The Sun. — London, England, 1846-12-22 00:00:00

t jy , LITERATURE. •E BATTLE fll A Love Story. By Dire lichens ji„ dose who h ave l atter l y s,enied to rejoice in cavil n at the Cbristris books of Mr. Dickens will find ;ra r e diffic u lt y i n di scover i ng any t h eme f o r ridicule epreeension in this exquisite " Love .77,t0ry." It iiiititattiteirsicinc:td as escription of a race between a kettle didn the " Cricket on the Health ;" neither are its pages peculiarised by a dissertation tr pe, as were those of the "Chimes." Amnng enaracters we can discover no William Fern, talk . revolutionary sentiments in words of rustic elo laen e -e a 3 among its incidents there is no narrative A L ' i 4 Lilian hurrying to the river to commit suicide. thdogether, there is not here a single peg upon which pi: Mott churlish reviewer could, with any degree of Tt ibi , l itY, hang up his scarecrow objections. Mil' I ,s no opportunity, in critscising the present 4,,„.mation, for any one to vituperate upon the t rlor for what might be construed into an affecta• of drollery or the indulgence of a spurious phi oitittliro e „, P,Y• If ever Mr. Dickens wrote without lt ;"" 4 tton, he has so written in this little volume. . 4 4 the m os t grace f u l compos i t i on h e h as y e t penned. he as is less ma nner i sm a b ou t it than about anything th e as ever produced. The author has written upon si mplest plot imaginable, has introduced the h: s t natural characters, and has told his tale of the s o l i n an affections with the most delightful volubility b ob , the most genial pensiveness. As to the pur "); ?f the narrative, it is noble and unaffected atti,,'`'„,.,ga• It is so condensed into a single sentence s eil 'L'eu by the hero, that we shall transcribe tha t. ILtiesseba_nteteleentire " believe," he says, speaking o of life, " I believe there are self victo- Set e mad ,. atru . ggles, great sacrifices of and noble li of heroism, in it—even in many of apparent its trtnesses and contradictions—not theless difficult kachieve because they have no earthly chronicle an or liti r i enee ; ' done every day in nooks and corners, d arty households, and in men's and women's hearts t o Y one of which might reconcile the sternest est man_ n su c h th a world, and fill him with belief and hope _ -°ll gb two-fourths of its people were at war, and ,, illoatlier fourth at law; and that's a bold word. litif allY are these grand and elevating principles bekessed by the deeds recorded in this little book: 4, ll •a irtl llY are these " quiet victories," these " great to 41 - ,: ce s of self," and these " noble acts of heroism" tenses ,sand women's hearts, exemplified in its occur ttoadm' :_ipeautifully are merriment and melancholy Lye was in the materials of this simple fiction. the'v w ;" s hown the foolishness of his misanthropy d j .g r_ e d t Co ' l l i a ti, L ° r's of the " Carol.:" Trotty Veck was ren tol_h.mare-snted even with his miserable existence by the of the " Chimes :" John Peerybingle was ° f the of the faithfulness of little Dot by the dreams tge Cricket on the Hearth." in the " Battle of . Life" . tharransforrnation is effected in one of the principle as ters, not h owever t h roug h th e agenc y of gob t,,,!) or f a i r i es, or spirits. or other supernatural visi imoetbLat by th e .pur i ty, the valour, the se lf- denial, tit er l'e magnanimity of v i rg i n h ear t s . D o ctor Jed -44) at the commencement of the story, is described &treat philosopher, the heart and mystery of whose lis eo rPby was " to look upon the world as a gigantic lid e nalioke; as something too absurd to be con ofV,a by any rational man. , ' Before the conclusion t„,,tie . book thi s same D octor J eddler i s f orce d t o ac etri:ledge that " it's a world full of hearts, and a o o as world, with all its folly ;" that " it's a world th,which th e sun never rises b ut i t looks upon a th e o '_od bloodless b a ttl es th a t are some se t- o ff against .4 4 :1 1 ,series and wickedness of battle,-fields;" that, in So ,t's a world we nee d b e care f u l h ow we libel." per to 'a i tal and p ur if y i ng i s t h e e ff ec t pro d uce d by the irn at of this v o l ume ; so generous ly is the mind so v ess e l y the nature of the truths embodied in it; er e i 4 l and so beautiful is the sentiment by which its P a ssage is pervaded, that we close the leaves e that golden sentence ringing in our ears— keZrea forgive us , for it is a world of beo e - , i nlysteries, and its Creator on knows what lies thi "/ the surface of his lightest image!" In saying the we are uttering no idle panegyric on the book ; sooJ;lstice of our commendations may be settled in Pi r P'e of h ours b y the perusal of the "three parts. tita e lt ,, aB to the pl o t : —The story occurs " once upon a spot' about a hundred years ago, and opens upon a foa l ht here, long before, a fierce battle had been l t o o t. "It was fought," says the historian, "u pon gre h i . Summer day when the waving grass was " Many - a , wild 49wer," he continues, to T e Y a wild flower, formed by the Almighty hand tap Perfumed goblet for the dew, felt its ena . me . e dii o) ,, tl „high with blood that day, and shrinking We' The description of the battle - field is a teetiFY but instructive picture, even in , the grim ta r ,tY which i s d escr ibed as having followed the alts-hage• Here, however, the author abruptly se ar ,les his the me by p ou rtraying a pastoral land reaF in autumn, and by especially directing the thr i s attention to one particular orchard where st,,_Y o ung girls are dancing merrily together on the i ( ;;; 33 ,.while pea s a n t s are ga th er i ng a ppl es i n the sur eVplog trees : th4l there were no suc h t hi ng as display in the world, Private opinion is, and I hope you agree with me, s eA t might get on a great deal better than we do, 5 4 , 4 'night b e infinitely more agreeable company than T h ' e are. It was charming to see bow these girls danced. 1 444 3 7 s had n o spectators but the apple-pickers on the They were very glad to please them, but they i dl taCe r cl . to pledse themselves (or at least you would have a pposed so); and ycu could no more help admiring, the they could help dancing. How they did dance! "Not like opera dancers. Not at all. And not like lsdame A n yb o dy' s finished pupils. Not the least. It manot quadrille dancing, nor minuet dancing , nor even tio r r t j-dance dancing. It was neither in in the old style, I nor the English styl e r t pew style, nor the French one, I am The Sp e nath it may have been, by accident,y a trifle in told, d e li r4 l6ll , style, which is a free and joyous . fr° ra th e a delightful air of off-hand ins amoebae .3 chirping little castanets. As they . _ Pi d ra an ti e j e n d and ,he orchard trees, and down the groves tstems kid again, and teirled each other lightly d to _peround, the influence of their airy motion seeme - round t iP a o s a . d and spread, in the sun lighted scene, like an ex unix circle in the water. Their streaming hair and j utte ring o skirts, th e elastic grass beneath th.-ir feet, the ughs th at rustled in the mornin air—the fl a shit g t ' a ves, their speckled shad ows on t he soft green ground "the balmy wind that sw e p t a l ong t h e landscape. glad bturn the di stant windmill, cheerily—everything be een the tw o g i rls, and the man and team at plough on the ridge of land, where they showed against the .7 as if they were the last things in the world—seemed dancing too." These tib are the daughter s o f D r. Jeddler, already men .a,.tied, the elder nam e d G race, the younger named nion. And admirable creations are Grace and Ma bo n. Excepting Little Nell, they are the most exqui site female characters yet conceived by Mr. Dickens. m a king certain allowances for the brevity of the Id Attie of Life" when compared w ith the "Pirate," Grace and Marion are quite equal to Minna and ends, ods, the most charming of the heroines of Sir Apter Scott. Both these maidens are in love with j !red, Jeddler's ward, who, on attaining his ma thtY,leaves his guardian to seek his fortune. Marion, w i,,Younger sister, is affianced to Alfred—Grace, 41 a noble self-forgetfulness, concealing her own pas sion t , , for him, and fostering by every means the & talon of the lovers. The first part closes with the departurev.i of the hero from the house of his guardian his separation from his betrothed. Exquisitely is h ear e i ° ll quest of Grace over the impulses of her own b ea Pourtrayed w ith th ose h ones t eyes o f h ers eat !'; 111 1? upon her sister, " so calm, serene, and kwcheer- Exqui s i te is that littl e incident related where of il`°ll gazes for a moment after the retreating figure e aeo r affianced, and " then turning back again, and sobbi n g for the fir s t ti me th ose ca l m eyes, fell Ba t r ig on her neck Oh, Grace ; God bless you! he art , „cannot bear to see it, Grace ! It breaks my re5,,,,, A , Three years have rolled by when the story is a half- in the seeo n d part. One Michael Warden seeibLtotned sq u i re i s th en i n tr o duced ; he is de as d`" as wonderfully reduced in circumstances and o anc t s Perately i n l ove w i t h M ar i on . They meet sti nlY, and e ver ythi ng indicates a reciprocal affecti on, when a letter arrives from Alfred 1-Leth• giv h e i n OUnei, g grand part • • tof returning home. A inten ion _ • hen, of time in arrive v_e that night D ar i n D 4 nephew, Dr. Jeddler at Christmas s who is expected to tiMarion steals out tbe height of the fe.tivi ogf the lyinquet room and ` b A sis lfr i:"' be :d i a re reaches s re h a i d s e l r lo i m m e agines, with Michael Warden. only ta find hi; betrothed air s " Ti le a fugitive under the nios` pereumstancea. nfavow able • Six years have eia,b , .ed, %Own the 6 °, lll lg'es of the fie ion are „ v b., ietr. inced in time r i a Part. G ace hz - :- married AlfrQd. f i t " v t erred ) but mystery pes the fate of Marion. Ooe 0 - & - '101 1 ,..:. a ti l . 3 , ll nto anniversary, the elder sister is prome , ed 1 4 ,7' before the sun has set she shall know all about the younger. The day-god is slowly tC i ng below lior zon, a figure is perc.ptible on , threihold of the orchard, `I I e a. rustle of a Goa garment is visible in the evening `'Oh. O l ° ,, Was it a vision that, came busting from the al,mans arms, and w ith a cry, and with a waving its hands, and with a wild pre.i?itation of itFelf i' 5 ,.. 