The Sun. — London, England, 1852-12-10 00:00:00

arrangement. What he had said about finality was upon the general principle of attempting finally to settle fiscal questions by the votes of this house. Mr. MOFFAT asked whether the Chancellor of the Ex chequer intended the refining in bond to extend to foreign as well as colonial sugar, and whether it was to be com pulsory or optional ? Lord STANLEY said that the questions of the hon. gen tleman were of great importance, and would, doubtless, be answered by his right h on . f r i en d (th e Chancellor ofthe Exchequer, who was absent) when the subject should come before the house. He (the noble lord) had no wish to pro long this debate, which appeared to be rapidly dying a na tural death, but there was some little discrepancy in the views of hon. gentlemen on the other side. The hon. member for Westbury (Mr. Wilson) had attempted to prove that the West Indian colonists were not suffering at all. Immediately afterwards another hon. gentleman arose, on the same side, admitted their sufferings, and ascribed them to a great social change. To this the hon. member for Montrose (Mr. Hume) added, by way of consolation, that the existing class of proprietors must be entirely replaced by another. He (Lord Stanley) would state, in reply to the observations which had been made by honourable gentlemen, that which he should have thought from the general policy of the Government, it was quite unnecessary for him to say—namely, that the settlement of 1846, as modified by that of 1848, was re garded by them as a final one, and that they had now no intention whatever to reimpose a system of differential duties. By a final settlement he did not mean that it was not to be conclusive ; but .no power could induce the Legislature of a free country to adopt a compulsory po licy for all time to come. At the same time there was not the slightest intention on the part of Government of interfering in any way to prolong that differential duty which was now about to expire. (Hear, hear.) There fore, under those circumstances, he could not look on this motion, or the debate to which it had given rise, as bearing practically on any policy which was now about to be adopted. It was neither more nor less than a chal- lenge—a fair challenge—fairly thrown out to members on the Government side of the house. The hon. gentleman said, in effect—" Yon were wrong in the view you took of the act of 1846, and we were right ; and now we call upon you to admit the fact that you were in error." If it were really made a charge against them (the Government) that they did not, from the very first moment of the passing of the act of 1846, admit it to be a final settlement, or one conducive to the prosperity of the colonies, that was an imputation tinder which they might very well be content to lie ; for that censure at tached not only to them and those who habitually voted with them, but it attached equally to that great statesman whom it was impossible not to recognise as the real if not the nominal author of the act of 1846. It would not be disputed that Sir Robert Peel practically carried that act, through the house ; for had he and his supporters op posed it the Government would not have been able to carry it. While supporting /that measure, Sir It. Peel distinctly declared that ho entertained serious appre hensions as to what its consequences might be, and that the only thing which induced him to support it was, the political consideration how far its passing or its rejection would affect the state of parties • thus prefer ring a less claim to a greater, a less important to a more important interest. Taking the act of 1846, in con nexion with previous acts, he would be a bold man who would say that that policy had been otherwise than un just. He did not deny that he had entertained expectations as to the evils of the act of 1846, which had not been realised. But looking at that measure, not as it was seen now by the light of experience, but as it appeared then, he contended that it was rash and unjust. Mr. Wilson had made rather light of the alleged distresses of the West India planters ; but the report of a local commission of inquiry issued by the Governor of British Guiana in 1850, spoke of the wholesale abandonment of property, and the disappear ance of all marks of civilisation as results of the legislation of 1846. Statistics furnished by that commission showed that 42,000 out of 80,000 of the inhabitants only were pro ducers, and of these 20,000 had since emigrated, leaving only little more than 20,000 engaged in productive labour. He admitted that in the last 12 or 14 months there was a considerable improvement ; still he must deny the propo sition that there was no such thing as general di* tress. The statement of the Governor of Jamaica, which had been read, on the last day of last year, proved that great distress still existed ; and so late as August last, he stated that the revenue did not meet the public expenditure, though it had been reduced one-third. Where the wages of labour were not exorbitant, he ad mitted that the colonies were more prosperous than they had been for years past. To re-impose a differential duty, so as to benefit the colonies that were suffering, was a po litical impossibiity. (Hear, hear.) There had been a most gratifying change in the last few months, arising out of the suppression of the Brazilian slave trade ; that trade was now utterly extinguished ; and there was a prospect of free labour being employed also in Cuba, by the impor tation of Chinese. Should this be the case, the prosperity of our West India colonies would be greatly increased. He hoped this was the last time on which the sugar duties would be discussed in that house. The motion was then agreed to. THE YARMOUTH PETITION. Mr. M. GIBSON presented a petition from the gentle. men who had signed the recognisances in the petition of Mr. M'Cullagh against the sitting members for Great Yar mouth, stating that they believed they had bound them selves by the recognisances they had signed, regretting that the sureties had been declared insufficient, and praying the house to redress the grievance under which they laboured, and to take means for preventing that recurrence in future. The right hon. gentleman said he wished to call the atten tion of the house to the petition presented by Mr. M'Cul lagh, who claimed tohave been electedfor Great Yarmouth, and who disputed the return. (The right hon. gentleman read the petition, which has been printed with the votes.) He did not ask the house to review the decision of the examiner of recognisances, or to pass any opinion as to its validity, or in anyway to sit as a court of appeal. He was well aware that the decision of theexaminer in these matters was final and con clusive. His object was to show that, on the face of these proceedings, circumstances had arisen which rendered it necessary for Parliament to consider whether it might not be necessary to amend the act itself under which proceed ings were taken in reference to the trial of election peti tions. The reason of the decision was, that the words " sitting members" were used instead of " sitting mem ber." On the same day the examiner had reported that a similar recognisance, in which the words "sitting mem bers" were also used, was unobjectionable. But the objec tion being taken in the case of Great Yarmouth, he de cided that that objection was valid, and therefore fatal to any further proceedings with the petition. He did not mean to reflect, in the slightest degree, upon the examiner of recognisances ; no doubt he had endea vovered to discharge his duty conscientiously, in re ference to what he believed to be the requirements of the act of Parliament. But he (Mr. Gibson) found fault with the act itself, and asked that it should be amended. Petitioners would be placed in a great difficulty if there was no power of amending technical objections to recognisances. In this case the peti tioner had found his sureties ; nobody contended for a moment that they were not good and substantial sureties, and capable of undertaking all the liabilities re quired by the act. The fifth clause of the act gave the form of the recognisance, and added, " With such altera tions as may be necessary to adopt such form to th e cir cumstances of each case," clearly showing that the act con templated necessary alterations. There ought to have been a power in the act to enable the examiner to amend, and to call on the sureties to sign the amended form, so that they might still be liable for costs, if the decision was against them. The motion he had to submit was in the following terms :—" That a select committee be appointed to inquire into the operation of 11 and 12 Vic., cap. 98, as regards recognisances, and to report their opinion to the house whether it is expedient to amend that act." The 14 days having expired, it was out of Mr. M'Cullagh's power to present a new petition. Another circumstance in this case was, that the hearing of the objection was taken at an earlier period than the stipulated three days after notice of the objection. He (Mr. Gibson) brought forward this matter solely on public grounds, in order that technicalities might not be allowed to stand in the way of justice. housee yearsnMa i ino r n . s tato : tioh i f yn i tst L h,Nev i t o eo ph(rte L tii E hnn iwe s aoi a ptlih i ra c a l uoy h bf e whatser of Mr. HUME seconded the motion. was th g e la p d et t i te o m n, o w ti h o i n ch w a a s s k n e o d t th in e theeu t subsequent u examinerit hadlva sb had' e peul:ooensxeepl. expressed e F ps Four vided that the decision of the examiner as to the rnog nisances should be final and conclusive. Such being ' the law, the last thing for the house to do would be to undo what it had taken so much pains to establish. The hon. gentleman said that a distinction