The Sun. — London, England, 1852-02-11 00:00:00

------- sear to regulate the relations 17 etteeen landlord and teretat. These Bills were not inte.nd ed to put down ea-i -t/4ton in Ireland, but were only r :wino, to be talked of there, a n d made the means of keel iinte up a sort of mock 'popularity —a purpose that now wesof no avail. It was not for Irish or independent Members to frame for the lane-officers of the Crown a Bill to meet exigencies which they had over and over again admitted to exist. It was said that the Hon. Memoerae Bill proposed to compel Irish landlords to let their la nds at a fixed rate. They who asserted this had not read the Bill and made themselves masters of its details. The Bill really only gave compensation to temente' for improvements, which tenaats in England would be en tit led to claim. He Would ask the Howe if the letting value of tee hold ings were increased by the tenant's ci ',past or exertions, whether it was just or equitable that tenants should be dispossessed of their holdings without the chance of gaining a shilling compensation for that outlay of capi tal and that exertion which had been. made. It was only IA cases where the letting value 'was increased that c ompensation was to be given; and %hat made the Bill identical with the Bills introduced ihems time to time by Government. If irritation existed on the subject, it was from neglect or the introduction of such a measure as his Hon. Friend the Member for .Rochdale had intro duced. Tne late Sir R. Peel had introduced a Bill for that purpose, but it did not allay discontent, because it did not meet the evil nor go far enough. If Sir R. Peel's Government neglected their duty it this respect, tha Present Government had more than neglected their duty, for they had faltered with the question—had al 'lowed it to drop to the ground, and now assailed those who came forward to advocate the questiou. No one abhorred crane iu Ireland more than fe, did, and he be lieved the law, if properly adminiseered in Ireland, was sufficient to repress crime. But ho would tell the Noble Lord, no law and no nasasure would be sufficient to re- Press crime, if everything was made a waiter of party enactment. and every person, high and low, placed in office merely for party objects.—(llear.) Way had not the Right Lion. Gsutleman the Secretary fur Ireland addressed the House on the subject? Why did he not state his opinions on this question? Why . did he hold back? Wny d i d h e not man f ully come forward and state hie deliberate opinions, and let the people of Ire land know what they had to expect from her Majesty's Government on this subject? Mr. BRIGHT had no specific for this difficult ques tion, as assumed by the Hon. Meinber for Middlesex. He had, however, given a good deal of attention to the subject, and had spent some time in Ireland, obtaining practical information from all classes on the subject. He bad termed an opinion on the subject, end had endea voured to embody his opinion in a tew clauses in a Bill which the Noble Lord had examined, l'he dill did nut Meet with the general approbation of Iri-h Members or de Irish people, so h e h a d t a k en no s t e p t owar d s intro ucing the B i ll t o t h e H ouse. H e was g l a d to see t h e Bill ot the Hon. 'efember for Rochdale had been brought forward, though for some of its clauses he could not vote. Re believed, however, the Bill mignt be made of use to Ireland during its progress through the House. The Il e °hie Lord h a d ma d e a very i ngen i ous s p eec h i n o rd er a° get out of thu difficulty of his position. Tne Bill al luded to by the Noble Lord formerly not having been adopted because not sufficiently satisfactory, had met With this misfortune because the clauses were so complex :and the machinery so complicated that no one could say : )r expect t h at t h e N o bl e L or d' s Bill wou ld h ave b een o f the slighteat use for the purpose for whicn it was brought f orward. I t wes no ace ch3gu i s i eg t h e f act that i n the Ce binet there were large Irish proprietors, tied it was easy "to understand why largo Irish proprietors should be alarmed at a Bill such as that introduced by the Hon. a u ember for Rochdale. They did not like the powers to be interfered with which a landowners' Parliament for cen turies had made law. The question was, were cats the Pr°Per legislators for mice ? The law as it stood tve the landlord the power of taking possession of all Iheeijrn3Pr"ents made by tenants at the expiration of tenancy, without giving compensation. He would iu_o.t c onsent to any Bill, or cl ause o f a B i ll , w hi c h vio lated the principles of political economy. But the law h as_ it stood violated those principles, and that was way le wished th e l aw to b e a l tere d . A comparison of Scot tiud and Ir e l an d was not to t h e purpose, for of 1,100 Witnesses the Devon Commission had examined, the ITb/omission could only make out that about 20 landlords B Pent money on the improvement of their property. th ey did in Ireland sprang from the same causes now as dense, did 70 years ago, and it . was the decree of Provi b ue e , so long as the population of a country were de larred from all the interest in the soil by legal and legis atti"e chicanery, that such crimes as prevailed in Ireland 6 ° tlld be comm i tte d an d ex i s t, as a warn i ng an d a t o " u con to th e up h o ld ers o f i n j ust i ce . H e s h ou ld b e g l a d I,.,. ° l l PPort any measure t h a t wou ld se ttl e thi s q ue sti on , he believed there was no question which affected the Peopl e of England more i nt i ma tely than the settlement t he relations of landlord and tenant in Ireland. 44 a,r• WHITE ADE said if the Hon. Member for Man ster had in th ree wee k s di scovere d a reme d y f or t h e B ct a ot Ireland, h e h a d ec li pse d t h e f ame o f e ith er or Lycurgus.—(Laughter.) He confessed that it i n ' t a tot the fortune of all to he blest with the power of tzi tive leei it If the Hon. Gentleman meant to 1(1)% t hat Irish a lard . lords generally were merciless and whiehsors, he would, as the representative of a county in te nant-right prevailed, repel the sl a nd e r, and ass ert that l ena l or d e were merciful and considerate to ho,p` atas their tenants.—(Hear.) He admitted that the glad to it stood, required alteration, and he would be had a - I ,sec the law altered judiciously. Hots. Members bri t ' ; 'd why he and other Irish Members did not th e '" 4 ° Bill on the subject? lie asked, why should b n - t Y. do this? The law was cumbrous: and perpleaa d. It was not true that the Members on his sitie of the These had not attempted to correct 'he existing evils. attl: Noble Lord sate this was a diffisult subject, but i t ", that a reason why Government should snriek from a t c _ Were they only to deal with simple and easy heattons? Where were the law officers of the r oar , e "‘ True it was that to condense a largo nu rof sa t utes i nto a few good and practical law m s o t dd be a work of labour and value, but not a e t ' z iVill4 r work ; but he frankly confss3ed he did not kip:et such a va l ua bl e labour from the present e is traa Ho certainly did think the Noble Lo r d aet g t at to h ave done something towards effecting a final ler nent of thi s great quest i on. B ut h e f eared this t esai° ° like the last, was doomed to pass away in mere , " ntle ss discussio n . It wou ld , h owever . h ave re d ounded 1 7°N3 to the Noble Lord's credit had he brought for al a Pr4u tinal measure, rather than, as he had done, f oraa "d before the House a measure of speculative re last, The great question must, however, be settled at nee a and then, and not till then, might they expect to haestthat luminous measure of the Hon. Member for Man g•`49 er recorded in the statute book. AGLIONBY said the difficulty of the subject was ,leatly increased by the turn the discussion had taken. hilt eon tone imported into the debate had merged into party spemePersonal attacks. The Hon. Member for Athlonea, tor had appeared to him to have in view a party triumph; at °at' the Noble Lord (Lord J. Russell) by his speech tiu bid cleared up the difficulty which surrounded the th:; 8 : 441 - It was the duty of all who wished well to W h : country to meet together and to agree upon that itailoh would conduce to the general benefit. Let them t izet , t4 te the ccurse of the Members for Sootl ae d, w h o c o „, cigether, a n d by each conceding somet hi ng, had thomeLttived to g e t th r o ug h th e ir public busines s w ith much st ' 'to their country. Ile should give his best atten atuO tip the Bill, although he had no great hope of its ec oaa% xr)4/.. LENNARD thought the Hon. and Learned -sa ah whe er for Athlone had not put the question fairly, 11 he asked whether a tenant ought not to be coin thno‘sah_ed. for improvements wade by him. He admitted w aa if the improvements were made under the eyes and tiU d ti t l o e oonsent of the landlord, the tenant eould be en compensation. Such was the practice in this e o c, Tat •But if he understood the principle of the Bill liked,rlast aynedar, the tenant WEtS to make what repairs he e qtureisntnin.of compensation was to be de cided by th es . species of injustice That, in his opinion, was a property almost amounting ce—an encroachment on the rights of vinegbto confiscation. He thought such a Bill ought to h (IREienA.ticen;rrhotunr.n had been nt resisted at its first stage; but as the Government individual, must acquiesce undni,Pr"d it, he, an humble Principle of the measure. protest against the Leave was then given to bring in th e • CHARITABLE BEQUESTS mot i on of Ma KEOGEI, thoeffAolploriwi:D-I::4:9aatiaonlitc:: On the Zia rdered:—Copies of the re pert of John sq q•C , bearing date the 10th day I : thr a' a es sed . to the Commissioners for i7harit.tible the pecuniary ."