON COLLEGE. The arguments in this part-heard case were resumed thigo morning. The case came before their Lordships upon a pe tition presented to her Majesty, by the Provost and Fellows, of the College Royal of Eton, against a scheme proposed to her Majesty with respect to the College by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners of England. The following are the more im portant facts of the case : " The College Royal of the Blessed Mary of Eten, otherwise called ' The Kyng's College of our Ladye of Eton X)esyde Wyndsore,' was founded by Henry VI., in 1440, and by him incorporated and endowed, and invested with ma.ny privileges, by letters patent and charter incorporated into and confirmed by Act of Parliament, the 20th of Henry VI. The perpetual adyowson of the parish church of Eton wag purchased by the King, and granted to the college in frankalmoin, and the church was changed into a collegiate church, and appropriated, united, and annexed to and in corporated with the college, with the consent of the then Bishop of the diocese (Lincoln), in 1443. At tlee request of the King, the college was expressly exempted from the jurisdiction of the archdeaconry of Bucks, and aese archi diaconal jurisdiction within the palish and collegiate church of .Eton was conferred upon the provost and his successors by the Bishop of Lincoln, with the consent of the Arch deacon, to whom an indemnity was assigned of 225. 6d. per annum, charged upon an estate belonging to the college, which has ever since been regularly paid. In 1445 or 1446 a body of statutes was granted by the King to the college, and all collegiate persons are sworn to obey these statutes. One of these statutes (49th), "Of the Metropolitan Visite,- t ion of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the ordinary Visi-e tation of the Bishop of Lincoln," contains the following passage :—" Also, we have it much at heart that all and sin gular the ordinances and statutes of our said Royal College - by us made and to be made may for ever be fully and efficiently' observed, and all the property of the same faith fully preserved and -discreetly controlled, an,-1 we firmly hope that the most Reverend Father in Christ . the Arch bishop of Canterbury, the Metropolitan of the sai:d college, the Rev. Father in Christ the Bishop of Lincseln, the Diocesan of the same, who, for the time being, al they ought to be the visitors and ordinaries of our said ce'llege (sicut dicti nostri Collegii Visaleres et Ordinarii esse debebCnt) so they will be favourable conservators and chief protectoY3 of the same college, and of all and singular persons and possessions spiritual and temporal, anti of the rights, liberties, and privileges of the same, and especially of our statutes and ordinances aforesaid ; on account of which. our singular confidence in them, we have not cared to make our said college exempt from the same (non curavinius exemp tum.facere ab eisdem) by the authority of the Apostolic See ;" and it wills that the Archbishop, as often as he shall visit the diocese of Lincoln as metropolitical, by himself, or his (suns), and the Bishop of Lincoln, when they shall have been required by the Provost, Vice-Provost, Bursars, or Fellows, also without requisition, every three years, when he should ordinarily visit his cathedral church and diocese, shall once freely come to the college by themselves or their commissaries (except the Provost of Eaton), and others named in the statute, and shall call together the Fellows and other persons of the college; " which same most reve rend and reverend fathers and such their commissaries afore said, by force of this, our present ordinance and statute, we will more fully to have power of inquiry most rigidly concern ing all and singular the articles contained in our ordinances and statutes by the Provost, &c.; also, if it befit under the oath of the same to be administered to them to speak the full and simple truth (to wit), if our ordinances and statutes aforesaid had been duly executed and also observed by all of them," &c.; " and concerning any excesses, negligences , crimes, and faults whatsoever of our said royal college, ac cording to the full force, form and effect of the ordinances and statutes for the correction and punishment thereof," &c. In short, this statute confers the most ample visitatorial powers upon the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Lincoln, extending to deprivation; but expressly takes away from them, "any other power in our said college, as over the persons of the same, or to other matters than those contained in our present statute, and our other statutes and ordinances, or that they may be able, or that any of them can, by reason of the jurisdiction which he 6r they have in the same, or over any of the persons thereof, cite, or cause to be cited, summon, or cause to be summoned, out of the said college, the Provost, or any fellow, or any other collegiate person, whatsoever in the same; but we, as much as is in us, entirely deprive them, and each of them, of such power by force of this our present statute (sect potestatent hujusmodi eis et eorum culiibet prasentis statuti nostil vigore in quantum in nobis est adimimus omni modo). The Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1446, by deed under seal, accepted, ratified, and approved all these statutes, especially the 49th, as did also the Bishop of Lincoln By virtue of the premises, the Provost and college had claimed and