had been made by the examiner between the Great Yarmouth case and the Bridgenorth case; but in the latter, the objection never was raised ; consequently, the examiner had no opportu nity of g iving an opinion one way or th e other. When Great Yarmouth case came on, the agents for the sitting member took the objection, and the examiner decided against the sufficiency of the recognisances. It was said there had not been the regular three days' notice. He found that notice was given on the 23d, and the case was heard on the 26th. This being so, the hon. gentleman had exercised a proper discretion in not founding his mo- Lien on the prayer of the petition. He asked for a select committee; and the Government had no objection to such comieitteo being appointed. But as there were a great many 4ection petitions, he thought it better to defer the appointment of this committee a few days, as other tech nical difficulties might arise on other petitions which might also be referred to the same committee. The committee would also have to consider whether recognisances might not sometimes be loft purposely informal ; as well as to draw a distinction between formal objections and those which went to the substance. Perhaps it might be well. in some cases, to require the deposit of an amount suffi cient to cover the costs, so as to afford the requisite secu rity to the sitting members. After a few words from Sir H. "V . ILLOUGHBY and Mr. Mr. GIBSON, the motion was agreed to. On the motion of Sir H. WILLOUGHBY the following return was ordered :—Copy of any information that can be obtained by the Poor Law Board, as to relief out of the poor rate to parties on the ground of being "out of work," or in aid of wages ; stating the number of such parties, and the amount of such relief, in any of the unions in Englan( and Wales. neous decrease of home-grown sugar, and a depression in price wholly unparalleled in the history of the sugar trade; and he was not ashamed to say that he was on that state of things that he was prepared to appeal to Government, and had it not been for the change of Government, which almost deranged their proceedings, he should have ap pealed to Parliament to afford redress for this state of things. But what was the state of things now ? It was a state of things which the hon. gentleman himself could not have anticipated. He most cordially wished that this state of things might go on. He found that in the ten months of the year 1851 ending in October, the British sugar entered for home consumption was 2,250,168 cwts., and in the ten months ending in October, 1852, this had risen to 3,085,252 cwts., showing an enormous increase. And what did he find in respect to foreign sugar? Why that the foreign sugar retained for home consumption in the first ten months of 1851, which was 1,089,723 cwts., had fallen more than one-half in the first ten months of 1852, the quantity then being only 480,540 cwts. The figures were completely reversed. Foreign sugar had decreased, Bri tish sugar had increased, and there had been a simulta neous improvement in the price, which, instead of being 18s. sd. as it was in th e b eg i nn i ng of Apr i l, had risen .to 255. La. in the last week in November. Well, then, he had no hesitation in avowing that, whatever his views of the policy of 1846 and 1848 might be, that, looking at the solemn decision of Parliament on this subject—looking at the extent to which the comfort of the home producer was concerned—he certainly could not be a party to asking the House of Commons to revoke this policy. Whether he was out of office or in office did not make the slightest differ ence ; but these figures had so changed the aspect of the question that he could be no party, under such circum stances, in coining to that house to ask for an increase in the protection. But, much as he wished it, he would not conceal from the hon. gentleman and the house that he was not sanguine with regard to the continuation of this state of things. He believed there were two causes to which this state of things might be in a large measure attributed— one was, that the crops in Cuba and Porto Rico had con siderably decreased. Another cause he believed to be that the ruinously low prices in the spring of this year drove • away the sugar from our market to the United States. The hon. gentleman would perhaps say that this would not account for the increase of the British colonial sugar. He admitted that ; but he believed that that increase was to be attributed to the fact that, while the crops in Cuba and Porto Rico had failed, the crops in the West Indies had • been remarkably the reverse. On the other hand, he was most willing to admit, and he was glad to hear the honourable gentlemen allude to, the energy, the vigour, and the good spirit which, under the most adverse cir cumstances, had distinguished the British colonist. From a return in the exports in January, 1831, and January, 1851, it appeared that those from Jamaica had fallen off upwards of 1,41)0,000 cwts., to 627,768 cwt. Barbadoes, however, was exporting much more ; and the exports of Trinidad were also greater than they had been under slavery. British Guiana, although it exported less than during slavery, had made a great effort ; and he was upon the whole to take a most favourable view of four (m a the five principal sugar producing colonies. The stilt( of those colonies, namely, British Guiana, Trinidad, Barba• does, and Mauritius, showed that this must be regarded mainly as a labour question. (Hear, hear.) Barbadoes was abundantly supplied with labour, and consequently it had both greatly increased its produce, and cheapened its rate of production. (Hear, hear.) Still he was not over sanguine. [The right hon. gentleman then quoted a dis patch from Governor Higginson, of Mauritius, who ex pressed an opinion that, owing to a combination of fortu nate circumstances, and the increasing self-reliance of the planters, their hopes for the permanent prosperity of the colony, were in the course of fulfilment, and he trusted would at no distant day he realised ; but he went on to say that he made this statement with great diffidence, for he could not overlook the severity of the competition to which they were subjected.] Owing to their proximity to India, the colonists had been able to procure a large supply of coolies, and they might by that means triumph over their difficulties. (Hear, hear.) With regard to British Guiana, the planters had not taken up the whole of the grant of 500,000/. allotted to them, but they had taken 350,0001. of it, ,and with that assistance he hoped they also would be able to struggle through. With respect to Trinidad, Lord Harris wrote, that though his own feeling had formerly been against immigration, he now perceived the enormous advantages resulting from it; and he emphatically added, that under God, it would be to immigration that the saving of the colony would be , attributa.ble. (Hear, hear.) He (Sir J. Pakington) would render all honour to the planters. They had lowered the cost of cultivation in Trinidad fully one-third, and they had also reduced wages. From the re turns of the stipendiary magistrates, which were perhap' the most reliable evidence on the subject—though every thing of this nature must be taken with great caution— the average rate of wages in Trinidad had been lowered from is 6,1 to is ; in British Guiana from 2s 5d to is 4d ; in Barbadoes from Is lAd to likl ; and in Jamaica from 2s ld to is sd. The planters had laid down tramroads and had introduced machinery. They had, in fact, at a very large expenditure, done all they could to meet the difficul ties in which they were placed. (Hear, h ear .) T a ki ng then, the se favourable circumstances into consideration, and remembering also the extraordinary change of figures which had taken place in the sugar markt, h must repeat that this was not the moment at which any e Government could advocate a return to the differential duties. (Cheers.) But still he was far from being sanguine with regard to the state of these colonies., He was con vinced that they still required all the assistance which the imperial and local Governments could give. One of the first things required by the colonies watt to obtain labour to the utmost extent ; but the permission to refine sugar in bond was likewise an act of justice, and ought to be conceded to them. (Hear, hear.) He would not detain the house with any details as to the mode in which the proposal should be carried out, for his right hon. friend (Mr. Disraeli), when the proper occasion should ar rive, would afford them all the necessary information ; but it was well known that between the superior sugars of Cubs. and Brazil, the Muscovado sugars of the West Indies, and the coarse inferior sugars of the East Indies, there was so great a difference in quality that, if they put an equal duty upon the raw article, they were in fact giving a differential duty to the foreigner. (Hear, hear.) The proposed boon was, therefore, not only an act of jus tice, but would be found to afford the colonial interests an important measure of relief. (Hear, hear.) He was sorry to say that he could not quit the subject without advert ing to the depressed and half-ruined state of Jamaica, than which nothing could be more deplorable. In a dis patch received from the Governor Sir Charles Grey during the last year he found that the planters were half maddened by their distress and by their apprehensions of ruin im p_endin,g. When, therefore, the hon. gentleman opposite - (Mr. Wilson) spoke of the British colonists not suffering distress, he (Sir J. Pakington) need only refer to the em phatic expression of a governor of long experience, who spoke of them being " half-maddened." (Hear.) In another place the governor stated that the depression of the planting interest, arising from the alteration of