The Sun. — London, England, 1846-08-20 00:00:00

ret te rd. lea At , Va bra IMPE T Al, PARLIAMENT. lifkush - . OF f - i - T "-I OA S. August 19 The 6 ~ ;.1t the Chnir u'Ojel-r• Sir bN.I ALL DEBTS BILL. p 4I"4, —PAKINGTO : .•": presented is petition from ershore. 4 'v..reegters7lire. in favour this Bill. ALLHALLOWS (NORTHAMPTON) II `.'HES. , 0 rk The L.,rds, ante_ timetit, !t, this BM Were agreed to LASTthe, tri.,titin td . Mr P. M. STEWAR P. AST AND WEST INDIA DOCK AND BIR. StINGHAM JUNCTION RAILWAY BILL. T hg' a Lords' aireenalnd e ts to this, Bill were also grto. THIRD READINGS. 1 13 end's Estate B 0, Far quharson's Divorce WI, Hum Wer e "}s Div Tee Bill anti Sir R. Philipps' Estate Bill. all read a third time anti pissed. it, M EDICAL PBACTITIONtai' BILL. se Z r • W KLEY presented petitions from Bristol and al Other places in f avou r oft his Bill. tirr effe et . f u ' rea ` r I.ES also presented a petition to the same Hereford. DISEASED POTATOES. • endaPtatn LAYARI) presented petitions from Mayo_ C avan, stati ng that the disease had got such a head unless relic t was immediately given to the people, lno s t terrible distres4 must prevail. )ittr Tr , PEACE. P s • ••••• E 4 RKELEY presented one petition from the e Society and Anti-war Society. ,-, C HIEF JUSTICESHIP OF BOMBAY. the orders of the day being read, e x " et tl GEORGE BENTINCK begged to make an fu st panation extremely painful to his feel i ngs. H e h a d sled yest er d ay that in the appointment of the C hie f "stice of Bombay there had been a jobbing barter of tre oa _ ge between Lord Lyndhurst and the Earl of t ah •:". He Lad made that statement on the represen i) ; f e u of a gentleman of the highest authority in his i r res sion—he had made it on a voluntary statement °to 1 1 . 4 that gentleman, who had seen the notice which he c_, put on the paper for yesterday. That gentleman s . s a a made a detailed statement of the facts of this case, i i - se r te of which, with respect to the living of Knocton, 'new to be true. He had• stated that it was agreed eat the patronage of the living of Knockton should be ' Plac d in the - hands of the Earl of Ripon by the 441 Chancellor. Judge, then, his amazement al ls „ h on referring to a clergy list last night, 1 , 0 found, to his utter astonishment, that the living of at was not in the gift of the Lord Chancellor ,1` Cf. On discovering this, he thought it his .1 14 3' to come down to the House, and before the ,l'utitry, as publicly as he had made the charge, to 'etraet it.—(Cheers.) If he had for one hour given P ah l to those two Noble Lords he most deeply regretted it ' a nd if they desired any satisfaction for the injury he _atcl.iiiilicted, they had it amply in the deep humiliation 'kola he now suffered.—(Loud cheers.) BILL. g o llc i ir t d o :L 4 , ; A thSeE dS mmittee, D) ay (l b ß ei E n L g A n N owread for the House Sig been di st * ,T„ 2 . II . ,GUSON objected, as the Bill had only Mr. L r A:l l ‘,-,.1 1 : that morning. to o i n tb ` - ',",IiCHERE explained, that the only alters lath was in one clause, which gave a greater u ° to the ,e nant. sisi 4LL DEBTS COURTS, SALARIES OF Thi s B . (IP FICERS (IRELAND), BILL. t o be went through Committee, and was ordered reported to-morrow. l, IN COME-TAX DEDUC rION BILL. - " L ull till Was read a third time and passtd. The NT NEW ZEALAND. Port,a - ea• Zealand Loan Act Amendment Bill was re . 42 and ,P erQrl til he rt , arl a third time to-morrow. hi, to CONSOLIDATED FUND BILL. coi to , i „ A " 1 Was read a second time, and ordered to be to-morrow. ",,LiC WORKS (IRELAND) BILL, No. 4. to 8 °i ll was read a second time, and ordered to be tatn'tts t • P U111.417 -rnrrew , Thi s WORKS (IRELAND) t ) BILL, No. 5. c ) was also read a second time, and ordered o !omitted to-morrnw. Th i P s ° „ EMPLOYMENT (IRELAND) BILL. °e e 'id was als,-) r e ad a s ec o nd time, au I ordered to to. morrow. O o STA B U f4A (IRELAND) BILL. fir he re, 1/ "ti - m that this Bill tie read a se_mnd time, f. t '• 9Net/MBE ol‘jecod to the Bill, as being of r• and coercive character. aeter R LTCHERE denied that such was its cha -140,e • I W ce - a 5 not coercive. but a means of securing s c';..ect t ually the peace of Ireland. Its main feature istab vi ; l a Power to the authorities to increase the quir e , t hary force by 200 men, as occasion might re "ttar " u NCOMBE was not satisfied with this ex powe a on, _ s a in !whin.; into the Bill he found that a icerea:as vested i n t h e L or d Li eu tenant, not only to t listopi t ' e 3 16 force by 200 men, but in certain cases, in stabw disturb district s , to an unlimited extent. The con -14 w its, in fact, a portion of the standing army of r ot ir-..sry, and the object of it appeared to be to over- Itigh t P n buld with police. He did not believe that the the h e 7,.. °1 - Gentleman perceived the effect of the law, the