exercised exclusive and peculiar ecclesiastical jurisdiction within the parish of Eton. The Bishop of Lin coln (within which diocese Eton was localy situate) never exercised, or attempted to exercise, any diocesan jurisdic tion in the parish or collegiate church of Eton. Marriage licenses are granted by the Provost, and no churchwardens have ever been elected or appointed by the parish, which has been wholly exempted from church-rates, repairs and other expenses, ordinarily the subject of a church-rate, having been defrayed by the college. The visitatorial power has been constantly exercised by the Bishops of Lin coln, and occasionally by tile Archbishops of Canterbury. The Act 6 and 7 William IV., c. 77, which created the body politic and corporate, called " the Ecclesiastical Commis sioners for England," enacted (sec. 10) that the Commis sioners shall from time to time prepare and lay before his Majesty in Council such schemes as shall appear to them best adapted to carry into effect the recommendations therein mentioned, and shall prepare such measures as may appear necessary for that purpose, and they are empowered to propose in any such scheme, " that all parishes, churches, or chapelries, which are locally situate in any diocese, but subject to any peculiar jurisdiction other than the jurisdiction of the bishop of the diocese in which the same are locally situate, shall be only subject to the jurisdic tion of the bishop of the diocese within which such parishes, churches, or chapelries are locally situated." In July, 1837, the Commissioners proposed to her Majesty, with the con sent of the Bishop of Lincoln, that upon the first avoidance of the see of Oxford, the county of Bucks (forming the arch deaconry of Bucks), then part of the diocese of Lincoln, should be detached therefrom, and annexed to the see of Oxford. This scheme way ratified by her Majesty, and in November, 1845, the see of Oxford becoming void by the translation of the then Bishop of Bath and Wells, the county of Bucks became parcel of the see of Oxford. Meanwhile the Ecclesiatical Commissioners, in August, 1845, pro posed to her Majesty, inter alia, that, after the Ist of January, 1846, all parishes and places locally situate within the diocese of Lincoln, and all churches and chapels, and the whole clergy and others of her Majesty's subjects locally situate within the limits of such parishes and places, should, notwithstanding ar.y peculiar jurisdiction or exemp tion from jurisdiction they might claim, be subject to the jurisdiction of the bishop of the diocese within which they were locally situate, and to no other eclesialtical jurisdiction whatever. This scheme was likewise ratified by her Majesty. The county of Bucks haying, by its transfer to the see of Oxford, in November, 1845, ceased to form part of the diocese of Lincoln, when the aforegoing scheme took effect (Ist of January, 1846), it had no operation upon the peculiar or exempt jurisdictions in that county. On the 29th of April last the Commissioners laid before her Ma jesty another scheme, proposing that all parishes and places locally situate within the diocese of Oxford, and all churches and chapels and the whole clergy and others, her Majesty's subjects, locally situate within such parishes and places shall, notwithstanding any peculiar or other ecclesiastical jurisdic tion or exemption claimed by them, be subject only to the jurisdiction and authority of the Bishop of Oxford; " pro vided that nothing herein contained shall deprive the colle giate church and parish of Eton of their present exemption, if any, from the jurisdiction of the Archdeacon of Bucking ham." The Provost and fellows of Eton objected to this scheme on several grounds :-1. Bceause, Eton being a royal foun dation, and haying hitherto enjoyed an exemption from ecclesiastical jurisdiction, no evil consequences have arisen therefrom ; on the contrary, time ecclesiastical state of the parish and college is in all respects satisfactory. 2. Because no particular or peculiar benefit or advantage has been sug gested as likely to accrue to the college, parish, or diocese, from the abolition of this peculiar jurisdiction. 3. Because the immediate and necessary consequence would be to place the Bishop of Lincoln, as visitor, the Provost, fellows, and collegiate clerks, and the Bishop of Oxford, as ordinary, in collision ; and to render the Provost, fellows, and all collegiate persons amenable in the same capacity, to two different and possibly conflicting tribunals. 4. Because the charter, privileges, and statutes of the college haying been lawfully granted, confirmed and recognised, and found highly beneficial, it is unjust in principle, and impolitic iii against t rg t el i e e t practice, to interfere in the manner proposed a s e it a h cause, or proposed advantage, or charge other e hand, m say that the college. '1 he Commissioners, on time . does not appear to them exemption from episcopal jutorishdiaicyteionaiclaanirr t d im b e y i t n he fa c c o t lle e g x e : isted; that the parish of Eton, and time site of the Royal College, were, at the date of time foundation of the college, and continued to be till November last, within the diocese of Lincoln, the Bishops of which see having been, under the statutes .of the college, ordinarylvisitors, filled the twofold character of diocesan and visitor, which had given rise to the supposition of an exemption from episcopal jurisdiction ; whereas the episcopal authority