13° ° her in its boundless love, sank down in her em ,'"l" Marks has returned, still a maiden, still momarried still unbetrothed. During the six past 'ears she h as b een seelu d e l w i t h h er aun t Martha— . 'laving resolved, in the greatness and nobleness of her , I l a tore, to conquer her own s elfi s h feelings, and by '4,4 retirement to enable Grace to be united to the ! Ilan they both loved so truthfully. So i= demon strated the heroism of those battles of life fought " in little households?' So is effected the conversion of Dr. Jeddler to a knowledge of the grandeur, and the Pathos, and the mysteries, and the magnanimity Which,' are discernible in God's creation. Michael Warden, meanwhile, has turned uo attain, with his evity somewhat diminished, and his fortunes some what improved, and the author, in his pleasant way, obierves, " Ti me —f r: m whom 1 had the latter part of this story, and with whom I have the pleasure of a rraollal acquaintance of some five and thirty years' ` 4lll ttic ) no informed me, leaning etsily upon his scythe, that Michael Warden never went away again, and never sold his house, but opened it afresh , maintained a golden mean of hospitality, and had a wife, the Fele and honour of that c ouatrystde ' whose name was Marion." Thus terminates this beautiful " love story"—conceived in the most graceful vein—fraught with a lofty truthfulness—painted with the sunniest colours. Secondly, az; to the characters :—Of Grace, and Marion, and Doctor Jeddler, and Alfred Heath field, and Michael Warden, we have already spoken. Then there are a brace of attorneys, called (very euphoniously) Snitchey and Craggs—men possessed of a wonderful office, contaioing, besides other strange chattels, " tiers of boxes, padlocked and fire-proof, with people's names painted outside, which anxious visitors felt themselves, by a cruel enchantment, com pelled to spell backwards and forwards, and to make anagrams of, while they sat, seeming to listen to Snitchey and Craggs, without comprehending one word of what they said." Snitchey, in his way, has a smack of Tackleton and Gruff in his disposition. But there is one Benjamin Britain—a superb fellow. He is described as " a small man, with an uncom monly sour and discontented face." Having forgotten himself by laughing while serving at Dr. Jeddler's breakfast table, Britain is remonstrated with, by a fellow-servant exclaiming— " Do you know where you are? Do you want to get warning ?' " 'I don't know anything.' said Britain. with a leaden eye and an immovable visage. I don't care for any thing. I don't make out anything. I don't believe any thing. And I don't want anything.' "Although this forlorn summary of his general con dition may have been overcharged in an access of des pondency, Benjamin Britain—sometimes called Little Britain, to distinguish him from Great; as we might say Young England, to express Old England with a differ ence—had defined his real state more accurately than might be supposed. For serving as a sort of man Miles, to the Doctor's Friar Bacon ; and listening day after day to innumerable orations addressed by the Doctor to various people, all tending to show that his very existence was at best a mistake and an absurdity; this unfortunate servitor had fallen, by degrees, into such an abyss of confused and contradictory suggestions from within and without, that Truth at the bottom of her well, was on the level surface as compared with Britain in the depths of his mystification." In the subsequent portions of the book Britain is transformed—improved as a man, but deteriorated as a comic character. "He was very much broader," says his biographer, " much redder, much more cheerful, and much jollier in all respects. It seemed as if his face had been tied up in a knot before and was now untwisted and smoothed out." In the end he marries Clemency Newcome— capital Clemency Newcome. This_ is one of the best pictures in the " Boz" portrait gallery. Cle mency Newcome is not a jot like the Opportunity Newcome described in Cooper's: " Ravensnest.' Opportunity has the coldest heart in a well-favoured covering ; Clemency has the warmest heart in the oddest body conceivable. Mr. Dickens, however; must speak for himself: — "She was about thirty years old, and had a sufficiently plump and cheerful face, though it was twisted up into an odd expression of tightness that made it comical. But the extraordinary homeliness of her gait and manner, would have superseded any face in the world. To say that she had two left legs, and somebody else's arms; and that all tour limbs seemed to be out of joint, and to start from perfectly wrong places when they were set in motie•n; is to offer the mildest outline of the reality. To say that she was perfectly content and satisfied with these arrangements, and regarded them as being no business of hers, and took ht r arms and legs as they came, and allowed them to dispose of them selves just as it happened, is to render faint justice to her equanimity. Her dress was a prodigious pair of self-willed shoes, that never wanted to go where her feet, went; blue stockings; a printed gown of many colours, and the most hideous pattern procurable for money; and a white apron. She always wore short sleeves, and always had, by s'.me accident, grazed elbows, in which she took so lively an interest that she was continually trying to turn them round and get im possible views of them. In general, a little cap perched somewhere on her head; though it was rarely to be met with in the place usually occupied in other subjects, ' by that article of dress; but from head to foot she was scrupulously clean, and maintained a kind of dislocated tidiness. Indeed, laudable anxiety to be tidy and compact in her own conscience as well as in the public eye, gave rise to one of her most startling evolutions, which was to grasp herself sometimes by a sort of wooden handle (part of her clothing, and familiarly called a busk), and wrestle as it were with her garments, until they fell into a symmetrical arrangement." Clemency's mode of writing has been already de scribed, almost in the same words in regard to Christopher Nubbles. Here is a humorous narra tive of how Clemency Newcome brought a letter into the drawing room of Dr. Jeddler, and of how she conducted herself after Dr. Jeddler cried out " What's the matter ?" " It's only me, Mister,' said Clemency, putting ii her head at the door. " ' And what's the matter with you?' said the Dactor. " Oh, bless you, nothing an't the matter with me,' returned Clemency—and truly, too, to judge from her well soaped face, in which Mere gleamed as usual the very soul of good-humour, which, ungainly as she was, made her quite engaging. Abrasions on the elbows are not generally understood, it is true, to range within that class of personal chorms called beauty.spots. But it is better, going through the world, to have the arms chafed in that narrow passage, than the temper: and Clemency's was sound and whole as any beauty's in the land. Nothing an't the matter with me,' said Clemency, entering, but —come a littic closer, Mister.' "The Doctor, in some astonishment, complied with this invitation. sa e i d in Clemency. thel en a f familyne wasn't to give you one before them, you AiYtnnlc 0 0 t, , u , v ~ said might have supposed, from her extraorainary ogling as she said it, as well as from a singular rapture or ecatacy which pervaded t}am e .o her elbows, as if she were embracing herself, that 'one f a v o urable interpretation, meant a chaste salute. in its t h e Doctor himself seemed alarmed, for the moment; h u t quickly regained his composure , as Clemency , e. 1 s d t I ndeed had recourse to bo th her pockets—beginning withvithge right one, going away to the wrong one, anafterwards c oming back to the right one again—produced a letter i'rom the post office. " 'Britain was riding by on an errand,' she chuckled, handing it to the Doctor, and see the mail come in, and waited for it. There's A. H. in the corner. Mr. Alfred's on his journey home, I bet. We shall have a wedding in the house—there was two spoons in my saucer this morning. Oh, Luck, how slow he opens it!' " All this she delivered, by way of soliloquy, gradu ally rising higher and higher on tiptoe, in her impatience to hear the news, and making a corkscrew of her apron, and a bottle of her mouth. IA last, arriving at a climax of suspense, and seeing ',the Doctor still engaged in the perusal of the let ter, she came down flat upon the soles of her feet again, and cast her apron, as a veil, over her head, in a mute despair, and inability to bear it any longer." In the account of the hostel called " The Nutmeg Grater," and kept by Benjamin Britain, the writer gives this natural but ridiculous incident. A discover s trang e r has has entered the bar, and Clemency, having d that it is none other than Michael Warden, endea vours to convey her discovery to Britain by dumb show : d intent onhe pros " Seeing that the stranger ' s the wind)w, and that he seeme ; to her husband, and pet, she made some eager s.gres - face was turned towards pointed to the bill, and moved her se e t o w h mouth o r repeating with great energy, one d p ound, and as over and over again. As she uttered no s word eirme her dumb motions, like most of her gestures, wedruectofrea. very extraordinary kind, this unintelli g ible con duced Mr. Britain to the confines of despair. He at the table, at the stranger, at the spoons, at his v, followed her pantomi : ne with looks of deep amazement and perplexity—asked in the same language, was it stared at d property in danger, was it he in danger, was it she — answered her sienals with other signs expressive of the deepest distress and confusion—followed the motions of her lips -gu. ssed half aloud ' milk end water,' ' monthly warning; • mice and walnuts'—and couldn't approach her meaning." On the return of Marion, Clemency is wonderfully excited. She is ignorant of the return of the long lost -. " When. looking up in wonder, and in indignant re