` ' b equests, Ireland, upon to that ',nee between department; and of all correspondence defalcations t n i n C ommissioners and the Treasury upon that subject, the minutes of the several meetings of the Board o f Charitable Donations and Bequests relating thereto. RAILWAYS (IRELAND). tti k r• M'CULLAGH moved for leave to bring in a ll to enable grand juries in Ireland to make prr,eent sienta be aid of railways in certain cases. He believed e Go vernment had no intention of opposing the meii ,; h il re at i ts present stage. In the course of lest session iatlulterous deputatio n of gentlemen connected with Re v ti u waited on the Noble Lord at the head of the Go at-grant on th e su bj ec t o f ra il ways, and received an as ob""e from the Nubia Lord that he ' had no objection to r'ider the question raised by them. Acts had been in hoed for a great number of lines for short distances dik e ' 4lll . l , but unless some stimulus were given, it was 4 r 'lt to say when they would be carried out. A ge fietatil to prevailed in the districts likely to he bens ho' h the se li nes , i n f avou r of contributing " toytheir completion, and the Bill which h s had to le tae would confer such a power. He proposed that OF "lain districts the grand jury should have the power ti oh " .Ying a rate—a maximum being fixed—on the taxa- So 1„ 1 counties and burghs, and that when the rate was th,' vl ed by the grand jury, it should be in the power of papaoParticular railway company to assign that rate to raiseallB who advanct the money required to be the -a* apUe hoped he s h ou ld b e a ble ho show that any ileebbssarY amount would be obtained without vta; P li cation to Govern men t. E ve ry Irish Member 404 cognizant of the mo d e i n w hi c h post roads had to Mad •o in that country, and his object was to apply c oh lch of the A ct wh i c h related to these roa d s to t h e tet a P w 'etion of r a il roa d s. Ho proposed that be f ore any ee sa au made that an estimate should be obtained by the L e ta na P a t a o h Y i which had obtainer an Act of Parliament for he ea t of the railroad, and that a certificate should Ra y t tuned from the Board of Works that the estimate th e el e asonable and regular. He did not propose that la tl ll t %%rd. should otherwise interfere in the transaction. prof to would bo lodged with the clerk of the e r a° or the countyofficer j ur y might thou o cata , and the grand th e t. make the rate. Instead, however, of mak in g 04,:: ° , 11 les and burghs liable for the whole sum at :hhsth,she preposed that the grand jury should have the at 'ek of dietributieg it ove r that, the - a period of ten C"'l'allY should transfer a eeretie a ymber ot Sharns LE) rillStetS 4ithiv?hich means the public "reP"aeLLingilis' rat' _ are interest would be protected, at stimulus would be given to a branch of in- SUN, dustry closely connected with the prosperity of Ireland. He had brought forward the meesare, as he had under stood the Government were not prepnred to do so. If the House should assent to the introduction of the Bill, he should not object to refer it to a Committee up-stairs, in order that its details might be fully considered. Mr. LABOUCHERE did not object to the introduc tion of the measure; on the contrary, he was glad the question had been brought before Parliament and the people of Ireland. The principle of the measure, as stated by the Hon. Gentleman, had been brought before the Government in the course of last session by Lord Enniskillen and others, and in answer to their letter, the Noble Lord at the head of the Government stated that, provided public feeling in Ireland was expressed in favour of the measure sugeeeted, he should be quite willing to give every facility for the carrying their wishes into effect. Since that time, however, the Go vernment had not received from any of the constituted authorities in Ireland any assurance that there was a general de:dre that the principle should be carried out. It they harl received such an assurance he shout 3 having been convinced of the importance of granting facilities for the completion of reilways in Ireland—have felt it to be his duty to bring the question before the House. He did not think they would be justified. In proposing any very great diversity of legislation with regard to railways in Ireland from that which existed! in this country, unless a clear and general expression of opinion to that effect were made by the Irish Members. Not having seen the proposed measure, ho could give no opinion as to its details, but no doubt they would require to be carefully considered. He hoped the Hon. Member would fix a distant day for the second reading. Colonel DUNNE believed that the Irish Members were in favour of the principle of the Bill; and, in answer to the remark of the President of the Board of Trade, that no feeling in favour of that principle had been pressed by the grad juries of Ireland, recalled to his re collection that no assizes had been held since the date of the answer of the Noble Lord to the representation ad dressed to him. Mr. F. FRENCH said that the Government ought to have ende:Avoured to promote the development of the in terests of Ireland by means of railroads. He hoped that. the non opposition of the Right lion. Gentleman oppo site would he converted into a strenuous support of the principle of the Bill. Mr. GROGAN had listened with pleasure to the re marks of the Right lion. Get: thalan the President of the Board of Trade. lie wittingly accepted his good in tentions, though he promised little more than nut to op pose the principle of the measure. .11e did not think. it was asking too much of the Government to give the people of Ireland on opportunity of developing the i!e sources of the country by means of railroads. Leave was then given to brine in the Bill. BEER LAWS. Sir J. PAKINGTON moved, pursuant to nothe, that the House resolve itself into a Committee to con sider the laws relating to the sale of beer. He wished to introduce anew the Bill which he had brought in .;o wards the close of last session, and, as a matter of form, be had to move that the House resolve itself into Co n mittee o❑ the subject. He wished to extend the proiri sions of the Act passed on this subject some years ag;o, and to add some new provisions regarding police and other regulations. The whole Bill he proposed to found mainly on the report of the Committee which :tut in the other House on this subject during the yet.irs 1849 and 1850. The evidence taken before that Cot n mittee afforded abundant proof, if proof were requir( of the serious evils which had arisen in all parts fr( tm the present state of tee laws regarding the sale of be er. Th-se complaints had been so general and so loudly e x pressed both out of doors and in petitions to the Hoc se that he hoped, though there might to differences of opinion as to the provisions he proposed, that little or no opposition would be offered to some legislation on the subject. He should best consult the convenience of the House by postponing any explanation of the details till the second reading. On the question that the Speaker leave the Chair, Mr. SOHOLEFIELD expr, seed his regret at trio statement of the Hon. Baronet that the Bill he had ti.) propose was the same as that of last year. He belieteNl the complaints against beer-houses had referen De mainly to those in agricultural districts, and did not b e lieve that any provisions, such as the Hon. Baronet contemplated to introduce, were required in the large towns. Mr. E WART protested against all attempts of malkiiag men moral by Act Parliament. Mr. AGLIONBY had received communications frc , nct the beer-sellers of the metropolis on the subject, but they did not ask him to oppose the introduction of the Bill. Mr. MITCHELL would oppose the Bill if it went to give magistrates the same power over beer-shops that they had now over public-houses. The t,PEALER left the chair, and the House rent into Committee. A resolution having been passed in conformity with the motion, the Hou;:e resumed. Oa the question that leave be given to bring in the Bill, Mr. KERSHAW thought they ought to have a stai:e ment of the dnaile of the Bill. Sir J. PAKINGTON said it was the same Bill which had been presented to the House last session. After a few words from Mr. Forster, Mr. Ewart, wit] Mr. Scholetield, the motion was put and agreed to. Mr. M. GIBSON, pursuant to notice, moved for leave to bring in a Bill to establish county financial boat . ds for the assessing of county rates, and for the administ::.a lion of county expenditure in England and ‘Vale.9.— Agreed to Mr. SCULLY moved for returns of translated copies of sill charkers or letters patent grauting certain lan da for the promotion of education in Ireland during tbe reigns of Queen Ehz theft', James 1., and suhsequeni;ly (excepting such as appear in returns No. 475 of 1 sat session); sod of the amount of all grants of money or other funds (distinct from the rents of the school estates in Ulster or elsewhere) given or granted for educatimial purposes over %%Mob thy Commissioners' of Education have control, particularising the name of each grantor, and date of each instrument respectively, stating the purpose for which the same was given, and where such sum is now placed; and, if on interest ' the amount of su ch interest annually derived, and how and for what purpose the same is now applied.—Agreed to. Mr. AGLIONBY moved for and obtained leave to bring in a Bill to effect the compulsory enfranchisement of lands of copyhold and customary tenure. The Bill was subsequently introduced and read a first time. Mr MITCHELL moved the re-appointment of the Select Committee of last year to inquire into the Cus toms &pa! tment. Mr. NAPIER moved for a return of the number of days, specifying the dates, in the years 1849, 1850, and 1851 respectively, during which the Masters of the Queen's Bench, Exchequer, end Common Pleas in Ire laud have been absent frum their offices at the Foitir Courts in Dublin respectively; also specifying t'ho causes of their absence, and the manner iu which the duties which they are 'required to perform have been discharged, by what persons, and by whose authority, during any such pried of absence.