our policy, was becoming more and more permanent ; that the finances of the colony were growing from bad to worse; that the revenue had long since ceased to equal a greatly reduced expenditure ; and that the debt had grown, in five years, from 580,000/. to 750,000/. (Hear.) The misery of the island had been greatly aggravated by one of the most dreadful visitations that had ever happened to a country. The cholera had fallen on the colony with almost unparalleled severity. The actual loss was esti mated at 40,000, and the loss of field hands was at least 20,000. The financial condition of the island was as bad as possible. Not only had the debt increased since 1847 from 580,000/. to 750 , 0001 - for se vera l ;not only had th e revenue years been less than the expenditure, but for several years the interest on the loan from this country had not been paid ; and he was afraid that he must pronounce the island in a state of national insolvency. (Hear, hear.) Under these circumstances it was the intention of the Go vernment to send out a commissioner to inquire into the state of the island and report. (Hear, hear.) There was . a serious defect in the constitution of that country, viz,, the manner in which the m oney votes were brought in and passed. Instead of being proposed by the Government, they were moved and supported by any member of the Le ' gislature. This was a most alarming state of things ; and he (ir J. Pakington) could not conceive a country in a more depressed condition, both socially and politically. Of course there could be no differential duties established for Jamaica along; and the Government had therefore resolved, as the period of Sir Charles Grey's office was now approaching its termination, to send out a commissioner to inquire into and report upon what reforms and changes would be moss likely to restore prosperity. Gloomy as the state of Ja• maim was, he did not regard it with despair. He believed that, with judicious alterations, with a judicious arrange ment of the finances, and with those reforms which were so tryingly necessary, there was reason to hope that the island might yet be saved from the ruin that seemed to hang over it. He could not, however, retract the censures which lie had so often passed upon the legislation of 1846. (Cheers.) He still thought that that legislation was most precipitate and rash. He did not dispute the benefit which it had done to the home consumer ; but, as he had before recently remarked, it was not just to benefit one class at the expense of another. He had said that with regard to the landed interest—an interest which was strong, powerful, here on the spot, amply represented Parlia:mant, and able to defend its own rights and sorely the remark was tinfeld triWe applicable to those di•itant colonists, wile 'were unrepresented in this house and unable to defend themselves. (Hear, hear.) In coaclusioa he would say that he approached the question in the most disietercsted manner. He had no connexion whatever with %'l Indian Property, and he approached the subject solely front a feeling of his duty as a public man to defend the rights of an interest which he saw in danger. 11 the efforts of the colonists were successful, and if the present state of improvement should prove perma nent, no one would more sincerely rejoice, or more wil lingly admit the fact. (Cheers.) He had not the least objection to give the paper; asked for. thlfr. EWART admitted the sufferings of the planters, but ey bad arisen from the falee position in which the colo ingly been fox a lngthened period. He rejoiced exceed hear that a c s mmissioner was to be sent out to Jitiwaiea ; for when Malta had been for a long time in a de -131'"a• sta t te h , a corn' ;eissione; had been sent to the island, and since however,en it had been more prosperous. Ho must, read thosecomplain that the right hon. gentleman had not of Briti Pdtitsages in the blue book in which the Governor The Guiana spoke of the gratifying prospects of that colony. enclosed, stated Tarrt. of Dr. Sherer which the Governor mkt ?ree times the present amount of sugar might be 0 d . in Guiana. Nor had the hon. gentleman referred t Prom these o passages upon St. Vincent's and Barbgoes. conclude fra the rising e, passages they might fairly petition would develop tlof a spirit of unrestricted com peti At resources of the colonies and these were the onlyiraY* Cby apital, machinery, energy— whi h • c relief could be aiven te the colonists. It W as j ea suffe'ring and distress from any great aoe priiT to separate had been the else with Ireland and snch had been the Such with the IVe3t, 1;1(1E03 ; but what he did prote en t t at; p a . s s e was, that th.) r ight hon. gentleman shenld bold os‘toalthet plus tees 1.11 ive hopes, and unsettle that- which had] been settled. (Hoer, hear.) thei the ouse nor th Mr ' }[ITHEII.Wed Lha- ile .l l of the right e e ` iun try woe 1 , 1 infer from the 81)c..c1 , I ]lopesbon. gentleman ,lelusive to the col • that he had been hold-i"g "` •z , h the finality of or that lie would f!tlehlpt to disturb (Hear, hear.) o- their Fettlement of the West India question. (Hear, duties ewaoritiHe (Mr. Hume) ho - ee-1 that the ditnren i 1 hl be taught to debe abelihed, a:ld th a t the coloni wotu pend up on th emse l ves . At the same time, everythi ng (ight to be . lone to assist thorn and to remore from them the the 1,1 Hence, he was : - Indes by which they were dlelightedlnitli the proposal of Government as to refining ill bend. ( bear.) The right lion. gentleman seemed to _ lament th a t a ll- the loans had not been taken up. He ( 1/1 r • Hume), meth() other hand, regretted that they had ever been taken up at all; for the money had been lavished away, and, what was worse, this country might never ex pect to see it ret urned. The only chance the colonies had was that the different properties should fall into the hands of new proprietors, who should only give a few dollars for that which had cost thousands. Sir J. PAKINGTON explained, that he had not the • ightest intention to attempt the removal of the present SELECT COMMITTEE ON RAILWAYS. Mr. HENLEY nominated the following members as a select 'committee on railways :—Mr. Henley, Mr. Hume, Mr. W. Gladstone, Mr. Labouchere, M r . St ru tt, M r . W . Patten, Colonel Mure, Captain Jones, Mr. Deedes, Mr. M. Milnes, Mr. E. Denison, and Mr. Laffan. Mr. J. MACGREGOR complained that the railway in ,erest was not sufficiently represented, and suggested the .ddition of the name of Mr. R. Stephenson. FREWEN concurred in the suggestion. HENLEY had no objection to any addition which tend to promote the object for which the committee was appointed. Mt, wouli Mr: a IIINDLEY would rather the committee were per fectly independent of the railway interest ; being confident thit interest was quite powerful enough to take care of largo, TAXES 'EDGE Wednesday, a deputation waited on the Earl of Derby, at the Treasury, for the purpose of presenting to hi s lordship an address from the Association for promoting the Repeal of the Taxes on Knowledge. The deputa tion consisted of a large number of gentlemen interested in the subject, and included Mr. Hume, M.P., Mr. Milner Gibson, M.P., Sir John V. Shelley, M.P., Mr. Ewart, M.P., General Sir De Lacy Evans, M.P., Mr. Charles Forster, M.P.. &c., &c. Mr. MILNER GIBSON introduced the deputation, ob serving that the present step had arisen from a resolu passed at a public meeting, to the effect that a deputation should seek an interview with the Governmen, in order to bring under their notice the anomalies of the Newspaper Stamp Act. It was considered that the present was a fitting opportunity for bringing forward this question, be cause the Government had introduced a measure into Parliament with a view to extend the Stamp Act, the At torney-General havinggiven notice of a bill to that effect. The members of the present association thought it de sirable that the Government should be put in posses. sion of all the anomalies which now existed under the law, and it was with this object that they had requested his lordship to receive their deputation. For himself he was in favour of a repeal of the Newspaper Stamp Act, but his present purpose was simply to point out to the Government the pernicious effects of the law, and to call upon the Government to provide some adequate remedy for the evil. Mr. COLLETT presented an address to Lord Derby, in the course of which the deputation put forward their views as follows :—" It would detain your lordship too long to listen to a lengthened statement of the many mischievous effects of the newspaper stamp ; but we may, perhaps, be permitted to notice a few of the most glaring. It is a penalty on the record of facts, on the history of to-day, on the events current amongst us; and, to a very large extent, this penalty amounts to a prohibition. The penny is 25 per cent. on a fourpenny paper, but it would be 200 per cent. on a halfpenny paper; yet a halfpenny paper would ex actly meet the wants of millions of the working classes, because the price would suit their straitened means, while the size would suit the limited time which they can afford to give to reading. For want of this stimulus, many hundreds of thousands in the agricultu ral and mining districts are unable to read at all, while in the towns, the vacuum created by the suppres sion of facts, is filled up with fictions in which the pre dominant feature is an exaggerated portraiture of the vices of the higher classes of society. Even the private fictitious history of the Sovereign is given in such publications, while it is forbidden by law to publish those occurrences of her daily life which form the staple of the Court Circular. All sorts of sedition or obscenity may be published without a stamp. Attempts to throw discredit on the personal character of the Sovereign and arguments against monarchy