monstrance, and in the added emotion of .a great roar from Mr. Britain, and seeing that sweet face so well remembered close before her, she stared, sobbed, laughed, cried, screamed, embraced her, held her fast, released her, MI on Mr. Snitchey and embraced him (much to Mrs. Snitchey's indignation), fell on the aiid enibra-fd him, !ell on Mr. Britain and em brae rd and coileluded by embracing herself, throw ing her apron over her head, and going into hysterics bAind it." But to appreciate Clemency thoroughly the book itself must be read. The frontispiece, by Daniel Maclise, depicting Grace and Marion lancing under the apple-tree, is a gem. The figures of the two 1 damsels are exquisitely drawn. The three other illus trations from the same eminent hand are excellent. Those by Stanfield, particularly the Nutmeg Grater, are good. Leech has used his pencil for once indif ferently; and the three embellishments by 1)03 le are execrably bad. They would entirely spoil the volume if anything could. Mr. Dickers has unquestionably made an improvement upon his last Christmas hook. " The Battle of Life" is a charmin ,, love story—a story not unworthy of its distinguish? it anther. The " Observer" of Sunday, Dec. 6, contained an iwprtetial review, with extracts from Sir E. L. Buiwer Lytton's new work entitled " Lucretia , " to the extent of four of the Observer folio columns. The Observer of Sunday, Dec. 13, contained an impartial review, with extracts from the second series of "Lord Campbell's Lives of the Lord Chancellors of England," to the extent of two folio columns and a half. The Observer of Sunday, Dee. 20, c-aitained an impartial review, with extracts from the annual Christmas work by Charles Dinkins. EN., entitled, " The Battle of Life, a Love Story." to the extent of nearly five of the Obse , ver columns. A Monday's edition of the Observer is regularly published at tour o'clock on Mon day afternoons, which is beat adapted for the country and readers abroad. THE PROPOSED NEW BRIDGE. SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CHARING CROSS BRIDGE COMPANY. A special general meeting of the shareholders in this e napany was held at 1 o'clock yrstaday, at the offices, No. 9, Villiers street, Strand, to take into considera tion the notice advertised in the London Gc:zette of 4th November last, of an intended application to Parliament for powers to erect a bridge across the Thames, from or near Whitehall-place to the opposite side of the Thames, with approaches thereto from York-road and elsewhere, as in such notice particularised : and further, to take into consideration and to determine the course to bo pur sued, and the steps to be taken in reference to such in tended application to Parliament and the proposed new bridge, and to pass such resolutions as in the opinion of such meeting shall be expedient for the better protection and advancement of the property and interests of the shareholders, or otherwise to give effect to the deter-. mination of the meeting." William Hawes, Esq., the deputy-chairman of the company, presided. There was a numerous attendance of proprietors. Mr. Lawrence, the secretary, having read the adver- tisem ent convening the meeting, - The CHAIRMAN proceeded to address the meeting. He said it was scarcely necessary for him to say that the reason the directors had called the proprietors together was for the purpose of laying before them what they (the directors) had already done with respect to the project now before the public, fur erecting a new bridge across the Thames, to state their views with regard to it, and for the purpose of submitting to the shareholders the plans which they had devised for the purpose of protecting the interests of the company as much as possible. The directors thought, as soon as they saw the plans, or rather read the advertisement, that it would be best not to take any public steps in the matter- until the plans were deposited ; and they ac cordingly waited until the 30th of November had ex pired, when the plans had to be deposited, in order that they might have an opportunity of examin ing them. When they had procured them, they immediately waited on Lord Morpeth, the Chief Commissioner of the Woods and Forests, from whose office the plans apparently were furnished, and explained to him the extreme hardship which would be imposed upon this company, if the Government stepped forward and erected a new bridge in direct opposition, and in juxta-position with the one which they had so recently erected under the powers of an Act of Parliament, which specified that " the company were to erect a bridge, which would be of great public advantage." That the public had derived advantage from the bridge was sufficiently proved by the large amount of traffic that daily passed over it. The utility of the bridge, as set forth in the preamble of the Bill, had, therefore, been amply demonstrated. They urged upon Lord Morpeth that the bridge appeared to be a proposi tion which had emanated from the Government, but he made no reply whatever to this observation ; but, after considering the subject for some time, the deputation asked his Lordship where the funds requisite for the erection of a new bridge were to come from ? Lord Morpeth said, "We have no funds—l have nothing to do with the funds," adding that the plan was put before the public by the Commissioners of Metropolitan Improvements; he did not, however, say that it was not a Government measure beyond that it had emanated from these Commissioners. He likewise added that he hail no funds whatever at his command, either to erect a bridge or to give compensation to any parties whom the erection of such a structure might injure. Having dis covered, then, that the Government did not intend to oppose the Charing Cross bridge Company, and that that company shoald not have to oppose them, the directors added a postscript to a circular which they issued a short time ago to the shareholders, asking them to attend a meeting which was to te- held in the Westminster-road, in order to concert what mea- Aires should be taken to oppose the project. That meeting, as they a ere no doubt aware, Vas most fully attended by all the influential persons residing in the neighbourhood. From that meeting a committee ema nated for the purpose of devising the necessary means to carry into effect the object for which the meeting was called, and that committee was now in active operation. A meeting would be held this afternoon on the Westminster side of the bridge, in order to take steps for the holding of u public meeting, at which Sir De Lacy Evans Ni ould occupy the chair, and at which there would be, he believed, a strong expression of public feeling against what he was juqtified in terming an almost useless pro ject.—(Cheers.) The directors had been endeavouring to ascertain by whom the bridge was put forward. Mr. Barry had been aimed at, but he saw a gentleman there (Mr. Grissell) who was intimate with Mr. Barry, and who stated, at the meeting in the Westminster-road, that the project was not Mr. Barry's, and that he did not approve of it as it was laid before the public, as he spoke from an intimate knowledge of the views of Mr. Barry. They were, therefore, not justified in saying that it had emanated from a gentle • man of the power and position of Mr. Barry. Then from whom did it emanate ? It had been intimated that the South-Western Railway were its promoters ; but he (the Chairman) declared that he could not believe it, because they had Westminster-bridge on one hand, and Waterloo and Hungerford-bridge on the other, and would necessarily be anxious to avoid the confusion which the new bridge could not fail to create in the im mediate vicinity of their proposed terminus in the York-road. He believed, then, that it was a suggestion of the under officials of the Im provement Commission, who had done nothing yet— it was a crude, unconsidered proposition, emanating from them ; at least, that appeared to him the only way to account for it, because none on the face of the earth would derive any benefit from it.—(Cheers.) Why, if it were made, the very converse of the conduct of the Government would take place. For some years they had been doing all they could to afford the people the benefit of large open areas like the parks, but if t t h h e e e b t r h i e d r ge sid w e e e r f e t m he ade w , ate t r hos e wou who ha r v es e id. to d g o o n half a mile further than at present in order to reach St. James's and Hyde Parks. Besides, the Go vernment had sanctioned a new street running toward , Westminster-bridge, and the parties in whose hands it was placed are bound to complete it under the pain of heavy penalties. Could they believe that the Government, after bringing responsible men into an undertaking like that new street, would render the improvement perfectly useless, by placing a bridge at some distance from, and compelling the traffic wishing to cross the river to go a considerable distance round? He did think then that he was justified in saying that the project was one which was calculated to injure every body who had property in the neighbourhood of the present site, and do no punlic service whatever.—(Hear, hear.) Believing that they would agree with him in these sentiments, he would proceed to read a series of resolutions which the directors had framed, with a view of opposing the pro position in the .nsuing session of Parliament. Three bridges with so many piers would be a serious interruption to the navigation of the river. It was a subject, however, of which he hoped the City would take cognizance. It had always been a great point with them not to have too many arches on account of the navigation. Judging by the plans of the new bridge, he thought it would have seven or eight piers, and that the arches would Ise low, and this was proposed to be done at a short distance from their own and Waterloo. bridge. The directors thought that as this was a matter of the greatest importance to the shareholders of the bridge, and to the market company, that it would be most desirable that a Parliamentary Committee, the appointment of which the directors proposed, to watch whatever proceedings might be taken with respect to the new bridge, should contain some one highly connected with the Market Company. They therefore proposed that it should consist, it addi tion to several of the directors of the Bridge Company, of one of the largest shareholders and proprietors, and the deputy-chairman of the Market Company, if he would do them the favour to accept a seat in the committee.