—Agreed to. The House then adjourned at a Quarter to Ten o'clo ck. TO THE SECRETARY OF THE BRADFO. REFORM ASSOCIATION. (PUBLISHED EVERY MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY.) Sir,—lt would be useless tor me to lay before you the details of the Ministerial Bill of Reform. It makes some great Omissions; but the impression on the whole was favourable, and the tokens of opposition were weak. The representative of Manchester and its Congress, made an admirable speech; but not a word of the threatened intention to oppose the Bill if it did not come up to a certain mark. O❑ the whole the countenances of the Liberals are shining. It seems considered cer tain there will be no change in the Government, and no dissolution. All of which is working for Bradford quietly and well. The important omissions in the Bill, are the Ballot, and the Shortening of Parliaments. It is to be presumed the Government was anxious to leave something to do another time. _ .....„____ The objections of the Government to the Ballot may he considered as announced in a place out of doors. They are, first, that the absence of the Ballot is neces sary to secure the influence of the non-electors ; secondly, that the ballot in France did not prevent a majority for Louis Napoleon. To the first, the answer is, that the influence of the classes below the possessors of the franchise is an ounce, where the influence of the classes above them is a Pound. Examine any borough and see what the in !lnoue° of the non-electors amounts to. They can irt ntornaeaWe half a-dozen publicans, and the same number of int,r.adesmen. The non-electors the Beco e n ,tation. therefore will be att,r Chia easily led creatures upon earth, if they run dint of th e ..: , :.! 5 The against a clear argument the other way. By the min who venturecrahs I.:,,,aisinall minority braved the no minally to r : j il s o e t, which it was held too dangerous no doubt the hallo Louis voting danger of Napoleon; for there can be no I , aky in a hundred ways, and ratty of findin- hi ms, to this day a lively probe ot, there would have been I n to. there minority at all. It b its ar o hoped nobody will try to had ngotfilbnaeenittllisetoßonaellway or other at Cayenne. :vi e tt i i s s it may be defended rob the Government of f distribu plan, is the Another weakne,3 (though rg nt • on the score cf policy) in the way in which it avoids the question of the lion of the electoral power. Would there() just be any sense in decreeing if it were possible, instance,th power of every minority should be made equal 9 to that at the the majority by making each of its votes tell in the in of verse proportion of their number? But if this wou l d clearly be absurd, where does the principle cease to be absurd? What is the point, at whicn a minority is t o b e conceded to be a minority, and no longer to be propped by a factitious arrangement? The answer seems to be, that things as they are, must not be too violently altered, and that unjust minorities must be let down gently. Nobody doubts, in fac-, everybody avows, that the landed interest for in stance, possesses an enormous factitious power, which it desires to keep. Bat in spite of th'is, it is being out grown by other interests; end this is perhap s a safer course than ro us i ng the resistance which would be con no use in demandi ng aj violent change, to pro d uc e that sequent upo n atta cktn l , -, it in its strongholds. There is which will be Cs well produced without. Time, equaliz - r, is doing the, work. On Tuesday Mr. Sharman Crawford's Bill on Tenant Right, after a long discussi on in without a division. , was allow e d to be brought I aw, Sir, your obedient servant, AN OLD REFORMER, Blackheath, 11.FPb 1852 PAT PIG S. —T he farmer whose N i ps were so lean that it took two of them to snake a shadow, b 2,9 been beaten Pia 3 l ec t or of Logic will by another, who had severa l so thin th at they would crawl OXFORD , through the cracks in their pen. He finally stop ped that , meet his classes again on Th ursday next, at nine and one ftw by tying 1 4 1 03 in their tails.—. Boston BPP ee, o'clock, and oa Friday at one o'clock. THE LONDON, LITERNTURE. LECTURE on the ITALIAN LANGUAGE. By Ignatius Valletta. Vinton and Sons. Having ourselves experienced much pleasure in the perusal of this very elegant and ingenious disserta tion, we would here especiallycommend it to . the atten tion at once of the classical studrnt and of the modern philologist. Its writer has already, we believe, illus trated his abilities in a remarkable manner by trans lating into the melodious tongue of Italy several of the dramatic masterpieces of Shakspere. Who, therefore, can be more peculiarly qualified than Ignatius Valletta to address himself to an English audience upon the history and utility, and we may add the beauty and immortality, of the Italian lan guage. Aware of his former achievements as a scholar, achievements evidencing a perfect mastery of our diction, we are not in any way surprised at a purity and propriety of style in the lecture before us such as must otherwise, coining from the mouth of a foreigner, have proved real matter of astonishment. Tne paper, delivered or i g i na ll y a t th e o pening of "The Ladies' College," has been published, we are gratified to observe, in the form of a pamphlet, and . . may now consequently enlighten a larger audience tian the one for which it was at first designed. Signor Vrlllet% speaks of the language of his native land as the oldest idiom of modern Europe, and ob serves very justly that it has a threefold origin or de rivation—namely, of course, the Greek, the Latin, :end the Etruscan. Alluding to its immobility from a very early period, he says, with considerabl,3 grace of metaphor—" a few changes of letters and a more correct authogrsphy do not change the essence of a language any more than a new dress alters the iden tity of a man." His survey of Italian literature, 7.116 ugh necessarily hurried and elliptical, is on the whole, it must be acknowledged, singularly complete and perspicuous. Beginning as naturally with Dante as a historian of art begins his narrative with Cituabue, the lecturer shows that the language of Italy was rapidly matured by the two most wonder ful successors of the Florentine, the poet Petrarch and the romancist Boccaccio. He refers to the marvellous and artistic genius of Macchiavelli in be fitting terms of admiration, passing over somewhat negligently, we conceive, the great name of Tasso, the immortal celebrant of the destruction of Jeru salem. After mentioning Ariosto, other writers of 14sser importance and celebrity are enumerated—such men, for example, as Davila, Sarpi, and Guicciardini. The influence of the Italian lauguge and of Italian literature upon other extraordinary men in foreign countries is, as might be expected, expatiated upon at some length—due notice bAng taken of the Italian writings of Montaigne and of Milton. The following sentence, showing the source in the early novels of Italy of several of the stories upon which our im mortal dramatist founded his plays, will be regarded, we doubt not, as interesting, more particularly com ing to us as it does from Signor Valletta, the Italian translator of Shakspere:— " Othello and Measure for Measure, from Cintio Giraldi ; The Merchant of Venice, with his " pound of flesh," and the coward Jew quaking at the sight of the block, the axe, and the executioner, from Ser Giovanni Fiorentino; Romeo and Juliet, from Bandello, and Luigi d a Porto; The Taming of the Shrew, and The Two Gen tlemen of Verona. are Italian subjects; The Tempest has Italian names; and I have observed that m an y o f t h e jokes, w hi c h The Merry Wives of Windsor, play on Falstaff innamorato, are partly derived from another novel of the above-mentionod Ser Giovanni." Everyone interested in the destinies of the Roman peninsula —as who is not ?—will feel emotion when he hears the lecturer in allusion to Sbakspere's phrase in the Taming of Me Shrew—" Great Italy"— patriotically exclaim, "So I hope she will prove again." That sentiment must find an echo in many hearts, and cannot fail to secure the sympathies of all who hear it, for the ingenious and accomplished Ignatius Valletta. CARTE ON THE FLUTE. Rudall, Rose, and Company. Richard Carte has, in this elegant and remarkable composition, rendered himself the historian of the flute—on which instrument he was already admitted to be one of our most gifted performers. Intending, possibly, to submit to the public nothing more than a description of his two new patent flutes, preceded by a sketch of the flute of Boehm, and of the ordi nary flute as first mentioned by Mersenne—the writer has here, we repeat, rendered himself the historian of the instrument by tracing with admirable perspicuity the progress of its successive improvements. Be ginning with a brief but comprehensive account of its present step s b y w hi c h the ord i nary fl ute atta i ne d present condition, he describes how the Auto traverso, so called from the position hi which it was held by the player, ultimately superseded the flute a-bec, an instrument held perpendicularly to the lips like the clarionet. The classical flute of the ancient Greeks he wisely passes over as having about it somewhat of a mythical character, although we should have exulted in a mention at his hands of the magic reed bestowed upon mortals by the goddess Minerva, as we rejoiced in Nimrod's record of some among the equestrian triumphs of the Olympiads, in his celebrated dissertation on the Turf. It would nave been pleasant, moreover, to have found our author sprinkling his pages with anecdotes preserved to us from antiquity —su c h anecdotes as that one re corded by Plutarch of Alcibiades, who caused the flute to become out of fashion, by refusing to play upon it, because of its tendency to distort the human counte nance ! Mr. Carte, however, wisely begins with the flute as it i s found in 1636, first alluded to in the admirable work of Mersenne. Being originally constructed with only six holes, this flute had the number of holes in creased to seven by a Frenchman named Phillibert— who stopped the additional hole by means of a key. Quanz, a