Dunsombe) should move, therefore, that e rder l t , b e read a second time on this day week, in >ilri„.ri've time for consideration. I t was . o n ' t . G °TT defended the Bill, and contended that gt the p re 48 just represented_ ; for the fact was, that t., 0 illo,;•..eaeot time -Li had the power atedi. to - r• th e- Police force unlimitedly. During the 1.11 th e co " ' ll l on the Coercion Bill, it was contended that of th e ho t i l . u tY of th e oth r er ice, av Leitrim there was not a sufficient body b ah , that the military were required. On a nd, as he it was asserted by those who opposed, ° llly a n "'▪ ought. justly opposed, the Bill, that it was t o , e additial of the police force which was required - a , cu re the peace of the county. The Bill gave the er o fincreasing the force by a maximum n um be . r of2oo. st ° were to be employed in any district in a disturbed -at e h district was to pay their expenses during th _. heir employment in it. He believed that this would be -" s ufficient induc , ment to a searching inquiry as to Wh ether the men were necessary or not. that R. FERGUSON supported the Bill, and asserted at the Lord-Lieutenant had an almost unlimited power_ Z-7_,,er the c ons t a b u l ar y a l r eady. He would have rather, o O ev er, that the Government had paid attention to the relief and to the provisions for schools than to -•"; subject in the first instance. I, The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER thought It :Nculd be better to consider the details of the measure I,l l ert they discussed the several clauses in Committee. o n l y r k u al Principle of this Bill was to increase the force b.j ta °7 200 men, who were only to be employed in dis it for which their assistance was requested. ooxbr; BROTHERTON thought that great caution or th tc be observed before they increased the expense „_ta f orce Sttlmr, • NTZ quite agreed with the Hon. Member for ts te • — d . for it should be recollected that when people 40 money from Government they were not quite that ‘ , 4 ,"3' to give it up. It might be all very well to say but ;Lue Government would not misapply the money, Trpat't Governme•tt m;ght not always occupy the i'l isi low-11- q •Y th bc•nchPs, nd who was to say that those who • would not do so 14 ' ar r i : () l t A C DONALD here proposed that the debate I l ir l , 4l M. he thot;,,O ) IINCOMBE would second that motion, for v ht to be taken to pre ent c. , at every means ought cn ntrti o e Lord-Lieutenant obtaining these great and Th e 4 1 ! Powers. t igtze et ":"..'°' o was about to divide, when Mr. MUNTZ matt er 1 1 that the Government should compromise the St ran u u t the proposition was declined. ateer k f m -e rs were then ordered to withdraw, but the Th e Was Was negatived without a division. Ge s i n - a rP r iiorts on the Cnstoins Duties .and the New . Tj Y r .- `x"ernment Bills were then read and received. Tit R ES commuTATIoN (IRELAND) BILL. e Rouse then went. into Committee on the Tithes Tr t4 tion (Ireland) Bill. clauses havibg been agreed to, the House re por-tP"' and the Ch a i rman re p or t e d progress ; the re th• - w as received, an d t h e Bill ordered to be read a lrd time to-morrow. NEW MBR. M r- Sblrritwicx took the E oaths E and his seat for the C ity of Kilkenny. THE ROYAL NAVY. the l Sir DE LACY EVANS moved that, in refer e n c e to b e ong retarded measure now at length on the p o i nt o f ing granted, with a view to the e fficiency of the su perior ranks of the navy justly due'to their great and r inentlyvaluable national services, and which have the effect of giving :d s v o ancement to all the junior ranks, an humble address be presented to her Majesty, Praying that comparison may at the same time be insti tuted into the relative claims of the old war officers of the army, of various ranks, for such analogous measure It s may with equal reason be expected for their equally faithful and devoted performance of duty to her Majesty Lind the State. He also brought to the notice of the /louse the long disappointed claims of the surviving v eterans of Trafalgar and the Peninsula, to a medal c o mmemorative of their presence in those conflicts— respecting which their hopes had been strength ned and renewe d by so man y o f th e i r junior foeulrades having been recently and similarly rewarded Thy actions not more arduous nor more glorious. t e ls ° Was no other profession in . the country so heavy In n :: for the benefit of the State as the army. For tee the system of selling out was established for ha i ' pur pose of absolving the Government from pro dis n g retiring pensions, and in his opinion it was a ab n g rl o,ee to the nation, and ought therefore to be in "ii, lsn ed•—(Hear, hear.) Before an officer of the line ,Infantry could obtain 1,0001. a year, he had to r`nn some 10,000/. or 12,0001, and all this money .. en r the State.