—(Hear, hear.) The directors thought that by the adoption of this plan they should have the aid of the Market Com pany, which they considered very important, and also that the friendly intercourse which would thus be engendered would tend to the amicable settlement of matters which hitherto they had not been able satisfac torily to adjust. The chairman concluded by submitting the first proposition. Mr. FEW suggested the addition " of Charing cross bridge, so recently sanctioned by Parliament," and the expulsion of the word " alarm.* The CHAIRMAN thought they might justly use the word, as they were more than surprised by the an. no cause for alarm, as the Legislature would never sanction the project. Legts t EW t o h f o t u h g e h newt they bridge. h ad SEAREg°LDER considered that as the Le- Another d gislature had they would not be so unjust as to utterly noumnrc.e; ty. t deputy chairman of the Market Mr. SroTEIN. that e as that was the first time he had Company, said . n of adding him to the committee, heard of the proposal() consideration he must have time for cons edre°sstsrObyritdhgeei; tpropehr the committee, as the labour prietors ought to be in would be excessive. would act in concert with The CHAIRMAN said t he y _ Mr. FEW considered that a greater number of pro d, rive great aid from them. Ca two gentlemen that .tain KELLY though that the Mr. Stutley, one the Westminster Committee, and would, consequently, had been named. Mr. Robert Few and the recent solicitor of the company, and the other the deputy c h a i rman o f t h e H te gerford-mark Coonany. tp amply suffi c i en t f or a ll purpose s.—(Hear, hear) would, ther e f ore , strong l y recomme nd that the num should not be increased. I!' a further addition was re qeire.l it might he easily obtained at a future period. The CHAIRMAN said 'that lie had considered the sub leer be discussed at the present meeting of such vital imp.rt.ice, both to the Bridge and the Market Csanpany, that he wrote on Satur ;ay last to Mr. Robert Few, expressing a hope would forget all past differences, and heartily join with the directors of the Charing Cross-bridge Company in their endeavour s t o ann ihil ate t h e i r common er.eitc,—(Fiear, hear)--- an d h e was happy to say that he had received from that gent l eman a letter, fuli) bearing out the high opinion h e h a d ever held of him, and expressing the happiness he felt at its reception, and atating his determination to co-operate with the Charing Cross-bridge Corepiny in putting an ei.d to a scheme that, if carried out, w‘mld be alike fat .1 to the interest, of the company and themselves.—(Bear.) Mr. STAINTON wished to know from the chairman whether the proposition to erect the new bridge to Charing--cross emanated from private individucls or railway jobbing ?—(Hear, hear.) The CHAIRMAN said that he had already, in f act , answered the question of the Hon. Proprietor. Ile did not believe it was a matter of rail a . ay jobbina. that it emanated from the South Wes- rn Rail way Company ; he had no doubt, because Lord Isterpetli had told them so, that it did not THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 22, _1846. emanate from the Government (Hear, hear) — but that it was the project of a commission, no doubt, anxious to do something for the public, but at the same time extr , Trudy nekles4s with respect to what property belonging to the othlie they injured.—(Cheers.) Mr. FOWLER that a committee of the pro prietors out 4 ht to be appointed to act with the dire;qors in opposing the measure ; he also thought they ought to be informed whether the Chancellor of her Majesty's Exchequer was prepared, on the part of the public, to find the funds for building the new bridge? lie was surprised that a measure that had for its object the annihilation of public property should not only be con templated but recommended by a public beard.—(Hear.) The CHAIRMAN thought that the appointment of a committee of shareholders to act with them would be tantamount to a vote of want of confidence in the direc tors. The only wish of the directors was to act for the interests of the company—(Hear, hear) —and he sias sure that every gentleman p resen t w ould cordially give them credit for such i ntent i ons .—(Hear. hear,) With respect to the oth er statemen t of Mr. Thomas, he could assure hint that her Majesty's Chancellor of the Exchequer was not per pared to find money for the erec tion of the proposed bridge.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. CILRERT—WhiIe he thought that the number of gentlemen, to assia the directors, should be increased to four or five, begged to disclaim any notion on his part, of a want of confidence in those gentlemen.—(Hear.) Mr. 14;w, seri., said that there could be no objection to the resolution containing a direction to the directors to appoint four or five of th directors to act with them. Captain KELLY deprecated the adoption of any other course than that proposed by the chairman.—(Hear.) He thought forcing any of the proprietors upon the direc tors to assist them would be most injudicious.—(fiear, hear.) He believed that there was not a single party, from John o' Groat's house to the Land's end, but what would oppose the erection of the proposed bridge out of the public money.—(Hear, hear.) He thought the property of the Charing cross-bridge was exceed ingly safe, and that they had nothing to tear. A PROPRIETOR thought after what had been stated in the early part of the meeting by Mr. Stutely, that it would be desirable to know whether or not that gentle • man would act. The CHAIRMAN felt a delicacy in putting such a ques tion to Mr. Stutely after the observations he had made. He thought the proper course would be, for the request to that gentleman to come from the Charing-cross-hridp e Company, and he was sure Mr. Stutley, upon considera tion, would respond to their call.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. STUTELY would repeat what he had stated at the opening of the meeting, that the request came by surprise upon him.—(Hear, hear.) He begged to withhold his decided consent at present as Deputy Chairman of the Hungerford Market Com pany, to accept the honour proposed to be conferred upon him, thinking th a t h e oug h t to consult with his board before he did so.—(Hear, hear.) He could, however, assure the meeting that if his joining with them to oppose the erection of the proposed new bridge would lead to putting an end to the unhappy differences that had existed between them it would give him great pleasure.—(Hear, hear.) After some further discussion th e f o ll ow i ng resolut i ons were unanimously agreed to : " That this meeting has heard with extreme surprise of the intended application to Parliament for powers to erect a new free bridge from Charing-cross, at a dis tance at the latter place of thirty yards only from the bridge so recently constructed by the Company under the express sanction of Parliament. " That the projected measure, while it is altogether uncalled for by the public, would be most ruinous to the property of this Company. " That the Directors be, and they are hereby, autho rised, by every means in their power, to oppose the in tended application to Parliament, and to adopt such measures for the protection of the proprietors as they may deem expedient." Thanks were then proposed, and unanimously carried, to the Chairman and Directors, especially to the Chair man, and the meeting broke up. DIRECT LINCOLN, EAST RET FORD, AND SHEFFIELD JUNCTION RAIL WAY. A meeting of the directors and shareholders of this company was held yesterday, at the George and Vulture Tavern, George-) ard, Lombard-street, pursuant to an advertisement which appeared in the Gazette of the 11th D, cember last, to consider the propriety of dissolving the Company, and to carry out a resolution to that effect which was adopted at a meeting held on the 9th inst. J. B. Shuttleworth, Esq., took the chair. Scrutineers having been appointed, The CHAIRAAN stated that the meeting had now to decide whether the company should bo dissolved, and whether with or without a bankruptcy? Mr. GRIPPER proposed, and Mr. PRICE seconded, a motion that the company be dissolved, and that without a bankruptcy. The scrutineers having made the investigation of the shares, reported that 3,575 shares had been paid upon before the 31st March last, and of these 2,140 had been presented to them for voting, and which were given for the dissolution of the company. A SHAREHOLDER inquired why his shares were rejected in the voting paper, and was informed by the solicitor that his shares were only excluded because they were issued after the 31st of March, the clause of the Act re quiring that no shares should be admitted but those issued before that date. Mr. BEVAN (the late Secretary) inquired what had been done with the box taken from his office ? Mr. TUCKER denied any knowledge of the box, cr that at any time he had been near Mr. Bevan's office. Several Shareholders inquired whether it was intended to repudiate the shares which had been issued after the 31st of March? The CHAIRMAN declared that there was no intention to repudiate those shares, but the clause of the Act of Parliament excluded them from voting. Mr. J. BROWN proposed, and Mr. R. EKYN seconded, a resolution to the effect, that the dissolution shall not be considered an act of bankruptcy. The resolution was carried by a large majority, and after much violent language, and a great dial of alterc..