celebrated performer, not only added an other D sharp or E fiat key in 1726, but contrived in 1752 a means of raising or lowering the pitch half a t on e by . a method of lengthening and shortening the head-joint. An Englishma n named Tacet is reputed to have been the originator of the subsequent improve ments, by means of which three additional holes, stopped by three additional keys, were added to the instrument. Subse quent l y came a variety of ot h er innovations—the seven-keyed flute—and afterwards the eight-keyed flute, eight being since then the standard number, although in some instances the keys have been multiplied even to the extent of seven teen. Due mention is of course here made of the many beneficial changes introduced into the ordinary flute by Messrs. Rudall and Rose, the manufacturers. Next we have a lucid examination into the causes of the imperfections of the ordinary flute, now in its best and most complete form, together with a very masterly statement as to the principles upon which flutes in general are constructed. Guided by the truths revealed by the exa m i nat i on of t h ose principles, Captain Gordon, and ultimately M. Boehm, effected some really wonderful al terations in the way of improvement. Hence Boehm's first flute, and that other and more extra ordinary flee of his which he contrived with para bola head and cylindrical body. Having referred to these changes, Mr. Carte explains clearly enough the difference perceptible between conical and cylindrical bores, and thereupon lays before his reader the rea sons inducing him to bring forward the two new patent flutes of his own construction —on e with the fingering of the ordinary flute, and one with an en tirely novel system of fingering. Having ourselves heard these really beautiful and surprising instru ments, we can, not merely commend Mr. Carte's description of them in his pamphlet as accurate in every particular, but can sp ea k with all truth of them as in all respects eminently successful. They are constructed, as will have been observed upon the old and upon a new system of fingering—but what is yet more, they are manu factured either from wood or from silver. To the metallic flutes of Mr. Carte for our own part we are disposed, for a variety of reasons, to accord the pre ference—their tone being more liquid, more mellow, and in every way more agreeable. Those w h o can scarcely credit the possibility of this should h ear an d judge for themselves. Meanwhile let them turn th eir attention at least to the descript ion this present of these astonish ing instruments, as furnished in charm ing essay on the flute by their originator. MR. FEARGUS O'CONNOR AT THE LYCEUM THEATRE. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. Stn,—ln your paper of to-day I see an account of the proceedings at Bow-street on the occasion of Mr. Fear gas O'Connor being charged with creating a disturbance at the Lyceum Theatre. On the night in question I occupied a seat in the dress boxes, nearly directly opposite to the one in which the eccentric M.P. was seated, and, therefore, had an oppor tunity of knowing something of what actually occurred. Mr. F. O'Connor certainly conducted himself in a Policemanxi r. o, C o " n A n 0 r l 7ac"tewdoausldin manya k e a out. ma very eccentric manner, so far as gesticulating went, but yet, to my thinking, did not create such a disturbance as tem perament would act on listening to n or o c f h e e x s and although his gesticulations were certainly vehement, they rather to amuse than etri a taa n lb n l o em y tue t ara h ic e : by the policeman, by far the greater andon his being present raised the cry of " portion of persons other porti6m of the audience, removed out." SLame, " and not" Turn him I cannot speak as to the blow given to the policeman, but I certainly did not hear it, although, according to one witness's evidence, the " slap could be heard all over the house," I am no friend, and certainly not an admirer, of Mr. O'Connor, nor did I know it was the worthy Member w h o was rendering himself so conspicuous on Saturday evening, but I bear in mind the old adage of " gi v i ng the devil his due," and in th a t sp i r i t b eg to offer those few remarks for insertion in your paper, if you deem th e m worthy of a place. am, Sir, your very obedient servant, ONE OF THE AUDIENCE. EVENING, WEDNESDAY SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS. FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY. TlNlES.—lnstead of the stormy and protracted debate which agitated two successive Parliaments on the occa sion of the last Reform Bill, the present bids fair to be discussed as calmly as a Police or a Beer Bill. But like its predecessor it will be fought on its details. Of those details, till the Bill is printed, we are but imperfectly informed. The most s a li ent point is the enfranc hi sement of the 51. householders. On thi s p ro posal we must re peat our unwilling conviction that the new class of voters, like the lowest class in all our existing constitu encies, will be simply a material for the exercise of cor ruption on a petty or a gigantic scale, according to the size of the borough. He who said the other night that the Si. householders would swamp the 101. householders spoke to the good sense of every experienced member. At all events, where the practice of bribery is prescrip tive the new Si. electors will rush with avidity into the market of votes, and, like the expiring race of freemen, overpower the more scrupulous 10/. householders. The cure for this state of things, should it arise, will he either a revocation of the dangerous been or vote by ballot; but which is the more likely wo will leave Lord John Russell to decide. The next point in the order of importance, and which bids fair to occupy many weeks of the session, is Lord John's mode of dealing with the borough's which ho has not the courage to disfranchise. We warn the public that a comparison of the proposed schedule with the map o f E ng l ish counties wall disclose the grossest absurdities, not to say i mpossibilities. In some parts small boroughs lie so thick that if they are decently augmented as propoesd they will form con tinuous borough districts, end reduce the county pro perly so called, to a very inconsiderable area. Nay, iu some in s tan ce s we do not see how the boroughs can he augmented, so small is the interval between them, Ir the new Parliamentary boroughs are made without re gard to the divisions of counties, then we have a great stop towards equal electoral districts, to which Lord John himself expresses the greatest objection. Nay, whatever the details, the creation of sixty-seven new district or partnership boroughs is going some way in the direction he deprecates. It has already been dis covered by the sharp eyes of the Reformers that in more than one instance the proposed annexation will simply have the effect of harnessing a wild elephant between two tame ones—that is, a borough more remarkable hitherto for corruption than nomination between towns or districts long obedient to aristocratical menage. But, after all, when so many counties have a lair claim to a larger share in the repre sentation, and also so many towns, will - those two rea sonable demands be satisfied with the creation of hybrid coun ties or swollen towns, as people may pl ease to descr ib e t b h o e r m ou s ? gh L b o e r t d w j e o en hn co n u u n s t s i e e l s l andsays ttohwants, miniature England does not consist wholly of counties and large towns, and that a representation confined to those two species of consti tuencyexpress the in terestsfinds the want supplied in the smaller boroughs. Yet h av i ng ascertained this object, and found the proper means app li e d i n the and would opi n 0 a not s of the adequately country. cha racterexisti genagltsomaltlhr, ro , an u something which as yet can only be imagin e d. I n every aspect of the scheme we see only a superfi c i a l reme d y and an ephemeral duration, and, accordin g l y we cannot anticipate for the propose Bill even that degre e o f fi na li ty e bor t s o change that w hi ch exists into , ho proceeds t o alter their which the Fates have accorded to the last. CHRONICLE.—The curiously ambiguous reception which the House of Commons gave to Lord John Rus sell's explanation of the provisions of his new Reform Bill —the utter absence of anything like resolute oppo sition or hearty approval—is, perhaps, the best comment on the merits of that singularly lame and disjointed piece of workmanship. It is not in human nature either to denounce or to admire a project which, as it contains a little of everything to please everybody, cannot be wholly bad—whilst its total lack of originality, and of any definite and intelligible principle, precludes more than a faint and listless acquiescence on the part of those who are so fortunate as to deem it a real gain to the popular cause. For our own part, the more we look at that incoherent jumble which Lord John has the nssurance to dignify with the name of a " Reform Bill," and which he asks the country to accept as the matured product of years of anxious deliberation, the more are we amazed at his po verty of intellectual resources, and his destitution of statesmanlike breadth of view. As a string of empirical changes in the working details of our political life, it may be good, bad, or indifferent; but as an enlarged and amended Parliamentary Constitution for the British empire, carefully framed and pretentiously announced by the Fi rst Mi n i ster o f t h e Crown and the '° lead er o f the Liberal party," it is alike discreditable to its author and insulting to the country. It is but too clear that Lord John Russell has dealt with a great question in a petty a n d n arrow spirit. Years of elaborate trifli ng have ended in the production of a scheme so thoroughly crude, common-place, and trivial, that for aught we can see, the humblest Treasury clerk might any day have jotted down as good a one on his blotting paper at a quarter of an hour's notice. ADVERTISER.