as an institution are per mitted ; but to inform the public that her Majesty held a drawing-room last week is illegal. A reference to the evidence taken before the committee of the House of Commons, which sat last year, will show that the high price of newspapers has a tendency to promote drunkenness, by obliging working men to go to the pub lic-house to hear the news read instead of reading it them selves at home ; and the tables published in the appen dix show that the greater part of the London daily press is not supported by its readers, and is fast tending towards extinction. The circulation of the daily press exclusive of the Times was in 1846, 13,000,000, and in 1850 was only 8,719,840. We attribute this declension to the ne cessity which exists under the stamp that, every news paper should be printed at fivepence. The 6 and 7 Wm. IV., cap. 76, forbids any news to be published without a stamp, and this is the opinion of the Board of Inland Revenue, and of the present and late legal ad visers of the Crown. But it is not the opinion of the Court of Exchequer, and it is therefore proposed by the Attorney-General to permit news to appear in unstamped monthly publications. If it be penal to publish news every day or every week, we know not why it should be right to publish it once a month. What is to prevent four per sons from so arranging their monthly publications as to give their readers the advantage of a weekly paper ? The Stamp-office would threaten their publisher with the penalty for publishing in the middle of the month, but will they sue for the penalty ? My lord, there being doubts as to whether this clause is repealed or not, the Stoke-upon-Teent Monthly Narrative is published in the middle of the month, in order to try the question. The Solicitor of Inland Revenue has warned the publishers of the illegality of their conduct, but has not 'accepted the challenge of their attorney to commence a prosecution ; and the Attorney- General has declared from his place in Parliament, that as they only violate the law, but do not defraud the revenue, he does not think it inconsistent with his duty to refrain from a prosecution. Thus, my lord, the law is violated by the express permission of your lordship's Government. Nor does this stand alone ; the security clause, which was enacted especially for small and cheap periodicals, is now only enforced against stamped newspapers, leaving free the very publications against which the clause was directed. But this is not all. We have here a volume of un stamped weekly papers containing news every one of which is liable to stamp duty. It appears to us that the law is to be altered because the Government does not like to obtain a decision against a work edited by Mr. Chas. Dickens. There are other useful and popular writers whom the Government would not like to put down. Will your lordship engage in a crusade against the Athenceunt, the Builder, the Legal Observer, the Lancet, the Medical Times, or Punch ? And yet such is the only consistent course if you continue the law which imposes the stamp on weekly papers." Mr- HUME was anxious to say a few words in ad dition to and in explanation of, the address. He would direct his observations to two main points—the state of the law and the cause of education. The volume now before his lordship, containing a variety of unstamped publications which disseminated news, com prised only a small portion of what might be collected, but the object of presenting these examples to his lord ship was to show that publications were allowed for local distribution without a stamp, and that if a stamp were affixed to them they might be transmitted throughout the country. Now this plan he considered very simple in its operation, and in point of justice it was one which ought to be generally adopted. The At torney-General had brought in a bill, and it was fit and proper that the Government should be made acquainted with the evils of a law that could not be satisfactorily and consistently carried out. Out of some 200--or at least 150 —publications which appeared, there were none which ought not, if justice were done, to be put upon the same footing as the unstamped works before his lordship. If, therefore, the Government had found the necessity of asking for a grant of 150,0001., to ex tend the knowledge of the arts and sciences, and to provide the community with those advantages which had hitherto been denied them, the time had ar rived for them to re-consider these important mat ters. There was no reason whatever why the publications to which he had alluded should be exempt from the stamp ; and neither Mr. John Wood, of the Inland Revenue, nor Lord John Russell had been able to point out to him why they should be rega r d e d i n a different light to other pro ductions which it' was thought necessary to stamp, He would now remind his lordship of what he must have observed during his visit to the - United States. Newspapers w ere pu bli shed upon such a principle in that country that all persons were enabled at a very small cost to obtain a paper containing news connected with their own immediate interests and with the particular locality in which they resided. Why I not give to the people of this country the same advantages which existed in the United States ? As regarded the deficit which it was supposed the repeal of this tax would The trot p i;n r ovk o l nye d e en u t dsthoucuthli local nnhcl number guarantee oypmpui might eb esrgi finances chaaotsttfh ieoetnxpnh egse o :yov f cays ttpndehar government ime c trrh o leeo u denss n t ate principle country, yp whatever ao s transmithtv e e would ianvdeenrdouftstampinghlamount lbeyyy u c p n siaro d enseutcor.rf lated in England amounted to 95,000,000 ; whereas in America the number of newspapers annually was 430 millions—a circumstance that was to be accounted for by the fact that in the latter country no stamp was con aidered necessary. He thought that the great impetus and advantage which America, was rapidly gaining w as in a great measure to be attributed to its cheap press ; in his opinion, the plan now proposed was one of many means which ought to be adopted in this country to remove that ignorance and to promote that moral and religious knowledge which ought to exist in every part of the country. The subject was one well worthy of the serious consideration of Government, and he trusted that it would ere long receive due attention from the Administratio n . Mr. ENVART, M.P., cordially supported the proposi tion, as being most conducive to the interests of public education and public order. Mr. Digby Seymour, M.P., Sir J. V. Shelley, and other gentlemen having offered a few observations in favour of the objects of the deputation, The Earl of DERBY said he had listened with great attention to all that had been said, but it was not to be expected that he should enter at once into the details of this great and complicated question. There was one point, however, upon which he was quite clear, viz., that the law upon this subject as it at present stood, was not in i a satis factory position, an d w h a t ev er the law wa s t ought undoubtedly to be plain, and simple, and effectu a l, for the purposes f or w hi c h it was intended.H e thought th e p resen t G overnmen t h a d shown no incli nation to discourage the dissemination of knowledge. The question of these various taxes—more particu larly the advertisement duty was already under their notice, altho ug h, f rom fi nanc i a l considerations, they had been precluded at the present moment from dealing with it. He was prepared, however, to admit, and without undervaluing the importance of the other branches of the subject, that the present adver tisement duty was of an objectionable character ; and he should say, that if it were possible and consistent to reduce or repeal it, one course or the other would meet with the recommendation of Government. The subject was one of great importance, and it would receive every attention from himself and colleagues. The deputation then retired. acco: and, AGRICULTURAL PROSPERITY. —On Wednesday the Exeter Christmas Cattle Fair was held. At this fair there is usually a large number of agriculturists from varijus parts of the neighbourhood, and capital stock is always exhibited. On the present occasion there was a large supply of splendid animals, and a brisk business was done. Prices were first-rate. For prime beef 10s. 6d., and even lls. per 20 lbs. was given. A lot of prime South Devon sheep sold at bid. per lb. This, too, after the certain ruin which was predicted would fall upon the farmers by the free trade measures. DISCOVERY OP COAL AT CA RRICKFERGUS.—The spirited enterprise of the Marquis of Dow ns hi re, i n working the D untrue Mines near Carrickfergus, has been rewarded with the discovery of its primary object, a seam of coal. , THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 10, 1852. BANK RETURNS. (Frorn the London Gazette of Tuesday. 