- lion, the meeting was dissolved. WATERFORD, WEXFORD, WICK LOW, AND DUBLIN RAILWAY. The first ordinary gt neral meeting of the proprietors of the Waterford, Wexford, Wicklow, and Dublin Rail way was held yesterday at the offices of the cumpany, West Strand; Lord Courtown in the chair. The meeting was made special for the purpose of authorising the directors to apply to Parliament in the ensuing session for powers to deviate from the existing line. The CHAIRMAN stated that a report had been pre pared to be submitted to the shareholders, but the directors had since had a communication with two gen tlemen from Dublin, and they therefore did not intend to take any vote upon the document. The report stated that as soon as practicable after the company had obtained its Act the directors proceeded to the consideration of the best manner in which it could be carried out, and the plan the directors now desired the proprietors to adopt was, first, that the extension from Kingstown to Bray be forthwith carried out—dis tance, seven miles—and thence continued from Bray to Wicklow—distance, seventeen miles ; secondly, from the junction with the Wexford, Carlow, and Dublin line at or near Enniscorthy to Wexford, and to the proposed packet stat ion in the south bay, a distance of twenty-six miles ; and, thirdly, that the purchase of land should be made with reference to this arrangement of the works, and the payment of calla should be so regulated that no part of the capital should be demanded before it was actually required. The directors estimated that a call of 1/. 10s. per share ought to be made forthwith, and a second call of 1/. per share, payable in November, would be adequate to the outlay consequent on such an arrangement of the N cadutot7 v hhopfs o ui evo, r svvlnan k Blntw s i ye6ocnoaerferlkool shares,ko r bs: syf t. asAh havinge cpaatTl Wicklow,• al ii e sd ntt a . goe r ul lB47 . It had been resolved to allow interest at the rate of 4/. per cent. per annum, s t )n advance deahi cv h a doaea n e e:in. d pac ß t ceesp s oa a ,r2cm r ceoh p e ose, n e :no r y nsoafitooms c a o rlt t . oifinnoutatNgnoir towards f ueo w o adnf r ir c dnd a l ) te s so a r t splYtuelrhmp, depositsol ep e 2m i in 7or t the county and the payments to 39,8531. 16s. 4d., leaving a balance of 72,925/. 3s. Bd. in hand. Mr. Alderman BOYCE, a member of the deputation sent from Ireland to advise the company upon the present position and future prospects of the line, stated that he and the other members of the deputation waited upon the directors on Saturday, and pointed out to them the impropriety of attempting to carry out the line in the present state of Ireland.—(Hear, hear.) The directors received them with the utmost courtesy, and lis tened attentively to what they had to say. At the conclusion of the interview the directors ap pointed another interview for that morning, and this latter interview had just been brought to a close, and the result was, the directors were prepared to con cede to the deputation an adjournment of the meeting till the 17th of February, 1847, when proper and well digested measures would be submitted to the share holders for their future guidance. He, therefore, begged to move the adjournment accordingly. Mr. GEoRaE seconded the motion. Mr. DicxsoN found fault with the ccnduct of the di rectors in leasing the Dublin and Kingstown at an extra vagant rate of interest, while they had taken powers to improve the port of Wexford, with which the share hol lers had nothing at all to do, and in issuing shares since the month of August. The directors promised that the line should be leased to the Great Western Company, hut they had broken faith with the share holders. He also complained that they had withheld the share regis' er wantonly from the proprietors. Mr. BOSWELL said he understood the directors, upon the advice of Mr. Lloyd and other eminent counsel, had detertnined to held the original allottees responsible to whic h they had su b scr ib e d ; an d, act i ng t h e xtent for u they had confis ca t e d som e tens of t • • I a llottees themselves. All railways in Ire laa i were at ru inous discount, arid he could assure the . a thousands stinds that rwdo.irntehiPolfe' from () property, which b a d b een purchased wino. w ere not at all exaggerated. wished to know who would be entitled to Mr. PEIRCE meeting that the accounts of the awful state of Ireland vote at the adjourned meeting? Toe CHAIRMAN replied that those whose names were theon e 'G ulro:d1 be upon the directors to make propo sals to r. u entitled to vote. the Esi's:r N t Great Western Company to lease the li ne . Their only t hope was in a lease to that co m p an y. Sir T. ASMO NDE said this com p an y had no connexion r w h ateve r with the compa n y for improving the harbour of Wexfor. l Mr. D. W. HARVEY suggested, th a t if b e f ore t h e ad journment no offer came fro m or was accepted by the Great Western Company, it should be one of the ques tions for them to consider whether they could not dig.. pense with the services of those gentlemen on the direc tion who were connected with the Great Western Com pany. Ile approved of the agreement for leasing the Dublin and Kingstown Railway, because the receipts already derivab'e from that line exceeded the rent they were to pay for it ; and he had reason to believe that the Dublin and Kingstown Railway Com pany were prepared to nullify that agreement, and to take their line off their hands, reimbursing them all the money they had expended up to that moment. He hoped, when they met again, the deputation, or the director s, would have some (I( finite preposition to sub mit to them by which the shareholders could either have the option of withdrawing from the undertaking, or going on with it. Mr. PERRY, another member of the deputation from Ireland, stated that it was understood, and indeed agreed upon by the directors, that the deputation should have access to all such information as a committee of inquiry would have been entitled to. _ . _ The resolution was then put and carried unanimously, and a vote of thanks having been passed to the Chair man, the meeting terminated. DISTRESS IN SKIBBEREEN. The following letter has been addressed by Sir George Grey, in reply to the statement of the Poor-law Union of Sltibbereen _ _ " Whitehall, Dec. 9, 1846. " Gentlemen,— I have given a careful and attentive consideration to the statement which, on behalf of the Poor-law Union cf Skibbereen, you placed in my hands, and to the r,quest which you have addressed to her Majesty's Government, that a Queen's letter may be issued, for the purpose of making a collection throughout England for the relief of the distress in Ireland. " The painful details which are annexed to your written statement, and the information you have com municated to me in personal interviews, afford suffi dent proof, if indeed such were wanting, of the severity of the distress in your district, and it is impossible not to feel deep sympathy for the sufferings which you describe. " I have no reason to believe that you entertain a doubt of the desire of the Government to adopt all practicable measures for the mitigation of the distress unhappily so prevalent in Ireland. It is, therefore, un necessary that I should here enumerate the measures which have been taken by the Government with this object, or that I should advert in detail to the extent of relief-works now carried on under the superintendence of the Government, by which about 300,000 men are at present employed. I am, however, desirous of stating distinctly the conviction of the Government, that they cannot, by any measures within their power, meet all the cases of severe privation and distress a hich are to be found under existing circumstances in Ireland. " Much must remain to be done by individuals, owners of property, and by private charity. Her Majesty's Government, at the same time feel that a Queen's letter is not, at the present moment, the most appropriate mode of raising funds for the relief of these cases of distress. A Queen's letter is usually issued for the purpose of making a collection in aid of funds already raised by public subscription. I should therefore ven ture to suggest that, instead of looking to this in the first instance, means should be taken for raising among the wealthier classes in Ireland, as well as in England, contributions for the relief of extreme cases of want and destitution, not capable of being met by the existing Poor-law, or by the works in progress or to be here after sanctioned ; and I entertain no doubt, that if due precautions were taken for securing the proper applica tion of such contributions to the relief of urgent and severe distress through the local agency, which can alone be competent to their duty, liberal aid would be afforded by private benevolence in this country. " In suggesting contributions in Ireland, I do not overlook the fact, that much is being already done there by individual charity, and that presentments for public works will impose a heavy burden on the estates of the landed proprietors ; but it must also be borne in mind, that the maintenance of the destitute is in Eng land charged by law on the land and other fixed property of the country, and that in Scotland, where in extensive districts, the failure of the potato crop has been as complete, and the consequent pressure on the people as great as in Ireland, the landed proprietors are at the present moment making great sacrifices and exertions for the relief and support of their people. There are also parts of Ireland in which the pressure is much less severe than in others, and there is much property on which the burden of the presentments for the relief of distress has fallen lightly, if at all. " I shall only add that, with reference to some of the p a rticulars contained in your statement, inquiries have been instituted and directions given, which, I trust, will have the effect of mitigating the severity of the suffering in your neighbourhood.—l have, &c., (Signed) " G. GREY. " Rev. C. Caulfield, Rev. C. Townsend." MYSTERIOUS CASE OF POISON ING AT LUTON, IN BEDFORDSHIRE. LUTON, Saturday Night.