—The defects of the new Reform Bill were not clearly perceived on Monday evening, otherwise it would not have been so favourably re ceived by many of the Liberal party. When its great and manifold deficiencies are fully apprehended, as they soon will be, we shall find some of those independent Members who greeted its developement on Monday, transformed into its most strenuous opponents. What, in the meantime, surprises us most is, that Mr. John Bright, as the representative of the Manchester school of reformers, should have regarded it as a mighty boon to the country. Six or seven weeks only have elapsed, since Mr. Bright took a prominent part at a great demon stration in Manchester, in favour of Reform; and cer tainly it would not be very easy to imagine two measures more different, than the one which Mr. Bright then advocated, and the Ministerial measure of Monday which, to all intents and purposes, he accepted at the hands of the Russell Ministry, The absence of disen franchising clauses ought alone to have rendered the measure unacceptable to all real Reformers. The Bill contains no schedule abolishing small boroughs w hich are notoriously the seats of corruption. A separate Bill is to be brought in to disenfranchise St. Albans, —from which the legitimate inference would be, that there are no other boroughs in England which need to have the disenfranchising process applied to them, —whereas there are at least sixty or seventy which are quite as bad as St. Alb an ' s. And were a commission similar to that which lately dragged to light the abounding corruptions in St. Albans, appointed to inquire into the doings which have occurred in these boroughs, it would be found that the bribery and corruption in nearly a ll of them were quite as great as i n st, Albans. The only parties who will feel any gratitude to the Nobl e Lord for their enfranchisement, are those in small boroughs, who see a reasonable chance of finding the franchise a marketable commodity. They will prize the electoral right for no other reason than that they hope to be able to turn a pe nny by it. Its m easured by the money value in their eyes will beit will bring. Had the measure included the ballot, wo might, notwithstanding its many defects, have deemed it worthy the acceptance of the country; but without that accom paniment, it will bo altogeth er worthless; and whatever amount of time the Le g isl ature may devote to it, will be wholly wasted. As the measure now stands, it will be found, the momen itarrive comes into operation, should that moment ever —a mockery and a delusion. LAW INTELI --------- COURT OF QUE EN IGENCE; RETIREMENT OF m ii:'S BENCH, Feb. 10. the members of the bar bd In expectation of this JUSTICE PATTESON. 0 event, there was from the first sitting of the Court not nie also a considerable number a very large attendance of of tors. The inconve means of ingress and egress,nt court, with no proper ac commodation, soon became prison to those who were and very few means of ac it)lisefidlleadlmwositthegnetnirtelelymebny, in it, and was literally wed " The back gallery of the cen f t nd uP with human beings. sire to pay respect to the ladies. So sincere was the oc d e e : retiring judge that number.. and the side gallery was court during the whole of th remained standing in the commendable pertinacity th e - e day, maintaining with first taken up. .poaitions which they had Mr. Justice Erle came in from his seat on the bench. Sir The the Bail C o urt, and took and Mr. Napier, M.P., were ais t uas Acland, Sir H. Inglis, At the close of the argum ee n ts P, re aent• trial, in a motion for a new The ATTORNEY-GENERAL rose rose with him, and continued stand! and the whole bar Gentleman was speaking, 11, said Whilen the Learned half of my brethren of the bar, I My Lords, on be address a few words to the Learned .7-lainl permission to understand that we now see fo r th udge whom we all bench of this Court. (Turning the last time upon the Judge, he proceeded)—Mr. Justic,„, the Learned charged by my brethren at the ba r to - Patteson, I am sincere regret and common sorro w cnn voY to that you our the last time on that bench where, f or ne we see you for two years, you have occupied a Seat 15 : nearly twenty honourith to yourself, and such unbound: 4 such infinite the profession. And, as we are no w a b' satisfaction to it may not be entirely unbecoming in out to lose you, wholly unwelcome to you to receive, M t 0 to offer, nor the universal sense of the whole . profe he assurance of high and sacred duties of the jediei ss l ion, that the never more honestly or ably discgedn' office were during your whole judicial life. Thong hthau by you your memory will yet remain to ns we lose you, proper position among those revered narnassuming its nify this place and this hall, and will be cha which dig not more for that vast and varied learning erished by us have profited and which all have admi re L l hich all untiring love of justice and truth, and thantb for that oppression and wrong, that unflinching i nto at, hatred of pose, that simplicity and singleness of heart, of pur benevolent kindness of nature, which leave t, and that whether we should more revere the judge orus in doubt You will carry into your retirem ent man. thelove the and veneration, and the enduring attachment respect respect member of the profession. Wo rejoice to think of every though the sense of one infirmity, and the that aPPreh lest that should interfere with the perfect discharge ension your duty, have made you withdraw from Yettr of the vigour of 3, our powers, you will lon g remain. office in impaired health, and long enjoy all the pleasures in nn- We hope and pray that in that honourable retirement happiness, and with full hearts we bid you a g years of respectfrd and affectionate farewell. At the close of this, address, which wiu ad delivered, the whole bar bowed in assent to , . s mi_rably ship; b u t th e strangers, who were not fettered bLord rules of professional decorum, expressed their y the ra by applause, as, indeed, they b ad don e —ore epproval c during its delivery. Their appla use was than ence he cked, and ~,,A oc.n as Aiencv was restored, . Mr. Justic;P ATTESON, who was much affected, an swered—Mr. Att o rney-General and gentle men of the bar, I receive with proud satisfaction and With feelings FEBRUARY li, 1652 of the deepest gratitude, this kind and flattering ex pression of your feelings. Of the entire sincerity of what you have said I do not entertain a doubt, and though lam painfully conscious that the sentiments you have expressed are beyond what I have deserved, yet I shall not be guilty of the affectation of supposing that such praises, coming from so large and deserving a body of men as you, can be wholly unmerited. Mine is one of many cases which show that if a public man, without any pre-eminent ability, will exercise such talents as God has been pleased to give him honestly, without ostentation, and independently, he will receive public approval, commensurate with and even exceeding what he deserves. I thank God if I have not been found wholly deficient in the use of those talents with which He has entrusted me. It is with great regret that, while still in possession of much of my intellectual and bodily strength, I feel myself compelled to retire from a profession in which I take and always shall take the greatest delight. It is not now that for the first time I have contemplated such a necessity. I have found it difficult to avoid on the one hand the pre mature surrender of my office while I felt myself cipa ble of performing my duty, and on the other of clinging to it when a physical infirmity might bring the due ad ministration of justice by me into jeopardy. I endea voured with the kindest advice of my brethren, and with the assistance you have rendered me, to avoid either ex treme. I am sadly afraid that I have deferred my re tirement too long. You know that I have for some years been obliged to use ingenious instruments, which have much assisted me in hearing, and which are great com forts both in public and private life; but they cannot prevent the increase of the infirmity. Of this lam con fident and sure—that nothing but the unceasing kind ness of the bar, and constant exertions on my behalf, painful and indeed sometimes distressing, and the affec tionate and unceasing support of my brethren on the beech, could have enabled me to continue, so long as I have done, in the discharge of my duties. I am aware that in some instances I have given way to impatient expressions to the bar, and to the witnesses, as if they were to blame, when in fact it was my own deficiency. I have been, and am, heartily sorry for such a want of command over myself—l have striven against the repe tition of it earnestly, but not always with success. My brethren, you and the public have been very kind to me, and a grateful recollection of that kindness will remain with me and be a solace to me as long as my life shall last. I bid you farewell affectionately. I wish you many years of health and happiness, and success in your ho nourable profession, the duties of which require not only zeal and learning, but high honour and integrity, and a deep sense of responsibility to God and man, and which being so performed are, in my judgment, eminently con ducive, with the blessing of God, to maintain the just prerogatives of the Crown and the rights and happiness of the subject. At the conclusion of this address the strangers again applauded, but as before the applause was checked. The bar again bowed to the Learned Judge, who kindly re turned the salutation, and the Court then broke up. BIRMINGHAM DISTRICT COURT OF BANKRUPTCY, Feb. 10. (Before Mr. Commissioner BALGUY.) THE BTOURBRIDGE AND BRONSGROVE BANKS. This was the first dividend day. Messrs. Motteram, Knight, and Co., appeared as solicitors for the assignees, and Mr. E. Wright for certain benefit societies. Mr. KNIGHT drew the attention of the Court to the fact that in the first instance the petition of bankruptcy was issued against Messrs. Rufford and Raiford, carry ing on business as bankers