—(Hear, hear.) Now was this fair (I ta - n t."" Why, while the officer was waiting for the eil ;; , the 10,000/. or 12,0001. might have e.c of i n e l at ed to 20,0001. or 30,000/, and instead ' fl g a gainer he was a loser by his advancemept.— i h i ;ar, hear.) Now it was the House that sanctioned v ur l ,Y,stern, and while they were making alterations fa it°Tl 'able to navy o ffi cers, they ought at least to grant ar n ; b n quiry into the grivances which the o ffi cers in the all un animously complained , Go of.—(Hear hear.) t t to ; v 'tlts he said it was unfair of a liberal vernTen d the (I h n , s ti nue so exorbitant a system, and he entertaine d ge, ni ."Pe that at no far distant day it would be entirely t tehefi.—(eries of “Hear, * hear.") He hoped at the Noble Lord at the head of the Govern mentvr 1, ci see the ustica or c oncurring in his t he 4 he Hon. Member concluded by moving that „, e, ()use, ou Wednesday next, resolve itself into a 4 ra ittQe to consider the propriety of adopting an ad h'r Majesty on this subject. the gne.t;nn having been , ut, JAMv RUSSELL slid th the Commander-in unxious that the old system should be Con -1"e Ir:sited that the Hou. Member would n..t ' 8 in, -1 1 3 lld EVA:NS explained. PSid IL Was opposed to the motion. No country such liberal remuneration to its soldiers as England, and we might dispense with the greater portion of our army. Captain PECHELL hoped that the Gallant Of6Cer Would not be .taunted in his course by the observations which had been made by the [lon. Member for Montrose, and that in the in.x: sessi..a he wonhi be able to con virce that Tloa. Member of the necessity of such reforms as he had pointed out. Cap . an CA RNEG IF, spoke in favour of the motion. Captain LATARD said that great reforms_ wer. , ne cessary in thn army, and contended that no skill or assi duity could possibly obtain promotion in the army, and would advise any gentleman upon no account 4.0 send his on to tile service, unless he had great interest or a large fortune, and he felt convinced that some change would be made before lone. He was sorry to hear from the Government that no measures were intend, d to be brought forward to remove this great and crying evil. He thought the public would not long endure that their regiments should be entrusted to the command of young and inexperienced officers, while the older officers were passed over and neglected. He maintained also that those officers who had done their duty so nobly for the country should not be allowed to finish their honour able career unrewarded, and hoped that the period was not far ,•ff when distang.e of time would not be considered a bar to honour and promotion. Colonel VERNER thought, as an old soldier, that the Gallant Member who had brought this motion forward deserved the best thanks of the army and of the country for so doing. The subject of rewarding the officers of the Peninsula had been before the public some years since, but, as yet, that mea sure of justice had never been awarded to those gallant officers. He hoped that, even at this late period these officers would have some distinction awarded to them while on earth, and which their families might cherish when those who had earned and deserved them were gone to their rest. Colonel REID was sorry to hear that the Govern ment were not prepared to concede to the motion of the Gallant Member for Westminster. Mr. FOX MAULE said that the Noble Lord at the head of the Government had not pledged himself in any way in reference to the motion of the Hon. Member. He (Mr. F. Maule) deprecated such a discussion in a House like the present. His Hon. Friend had desig nated the system of purchase as a bad one, and though in some respects he might agree with him, still he could not concur in such a sweeping condemnation. The distribution of the patronage at the Horse Guards had been frequently called in question in that House, but he believed that it was administered in as unexceptionable a manner as the system world admit of. It was very natural to suppose that there would be much individual dissatisfaction, as the number of applications frequently exceeded the number of vacancies that would be at the disposal of Government for twenty years. The question of going into Committee bad been so fully answered by his Noble Friend at the head of the Government, that be would not enter further into the question. With reference. to the question of decorations and medals, he thought that that subject should be left to the Government of the day, and it was now too late, he thought, to bring the latter part of the motion forward. Sir DE LACY EVANS replied. He was of opinion that the speech of the Noble Lord at the head of the Government would not be satisfactory to the House or the country. His Right Hon. Friend the Secretary-at- War bad endeavoured to modify the speech of the Noble Lord, by saying that he had not pledged himself in any way to the motion, but this would not in his (Sir De L. EvanN.'s)opinion satisfy either the army or the public, and he would say, in conclusion, that if the 'Noble:Lord did not take the subject into his consideration during the recess, and bring forward a measure to place the army, with re gard to promotion, on the same footing as the navy, he would bring the motion on again early next session. The motion was then by leave withdrawn. RAILWAY BOARD. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER moved for leave to bring in a Bill to authorise the appointment of a railway department. The Bill was founded upon the resolutions which had been re cently come to by both Houses of Parliament. Its object was to constitute a board for the regulation of all mat ters relating to railways ; and as the common consent of both Houses was necessary to appoint it, the present 13111 was introduced for that purpose. He would now briefly state its previsions. It was first pro posed that a board should be appointed, consistine or five individuals—a president, who should be more or less connected with the Government; two paid inemb->rs not connected with the Government; and two uepaid members connected with the Governm• nt. The reason why two of the commissioners were proposed to he connected with the Government was, that there should be a Member in either House ready at all times to answer questions that might be put relative to rail wa% s. It was then proposed to enable them to have transferred to their control the whale of the business, officers, clerks, &c., at present in connexion with the railway department of the Board of Trade. It was also intended to impose upon them the duty of seeing that all railways at present existing should strictly comply with the provisions of their re spective Bills. There was a clause also to enable the Board to carry on any inquiry which might be referred to them by either House of Parliament, and to suggest to the House what course might be most expedient to adopt in reference to railway business in general. There was one subject which, thought not part of this Bill, he thought it would be desirable to revise during the recess—he meant the standing orders of that House relating to railways. One thing in particular he thought should be considered—whether a longer time should not be allowed to elapse between the. first proposal to construct a railway and the bringing the Bill before the con sideration of Parliament, so as to afford time to make such inquiries as might be deemed necessary , during the interval. He had now briefly ex plained the nature of the Bill, and he was sure there would be no objection to a measure which - all must see to be imperatively necessary in the present state of the railway business of the country. Leave was then given to bring in the Bill. Mr. MORRISON thought there ought to be some thing more than the mere transference of the present powers of the Board of Trade to the Commissioners, to do any amount of good. He wished to know if the proposed Board would have the power to send for papers and records, because, without this, little good could be done? The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that subject had not been considered by the Govern ment, but it would be, and an answer would be given in the next stage of the Bill. Mr. GREENE briefly supported the course proposed. Mr. P. BORTHWICK thought the Bill proposed was a step in the right direction, only he considered the powers should be much more extended than they were I proposed to be. After a few observations from Mr. MORRIS, ------ The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, in answer to what some Hon. Members had said, intimated that the Government only proposed now that which the whole House might consent to, and with regard to more extensive powers, the whole subject would be fully dis cussed and considered in next session of Parliament. Leave was then given to bring in the Bill. The Bill was then brought in, al,d read a first time, and ordered to he read a second time to-morrow. HOUSE OF KEYS, ISLE OF MAN. Dr. BOWRING moved for the correspondence, or' extracts of correspondence, respecting the appointment of Colonel James Campbell to the House of Keys, in the Isle of Man, with copies of the warrant levying a fine for his refusing to serve, and his protest thereupon. Agreed to. The other orders of the day were then disposed of, and the House adjourned at a Quarter to Four o'clock. IRISH PROVISIONS.