could not merge in the visitatorial authority ; and there is no evidence of any act of a Bishop of Lincoln, by which the collegiate church of Eton was exempted from the diocesan authority, whilst confirma tion and other rites performed there by Bishops of Lincoln could only have been performed by them as ordinaries of the diocese. But should the petitioners be able to establish the exemption they claimed, then the Commissioners submit that that exemption ought not to be continued, one of the objects of the Act of 6th and 7th William IV., c. 77, being to put an end to such anomalies. If, therefore, the collegiate church and parish of Eton are not exempt from episcopal jurisdic tion, they are not affected by the scheme; and if they are exempt, that church and parish will under the proposed scheme be placed under the episcopal jurisdiction of the bishop in whose diocese they are locally situate, according to the spirit and intent of the Act. Mr. BETHELL resumed his arguments in behalf of the pe titioners, and the case appears likely to occupy several days. CONSISTORY COURT, August 11. (Before Dr. LUSHINGTON.) WILLIAMS V. WILLIAMS. Dr. LUSIIINGTON delivered judgment in this case, which was argued on the 29th of May and the 9th of June last. This was a suit (said the Learned Judge) brought by Mrs. Mary Williams against Mr. Charles Williams, her husband, charging him with the commission of various acts of cruelty, and praying a separation on that ground. The question in the cause was an issue of fact, not of law, but depended upon the credit to be given to the witnesses. The cohabitation between the parties had been singularly short ; for the marriage took place on the 28th of September, 1843, and the separation on the 17th of August, 1844. Both parties had bean pre viously married, and Mrs. Williams possessed a consi derable fortune settled to her own use. The pleas in the cause were, a libel, an allegation exceptive to the evidence of one witness, and an allegation responsive thereto. The most important witness to establish the charges alleged in the libel was Miss Eliza Tideswell, a niece of Mrs. Williams—a circumstance which would lead the Court to look at her evidence with great vigi lance. The first charge in order of time referred to a transaction which took place on the 19th of April, 1344, when, in consequence of a dispute which occurred the day before, both parties used very strong lan vrteaas t ur. t : guage—Mr. Williams calling his wife a fool, and nkind she retorting by upbraiding him with. .h is behaviour, and calling him a hypocritic al result,l W 'h ielliams according hreat ood the o Bliss . Williams' face, wad the teapot after it. That stitches', Taidccuspweolii THE SUN, LONDON, THITRSDAY MORNING, AUGUST l3, 1846, MUSICAL GOSSIP . PArtis.—The Prince Poniatowsky is writing an opera for the Acadimie Royale. A new ballet, called Betty, with a new Italian dancer, Mdlle. Fuoco, has been pro duced with moderate success. The clacqueurs are furious about Mdlle Fuoco, but the femilletonistes are at variance. Theophile Gaunier is very warm, Jules Janin very cold about the matter. It appears, from what we can gather, that Mdlle. Fuoco is pretty, agile, and strong, but that her style of dancing wants variety. An • coni, a new basso much talked of, will, it is said, make his appearance, with Madame Stols and Gardoni, in the new opera of Rossini. VlENNA.—Balfe ' s opera of the Bohemian Girl was produced here on the 24th of July. The overture was encored, as were also the cavatina of the tenor in the first act, the duet between the tenor and bass, Arline's romance, the quartet, the air of the tenor, the trio, and the last rondo of the prima donna. In all , seven pieces were encored—nearly the whole opera. This success amongst the phlegmatic Viennese, who, unlike the Italians, are most difficult to excite, is unparalleled. NAPLES.—Bazzini, the violinist, is creating a great sensation at the Teatro del Fondo, where he has given three concerts. SEVILLE.—Moriani has been playing here—Lucia and Lucrezia, as usual, were the operas. One would imagine that he knew no others. BOlitOGNA.—The news of the political amnesty ac corded by the new Pope arrived at Bologna in the after noon of the 21st of July. To celebrate this act of clemency, the members of the Philharmonic Society organised a concert a l'improvisite, which took place the same night in the grand piazza. Rossini hastily adapted a hymn of thanks, improvised by a Bolognese poet, to the music of the final chorus of La Donna del Lago, which was afterwards sung by the whole populace that crowded the piazza. VICENZA.— Verdi's Attila has been attended with some success, according to the papers. The singers were La Barbieri Nini, La Colzari, Varesi, and Bouche, Louisa Fitzja'ncs is the dancer here in vogue, and pleases in Giselle. MILAN.—As soon as Perrot arrives, his clever ballet of Catarina will. be prepared at the Scala. Lucile Grahn will represent the heroine. According to La France Musicale, Rossini is engaged in writing his own memoirs, which are to be positively published in the winter. The poet ISlery will correct the proofs. Great consternation is expressed at the menace of this book, from certain per sons who have reason to think they shall be exposed to the satirical severity for which the " Swan of Pesare " is famous.—Musical World. Sir Charles Ferguson and family arrived in London on Monday, by the General Steam Navigation Company's ;hip ligattof, foal Wand,