at Bromsgrove, under the style of Rufford, Rufford, and Biggs. Subsequently that petition, previous to the choice of assignees, was an nulled, and merged into the proceedings under a fiat issued and confirmed against Messrs. Rufford, Raiford, and Wragge. Bat, before the first petition was annulled, a considerable number of proofs had been taken by Mr. Minshull, and these proofs were now presented to the Court as against the estates of Messrs. Raiford and Wragge. The accounts so proved were perfectly right, and he (Mr. Knight) now suggested that, to save time and expense to a large number of creditors who resided at a distance, these proofs should be admitted. The proofs were against the two Ruffords, bat not against Wragge. His HONOUR decided that the parties must prove again. They were given under a petition which did not at pre sent exist. Mr. E. WRIGHT applied to the Court that a certain sum of money (about 5,0001.) should be set aside to meet the claims in f u ll o f certa i n b ene fit soc i e ti e s, for whom it was contended that the bankrupts acted as treasurers. His Honour had recently decided that the societies were not ent itled to receive their claims in full; and against that decision an appeal was about to be made to the Lords Justices. A petition for that purpose had been presented, and it was to await the decision of their Lord ships that he now asked the retention of the money claimed by the societies. Mr. KNIGHT thought that under the circumstances an adjournment of the dividend would be the best course which could be adopted. Mr. Waterfield, the registrar, concurred in this opinion. His HONOUR declined to make any order for setting aside the money, as suggested by Mr. Wright, and. after expressing his wish that the opinion he had given might be reviewed by a higher court, adjourned the dividend until the Bth of March. NAVAL INTELLIGENCE. Tho following officers attended the levee of the First Lord of the Admiralty at Whitehall, yesterday:—Rear- Admirals Ferguson and Fisher; Captains G. D. O'Cal. laghau,: G. Gifford, W. Chambers, T. C. D. Hay, J. Scott, W. Sandom, C. 8., Hamilton, and Sir T. Mait land, C. 8.; Commanders J. Hope, T. B. Marsh, H. E. Wingrove, W. Kirby, H. G. Austin, H. Harvey. T. H. Bridges, T. Woollcombe, J. Rawstorne, G. T. Napier, J. A. Paynter, and J. Bigge; Lieutenants E. H. Gun nell, D. Spain, B. Pym, S. Osborn, H. Hannant, J. H. Craig, T. Clayton. APPOINTMENTS. Captain Kingcome, who commanded the Belleiale as a troop-ship, has been appointed to commission the iron screw steam troop-ship Simoon, at Portsmouth. Lieut. Charles G. Rigge (1838), of the steam service at Devonport, and who formerly commanded the Trident steam-vessel, has been appointed to the rank of com mander. Master. G. A. Waters, to the Simeon Assistant-Surgeons—James Whither to Greenwich Hospital, vice Doraville promoted; Richard King to the Victory, flag-ship, Portsmouth. Second Master—F. B. Youel, to the Simoom. Hydra, 6, steam-sloop, Commaner Be!grave, with General Cathcart and suite on board, en route from Portsmouth to the Cape, put into Plymouth on Monday afternoon, with her rudder-head wrung. As we antici pated, she encountered the heavy weather of Saturday night and Sunday. She ought not to have gone to sea in the late weather. Britannia, 120, Captain Goldsmith, bearing the flag of Rear-Admiral Deans Dundas, C. 8., weighed anchor at eight o'clock on Tuesday morning, and made all plain sail, with the wind at N.N.E., down Channel. Malabar, Indiaman, and the Sir Robert Peel, Ame rican packet, arrived at Portsmouth from London yes terday morning. Fresh breezes and squally; wind at N.N.E. Orders have been received at this port to pay off the Pilot, 12, Commander V. G. Hickley, on her arrival from Portsmouth. DEFENSIVE PREPARATIONS.—The vacant embrasures on the land side of the Citadel at Plymouth are to be forthwith mounted. PORTSMOUTH, FEB. 10.—We are enabled to state that Rear-Admiral Sir James Stirling is selected to fill the vacancy at the Admiralty Board caused by the retire ment of Rear-Admiral Dundas. The Investigator, Indianian, sailed to-day for Madras. SHEERNESd, MONDAY EVENING, FEB. 9.—Her Majes ty's ~;team-frigate Cyclops, during her late passage home from the Cape of Good Hope, sprung her bow sprit and jibboom, and while aground off the Isle of Wight carri©d away part of her forefoot. Her bowsprit was removed to-day, the new one being nearly ready to be fitted. She is reported ready to be removed from the drydock into the basin by the 18th inst., but it is not expected that she will be complete in her fittings before the end of March. Her Majesty's ship Horatio, 24, screw steam guard ship, Captain the Hon. S. T. Carnegie, has her top masts fidded, and has commenced setting up her topmast rigging. The strong winds which prevailed (from S.W. to W.) during the greater part of the past week subsided on Saturday, but came on the following morning with in creased violence, continuing until this afternoon to such an extent that her Majesty's ship Waterloo, 120, could not be removed, as was intended, to her moorings in the harbour. Should the weather permit, she will be taken out of the basin to-morrow, or, as the tides aro falling, she will have to remain here 12 days longer. Among the regulations recently promulgated relative to the entry and qualifications of masters'-assistants, it is ordered that in future they are to be placed under the instruction of naval instructors, who are to receive the usual tuition-money, which is not to be deducted from the.pay of the master-assistants, as is the case with mid shipmen and naval cadets, but the expense thereof is to be defrayed by the Admiralty. WooLwicH, FEB. 10.—Captain Stephen G. Fremantle (1842), having completed a course of study of steam at the factory at Woolwich dockyard, was examined on Sa turday last and yesterday by Mr. Charles Atherton, chief engineer, and passed in a very satisfactory manner, having obtained a high certificate of his knowledge of steam and the working of marine steam engines. NATIONAL MELODIES.—If we mistake not the Messrs. Robert Cocks and Co., of New Burlington-street, were foremost in bringing out the beautiful melodies of Scotland and Ireland, arranged as " Morceaux" for the drawing-room (by Vincent Wallace). That firm (who do not let grass grow under their feet) are now issuing a selec tion of the favourite national melodies of the Principality, newly arranged for the piano-forte, 'by that favourite com poser and pianist Brinley Richards. The title of this series is " Recollections of %Vales." The melodies are treated in a style as novel as it is masterly and captivating. Th e same accomplished artist—who is rapidly winning for himself a n European fame—has compos ed two lovely romances for the piano -forte, full of poetry though without Words. They always heard with rapture , and in public elicit repeatedare cores. We allude to " T he Vision" and 4, The en- Song"—the latter of which sweetly interprets that ununtgteel;-8 able thought of Longfellow— " Ye sounds so low and calm That, in the groves of balm, Seemed to me like an Angel's psalm." THE RAWMARSII COLLIERY RELIEF FUND.--The fund collected for the widows an d orphan, Colliery, 40 o 0 n 1. the Of this the awful explosi on at the Raw marsh Coll 9f the sufferers by of December , h as reached the lar ge sum 9 ioOdoo/f.w ..2y2F s r . o m weekly this f fund amou nt Sheffield alone has contriuted it is in contemp lation to allo w to each vi life, and 6d. per week for each child until 14 years of age. This will require a sum of 3,9001 , and the amount collected, with interest at 5 per cent., and ' probable marriages of widows the deductions from the will Amply allow of pr „.... 1 , u 1d the deaths of children, "WM. COURT CIRCULAR. WINDSOR, FEB. 10. The following were the additions to the Royal dinner party yesterday—her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, the Lady in Waiting to her Royal Highness, Lady Frances Bruce, the Baroness de Speth, the Earl of Mu!- grave, and Lieutenant-Colonel Francis Seymour. Her Majesty's private band attended after dinner in the Castle, and performed the following compositions:— Overture " Marguerite de Anjou" Meyerbeer. Qaartetto, Op. l lB. Allegro ma non tante, Scherzo, Andante, Minuetto and Trio Allegro. Finale, 2 violins, viola, and Violoncello, Messrs. Sainton, Day, Hill, and H. Chipp •.• ••• ••. Beethoven. Romance, Chceur et Marche du Band Apis " L' Enfant Prodigue" ... • ••• Auber. The baud o f th e R o yal Horse Guards performed a Matinale in the Scotch Terrace this morning. The Queen and Prince Albert walked in the Home Park and Slopes this morning. The Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal. and the Royal Children, took their usual walking end pony ex ercise. Her Royal Highness the Duchebs of Kent arrived in town on Monday morning from her residence, Frogmo' e, near Windsor. Her Ro) 41 Highness visited the Duchess of G - loucmter, at Gloucester House, Piccadilly, and in the afternoon left Clarence House, St. James's,for Frog more. The Privy Council which was appointed to be held on the 13th instant, at Buckicgham Paltee, will be holden this day at Windsor Castle, instead. Lem Rendlesham and a deputation had an interview with Lard John Russell yesterday, at his official resi dence in Downing -street. The Cambridge 'University Commission hal a meeting yesterday, at the official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury, in Downing -street. Present, the Bishop of Chester, the Dean of Ely, Sir John Herschel, and the Rev. W. H. Bateson (Secretary). The Attorney. General of Ireland had an interview with Sir George Grey yesterday, at the Home-office. THE UN TEIIOI. STATES. (Extract of Letter.) CINCINNATI, JAN. 23, 1852.