—The importati , ms of provisions of v triou3 descriptions from the principal Irish ports into the port of Liverpool during the past week. being from the 31st of Jtuy to the 6th instant exclusive, consisted of the follow ing articles, viz.:-6.743 firkins, 243 halt firkins, 1,236 bas kets, casks, Bc, and 84 boxes of butter; 628 sacks of flour; 61 sacks, 380 quarters, 89 tons weigl.t, and 1,220 barrels of oats; 106 tons weight, 258 biig3, and 154 other packages of oatmeal; 124 sacks and 24 tons weight of barley; 55 sacks of malt, 182 packages of bacon, 23tit barrels of pork, 575 packages of linens and cottons, 372 sacks of farina flour, 32 barrels of general provisions, 65 bags of malt, and numerous packages of beef, whiskey, seed, lard, hams, and various (Abet articles. In the same period the following is a corn a ti c i e te p r, ri f n ro c r i n pa t l h e an sa d me most gtia noticeable rterpatt he arrivals portof of s P i e m n la iu r m ch o a t r . Lon don:o—f l h , a l in s9 s. b 3 o . x s e 2 s 6 of salmon, 1,377 boxes of eggs, "56 ham perspackages of bacon, c 9 h 'l e 7 es i s ack l a 3 g i e 4 ;i 4 of bo lard, 418 of malt, 848 casks of porter, 100 and other packages of butter, 822 packages 'of Pork, 2,4; barrels and 8,707 quarters of oats, and 124 pigs, in addition to 637 bales of paper, and various other articles of food of m inor importance, and of merchandise of too numerous and general a character to be further enumerated or specifically mentioned. MILITARY INTELLIGENCE.—CHATHAM, AUGUST 13. —Yesterday evening a detachment, consisting of 2 corporals and 29 privates, with 5 women and 14 children, of the 99th Regiment, under command of Adjutant Rupert Barber Deer ing, of the 99th, arrived at the Invalid Depot from Graves end, at which place they disembarked from the ship Templar, Captain Brown, from New South Wales. Most of the men were wounded in the late engagement with the New Zea landers. Some were required to be taken into the hospital at Fort Pitt, and the remainder were removed to St. Mary's Barracks, Brompton. Lieutenant R. 0. F. Steward, of the 11th Regiment, came home in the ship, as also a detachment of the 27th Regiment, consisting of 1 sergeant, 1 corporal, and 10 privates. This latter detachment left the Cape of Good Hope as a convict guard, with convicts for Hobart Town, and at the time of their embarkation the 27th were under orders to proceed to Englhnd ; but owing to the re cent outbreak with the Kaffirs the regiment has been de tained, and the detachment was removed from Hobart Town to New South Wales, where it embarked with the 99th for England on the 20th of April, in the expectation of meeting with their regiment at Chatham. One woman and five children came home with the 27th. . ----- GREAT SWIMMING MATCH FOR 201. AND THE CHAMPIONSHIP.—On Monday evening Pewters (the London) and Roberson (the Oxford) champions, decided their claims to swimming superiority between Blackfriars and Vauxhall Bridges, and after a very admirable contest, the Londoner won. His opponent gave up at Westminster-bridge. SUMS BORROWED UNDER THE POOR-LAW.—It ap pears by a return just laid on the table of the House of Lords, that the total amount of money borrowed under the provisions of the Poor-law Amendment Act, in the unions compris , d in the account of the populatirn of unions (or dered to be printed 22d of May, 1837) has been as follows :- 483,1211, borrowed for buildings, alterations, &c., of work• houses ; 14,5941. 1 borrowed for any other purpose," making a grand to.al of 494,715/. borrowed altogether. The total sums expended by the said unions on account of legal pro ceedings relative to the settlement of poor persons during the Years 1836, 1837. and 1818, were respectively 5,9211., 4 , 9471., and 4.4151. Pie average annual expenditure of the ears 1833, 1834. 183.5, on account of Ruth proceedings in parishes cornuri , ed in the same unions for the three years prior to the formation thereof. was 9,62:3/. CESf-lON F 3, , 31 THE CHURCH.—Dr Duke, t,f lady, and all the members of his timily, conformed to the Roman chliaa.cutorid'il‘igiir' Church.n.‘gvitth his helast few daTh MILITARY FLOGGING. Yesterday afternoon, a meeting was held at Exeter Hall, in order to consider the best means of obtaining the :abolition Of the system of military torture now prac tised in the army; Thomas Wakley, Esq., M.P., in*the chair. _ _ The meeting Wl3 very numerously and respectably at tended, and betore the arrival of the chairman on the platform. a number of soldiers of the Grenadier Guards, who entered the Hall, were vociferously cheered. Mr. WAILLEY said, the gratification he derived from being betore the meeting and presiding on such an 9eca sion, was greater, they could readily h.lieve Jim, than he was able to express, because that was an occasion which was honourable to the humane feelings . of the na tion—it was one whiel was honourable to hurtym nature. and it was peculiarly gratifying in consequence of a re .cent occurrence. The bond of unioa which cemented that meeting on that occasion was sympathy for their suffering fellow-creatures. They believed that acts of injustice and cruelty were perpetrated in the