—The inhabitants of this place and neighbourhood have been very much excited during the past month, owing to the death, under vet.) mysterious circumstances, of a young lady, named Allen. niece of Mr. Edward Woakes, a surgeon, practising here, under whose roof the deceased had lived for twelve months previous to her death. The deceased was found dead in her bed on the morn ing of the 231 of November last, under circumstances which could not fail to call for inquiry, and, the facts having been reported to Ezra Eagles, Esq., her Majesty's c ,ro tier for Bedfordshire, that gentleman issued his warrant for holding an inquest on the remains. A jury accord ingly met on the 24th ultimo, at the George Inn, in this place, and, af.er a long and patient investigation, during which it was elicited from the medical men examined that the death of the deceased had been occasioned by prussic acid, in the absence of any positive testimony as to how or by whom the poison was administered, they returned an open verdict. The case, however,' has continued to excite a great deal of interest ever since ; and very strong opinion , having been expressed on th subject, Mr. Woakes, the ut;cle of the teceased, addressed a communication to the churchwardens of Luton,. requesting that they would send a requisition to the coroner to re-open the investi gation. Mr. Woakes's application was backed by the signatures of 22 of the most influential inhabitants of the parish. On its receipt the churchwardens at once acceded to the request, and enclosed the document to the coroner. Upon receipt of it, Mr. Eagles at once directed the exhumation of the body, and gave directions to the proper officer to impannel a fresh jury, it being consi dered advisable by the coroner to avoid, as far as pos sible all reference to the former inquiry. This second investigation took place on Saturday. Frederick Hawkins, M.D., of Ilitchin, proved having, on the previous day, made an examination of parts of deceased's body with a view to test whether she was pregnant. The examination was made in the presence of Mr. Benson and Mr. Heale. Witness found no indi cations of pregnancy. Mr. Edward Baildon, superintendent of the Luton di vision of the Bedfordshire police, proved having exa mined deceased's bed room on the morning of her death. He found nothing bearing the marks of having contained poison. A letter, the seal of which was broken, was lying under deceased's pillow. Mr. Woakes took it and said it was of no consequence. He said it came from a young lady named Cant. Witness asked Mr. Woakes what prussic acid he had in his possession ? He replied, that he did not use it. He afterwards said, all he had was contained in a small bottle, and was so weak that it would I not cause death. He said he had purchased it to poison a dog. The witness here produced a letter from Messrs. Evans, Lisder, and Evans, wholesale druggists. The object of its production was understood to be to show that Mr. Woakes had purchased of that firm a quantity of prussic acid. [The letter was objected to, and not put in.] Witness observed that the window of deceased's room was fastened on the morning of her death. Mr. Woakes did not speak to witness on the subject of deceased's state of mind in November last, but he had done so two days since. George Woakes, nephew and apprentice to Mr. Woakes, was next called.—This witness was examined at great length. The chief points in his evidence were his having missed the bottle of prussic acid from its usual place on the morning of the 23d ult. The bottle was afterwards found by witness, but not in the presence of his uncle. The witness further stated, that on the Sunday before deceased's death he had missed a lauda num bottle from its usual place, but found it directly afterwards. None of the drug appeared to be gone. Witness had fetched prussic acid for his uncle from a chemist's in the town. Fanny Plummer, a Mend of the deceased, was next called.—She proved that after a " Dorcas meeting" in August last (the deceased and all her connexions appeaa to have been Methodists) deceased showed witness a small bottle, which she stated contained prussic acid. Deceased at that time expressed a wish to die ; and sub sequently witness received from her a letter, in which she threatened to destroy herself. Witness had not told any one of this circumstance, and now very much re gretted not having done so. The jury consulted for about half an hour, and at the expiration of that time recorded a verdict exactly similar to that returned by the former jury, viz.—That the de ceased died from the effects of prussic acid, but how or by whom administered there was no evidence to show. The inquiry lasted from ten o'clock in the morning til eight at night. BURKE'S HISTORY OF THE LANDED GENTRY.— This important work, it appears, is to be issued by Mr. Colburn, in ten monthly parts, price ss. each, commenc ing with the Magazines on the Ist of January. The Landed Gentry of England are so closely connected with the stirring records of its eventful history, that some ac quaintance with them is a matter of necessity with the legislator, the lawyer, the historical student, the specu lator in politics, and the curious in topographical and antiquarian Icre. This work furnishes such a mass of authentic information in regard to all the principal families in the kingdom as has never before been brought together. It relates to the untitled families of rank, as the " Peerage and Baronetage " does to the titled ; and forms, in fact, a peerage of the untitled aristocracy. It embraces the whole of the landed interest, and is indis pensable to the library of every gentleman. The following announcement appeared among the marriages in the papers last week:—" On the 2d of August last, at the British Embassy, Paris, by the late Bishop Luseombe, Dr. Larduer, to Airy, only daughter rimeot Co ' havinglonel b Spicer, een late of previously the solemnised 1h io t h et the United States." T S the UNFOUNDED REPORT Or PRINCE l‘ ILLNESS.—It appears by a letter from Sth, that the statement made so posit iv el y ill was paper of Prince Metternich be i ng dangerouslywastogive a grand dmner to Lord Ponsonby and entirely unfounded. The Pr ince diplomatic corps at Vienna on S OC IETY.— an e d rs "Messiah" VribEe: a Cologne Vienna, nEa, RN O I f C I will be performed at Exeter , -ball on Wednesday next.ttehheee 9th. other S ACRED HARMONIC S members of the GUN COTTON ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, SITTING OF DE CEMBER 13. Although the French Government has fulminated its decree against the fulminating cotton, it cannot prevent the experiments of scientific men, or the publication of them in the sittings of the AcadeMy. As many counnu nmations on this subject are sent in as if the Government had declared the manufacture and sale of this substance free. We do not, however, find any thing in the last papers n orthy of notice except an estimate by M. 1 elcuze of the coast of manufacture. According to this gentleman, 170 kilogrammes (about 3801 b. English) will cost, exclusive of labour, which is not an important item considering how little of it is required, .317 fr., being Less than lfr. per French pound. It is easy to conceive, there fore, that if gunpowder can be advantageously replaced by explosive cotton, and the Government were to permit the free sale of the substitute, it would lose an important source of revenue, as the price of gunpowder, the manufacture and sale of which is a Government mono poly, is so much superior to that at which the cotton could be sold. We are not to suppose, however, that ' this consideration has had any weight with the Ministry as regards the recent prt.hibiti. n of explosive evt ton. If this new discovery would replace gunpowder, the Government would, as a matter of course, take the manufacture and sale into its own hands, giving an in demnity to the persons who may have taken out patents in France for different modes of preparing the substance. We have heard ofonly one patent having been taken out, but it is probable that there are several. If it be declared illegal to make and sell explosive cotton, all that can be said is, that it is a strange inconsistency for a Go vernment to grant a patent right where no right can be exercised, and we think the Minister of Commerce would have done well if he had refused to sign the patents for this manufacture ; but this is a point upon which we shall not enlarge, particularly as, subsequent to the order for the prohibition, the Moniteur published a sort of explanation of the motives which induced it. We learn from this explanation that the prohibition is not a final one, and are warranted in believing that if experience sheuld show the properties cf explosive cotton to be better than those of gunpowder, and the dangers attend ing the preparation to be comparatively small, the prohibition will be withdrawn. The objections at present are, that the preparation is dangerous, and that the properties of the new substance are now suffi ciently known. On the first point we must be permitted to observe that the danger is much smaller than with gunpowder. It is no argument to say that some acci dents have taken place. If gunpowder were an inven tion of the present day, and as many unskilful and care less hands had been engaged in the preparation of it as has been the case with the explosive cotton, the accidents would have been much more numerous and far more calamitous than anything that has been authenticated in the accounts which have appeared of explosions during the preparation of the cotton. On the second point, however, the reason assigned by the Government for the prohibition is good. It has not yet been proved that the fulminating or explosive cotton is a perfect sub• stitute for gunpowdr. Many inconveniences have been pointed out by scientific and practical men, and its ex plosive power is unknown. In one case several' grains have been fired in a pocket pistol, without the slightest indication of danger to the person using the article ; in another a quantity of cotton, equal only in weight to the hundredth part of the ordinary charge of gunpowder, burst a proof mortar. With such facts before it, the Government is wise to pause.