17,650 Rye Bank, Rye—R. C. Pomfret and Co. Ross Old Bank, Herefordshire, Ross—Prich ards and Allaway Saffron Walden and North Essex Bank, Saffron Walden—Gibsons and Co. Salop Bank, Shrew s b ur y —B ur t on, Ll oy d , and Co Scarborough Old Bank, Scarborough—Woodall and Co. Shrewsbury Old Bank and Shrewsbury and Ludlow Bank, Shrewsbury—Rocke, Eytons, and Co. Sittingbourne and Milton Bank, Sittingbourne —Vallance and Co. Southampton Town and County Bank, South ampton—Maddison and Pearce Southwell Bank, Southwell—Wylde and Co Southampton and Hampshire Bank, Southamp ton—Atherley, Fell, and Co . Stone Bank, Stone—W. Moore Stafford Old Bank, Stafford—Stevenson and Co Stamford and Rutland Bank, Stamford—Eato n , Cayley and Co. ei,uuu Shrewsbury and Welshpool Bank, Shrewsbury —Beck, Downward, and Co. Taunton Bank, Taunton —H. and R. Badcock 24,455 Tavistock Bank, Tavistock—Gill and Rundle 11,187 Thornbury Bank, Thornbury—Rolph and Co. 6,2"5 Tiverton and Devonshire Bank, Tiverton— Dunsford and Co. Thrapston and Kettering Bank, Northampton shire—Thrapston, Yorke and Eland Tring Bank and Chesham Bank, Tring—But cher and Son Towcester Old Bank, Towcester—Percival and Co Town and County of Poole Bank and Ring wood and Poole Bank, Poole—G. W. Led gard and Sons Union Bank, Cornwall, Helston—Vivian and Co Uxbridge Old Bank, Uxbridge—Hull, Smith, and Co 14,449 Wallingford Bank, Wallingford—Hedges, Wells, and Co, Warwick and Warwickshire Bank, Warwick— K. Greenway and Co. Wellington Somerset Bank, Wellington—Fox, Brothers, and Co West Riding Bank, Wakefield, and Pontefract Bank, Wakefield—Leatham, Tew, and Co Whitby Old Bank, Whitby —Simpson, Chap man, and Co Winchester, Alresford, and Alton Bank, Win chester—Bulpett and Co Winchester and Hampshire Bank, Winchester —Wickham and Co Weymouth Old Bank and Dorchester Bank, Weymouth—Eliott and Pearce Wirksworth and Ashbourne Derbyshire Bank, Wirksworth—Arkwright and Co 35,117 Wisbech and Lincolnshire Bank, Wisbech— Gurneys and Co Wiveliscombe Bank, Wiveliscombe—P. and W. Hancock Wolverhampton Bank, Wolverhampton—Good ricke and Holyoake Worcester Bank, Worcester—Farley, Laven der, and Co Worcester Old Bank and Tewkesbury Old Bank, Worcester—Berwick, Lechmere, and Co Worcestershire Bank, Kidderminster--Farley, Turner, and Co Walsall Old Bank, Walsall—Charles Forster and Sons Wolverhampton Bank, Wolverhampton —R and W. F. Fryer Yarmouth and Suffolk Bank, and Halesworth and Suffolk Bank, Yarmouth—Gurneys, Birbeck, and Co Yarmouth, Norfolk, and Suffolk Bank, Great Yarmouth—Sir E. H. K. Lacon, Bart., and Co York Bank, York—Swann, Clough, and Co 27,806 12,989 24,528 35,187 11,625 14,639 10,563 11,559 COUNTRY MARKETS. BOSTON Dm F. t, We had a l arge supp l y o f w h ea t a t this day' and all dry samples sold freely at an improverceni 3s per qr. on last week's prices, whilst parce ls dition must be n o t e d i s t o 2 s dearer, with 3 hi Barley and oats were th e t urn higher. 13 ° 3 1 dearer. Peas w ere fi rm a t l a t e ra t es . Wheat, re d, white, 48s to 50s, extra 52s ; barley, 26s to 3 ° B ,;. to 20s ; beans, 32s t o 39 s ; peas , 28 s to 33s per q. NEWARK—DE°. 8. At our Corn-exchan ge to-day we had s g °od grain, with a brisk sal e for wheat, at an adva li„ 4s per quarter. Spring corn remains unalt white, 48s to 545, red 46s to 50s ; barley, grk 28s, malting 30s to 33s ; oats, 24st 22s to 258, 21s ; beans 40s to 425 ; p eas 34s to 365; Wi t per quarter. DERBY SMITHFIELD—DEC• Beef, 4id to 5d ; mutton, Sid to 6d ; veal , lb. ; pigs, 7s 9d to 8s Od per score ; rough 14 lbs. ; hides, 2d per lb. ; calf-skins, 2d to DENBIGH—DEC. 8. There was a dull sale of pigs at our cate°, tt.„ pig fair, although ca ttl e an d s h ee p went off Pr e In the grain market there was a further advance, Wheat, 15s to 00s 2 • barley. lOs 6d to 004 i , e3t 6s 6d per hobb e t ; tub butter, 8/d to 8 V lOid to lld per lb. RH Y L—Dne. 7. Wheat, 16s ; barley, 10s 6d ; oats, 6s 6cli EDINBURGH GRAIN—DEO. 8 * We had a good supply of grain in to-daY'e were briskly effected, at prices above those Wheat on the top 5s Od and the average 38 " g d a on the top sam e a s l as t wee k , an d th e ave rage the top is Bd, and th e average lid u p; bet .,,, `" 2s, and the average i s 2d up. U nso ld, 48 cl—. qrs. barley 23 qrs oats—and 22 qrs. beans. , Top of Wheat 64 lb ! 8ar1ey....... Oats L., Beans 67 lb 6,905 8,678 9,305 9,294 23,51 5,570 45,465 14,573 Wheat Barley, Oats... Beans. Total Supply and Sales. via 736 qrs s old 1,341 qrs 1,020 qrs sold .... 166 qrs sold AVERAGES PER IMPERIAL QUARTO'. Average of wheat X2 9 Ditto of Barley Ditto of Oats Ditto of Beans 1 16 7 6,086 1\ ,............................____ ....p DUBLIN—DEc. 8. White wheat, 26s Od to 30s Od ; red ditto, . 5 barley, 12s 6d to 15 s 6d ; oats, 108 Od to 1106 a 21s Od to 23s per b r l ; oatmeal 10s Od to 1? flour, 14s 6d to 18s Od p er cw t ; Indian corn, S' i per 480 lbs. \ 3cl 15,455 Ile!' 0 Brls. co re 71) t,.) 11 White wheat 25 s 3d t o 25 s 6d Os C ia-- , 120 Redwheat 23s Od to 24s Od) 09. 51 Ditto Ditto 24s Od to 25s Od 24s t 3d-- Os Od to Os Od 282 Barley l 3s Od t o 14 s 8d 3 4- ' l6'9' Ditto 00 s Od t o OO s Od} 14s Ditto 00 s Od t o 00 s Od 8 Bere l2s 10d to OOs Od 00 °ll 468 Oats 9 s 6d t o 9 s 11d tiJ.} lid 345 Ditto 9s lid t o 10 s 2d 9s 108 Ditto 10s 2d t o 10 s 7d 6 d pet ell' 39 Pigs 24 s Od t o 35 5 3d 340 ,IS Quantity sold at the highest prices : -- 0 ir e ' 5 barrels white wheat ; 7 red ; 11 barley ; oatsuantit ; 11 pigs. el.. OF Quantity of grain and numberof pigs sold last t ''', 3 e o S , Wheat, 910. Barley, 2 , 640. Bere, 0. ° 3 - Pigs, 1,824. 39,515 6,384 CORK—Dzo. 8. 10,566 7,193 C 7,362 9,654 11,198 36,635 11,315 43,964 PRICES OF BUTTER. cusstl iar. „•••'' First quality Second quality Third quality 7Bs Third qua lity .....9 Fourth quality Fifth quality 6ss Fifth quality Sixth quality s4s Sixth quality•••• - •• Return of cattle sold for week ending De%, Pigs, 1,064. Sh ee p, 189 . C O WS, 2 , iv P p i, CORR.— Flour—First, 13s 6d to 14s 6d ; el tr Ps;6l; seconds, 12s 6d to 13s 6d ; households, 103 6d t° te, 7s 6d to 10s Od per cwt. Meal—l n di a n meal, l ot pe t , oatmeal, lOs 6d to lls ; wheat meal, lOs to 1 10 0, 5 1 e Indian corn, 71 12s 6d t o 71 17 s 6d per ton. 131 ' a e Os Od per ton. H a y—F armers, 22 s Od t o 33s ~, 288 ; dealers, 32s Od to 40s Od ; average, Os per to ° Olie Farmers, 16s Od to 24s Od; average, 20s ; dealers , s {, 0 1 ' 1 00s Od ; avera ge Os. per ton. B rea d—Wheaten Od ; household ditto, 5d to Od per 41b. Fresh tr i ! ~ vP i i) 10d per lb. Eggs, 6 s 10d t o 7 s Od per h un d re d. Mo r t, 0 1 4id to 7d ; mutton, 5d to bid ; veal, 4d to 6d ; V e irif°o; Od ; bacon, 6d t o 7d ; sausages, 5d per lb . —Fish, , 0 0. 1 4 p O O land, 91. lOs to 101 O s p er t on ; S co t c h h erri ng , ' 9 j; I Red, do., 24s per brl.—Potatoes, white, 8d to ctO' l pi, lld to 12d.—Coals, Newport, 20s ; Lydney, 205 Od per ton.—Whiskey, 25 0.p., 6s Od per imperP; o t, ,o. / Hides, market, 22s to 28s ; Salted, 24s to 30s per vet tL skins, 3d per lb.—Bang or s l a t es 21. 17 s . 6d to 3f' 14u Fleece wool, 16s to Oos p er stone.—Hemp, 37",e1J0"p.' ton—Timber, Memel, 31. lOs ; red pi n e, 31. sg; "AV 31. 15s. per to n ; d ea l s , 151. t o per hundred."l„ 71. to 81. 10s. per t on . —Tallow, 49s to Oos per s w " 6r 71. lOs to 01. per cwt.—T ar , A rc h ange l , Ds. per bri ' Peruvian, 101. 10s to 11/. per ton. CANT. SEABORNE MAILS. (N signifies that the mails are sent from the aener ial by the night—and M by the morning —dispatch.] au u to uy we morning —dispatch.) Day when made up From wha t 11 ,i0 COUNTRIES. in General Post- Port . Office, London. Dispatched 14 - IC' America (byFirit.pack.N Dec. 11.......... Liverpool.'" America (by United Sts. Dec' packet) ....... N Dec. 14 ... Liverpool '" 11 America (by U. itates D I.'"c' packet ............N Dec. 22 SoutliamP- Australia (via South. il ampton ....... 20th of each month SouthaMP.- - Dec. Ditto (via Marseilles N 24th of the month Dover • yl *Ditto (via Cape of Good Hope) ............N 13th of December.. Plymouth " 0 1, Africa (West Coast)..N 23rd o f th e mont h . Pl ymou th •. pee,'„ Alexandria* N 19th&30th of coon. Dover 00 , 16 Belgium ............N Dai1y....... Dover Dec•iti Brazil .. M 9th of the month.. SoutharnPta n ” pee'el Buenos Ayres •th of the month.. SouthamPl a . Aftl California ......M id & 17th of mon th Southampton 50'0 (Cape of Good Hope ..N 14thof the month.. Plymouth '' 50'10 Cape de Verdis ......N 14thof the month.. Plymouth •• Dec• o l o t Con•tantinople*.... N 7thl7th27thof mo.. Dover •• • Arrl, Central America .... M 2nd & 17th of mon. Southampton , ru• r p di Chill Channel Isles ........N Mon•Wed.&.Friday SouthamPt u n Arf o e ," .. France . M& N Twice daily Dover .• •• Per' 4 , Greece* ............N 7thl7th27th of mon . D over .. • • , rae•7o 7 Hamburgh ..........N Tuesday & F r id ay L on d on •• • " 16„i Holland ............M Wednesday & Sat London •• • Dec4o* Honduras ........ N 17th of the month. SouthamPta' Tali' 0 Ireland ........M Be.'N Twice daily Holyhead •• • pee' if India (viaSouthampt.)lll 20th of themonth.. SoutharaPt a° pee' India (via Marseilles) N SUM 24th:ef month Dover •• • • • ' India (via Cape of Good :4;0/' jo H0pe).............M 14th of th e mon th .. Plymou th • • ' /o f' Mauritius ..... ..... N 14th of the month.. Plymouth •• ' Mediterranean (via , Pe e ' if Southampton .......M 20111 of the month . , SouthamP*-- Dec„„ Ditto (via Marseilles).N Bth & 24th ofmonth Dover • • • • Mexico AI 2nd of the month.. SouthamPtaDecpiti• iti Madeira ..... M 9th&23d o fth e mon. Southampton 10 Dec. ; , Ma1ta*............N 7th,17th,19th,27th, &30th of the month Dover • • .• ' • De' 11 Napless N sthlsth24thofruon. Dover .. • • ** Dee' i 6 Papal Papal States* N s thlsth2sthofmon. Dover , • • De a f f ri Peninsula M Ithi7th27thoftnon. Southampt on ol l 1, Pent • 2d & 17th of month BoutharaPt o ' v ri e: o ll Tuscany* sthlsth2sthof mon Dover .• • • West Indies ...... ..M 2d & 17th of month SoutharuPt a ' Van Diemen's Land (see Australia) .......... aeef (T o b, 41. Pres( ts,. 'the Tathan St,, xx, * The mails for Australia via the Cape of Good Hope $, ll O trig Uf on the 2nd of every alternate mouth. Those made 111);,, 5 0 41 and 24th of each mo n th v i a S out h ampton and Marse illes , th ei sailing vessels at present from Singapore, but neat Y'V' t tit sent In steamers. 1110 3 t Mails are also made up on th e 2 n d o f every alterna te _ Ad pi the Cape of Good Hope. o Yer * The mails to those c oun t r i es thus narked (I) are - r French packet to Marseilles. A 004 11' DID WiLLTNGtON BEAT NAPOLEON ?