name of what was called discipline, and, entertaining that belief, they were there to express th 4r op'nion in d'a;ent from it. If the authorities who had so long advocated that system of cruelty with reference to the army and the navy, had but duly reflected on what might have been done by a more humane system of treatment, in all probability that meeting would not have been then assembled; but the authorities seeme] to have forgotten that those who took situations in the army and navy, when they took their offs-es, did not cease to be human beings, and were ani mated by human sentiments. If they believed. for example, that the soldier and the sailor possessed the same feelings which they themselves entertained, and could be actuated by, the same motives, they would not for so long a period have consented and have desired to inflict upon them a punishment now not employed even upon the brute creation. In the present advance ment of knowledge, and the improvement of moral feel- ings, this savage system of punishment was giving way, and was made to yield to the force of moral feelings which an improved system of education had produced on this country. But there were officers who constantly exclaimed that no discipline could be maintained in the army unless the power of inflicting the lash were re tained, and unless that infliction every now and then took place; but when they were asked if they did not believe that if another system were adopted—a system of rewards instead of a system of punishment—it would serve the same end—they had not replied to it; they had no way of argument; but they turned upon their heels and exclaimed that they did not believe in the efficiency of sach a system, and that they rejoiced in having that atrocious power in their hands—the power of inflicting punishment upon their fellow-creatures, who were cer tainly equally as honourable with ,themselves—(Loud . cheeis)—equally as just, and equally as sensitive as themselves. The voice of the British nation had been raised against this atrocious cruelty. It was branded and stigmatised—it was cendemned, hated, and despised, from one extremity of the kingdom to the other. Who was there,he would ask who dare to say that such iniquity should continue? The voice of the public would be omnipotent in this cause, as it had been in every other cause in which it had been recently expressed—(lm mouse cheering)—and he felt assured that the day of flogging, if it had not ceased; was, at all events, near the approach of its termination. The pretence had hitherto been raised, in consequence of igno • ranee cr otherwise, That there was no danger to human life in flogging; but experience—not only recent experience—but experience of remote times-L had proved indisputably that it was not only dangerous to life, hut that it had killed—and killed again and again ; and he was sorry to be compelled to express the opinion that it had heen enforced with the knowledge that it had been fatal to human Ha. From circumstances which he was unable toexplab, that circumstance had been kept back from public consideration Now, 11!w -ever, it wag universally known, and no longer could it be said, when - am unfi,rrunate soldier or sailor was sen- tinted to have his Lack lashed with that infernal ma chine, the cat-'n-nine-tails, that the inflieti in could be made withunt danger to human life. Why, they were told that a surgeon should examine the body of the-un fortunate culprit before his punishment was inflicted, and that he should determine what amount of suffering a low-creature should be enabled to bear before life, was in danger. For such a stltement to be made in a civilised country was in itself a miracle. Good God, let them only conceive that a man should be .required to test beforehand .the capabilities of endurance of a human bein,t—that he should gauge the strength of the human body—that he should - be - requirt.d to ascertain by the application of his•seientifc skill what amount of suffer ing, what qua►aity of pain could be endured by a fellow creature before his life was put in danger. It was an insult to the profession to which he had the honour to belong.—(lmmense cheering.) If he were It the army, whatever might be his prosp ct or degradation:-Punishment—poverty—or deprivation— his answer would be, that he would not be answerable for the consequences of one single lash.