— Galignani. FORTUNES MADE BY ADVER- TISIN G. From a small pamphlet, entitled "The Art of Making Money," an extract has been taken, and is going the round of the provincial press, pointing out the facility of making immense sums by the simple process of con tinuous advertising. Doubtless large sums have been, are, and will be made by such a system by certain per sons of ability, who no doubt would make their way in the wet ld if called upon to play different parts on the great stage of life • but to suppose that men in general must as a matter of course acquire wealth by such means is as absurd as to imagine that all the penniless and shoe less of London are capable of rising to the dignity and wealth of an alderman or the Lord Mayor of London, simply by reading the " Young Man's Best Com panion." Money is not so easily made as the writer of the article referred to would lead people to suppose ; if it be so, few need be poor. But to our text : fortunes made by advertising. Undoubtedly the greatest man of the day as an advertiser is Holloway, who expends the enormous sum of twenty thousand pounds annually in advertisements alone ; name is not only to be seen in nearly every paper and periodically published in the British isles, but as if this country was too small for this individual's exploits, he stretches over the whole of India, having agents it all the different parts of the upper, central, and lower provinces of that immense country, publishing his medi caments in the Hindoo, Oordoo, Goozratee, Persian, and other native languages, so that the Indian public can take the pills and use his ointment, according to general directions, as a Cockney would do within the sound of Bow bells. We find him again at Hong Kong and Can ton, making his medicines known to the Celestial by means of Chinese translation. We trace him from thence to he Philippine Islands, where he is circulating his preps rations in the native languages. At Singsp. re he has a large depot his agents tht re supply all the islands in the Indian seas. His advertisements are publish( d in moat of the papers at Sydney, Hobart Town, Launceston, Adelaide, Port Philip, and indeed in almost ...very town of that vast portion of the British empire. Returning homewards, we find his pills and ointment selling at Va'paraiso, Litna, Callao, and other ports in the Pacific. Doubling the Horn, we track him in the Atlantic—at Monte Video, Buenos Ayres, Santos, Rio .le Janeiro, Bahia, and Pernainbuco : he is advertising in those parts in Spanish and Portuguese. In all the British West Ind►a Islands, as also in the Upper and Lower Canadas, and the neighbouring provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, his medicines are us larni- liarly known, and sold by every druggist, as they are at nonae. In the Mediterranean we find them selling at dalta, Corfu, Athens, and Alexandria, besides at Tunis and other portions of the Barbary states. Any one taking the trouble to look at the .‘ Journal" and " Couritr" of Constantinople, may find in these, as well as other papers, that Holloway's medicines are regularly adver .ised and selling throughout the Turkish empire ; and even in Russia, where an almost insurmountable barrier exists, the laws there prohibiting the entri3 of patent Medicines, Holloway's ingenuity has been at work, and obviates this difficulty by forwarding supplies to his agent at Odessa, a port situated on the Black Sea, where they filter themselves surreptitiously by various chan nels, into the very heart of the empire. Africa has not been forgotten by this indefatigable man, who has an agent on the River Gambia ; also at Sierra Leone, the plague spot of the world, the inhabitants readily avail themselves of the ointment and pills ; thus we can show our readers that Holloway has made the complete circuit of the globe, commencing with India, and ending, as we now do, with the Cape of Good Hope, where his medicines are published in the Dutch and English languages ; and while speaking of Dutch, we have heard that he has made large shipments to Hol land, and is about advertising in every paper or pet iodieal published in that kingdom ; we might also add that he has also started his medicine in t ome parts of France, in some portions of Germany, as also in some of the Italian states. We have been at some little trouble to collect all these facts, because we fear that the article before alluded to, " the Art of making Money," is cal culated to lead people to spend their means in the hope (as the author states) of making a hundred thousand pounds in six years for his pains, by holding up as an easy example to follow such a man as Holloway, who is really a Napoleon in his way. Many may have the means, but have they the knowledge, ability, energy, judgment, and prudence, neces sary ? Failing in any one of these requisites, a total loss is certain. Holloway is a man calculated to undertake any enterprise requiring immense energies of body and mind. No doubt he has been well repaid for all his labours, and is, we should suppose, in a fair way of making a large fortune. Of course it is not to our interest to deter the public from advertising; but, as guardians of their interest, we think it our incumbent duty to place a lighthouse upon what we consider a dan gerous shoal, which may perhaps sooner or later pre vent shipwreck and ruin to the sanguine and inexperi c enced about to navigate in such waters. The Editor of the ‘. Edinburgh Review," in a num ber published about three years ago, stated that he con sidered he was making a desirable bequest to posterity, by handing down to them the amount of talent and abi lity required by the present class of large advertisers. At that period Holloway's mode of advertising was most prominently set forth; and if these remarks, conjointly with his, should descend to a generation to come, it will be known to what extent the subject of this article was able to carry out his views, together with the conse quent expenditure in making known the merits of his preparations to nearly the whole world.—Pictorial Times. ALARMING FIRE AT THE PRIVATE RESIDENCE OF MR. W. ELLIS, M.P. FOR LEICESTER.--On Sun day afternoon, shortly before one o'clock, an alarm ing fire broke out in the private residence of Mr. Wynn Ellis, M.P. for Leicester, situate at 40, Cadogan place,. Cadogan-square, Chelsea. The flames were first perceived by a groom, while passing through the square. At that time they were raging in the second floor front. An instantaneous alarm was raised, and by dint of great perseverance, the firemen succeeded in getting the flames extinguished, but not before a very considerable deal of damage was done by fire and water, the third floor front rooms being extensively burned, and the fur niture therein destroyed. The fire originated through the overheat of a stove belonging to Mr. Jacobs, the owner of the adjoining house. NOVEL AND EXPENSIVE Fuar. — The Tagus steamer, on her last homeward voy a g e from th e . Penin sula, left Lisbon without having , fro some m ischance, - shipped a , shipped her usual full supply quently failing, some spars, &c . , w f, coal. a re first resorted to, and then, to make up th e deficiency, two tons of ches nuts, part of her cargo, were sacrificed to the devouring element, before reaching Plymouth. She called at that port, and took in a supply of coals, to enable her to complete her voyage to Southampton.—Hampshire Independent. FIRE AT PENTONVILLE CHAPEL.--0.1 Sund y afternoon, between four and five o'clock, Pentonvilie Chapel was discovered to be on fire. It appears that on one of the pew openers going into the building, he found the place so filled with smoke that he was obliged to make a retreat. Having sent intelligence to the engine stations, with all speed, the parish engines arrived, and also the brigade engines with Mr. Colf, the chief officer of the B section. Upon the firemen entering, they found the flooring of the communion burning fiercely. By tear ing up the boards and cutting away the joistings, the firemen happily succeeded in extinguishing the flames. The fire originated from the overheating . of the furnace used for warming tha building, which is immediately wader the communion table. MARKET NEWS,(YESTERDAy. C ORN-EXCEL/INOM. Last week the arrivals of English Wheat for our market were moderately good, and of full average quality ; bat the receipts of all other articles of home produce - were on a limited scale. From Scotland very few parcels of grain reached us ; but the fresh supply of Oats from Ireland,' though small for the time of year, was somewhat on the in crease. The imports of Foreign Wheat and Flour were small, hut those of Barley, Beaus, and Peas were somewhat extensive. Fresh up to-day the'receipts of English wheat were moderate, though by no means large, the time of year con sidered • still, however, the other samples of that article was fully equal to the wants of the dealers. Altogether the trade was much less active than on Friday ; still the few sales effected were at an advance in the currencies obtained onalonday last, of from is to 2s per quarter, at which amount of improvement the market closed heavily, and a total clearance was not effected. The quantity of free foreign Wheat on offer was not to say large. The demand on Irish account having subsided for the present, that article ruled dull, at a decline on Friday's currencies of fully Is per quarter, yet the advance on the rates paid on this day se' e n n i g ht was is to 2s per quarter. In Corn under lock next to nothing was doing, yet the holders refused to sell except at highr rates. The stocks in warehouse are now unusually Y small. There was a very ste a dy inquiry for the best malting and distilling Barley, at a rise in the quotations of Is per quarter; while the value of all other kinds was well supported. Su pm fine Malt was Is per quarter higher, with a steady de mand. In all other kinds no variation was noticed, although the supply of such was small. Notwithstanding the supply of Oats was somewhat on the increase, the Oat trade, owing to many of the de:tlers being short of stock was firm. Fine Corn was 10., and the secondary qualities 6d per , quarter higher. The show of B eans b e i ng small, that description of Grain moved off steadily, at a rise of fully Is. per quarter. Grey and Maple Peas were ls. per quarter dearer, with a firm inquiry. Town-made Flour advanced to 60s. per 2801bs. while barrelled parcels were 2s. dearer. CURRENCY PER IMPERIAL MEASURE iiTheat—Essex & Kent, Malt—Chevalier • • 76s to 77s Red, New.. • • 6ls to 71s Oats'—Yorkshire and Ditto,White, New 67s 74s Lincolnsh., Feed. 29s 315 Norfolk and Lin- Potatoe .. 