- - x. - toff dent of the United Service Gazette sa s,—NaP ° ' - t 9, 1). as fairly beaten at Waterloo, as Hannibal was When Sir Walter Scott was at Paris (1815), h e e sti ° t mitted to ask, and he did ask, the following ,c reP e : o at his Grace's table, relating to Waterloo, and di ` T °`', d a them as Sir Walter detailed them to me at 7,1' coy i i house :—" Suppose, your Grace, Blucher had k e pt : 3 14 :1 up ?" The Duke replied, " I could have ',:by A; - „J ground till next morning." '‘ Suppose Grc ill- Deb l ; o come first ?" " Blucher would have been clo se a d h' 3 ", him." "But let us suppose your Grace „ eP,dl compelled to retreat ?" "I would have talceled position in the Forest of Soignies, and d e e t b - e till the allies joined." " Was there any part of ossfei,.; your grace despaired ? " "Never," was the %$, t" This is the reply of the first in command. I n 18 Ot i I, a writer of this letter dined at Lord Palmerston ' or tb; his right sat Lord Hill. As his lordship lived P e ., tb° author, he offered to set him down. When a lous l ;r o ftfi f , carriage with Lord Hill, remembering what Sir liiry had affirmed of the Duke's confidence, he saidt o ea st there any part of th e day at Waterloo, Day lord, desponded as to the result ?" "Desponded ! r to le' Lord Hill, " never. There never was the least Aia. We had gained rather than lost ground by the , 6f the re' No, not for a moment had I the least doubt or 0 0 0 1 suit." Thus here are given, from authentic 1, atv the opinions of the first and second it omres 3l i a. even in the French army this ought t o b e someth BIRTHS. ,AO l OF A SON. On the 7th inst., at Wood -green, Tottenham, 41,0 L. Phillips, Esq. O A bi p r e d u g G e 7 s T tr E e ß et . , Hyde.r3 rk-04 or* On the sth inst., atC F am wife of A. B. Bloxh m, Esq. On tho Bth inst., at St. Peter's, tr MARRIED. King, only son of John King, Esq., of Groavli t iad and Coates House, Sussex, to Emily MaU, You a ter of Lady Elizabeth and the late Hon. L. Loswf- Eaton-square, Jncitioi; On the 7th inst ,at P fl u r tn -611). S Mrs widow of the late NI Blood Es e ci. Y ' ofilSrrlosaYn'e-stree agatlo On the Bth inst at Swtinage' Dorset, Mari - 18fill i wife of C. Willcox,'' Es surgeon, and only child ° late Lieut. Lamb R Esq., v g On the 6th in t', a' Floors Castle, B. Charleywood, ;jot t,e I itenant-Colonel in her Majesty's Grenadier Gil , g d i , A oq. ' n t 91,11 inst., 10, Argyll-place, R. J. Culverw ' ged 50. WORM LoNlTOßTPrinted and Published by 111311130 vs. of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at The Sun Office , oyvty Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the Friday, December 10, no. (1 1'° the tg, t rltit l , .14 that th e that 1 , th deDoaowit e t) \tit :ba tut 7,4..1, iiiisiec.' 52ie uu1,,,1 , rs. tit b mac , held ' 4 Tu at 11, is day's O r o ; ''' • Iu IT , t overeat of . 1 te /1 ' l 'a until ...—....ns tot , k 1.43,. tn,,,, sAT i i i , . ~,,, _on, . 1.,;i30L, reels p e:,3 0 sr ebsrmoo ari,iiqs,t o o r;k t 1 4.50 ,3 t i it isiipe o pj f , . ilf il ' , i 8\ .5......._252LHte.,i:ti 7;:tet aptrards:rb9: I. * of s 9' ' Ilreurn 4.,°1 advance lip ',..illtLu then Literal. , t 1 1 47 the 7 morr grinding, I'9, . , oil'elotk i s i t It 255 Va t ~, ;1 i la t ernb a t P e Wilt 566 W .tiNtren°rni„ 'l / 4 . thianre,li. . 1 i. t. lasa bfn., 'Lit t 01 fat, 0 ,T:------_.________ to 3d Peril' YiBIIAR k.,,, IN. - 1 ~,, 0 1 1&;t IS IT EA au''' W th e - and N —El l I pretti b ri t io. , l lN . , ( nlie et ,, ~1v . Ivan& ig Pij to ' l 4, r o tor t j i 3 O ° • oat. 4, nitt4 14,14 Co° L 1 ; 10' ii,t 13: i :rnhrr ... J 22:Hth 1 0 3 41- 1( ea, bons' „11, OF 14 i.f Inc 8. 0 1° CZ:44I\II)PN 0 zuokett; frek 'siBt "ed t inheti I 0 of 1 0 t ole °,4tl!at tht iod 0:000, paste•stt re ffice ; a 64 UP , ty ttal At.Z,"As fer rnt;tbie ea!, be us on qr S ' ‘ll' 0 '' St. 1.1 2 1 L it, iig en s _ p n 0 4 lb 3.° oi alb 00 0 101. l'A.Tito, 40 th 1,4,‘,L p( kkAr littLy 668414 ‘4lt.: IL 0 na4o vth LUST del it,'" ,4 i E t , bit ;IWorti, 997 9 iti ti: l, 4 in ' 'sho )13 to ep g,, except old 144 9 knllier. Esq., 4.7 s3,tbil iil'ili'ltii:te().rnu}e:Ral 9 9 ' l" ill kihee.PTlc r. 10 S'Tto )', D11°,1,1 ofej 7 03- 1 k t 2.llt, ( l llt A.m CAST] 26 , oa 0 6d; - rifil lit 125 Witi;ulOr ~,,.,„1/4. SKXTe . W i 31 0 V'' - t k) .441 l''.r"el a H it terio,;,l It. IN Mr. GEACH thanked ti e Government for having Tr•lppled with this important question, and said that he 'anticipated that it would provo beneficial to the public at IIUNTZ did not see why the railway interest sh , uld be espec i a l ly represented. A chairman of a railway "lPany might be examined ; and all the house wanted was common sense. Sir 11. WILLOUGHBY did not see why railway mag nates should sit on the committee. Mr. J. lIACGREGOIt had no wish to press his sugges tion against the sense of the home. The motion was then agreed to, and the house adjourned :tt nine o'clock. THE ERUPTION OF MOUNT ET NA. — Letters from Sicily te that the eruption, which commenced on the 20th ugust, still lasts, causing alternate hopes and fears I ;ng to the increase or diminution in the quantity of Java that shoots forth from the fiery mount. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. WORSHIP-STREET. William Cask, a general dealer in Princes-street, Whitechapel, was placed before Mr. Hammill, charged with cutting and wounding his brother and sister-in-law, Alfred and Esther Cash, with intent to do them some grievous bodily harm. The male complainant, who appeared with his head enveloped in surgical bandages, and exhibited extreme suffering and debility, stated that between 10 and 11 o'clock on the preceding night, he was sitting with his wife in the parlour of their own house, when the prisoner, who resided in the same street, suddenly entered the room and without the slight es t provocat i on commenced assailing them with the most opprobrious and threaten ing epithets. On requesting him to desist and quit the place, the wife of the prisoner and her mother, who had accompanied him into the room, instantly caught witness round the waist to hold him fast, while the prisoner advanced towards his wife, and after drag ging her out of her chair, and grasping her round the neck with his left arm, commenced beating her in a savage manner about the face, and ultimately felled her to the floor in a state of insensibility. Having succeeded by a violent effort in extricating himself from the grasp of the two women, witness was hastening to the assist ance of his wife, when the prisoner made a rush at him and struck him two rapid blows with some sharp instru ment, the first of which penetrated his forehead, and the second inflicted a dreadful wound over his right temple. He had no recollection of anything that occurred after wards, until he found himself and his wife under the hands of the police-surgeon, who dressed their wounds, and he was then informed that the prisoner 'had been taken Tito custody. The wife of the last witness, whose race was shock ingly disfigured, and who appeared in an advanced state of pregnancy, corroborated her husband's evidence. The prisoner was remanded. WESTMINSTER.—Mr. James Williams, an aged gentleman, possessing considerable freehold property at Knightsbridge, was charged with presenting a loaded pistol Henry sLtaatveedryth, a a t n h d ew as threateninga bricklayer, t o shoot emp him. loy e Complainant d by a Mr. Trehan, to cut a c h ase or grove, in the front wall at Mr. Burnan's, i n Hi gh-row, Knightsbridge, in order to fix in a wat er - spout. Defendant objected to atR en this on the ground that they were guilty of a trespass upon his property ; to prevent, which ladders were sus pended from the roof of Mr. Burnan's house, and complainant was proceeding with the work, when. Mr. Williams came out and objected to the pro ceeding so loudly as to create a crowd of people ; the ladders slightly overhung the defendant's premises, but did not touch them. Defendant stood directly under where complainant was at work at the wall, and taking a loaded pistol from his pocket, and presenting it at him, declared that he would shoot him if he let any thing fall upon him. Owing to the nature of the work it was impossible to carry it on without some portion of the material fallin g where defendant had placed himself intentionally. A police-constable came up, and took defendant into custody. About a fortnight ago de fendant threatened to blow complainant's brains out, and he now entertained great fear that he would do him some mischief. Defendant, in reply to the charge, complained that the operations which were being carried on were an encroach ment and trespass upon his freehold. Mr. Broderip observed that if the defendant had felt himself aggrieved by the operations carried on by the workmen he had his remedy elsewhere, but instead of resorting to the legitimate mode of seeking redress he had thought fit to make use of such threats, and do such acts, as made it necessary that he should be restrained by law. He niust enter into his own recognizances of 1001., and find two sureties in 501. each, to keep the peace. Account, pursuant to the Act seventh and eighth Victoria, cap. 32, of the Average Amount of Bank Notes of the several Banks of Issue in England and Wales, in Circulation during the Week ending Satur day, the 27th day of November, 1852 : Average PRIVATE BANKS. Amount. Andover Bank, Andover—Heath and Co. Ashford Bank, Ashford—Jemmitt and Pomfret 11,275 Aylsham Bank, Aylsham—G. and T. Copeman 4,232 Aylesbury Old Bank, Aylesbury—Z. D. Hunt 24,03" Baldock Bank and Baldock and Biggleswade Bank, Baldock—Wells, Hogge, and Co Barnstaple Bank, Barnstaple—Marshall and Co - Basingstoke and Odiham Bank, Basingstoke— Seymour, Lamb, and Co. Bedford Bank, Bedford—T. Barnard and Sons Bewdley Bank, Bewdley Nichols, Baker, and Co Bicester and Oxfordshire Bank and Oxford Bank, Bicester—H. M. and G. Tubb Birmingham Bank, Birmingham —Attwoods, Spooner, and Co Birmingham and Warwickshire Bank, Eir rningham—J. L. Moilliet and Sons Blandford Bank, Blandford—Oak and Co. Boston Bank, Boston—Garfit and Co Boston Bank, Boston—H. and T. Gee and Co Bridgwater Bank, Bridgwater—J. and J. L Sealey Bristol Bank, Bristol—Miles, Miles, and Co Broseley and Bridgnorth and Bridgnorth and Broseley Bank, Broseley—Pritchards, Boy cott, and Co. Buckingham Bank, Buckingham—Bartlett, Par rott, and Co. Bury and Suffolk Bank, Sudbury Bank, and Stowmarket Bank, Bury St. Edmunds— Oakes, Bevan, and Co. Banbury Bank, Banbury Gillet, Tawney, and Co: 35,639 Banbury Old Bank, Banbury—Cobb and Son 28,292 Bath City Bank, Bath—G. Moger and Son ... 