— (Enthusiastic applause.) He would—when the unhappy being under the lash had received one—he would tell the commanding officer, standing by, in as stern a voice as he could, that he would not be answerable for the second. Oh, there was something in it which was in itself so distrusting, and so repulsive, that it was difficult to speak about it with common feeling or patience. He would ask, did the soldier, when he became such, did he eease to be a citizen—did he cease to enjoy the civil rights which other men possessed ? They were suffi- ciently ready to laud the soldier when they believed that he had protected them from danger. The soldier who risked his life in their cause aid for very bad pay— (Cheers)—who was kept in a state of constant suffering —who was under his general, colonel-major, captain, lieutenant, ensign, sergeant, and coporal w ; and if he did not appear a very humble man, and extremely sub missive before all persons, he became a marked man, anal it was indicated to him that before long the farrier should become his intimate acquaintance. Yes, even if a poor fellow in a mistake were to call out to his superior officer "hallo." the chances were that in a fow days he would find himself with a scored back; he would find that he had been lacerated and torn, and that his life had been endangered. Now was it believed, or could it be believed by persons in authority, that the English people would endure such a state of things?—(Cries of " Never, never.") Now that their minds mere direct to the subject, and had become acquainted with all these cruelties—now that the fiat of public opinion had been launched against it—those who admitted it to continue would be marked and stigmatised as being as bad as the system itself. But for a moment, leaving out the question of the physical suffering, and the danger to th physical constitution, were they to forget what were its e lects, and what might be its influence on the moral eon lition of the man ? Why, they might increase the nu .oer of lashes, if that were only concerned ; but let the i picture to themselves an unfortunate man brought ins .e a square, before hundreds of comrades ; he saw be' •re him the halberts, or a ladder nailed to the side of a h ruse ; he had to strip or be stripped, and to walk to L,,.e ladder or the halberts, and there to be tied hand and root, with his limbs stretched to their utmost extent, in order that he might not exhibit what was the amount of agony and suffering he endured. He said, let them pic ture to themselves a man placed on that rack of 1846 (Loud cheers)—for he called it what it well deserved to +.e called—it was a rack ; and tell him did they send from that place a man evith an unbroken spirit, or an un ..uhdued mind—a man who did not feel himself degraded down to tne lowest point of human degradation ? Tell him if that man afterwards was ever likely to be a good soldier, or to raise his head as an honest and independent man ?—(Cheers.) He questioned if the moral degrada don were not worse even than the physical punishment ; and he questioned whether its eff , cts on all that was valuable in a man, were 11 , 4 calculated to hinder him from being a good member of society, to make him a good soldier, a god brother, or a good friend. And was not this effect iofiniiely worse than the danger to his life, or the torture of th physical infliction ? and if that were the case, how could the punishment be justified? And for what offences was this punishment inflicted? He was not acquainted with the military code, and therefore be would not attempt to name it, but circumstances which had come to his knowledge induced him to think and to believe .that it was inflicted for the most trifling and pardonable offences—for the most pardonable of their fellow-creatures had suffered this horrible and un endurable torture. But returning to the physical con stitution—was there any person in that meeting so in experienced as not to know that the most trifling wound would sometimes occasion death—a wound that occa sioned the most trifling inconvenience, and that only for a moment, and, as far as the individual suffering was concerned, did not require any description of medical treatment? There were peculiarities in certain consti tutions which rendered wounds dangerous, and no skill or sagacity of the surgeon could discover them. A slight scratch of the sk n might produce erysipelas and death; a trifling injury to the extremity of the finger might produce lock jaw and death; the cutting of a nail too closely to the skin had frequently produced death; and the cutting of a corn too closely had also produced death; but it was laid down as a rule that lacerating, cutting, scoring, pounding, and mincing the back of a human being would not produce death ; and some even spoke of it as not a disagreeable operation. He must confess •he should like to see it tried on the backs of those parties; and, further—medically speak• ing—it was his opinion that they richly deserved the operation.— (Cheers.) But, to make another appeal to the English public, why were the authorities unjust to the officers? and he wished to speak of them as favour ably as possible, but, in his opinion, that which was beneficial to the men ought to be applied to the officers. —(Cheers.) It was a great injustice to withhold it from them.