—The winter in the United States is unprecedented in the memory of the oldest inhabitants-15 below zero! What are they in the north? East, west, north, and south it prevails:with ex treme severity, and the roads are impassable. The mails have occupied six days in the transit usually ac complished in forty-eight hours. Such is the novelty— such a thing never having occurred before—.that every ridiculous species of article that can be converted into a sledge are made available, as soap and candle-boxes, sugar vats, wine baskets, &c., and the streets are crowded. It has snowed here incessantly for two months. Extraordinary to relate, letters state that at New Orleans they have snow from four to six inches deep. Near Lake Erie there have been two avalanches, and nine persons and eleven horses have perished. Kossuth is not a favourite in the slave states. They shy invitations to him. The State of Virginia requested him not to go through their territory to come to Cincin nati; consequently he will pass by Pennsylvania, and not proceed further than this. Here is a taste of their quality from the Daily Cincin nati Commercial of Jan. 19 :— " EXPENSES OF KOSSUTR'S SUITE. " Otsego," the Washington correspondent of the Cleveland Herald, states that the wine bill of Kossuth's suite, at Brown's Hotel, was 75 dollars a day, and the cigar bill 15 dollars a day. One day they employed thirty or forty hacks. The average daily expense was about three hundred dollars." The same writer says great things were promised Kossuth in Ohio. One speaker said five hundred thou sand dollars could be raised, and ten hundred thousand men. If Kossuth relied on these promises, he will cer tainly be disappointed. Daniel Webster will not be President. He is too clever. FRARGUS O'CONAOR, M.P. The Hon. Member for Nottingham, who was removed, pursuant to his sentence, to Coldbath-fields Prison in the ordinary criminals' van on Monday night, was re ceived by the officer on duty, and the charge against him duly entered. Shortly after his entrance, however, the necessary search of his person was commenced; bat offering some slight resistance thereto, it was deemed prudent to request the attendance of the Governor of the prison to see that the ordinary rules of the gaol were com plied with. Mr. Chesterton was soon in attendance, when Mr. O'Connor said that as he was a Member of the House of Commons, and that as he had been confined for two years in York Castle, where he had been treated as a gentleman, a n d as h e had only come there for a week, he should now expect similar treatment. Mr. Chester ton informed him there was a great difference in the two cases. In York Castle he was confined for a poli tical offence, and he was, of course, entitled to cer tain liberties ; but in the present case the charge was of a criminal nature, by an assault on a police-consta ble whilst engaged in the preservation of the public peace, and therefore ho could snake no:other allowance to him than the rules of the prison required. The search was then proceeded with, and, as the public are aware, from the reported proceedings in the case of the National Land Company, the Hon. Member indulged freely in the luxury of the snuff-box, and was liberal in his offers of it to the master and others engaged in the case. The deprivation of his snuff box was a source of great annoyance to him, and when at length finding demands were useless, he begged as a favour, only a single pinch," which was peremptorily refused. From the no toriety the conduct of Mr. O'Connor attained by the case of the Land Company, considerable doubts existed whether Mr. O'Connor was a responsible agent for his actions, and it was deemed the safest course at once to transfer him to the care of the surgeon of the prison until the point of his sanity was determined, under whose care he at present remains. The only person of importance who called upon Mr. O'Connor yesterday was Mr. Wakley, but whether his visit was professional or not was not ascertained. As Sunday intervenes in the period of the sentence, Mr. O'Connor will be discharged on Saturday next. PERTH ELECTION. PERTH, MONDAY EVENING.—The nomination of can didates for the representation of Perth, vacant by the appointment of the Right Hon. Mr. Fox Manic to the Presidency of the India Board, took place here to-day, on a hustings erected in front of the County-buildings. Mr. Maule came forward to ask for a renewal of the suf frages of the electors of Perth, whom he had repre sented now for a period of upwards of ten years, and his opponent was Mr. Charles Gilpin, of London, to whom a number of the constituency had been previously pledged. Each of the candidates was attended to the hustings by a large body of supporters; but Mr. Gilpin was decidly the favourite with the crowd in front, which is supposed 'to have arisen chiefly from the broad con demnation given to the ballot by Mr. Fox Maule in his address to the electors on Thursday evening last. Sheriff CRAWFORD appeared on the hustings precisely at 12 o'clock, and read the writ and the Act against bri bery and corruption. Mr. MAULE and Mr. GILPIN then addressed the electors. A show of hands having been taken, it was declared to be in favour of Mr. Gilpin, when Mr. Maule demanded a poll. - .61.r. GILPIN said, although the show of hands was in his favour, he considered it to be the most gentlemanly and considerate course not to go to the poll at present. On this announcement being made, the Sheriff declared Mr. Maule to be duly returned; and after a few words of thanks from the Right Hon. Gentleman, the assemblage broke up. RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE. BLAcKwALL.—We are informed that the dividend will be 25. 6d. a share, leaving about 1,3001. to be carried to the current half-year's amount. The dividend for the year 1851 will therefore be 4s. 61, as compared with 2s. for the year 1850. SOUTH-WESTERN.—The forthcoming report of the directors will contain the announcement, that 10 ,000/. from the revenue account has been put to areserfve account, in order to pay for the extra carri ages required for the extraordinary traffic of 1851 and for such other wants as may arise; and al so th at ' future additions to the main and completed lines, sidings or stations, or any further expenditure thereoonr, shall be charged to revenue, and liquidated i n the same way as has already been established for th e rolling stock. — G R R ai E lt e e T ay Times.NOß NORTHERN.—Owing to certain slips from the late wet weather, the Great Northern will not be opened The promoters of this Western board to allow before May, if then, lineD o h n av c e nE pr sT o w se s d ri t n o E t hot i e : es T tmho E ue ß tt h. South-Western . i ur t them 40 per cent. of the excess of gross traffic over the - Western line, the 1852 to brought give Parliament for obtaining an support and influence ders individually tog take shares in the said line, Act, to recommend their shareholders nhr South-Westernaarffir ea c hr o o i al f and to dovetail the working f .' coast line. g 0 their trains with the new RAIL y AND OTHER BILLS ON STANDING ORDERS. AND BIRMI the s tanding RY SIIREWsBu of this company's RAlLWAY.—Yester day NGHAM to . n, and Stour Valley orders were complied with in the case opanin and Bill, to authorise the completion, g, working of the Birmingham, Wolverhamp ton, Station in Birmingham, and fur convert- Railway, and the use of the Na nag the share capital into stock. NEWMARRET RAILWAY.—The standing orders were declared not complied with in this case, to melee altera tions, and to construct a new line between Newmarket and Bury St. Edmunds. The non-compliances were slight miscalculations in the financial declaration of the funds in the company's possession. LONDONDERRY AND E NN ISKILLEN RAILWAY. —The standing orders were complied with for the Bill to ex tend the line to Enniskillen, and other works, a t a cost of 152,0001. LONDON AND COLERAINE RAILWAY —Also in this case, for subscription toword.et,. s constructi on o f b r i dge over river Foyle, and other ()W NEW RIVER COMPANY. — The standing o r d ers were complied with hi the c,kso of this company's Bill, for proposed new works, and arrangements with the river Leo trustees. Tao following Bills also complied:—Londonderry Bridv, Ulveratone W aterworks, Ikley Waterworks, B r itish Empire Mutual Life Insurance Stockton Extension and Improvem en t . The offices of P aymaster -General and Vice-Presi dent of the Board of T rade have been offered to an d acceptedlderley, who in the year by Lord Stanley of A 1841 filled the office of Paymaster-General. THE SIGNALS AND TRAIN -SIT 'SIGNALS. ! An important concession has lately been made by the South-Eastern Railway Company on the representations of the Astronomer Royal, for the establishment of elec. tricol communication between the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, and the London-bridge Railway Terminus. The subject has, for a considerable time, engaged the at tention of Mr. Airy and Mr. Charles Walker, the tele graph engineer of the South-Eastern Railway Company. and their plans are now matured. The operation for erecting the wires have commenced this week, and will very shortly be completed. Wires, are to be laid underground from the Royal Observatory to the Lewisham station by the Electric Telegraph Company, and thence to London along the line of rail way by the South-Eastern Railway Company. Froze the London station wires will diverge to Westminster, to the Royal Exchange, and to the Central Telegraph Sta tion at Lothbury. The objects the promoters have at present in view arc— l. To transmit Greenwich time and corrected time to »nil from the clock at the New Houses of Parliament, Ind the Royal Exchange. 2. To transmit Greenwich time throughout the king dom by the various lines of electric teicgraph. 