3,010 Bedfordshire Leighton Buzzard Bank, Leighton Buzzard—Bassett, Grant, and Co . . Birmingham Bank, Birmingham —Taylor and Lloyds Bradford Old Bank, Bradford, Yorkshire —H A. and W. M. Harris and Co. Brecon Old Bank, Brecon—Wilkins and Co Brighton Union Bank, Brighton—Hall, West, and Borrer Burlington and Driffield Bank, Burlington-- Harding, Smith, and Co Bury St. Edmunds Bank, Bury St. Edmunds— J. Worlledge Cambridge Bank, Cambridge--IVlortlock & Co Cambridge and Cambridgeshire Bank, Cam bridge—Messrs. Fosters Canterbury Bank, Canterbury—Hammond and Co Carmarthen Bank, Carmarthen —David Morris and Sons Chertsey Bank, Chertsey—La Coste and Son Colchester Bank, Colchester —Round & Green Colchester and Essex Bank, and Witham and Essex Bank, and Hadleigh, Suffolk, Bank, Colchester—Mills, Bawtree, and Co Cornish Bank, Truro—Tweedy and Co Coventry Bank, Coventry—Little & Woodcock City Bank, Exeter—Milford and Co Craven Bank, Settle—Alcocks, Birkbecks, and Co Cardiff Bank, Cardiff—Towgood and Co Chepstow Old Bank, Chepstow Bank, Mon mouth Old Bank, Monmouth Bank, Brecon Bank, and Ross and Herefordshire Bank, Chepstow—Bromage, Snead, and Co Derby Bank, Derby—W. and S. Evans & Co Derby Bank, Derby—Samuel Smith and Co Derby Old Bank and Scarsdale and High Peak Bank, Derby—Crompton, Newton, and Co Devizes and Wiltshire Bank, Devizes—Locke and Co Diss Bank, Diss—Oakes, Fincham, and Co Doncaster Bank and Retford Bank, Doncaster —Cooke and Co Darlington Bank, Durham Bank, and Stockton on-Tees Bank, Darlington—Backhouse & Co Devonport Bank, Devonport—Hodge and Co Dorchester Old Bank and Dorsetshire Bank, Dorchester —R. and H. Williams East Cornwall Bank, Liskeard—Robins, Fos ter, and Co East Riding Bank, Beverley —Bower and Co Essex Bank and Bishop's Stortford Bank, Chelmsford—Sparrow, Round, and Co Exeter Bank, Exeter—Sanders and Co Fakenham Bank, Fakenham—Gurneys, Birk beck, and Co Farringdon Bank and Bank of Wantage, Far ringdon—Barnes, Medley, and Co Farnham Bank, Farnham—Messrs Knight Faversham Bank, Faversham —Hilton and Co Godalming Bank, Godalming—Mellersh and Keen Guildford Bank, Guildford—Messrs. Haydon Grantham Bank, Grantham —Hardy and Co Hastings Old Bank, Hastings—Smith, Tinder, and Co. Hereford City and County Bank, Hereford-- Matthews and Co. Hertford and Ware Bank, Hertford—S. Adams and Co. Hull Bank and Kingston-upon -Hull Bank, Hull, Smith, Brothers, and Co. Huntingdon Town and County Bank, Hunting don—Rust and Veaseys Harwich Bank, Harwich—Cox, Cobbold, and Co. Hemel Hempstead Bank, Hemel Hempstead —Smith and Whittingstall Hertfordshire, Hitchin Bank, Hitchin Sharpies, and Co. Hereford, Ross and Arehenfield Bank, and Ross and Archenfield Bank, Hereford— Morgan and Co Ipswich Bank, Ipswich—Bacon and Co. Ipswich and Needham Market Bank, Suffolk, Hadleigh Bank, Manningtree and Mistley Bank, and Woodbridge Bank, Ipswich— Alexanders and Co Kentish Bank, Maidstone—Mercer, Randall, and Co. Kington and Radnorshire Bank, Kington— Davies and Co. Knighton Bank, Knighton—Davies and Co Knaresborough Old Bank and Ripon Old. Bank, Knaresborough—Terry and Co. ..., Kendal Bank, Kendal—Wakefield, Crewdson, and Co. Kettering Bank, Kettering--J. C. Gotch and 50n5................................................... Lane End Staffordshire Bank, Lane End—C. Harvey and Son .................................... Leeds Bank, Leeds—Beckett and Co. ........... Leeds Union Bank, Leeds—W. Williams, Brown and Co. ..................................... 36,296 Leicester Bank, Leicester—Pagets and Kirby, 27,938 Lewes Old Bank, Lewes—Molineu x and C 0.... 33,943 Lichfield Bank, Lichfield—Palmer and Greene • 13,868 Lincoln Bank, Lincoln—Smith, Ellison, and Co. 90, 34 Llandovery Bank, Lampeter Bank, and Llan dilo Bank, Llandovery—D. Jones and C 0... Loughborough Bank, Loughborough —Middle ton and Cradock .................................. Lymington Bank, Lymington—St. Barbe and Co. ........................... . ........................ Lynn Regis and Lincolnshire Bank, Lynn Regis—Gurneys and Co. ........................ Lynn Regis and Norfolk Bank, Lynn Regis— Jarvis and Co Macclesfield Bank, Macclesfield—Brocklehurst and Co. Manningtree Bank, Manningtree—Nunn and Co. Marlborough Bank, Marlborough and Wilts Old Bank, Marlborough Old Bank, Marl , • borough Old Bank and Rungerford Bank, arikHungerford Bank, Marlborough—Tan zjek."o,nd Co "Merionethshire Bank, Dolgelly—Williams and Son Minera' Bank, Truro—Willyarns and Co Monmouthshire Agricultural and Commercial Bank, Abergavenny—Bailey and Co Monmouth Cld Bank, Monmouth Bank, Bre con Bank, Chepstow Bank, Chepstow Old Bank, and Ross and Herefordshire Bank, Monmouth—Bromage, Snead, and Co Newark Bank, Newark —Godfrey and Riddell Newark and Sleaford Bank, and Sleaford and Newark Bank, Sleaford—Handley, Peacock, and Co Newbury Bank, Newbury —Bunny & Slocock Newmarket Bank, Newmarket--Eaton, Ham mond, and Co Norwich Crown Bank and Norfolk and Suffolk Bank, Norwich—Harveys and Hudsons Norwich and Norfolk Bank, Norwich—Gur neys and Birkbeck Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Bank, Not tingham, Hart, Fellows, and Co Nuneaton Bank, Nuneaton —Craddock and*Co Naval Bank, Plymouth, Plymouth—Harris and Co. New Sarum Bank, Sarum—Everett and C 0.... Nottingham Bank, Nottingham—Samuel Smith and Co. Oswestry Bank and Oswestry Old Bank, Os westry—Croxon and Co. Oxford Old Bank, Oxford=-Robinson, Parson; and Co. Old Bank, Tonbridge, Tonbridge and Ton bridge Wells Old Bank, Tonbridge and Ton bridge Wells and Sevenoaks Bank, Ton bridge—T. H. and S. Beeching Oxfordshire Wit ne y B an k , Witney--J. W Clinch and Co. ... .............................. Pease's Old Bank, Hull, the Hull Old Bank and Beverley Bank, Hull—Pease and Co. Penzance Bank, Penzance--Batten and C 0.... Peterborough Bank and Oundle Bank, Peter borough—D. Yorke and Co. .................. Pembrokeshire Bank, Haverfordwest—J. and W. Walters ......................................... Reading B an k, R ea ding—Simonds and C 0..... Reading Bank, Reading—Stephens, Tilandy, and Co. .............. ................ .............. 28,255 Richmond Bank, Riehmond—Roper and Co, 6,369 Rochdale Bank, Rochdale—Clement, Royda, and Co. .............. . ................................ Rochester, Chatham, and Strood Bank, Roches ter—Day and Nicholson .......................... 6,988 Royston Bank, Royston—Fordham and Sons 9,855 Rugby Bank, Rugby—A. Butliu mid Son 8,913 8,817 20,858 65,443 34,194 29,962 12,272 65,029 22,690 12,80' 66,248 84,036 9,679 43,282 02,528 51,034 39,422 27,995 9,687 5,759 3, 738 5,341 4,530 6,297 28,319 34,304 17,255 9,439 8,58' 41,750 5,365 21,876 33,030 17,964 18,806 56,404 17,236 .... 25, 854 9,197 44,407 7,840 5,205 50,923 23,722 7,395 3,583 32,508 11,379 14,860 1,919 1,740 8,644 14,552 27,597 15,931 27,236 48,270 21,475 18,842 44,665 59,541 10,297 3,009 24,209 10,434 28,218 11,94' 33,73 G 9,466 8,566 41,142 10,520 8,264 12,105 25,771 4,471 3,062 3,369 8,755 JOINT-STOCK BANKS. Bank of Westmorland, Kendal 10,420 Barnsley Banking Company, Barnsley 9,205 Bradford Bankin g Company, Bradf or d 51,03' Bilston District anking Company, Wolver hampton Bank of Whitehaven, Whitehaven Bradford Commercial Banking Company, Bradford 19,687 Burton, Uttoxeter, and Staffordshire Union Banking Company, Burton-upon-Trent Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Banking Company, Chesterfield 9,05 Cumberland Union Banking Company, Work ington Cheltenham and Gloucestershire Banking Com pony, Cheltenham Coventry and Warwickshire Banking Company, Coventry 25,164 Coventry Union Banking Company, Coventry 13,080 County of Gloucester Banking Company, Chel tenham Carlisle and Cumberland Banking Company, Carlisle 25,914 Carlisle City and District Bank, Carlisle Dudley and West Bromwich Banking Company, Dudley Derby and Derbyshire Banking Company, Derby Darlington District Joint Stock Banking Com pany, Darlington East of England Bank, Norwich 23,986 Gloucestershire Banking Company, Gloucester 142,357 Halifax Joint Stock Bank, Halifax 17,717 Huddersfield Banking Company, Huddersfield 32,305 Hull Banking Company, Hull 29,315 Halifax Commercial Banking Company, Halifax 12,910 Halifax and Huddersfield Union Banking Com pany, Halifax Helston Banking Company, Helston Herefordshire Banking Company, Hereford Knaresborough and Claro Banking Company, Knaresborough 28,469 Kingsbridge Joint-Stock Bank, Kingsbridge 3,863 Lancaster Banking Company, Lancaster 57,893 Leeds Banking Company, Leeds • 22,076 Leicestershire Banking Company, Leicester 70,534 Lincoln and Lindsey Banking Company 47,799 Leamington Priors and Warwickshire Basking Company, Leamington Priors 8,875 Ludlow and Tenbury B an k, L udlow 9,963 Moore and Robinson's Nottinghamshire Bank ing Company, Nottingham Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Banking Company, Nottingham 26,212 Newcastle, Shields, a n d S un d erland Union Joint-Stock Banking Company, Newcastle upon-Tyne National Provincial Bank of England, Birming ham, Head-office, 112, Bishopsgate-st ree t, London 380,010 North Wilts Banking Company, Melksham 44,522 Northamptonshire Union Bank, Northampton 63,861 Northamptonshire Banking Company, North- • ampton North and South Wales Bank, Liverpool Pares's Leicestershire Banking Company, Leicester Saddleworth Banking Company, Saddleworth Sheffield Banking Company, Sheffield Stamford, Spalding, and Boston Banking Com pany, Stamford Stuckey's Banking Company, Bristol Somerset shire Bank, and Somersetshire Bank, Lang port 339,030 Shropshire Banking Company, Shiffnall 46,112 Stourbridge and Kidderminster Banking Com pany, Stourbridge Sheffield and Hallamshire Banking Company, Sheffield Sheffield and Rotherham Joint Stock Banking Company, Sheffield 51,174 Swaledale and W ens l ey d a l e Bank Cnpan Richmond y, - 52,410 Storey and Thomas' Banking Company, Shaftes bury Wolverhampton and Staffordshire Banking Company, Wolverhampton 34,270 Wakefield and Barnsley Union Bank, Wake field Whitehaven Joint-Stock Banking Company, Whitehaven Warwick and Leamington Banking Company, Warwick West of England and South Wales District Bank, Bristol 70,27, Wilts and Dorset Banking Company, Salisbury 70,586 West Riding Union Banking Company, Hud dersfield Whitchurch and Ellesmere Banking Company, Whitchurch................................... Worcester City and County Banking Com pany, Worcester., 4,695 York Union Banking Company, York 70,737 York City and County Banking Company, 94,583 Yorkshire Banking Company, Leeds 115,007 P. DEANS, Registrar of Bank Returns. 