33s 341 coin, Red... • • 613 68s Youghal and Cork, Ditto, White • • 626 69s Black . •• • 278 29s Irish, Rod .... •. • . 60s 62s Cork, White • • 26s 33s Ditto, IVhite .. • . 623 638 Scotch, Feed. .. • . 326 346 Rye—Old 44s 48s Beans—Tick . • New... •••• • .. 46s 50s Pigeons •• • • 50s 556 Barley—Griading .. • • 378 404 Pease—Grey. •• • • 46s 49 5 Malting . ••• • • • 442 50s Maple •• • 482 50 s Chevalier • • 508 52s White 54s 56 5 Malt—Suffolk and Nor- Boilers ••••• •• • • 56s 58 5 folk ••• • • 57s 688 Flour—Town-made... 56s 60g Brown ... •• ••• • • • 588 608 Suffolk •• ••• • • . 45s 49 5 Kingston and Ware 74s 75s Stockta & Norfolk 46s 48 5 srarrurnam. The imports of foreign stock into London since ISlOnday last have been as under : From whence. Oxen. Harlingen 9 ... Rotterdam 121 Leer Boulogne COWL Sheep. Calves. 110 591 ... -- 115 ... 1,178 4 26 ... 40 ... 383 605 ... - Pigs. Total At the outports about 200 beasts and 700 sheep have been 'ended, chiefly from Holland, while, from Ireland, by sea 360 pigs, 49 oxen, and 5 calves, have been received for this market. The state of trade experienced here in the past week having formed the topic of much discussion amongst the grazing community, we shall here offer a few observa tions upon its actual bearing, especially as we perceive some of our contemporaries have described it as the reverse of fact. For instance, it has baen stated that the beef trade was a very dull one. This we deny, for reasons we shall promptly state. The practical reader will perfectly understand us when we say that the number of beasts brought forward on this day se'nnight was the largest on record during the last ten years, if we except that shown on the great day in 1644 ; and further, that the actual weight of beef offered and dis posed of has never beea equalled, even making due allowance for the extra number on sale in the year just mentioned. To support our position in these particulars, we shall now refer to a few figures. On Monday last the number of beam in the market was 5,470, of which 5,100 found buyers—leav ing for the Friday's market only 370 head I And yet we have been told that the beef trade was very dull I On look ing closely into the result of the trade. we feel perfectly jus tified in again stating our opinion, as we did last week, that the trade, under the circumstances of an extraordinary supply, both as regards number and quality, was STEADY, though, on the other hand, it is perfectly apparent thet many of the beasts did not remunerate their owners; while, we conceive, owing to the great change which has lately taken place in the weather, that many of the butchers will be considerable losers by their purchases. To-day we had on show about 190 beasts and 800 sheep from ;broad, in very middling condition. The number of home-fed beasts on offer, the time of year considered, tole rably extensive, and of full average quality. Notwithstand ing the very unfavourable state of the weather for slaughter ing, the beef trade was somewhat steady; yet, as the condi tion of the stock was not quite equal to that exhibited on this day se'nnight, we have reduced our quotations 2d per Blbs, the extreme figure for Scots being 4s 4d. The beasts were divided in about equal portions from the northern, western, and midland districts. With sheep we were fairly supplied ; yet the mutton trade was firm. Prime old Downs readily produced 5s 2d per 81bs, and at which a good clear ance was effected. Calves, the supply of which was small, moved off slowly at late rates. The pork trade was firm, at last week's currencies. Per Blbs. to sink the offal. a. d. t. d. s. d. to s. d. Inferior Beasts -• •• 3 4 3 6 Second quality ditto 4 2 4 4 Sicond quality ditto. 3 8 310 Coarse-woolleddltto 4 6 4 8 Prime large Oxen.. 4 0 4 2 SouthdownWetlw. 410 5 2 Prime Scots •• • 4 2 4 4 Ditto onto( the wool Large coarse Calves 3 8 4 2 Large Hogs •••• • • 3 8 4 4 Prime small ditto 4 4 4 8 Small Porkers • • 4 6 4 8 .uckling Calves .18 0 30 0 Quarter old Pigs —l6 0 19 0 Inferior Sheep • • .3 10 4 0 Lambs •• •••• •• 0 0 0 0 SUPPLY AT MARKET. Sheep. Calves. 1 Pigs, I I 16,230 54 210 1%) VW GATE MEIADENHALL. east', 1,!)82 These markets are extremely well supplied with all kinds of meat, beef and mutton in particular, the quality of which has been seldom equalled. Owing to many of the large town and country butchers having purchased freely in Smithfield on Monday last, and to the change of the weather, the gene ral demand was heavy, and, in some few instances, the quo • tations had a r:ownward tendency. The arrivals from the country have been seasonably good ; but, with foreign incat we have been rather scantily supplie At per atom, by the Camerae. s. d. to s. d. s. d. to s. d. Beef, inferior.• •• • • 21C 3 0 Mutton, inferior .. 3 6 3 8 middling ••.• 3 0 3 2 ; middling .•3 10 4 2 prime large .. 3 4 3 6 i prime 4 4 4 8 prime small 3 6 8 B rr York, large• •..•• • • 3 6 4 2 •••• 3 8 4 8 stil4ll ••••• • • • 4 4 4 8 Lamb. Os 00 to Os Cd. BOROUGH HOP IVIABILET. .C 2 . 1.•• • • •• • The finest parcels of Hops are in moderate request at last week's prices. In other kinds so little is doing that the quo tations are almost nominal. BOROUGH AND SPXTALrIEMXIS. Although the supplies of Potatoes on tffer at the water side since our last have been small, the demand is by no means active. About 500 tons have come in from abroad in good condition. woos.. In the last week the imports of Wool have been chiefly composed of 1,195 bales from Sydney, and 159 from Alexan dria. Although exceedingly little business is doing either in English, Colonial, or Foreign Wools, prices may be consi dered tolerably lirm. Ta.M.T.OW. This market may be considered very firm, and prices are looking upward. We know that 51s 6d was paid for 150 casks of fine Y. C. in one parcel, and sellers are now asking 525. For January February, and March, the price is 52s to 52s 6d. In new Y. C. Tallow for the last three months of next year, 45s Ed has been paid in several instances during the past week. Town Tallow 51s net cash. STATE or TRADE.—The continual advance in the price of cotton is beginning to be felt by the handloom weavers of Wigan ; several of the manufacturers having, during the past week, stopped their gingham weavers, from inability to obtain an advance on cloth in the market commensurate with the advance of cotton yarns for the manufacture of those fabrics. Diaper weavers are in a similar situation, and there are loud complaints of wait ing of work. S -me consultations, we are informed, have been hold amongst the miliowuers re)pecting working short time, but as some of them have a supply of cotton on hand to last them fc , r a few months to come, they don't seem inclined to agree to the proposal at present. The cry against the cotton and corn speculators for causing an artificial scarcity for the sake of exorbitant gain, is be coming more vehement, and some public movement to induce Parliament to notice their practices is talked of. We of course do not suppose Parliament would inter fere.— Pre.ston Chronicle. Cuitrous CIECUMSTANCE.—On Monday morning last, about eight o'clock, Mr. Robert Cornthwaite, of the Bolton railway station, discovered a sparrow frozen last to the rails, about one hundred yards from the station. He got up to the bird, and was examining how it was held fast, when its frequent flutterings extricated it, and it escaped, leaving clear marks of its feet on the rails. — Preston Chronicle. MILITARY COURTS-MARTlAL.—Saturday morning a general court-martial assembled at Portman-street barracks, composed of the officers of the Brigade of Guards, with Colonel Sir Ord Honeyman, of the 2d Battalion Grenadier Guards, as President, when private J. Buckley, of No. 4 company 2d Battalion Coldstream Guards, was brought to trial for highly insubordinate conduct, and striking Sergeant Hadlam, of the Cold stream Guards, when in the execution of his duty. The finding of the court and its proceedings will not be made known until the court-martial is finally approved of by her Majesty and his Grace the C o mmander-in-Chief. Onthe same morning e theproceedings totfaiai Battalion G district ren ad court martialier Guards, on the Military Parade, Tower of Lon we r e xa o read r C don, on private J . Orton, of No. 5 conaPanY, who had been tried for decertion. The ourt sentenced the prisoner to undergo three months' im prisonment, with hard labour , at the Military Prison, Chatham. On the same morning, the 2d battalion of Coldstream Guards, stationed at the Portman-street barracks, were assembled in square, to hear the minutes of a court-martial read on Lance-Sergeant Spencer and Corporal Reeve, of that battalion, who have been tried by a district courtzmartial for neglect of duty, by allow ing a prisoner under their charge to get drunk. The evidence having been heard for and against the prisoners, the court came to the following decision—that Lance- Sergeant Spencer was not guilty, who was therefore acquitted; and Corporal Reeve was found guilty, and sentenced to be reduced to the rank and pay of a private soldier. DARING BURGLARIES.—On Sunday morning, about seven o'clock, a daring burglary was discovered to have been committed on the premises of Mr. Joseph Mappin, dressing-case maker and cutler, of 15, Fore-street, City. The shop had been left securely fastened at nine o'clock the previous evening, and on Sunday it was discovered plundered of a great portion of the contents, consisting of dressing-cases, cutlery, surgical instruments, and pearl and ivory, &c., valued at 4001. The shop of Mr. Robin son, tailor, 15, Bow-lane, Cheapside, wits also stripped of a quantity of cloth, &c., valued at 1501. These rob beries are supposed to have been effected by means of skeleton keys. MONEY ORDER OFFICES, ALDERIGATE-STREE T. On Saturday notice was given that the building, recently erected in Aldersgate-street, nearly opposite the General - Post•office, intended as a grand central money office, will be opened for business on the sth of January. The offices are capacious and light, fitted in the same way as a bankinghouse, every attention being paid to the ac • commodgion of the public.