3. To compare the transits of stars at Greenviich with the same at Paris. The tranantis4ion of time signals will be automatic; Shepherd's eta-etric clocks will be placed in the Royal Ob servatory, in conju,:ctiln with an automatic apparatus to he appended to tit,• chicks ar the varf.us stations. With pect to the, signal to thu N,-w Houses of Puritamnft, a cert:lin time wfli be a+.r.,ed upon, an. - : the adjustment at (ir6t•nwich will be made accordingly. There will be a permanent electric circuit maintain e d bawetn West winster and Greenwich, broken only at the clock at Greenwich, and in three places: one of these breaks is completea every minute, one every hour, and one every twenty-four hours, at the time agreed upon, and, as these three contacts will occur simultaneously only once a day, at the precise hour, minute, and second determined upon, the signal which then passes will be the true time required, a n d it will be made accurate to 1.20 th of a second. In the first stance this signal will be made manifest at Westminster by the motion of a needle. The pendulum there will be furnished with two oscillating bars, one for r, OO f ast, . and the o th er f or " too slow," and either this or that may be made to act on the pendulum by the clock inspector, as the case may require, and for a certain short time. At the end of half an hour the Westminster clock will automatically send its time to Greenwich to be ob served and recorded. To distribute time throughout the kingdom, the clock at the London terminus of the South-Eastern Railway will be provided with special wheels and studs. A cer tain hour will be determined on for transmitting time to Dover for example, and about fifty or sixty seconds be fore this time the London clock will disconnect the Dover telegraph wire from the telegraph instrument at London, and will place it in connexion with the wire that leads to Greenwich. Precisely at the last second of the minute the Greenwich clock will place this same wire in connexion with the voltaic batteries of the Royal Observatory, and a signal will be visible at Dover The LondonG ree n and wich actoanitlaoctthwe will stations instantaneous, t o a nt a h n e e s o am u s e will remain a few s e co n d s lo nge r, always allowing a but wir e i that a h t margin for the variation of the ordinary clocks. As the Greenwich wire is taken off the Dover wire, it will be placed in contact automatically with the Lothbnry wire, where a clock may be fitted with contacts corresponding to such lines of railway and suck towns or stations as may require the time signals. The transits of stars at the two observatories at Greenwich and at Paris will be occasionally compared in the following manner. The old mode of noting the time of the transit of stars was to take time from the clock before applying the eye to the instrument, and then while watching the stars with the eye to count the seconds with the ear, and afterwards note the result. In the present case an hour will be fixed upon, when the telegraph wire can most conveniently be spared. The connexion will be either made by hand or by studs to be pressed into the clock-wheel at any required time, and arrangements will soon be completed so that as the eye sees the star in contact with the wires in the transit in strument, the fingers will press a stud; and in another room of the Observatory an electro-magnetic record of the time will have been accurately and permanently im pressed on a revolving cylinder. Mr. Airy at Greenwich, and M. Arago at Paris, will thus be able to fix a time when the eye of each shall be directed to the same star at the same time; and signal to each other as each wire is passed; the comparison of times will give them the relative longitude of the re spective places, and will assist them in the solution of other problems. We can scarcely overrate the importance of those ar rangements, and especially that of transmitting Green wich mean time to all parts and to all ports of the king dom. The falling ball at the Royal Observatory, so long the standard of reference for mean time, will be visible, so to speak, throughout the land; and the ma riner at the most distant parts of the coast—wherever, indeed, the network of telegraph wire has penetrated —will be able to set and to rate his chronometers with out the expense and care that is at present incurred. Railway companie. will find the advantage of these arrangements, for they will have Greenwich time " at their fingers' enth," and will really be able to keep uui - form time. HEAVY GALE, AND EXTRAORM NARY HIGH TIDE. Yesterday morning it blew a very strong gale from the N.N.E., accompanied with a driving snowstorm, which, as the morning wore apace, increased in violence, and was then attended with heavy showers of sleet, and rain at intervals. At half. flood the immense rlutne of water forcing its way upwards, between the banks of the Thames, appeared to resemble more the overpowering strength of the current that, at certain times during the prevalence of the S.E. Monsoon, sweep with rapidity up the river Iloogley, than the natural flow of the tide in an European river. At this ti me t h e scene was ter rific, vessels frequently getting athwart hawse, and not being able to clear each other without damage to spars or rigging, and several that had anchored in bad holding ground brought home their anc h ors , an d d r ove a considerable distance before th ey cou ld b e brought up again, and not then in some cas©s without l et ting go a second author. At .tbree-quarters flood the nearly ivater l u d l a l y e : water had nearly attained the height of ordinary spring tides, and at high water was considerably above it, overflowing the wharfs and banks in some places. The accounts received from steam-boats state that in many parts of Essex and Kent, but particularly up the river mh theaevs have Medway,beientgnasthtoe isneaanbdeaatteoevoemrpitehteelyelmntrhbivataeno marshesr embankments mda London, gn n 0, t sodw more andi d t e h aol s t u h c oa h r violence irttawyt wasl o w under water. base ments d i oawm espe cially e ggroeoonfuh tn a s hd e s es v b e s e r io e n a u n l t hthouseshbesustained, vicinity. c a ion d fi j t i a y n c t leae adjacent to. the consequence emr erru hso musttaf overflowed; fortunately, . however, immense,l A ig h t t h , e or t edlaesso fells o the mt ohdese gale rtaerieuetcst subsided,i of t o h n at l tper low w e d to a strong breeze, but as the afternoon tide made it had again • increased to a . fresh gale, although not so violent as that of the morning, and, notwith standing that the evening tide was unusually high, it did not threaten either destruction or damage to er proi ) ty. TILE CA TASTRO PHE AT 110LAIFIRTIL On Monday three other bodies, one that of a girl, and the two others the bodies of youths, were discovered. The girl was found in a milldam at Holmfirth ; the two other bodies were picked up at Dalton, further down the river. They had not yet been identified. A meeting was held at Huddersfield the same evening, presided over by Mr. Brook, of Armitage-mills, who had on Saturday subscribed 5001. in aid of the surviving sufferers by the calamity, a n d whose workpeople have sub scribed d 1021. At this m ee ti ng t h e sum of 1,6004 raise on Saturday, was increased to within 601. of 5 ,0001. A series of resolutions were passed, expressing sympathy with the sufferers, but declaring that, while a subscription might be raised here to relieve ressing necessities, any local effort would be quite inadequate other towns Case. A hope was therefore expressed that Brook stated would lend their generous aid. Mr. W. clothing committee that a young lady had been to the u to the for clothing for a family, who she said p eet the and Mr. Joseph Charlesworth, who occur rence of this accident were worth u p w k a n r e d w s of 10,0001. b t a u t t e e d , that the we alEarlalso i Independent learn that the Rev. John Gle o? . o co f r p ro a b r o un ra o t u ed tb th b e ad st p a r t e em m e is n e t d . t l e t e w enn a_s t.rni s .n.na, o tr n i g bu h ti l o s n congre gation on Sunday, an sfennolmfirth. The subscription Rev. Mr. Macfarlane, 9 minister at Huddersfi d eld, ratisietd for r 4 among t o tho at Holmfirth has been increased to 1,050/. LAUNCH OF ANOTHER STEA2I-SI:11P. The rapid progress which has taken place of late years in ocean i steam navigati on was strikingly illus trated yesterday n the launch from Mr. Patterson'syard , at Bristol, of ttio fine steam-skip America, originally in tended to have been called the Witch. This beautiful vessel was planned and designed by Mr. William Mor gan,of Clifton, many year s t h e consu l t i ng en gineer and naval architect to the Austrian Lloyd's Steam She was built by Mr. Patterson (whose renown as a shipwright is well known), under the active superinten dence of Captain Morgan, R.N., and was originally con ealshefirst of tracted fur Mr. G. Braine, with the view of b C ei o n m g p _u a l n t y i- . ulti mately owned by the Eastern Steam Navigation Com- El"lmeeannt I:dlite,lscreewovtie.ssetsheael ap Com pany, linoy, e o ff steamersw hi e h he intendedia thedeputy eel chairman , er a te th communica tion between Europe and the J E o :: p ti l has been transferred to Mr, .visited director of the Eastern Steam Navigation es eCiohmpany, by the purposes Lloyd's, e a s i o eu in companyshe e ay w i r ll e whom .) ees , B oc- America has mmaul:..l crnairl3troe engineers, a rare gineers, other l scientific shipbuilders, and shehas been s.f.characters and ge b ur e irtch h .e e s ic e tr a t i um. ormly awarded dseuarminegn, her r Y make all parties interested in the great stren th v i , Combination of These ~.g mt Lompara tive li g htness. . ..aB,ll.lQs, Combined with p a l m fa c rw o construction s o t bm i c : u a c a t t y " o n iio b r y wo her look forw ard . c onfidenc e to her proving unri valled aeon„ tea go i ng steamers i'or speed and other wood qualities. tier engines have been constructed by c h ip er ie, unusuall y w 'killer, Ravenhill, and tialkeld on the oscillating prin it,hteereiw,neailithhneesr,ing Edlman paddle-wheels, known as . g o egan s paddle-wheels," and they will b 4.3 erected in the vessel in the floating harbour at Bristol. 'ne vessel was named by Miss ---, and the launch was wit nessed by many thousands of spectators. --......—___ On Saturday Lord Cranworth's Bill was printed to amend the Municipal C orporations Act, with respect to pro prietors of newspape rs i nserting advertisements re l at i ng to corporations. They a re to be saved pena l t i es, an d no t to be disqualified from corporation offices by reason of such adver. tilemeuts.