9,160 32,134 49,66 25,942 9,234 96,406 36,37! 19,48' 41,631 1,273 18,906 Inland Revenue, Somerset House, December 40852. 32,277 1,235 21,570 36,027 46,540 2,085 33,829 53,410 56,893 22,081 9,673 12,977 28,796 30,372 32,042 2,452 [ADVERTISEMENT.] THE ROYAL EXHIBITION. —A valuable newly invented very small powerful waistcoat pocket glass, the size of a walnut by which a person can be seen and known 1/ miles distant, they answer every purpose on the race-course, at the ope r a-h ouses , country scenery, and s hi ps are clearly seen at 12 to 14 miles, they are invaluable for shooting, deer stalking, yachting, to sportsmen, gentlemen, game-keepers, and tourists.—To be had a t 39 Albemarle Street, Piccadily ; observe oppo • site the York Hotel. Telescopes.— A new and most important invention in Telescopes possessing such extra ordinary powers, that some 4 inches, with an extra eye piece will show distinctly, Jupiter's Moons, Saturn'i Ring, and the double Stars, with the same Telescope, weighing only 3 ounces, can be seen a person's counte nance, 3 miles distant, and an object from 16 to 20 miles, they supersede every other kind for the waistcoat pocket, and are of larger, and all sizes with increasing powers accordingly. Opera and Race-course glasses, with wonderful powers ; an object can be clearly seen from 14 to 16 miles distant. Messrs. S. &B. Soploemetaoncis: Opticians, have invented invaluable preserving s Lenses, immediately they are placed before imperfect vision, every object appears clear and distinct, the most aged defective sight becomes bright and brilliant, is brought to its youthful, natural, and original state. The invisible Organic Vibrator, and all kinds of A.ccoust* Ic in struments for relief of extreme d ea fness.-39, Albemarle street, Piccadilly, opposite the York lie, . . THE FRENCH EMPIRE. The Moniteur continues to publish dispatches from Prefects and sub-Prefects ' describing the en thusiasm with which the proclamation of the Em pire was received in the departments. GERMANY. The Minister of France to the German Diet at Frankfort has announced to the Confederation the assumption of the Imperial dignity by Napoleon. The new credentials of the Prussian Ambassador at Paris have been already dispatched from Berlin, the same official announcement having been made immediately after the termination of the vote. It is stated that in the dispatches of the French Go vernment, the Emperor is styled simply "Napo leon," thus surmounting the difficulty presented by the recognition of a Napoleon 11., in acknow ledging the title Napoleon 111. It is expected here that the Count de Chambord will send a protest to all the great European Powers against the creation of the French Empire, but that it will have any po litical effect no one believes. There is no disposi tion on the part of Russia, Prussia, or Austria, to throw any obstacle in the way of the present settle ment of the internal affairs of France ; and it appears here, at least, that the Governments are satisfied with the assurances understood to have been given, that the other articles of the Treaty of Vienna will not be disputed or ri.q.cutiled. It may be added that the present representative of the legiti macy of the house of Bourbon has no partisans even among the ultra-Royalists of Germany. On the contrary, there is, and has long been, an evident tendency in the party to weaken the influence of his name ; at least the remarks made in reference to his few public acts have not been encouraging to his adherents, nor very respectful to himself. POLAND. The 27th anniversary of the accession to the throne of the Emperor of Russia was celebrated at Warsaw on the 2d inst. with great solemnity. Divine service was performed in all the churches, and salutes were fired from the Citadel. DENMARK. The Committee appointed by the Lower House to examine the Bill abolishing the Customs' frontiers between Denmark, Schleswig, and Holstein, has made its report. The Committee approves gene rally of the modifications proposed by the Govern ment in the Customs' laws : but a majority of it has agreed to a resolution advising the Chamber not to pass any final de c i s i on as to t h e removal of the Danish commercial frontier to the Eyder. PERSIA. The Austrian officers who for a time were per mitted to take service in Persia, will return in the spring. One of them writes that the cruelties in flicted upon the unfortunate " Babis " are almost beyond description. In one case the condemned man was flayed alive, and then bound to a stake, where his quivering body served as a target for a troop of scoundrels there called soldiers. Another man, who had his ears, nose, hands, feet, &c., am putated, was roasted alive. RAILWAY SHARE MARKETS. LIVERPDEC. 9. STOCK EXCHANGE.—The market has exhibited a slight improvement to-day, but the fear lest a change in the Go vernment should ensue upo n a di v i s i on on th e b u d ge t k eeps speculators in check, and some parties dispose d t o operate in the market show an inclination to wait the result. The following are the dars quotations :—Caledonian, 34 ; Eastern Counties, 13 3-16 ; Lancashire and Yorkshire Fifth shares, a l dis. ; Leeds Northern, 18# ; London and # North-Western, 127 i ; Midland, 80. f, 0, ; North British, 105-16 # ; North Staffordshire, 3 4 dis. : St. Helen's Rail way and Canal, 73; ditto Preference, 44 per Cent., 1 prem. ; South-Eastern and Dover, 24i ; York and North Midland, 31i. MANCHESTER, DEC. 9. STOCK EXCHANGE.—There was a considerable increase, of business to-day ; and prices were fluctuating, closing somewhat weaker than they were at noon, when they had advanced on those of yesterday. The sales were :=--Birkent, head, Lancashire, and Cheshire Junction, 6A dis.", slo,clo burn, No. 1,7 i ; ditto, Class B. Pref., 26 ; Dublin and Drogheda, 61; East - Anglian, Pref., 6 per cent., 3 7-16 ; Eastern Counties, 13 3-16, 4 • Kendal and Windermere, 144 ; Lancashire and Yorkshire, 86$, ; ditto, 161. Shares F, A prem. • London and North-Western, 1271 ; Midland Railway prem. 80`, ; North Staffordshire, ; South Eastern, 24i ; Warrington and Altrincham, 5-16, g prem. BIRMINGHAM, DEC. 9. STOCK EXCIIANGE.—There was more doing in the Rail way Share Market to-day than for the last few days past. There were, however, few sellers at present prices, and consequently little . -----e or nothi ng was done in the heavier de scriptions of sto c k s. The following transactions were re ported on 'Chan ge : -..._ oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhamp ton Stock, 54 ; Sh rewsbury and Birmingham S tock, 67. BRISTOL, DEC. 9. STOCK Ex CHANGE.--.The market continues inactive, with Prices firm. Vale of Neath Shares were done at 13 to 134. A TRAGEDY ON THE GLACIERS.--Two of the most adventurous chamois hunters in Switzerland have just lost thei r li ves at the glacier of Argentieres, under cir cumstances peculi arly d i stress i ng . M. C arr i er , l ong resident at thi s with his s on , a l ad of 19, to hunt mormots. The father Place, went out, a few mornings ago, had dis covere d a burrow such as the mormots are ac customed to di g , and laying himself on the ground, face downwards, began t o enlarge t h e en t ran ce, h o pi ng t o take the animal at the bottom. Suddenly a large quan tity of earth fell on him, and he was unable to rise. He called to his son, who crept in after him, and tried in vain to extricate his father from the load which was pressing upon him. While thus engaged a second slip of earth took place and covered both. After two hours of suffering the son died, lying on the back of his father. His last words were full of filial affection and anxiety for his parent. Three long days and nights, without food or light, far from all human aid, unable to move, and with the corpse of his son on his back, did M. Carrier lie in this place until his friends, who had come out in search of the lost hunter, found him at the point of death. The unhappy sufferer only lived long enough to communicate these particulars, and died while his friends were carrying him home. PARISIAN STATISTICS.—The statistical returns for the month of October, which have just been published by the Prefecture of Police, give the number of deaths in Paris as 2,249, being 52 more than in the preceding month ; of these 519 were f rom pu l monar y disease. Theb same returns state the receipts of the theatres, concerts, balls, and public exhibitions to have been 1,022,779 E, being 117 5 000 f, more than in the preceding month. 25,066 9,010 15,290 34,303 10,192 13,239 22,799 10,080 6,784 69,222 15,268 4,943 32,588 2,347 15,754 39,685 31,615 21,982 2,822 14,675 28,064 43,544 6,775 19,382 75,203 6,747 8,435 9,397 38,150 26,863 8,790 :0,500 ....