—(Cheers and laughter.) If the practice were so good for discipline, and so effectual for the promotion of pure morals, then the young officers bad reason to com plain that they had not had the benefit of it. From what he had heard, it would occasionally be advan tageous to them; and in any case they should have that themselves which they advocated with reference to their men. If it were good for the men it would be good for the officers. If it ought to be applied to " the men," were not the officers men.—(A voice—" No, some of them are boys.") He always heard the expression " officers and men," and never " officers and privates." If it were good. for the men it was good for the officers unless the officers would wish to indicate that they were not men ; and he must say that, if they continued the practice of flogging, they were men who certainly would not be much admired. He heard it stated, only a few days since, in argument, in a different place, that the chances were that the men would shoot their officers in battle if this punishment were not retained, and even in a less degree occ *sionally used. What did they think of the privates ? Did they think that a private had such a peculiarity of human feeling that he was a man likely to shoot his officers if his officers did nit flog him. There was something so curious in the logic of that argument that he had ftited to comprehend it. In his own prac tice, during lite, ho had found that if he treated men as they ought to be treated—if he treated them as beings possessing the same feelings as himself—having the same origin —and beirkg endowed with the qualities pe- THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY MORNING, AUGUST 20, 1846. culiar to human nature, they had been pleased and at tached to him. If they Were to try kindly treatment— generous treatment—rewards for good conduct, the most agreeable results would be produced. On the other hand, if men were treated as brutes, or something worse—if no confidence were reposed in them—if they were treated as individuals not possessed of those qua lities or sentiments which actuated human beings—such treatment invariably begot moroseness and a savage disposition ; end such was precisely the feeling which was to be expected. They could, in fact, feel nothing but contempt towards the perpetrators of such cruel practices, which were against all justice. That which the meeting wished to promote was that a new system should be adopted in the army, and that instead of the present cruelly of government, they ought to have an other of a different nature ; and that instead of giving to the officers the power of punishing their men, they should give them the power of pleasing them, and rendering them good and efficient servants to the nation. The English public were fully aware of the arduous duties of a soldier, to what dangers he was exposed. They knew that his life was but a short one, and that during that life he was but ill paid for the services to his country. Such a meeting as the present one, actuated only by a desire to render a service to those whom they believed to be subjected to an , unjust punishment, must speak in a voice of thunder to the nation. He had al ready explained the moral effects of the punishment, and its physical results were notorious. It ought not, therefore, to exist, even in its present mitigated form. It had dwindled from 1,000 and 1,500 to 50 lashes, and even that endangered the life. The 150 lashes inflicted upon that unfortunate man, whose death had been the cause of their meeting there, was the application of upwards of 1,200 knots of the thong upon his skin. Let them look at the application of a thong with only one knot upon a horse, and they Gould not be such de mons as to continue the punishment.—(Cheers.) The date of the warrant under which he suffered was the 26th of April, and he was not punished until the sth of Jane. He would not have adverted to the circumstance, but for the unjust attacks which had been made against him (Mr. Wakley).—(Cheers.) lle thought that, after these attacks, he was justified in doing so.—(Cheers.) The tribunal under which these unfortunate men were tried, was self-constituted. and the acquittals were there fore not one in thirty. Ic was not, however, his object to attack individuals, but a system which he believed to be injurious to the army and navy, and was a disgrace to a Christian country.—(Cheers.) It was against the system that they should direct all their hostility, and in doing so, they attacked, and furiously too, the indivi duals by whom it was upheld. They, who upheld it knew the horror and the danger of the system, and when the voice of the people was raised against the system, where was the Government who, whatever might be the feeling in other quarters, would dare to oppose the national will? Every man in England, how ever poor. was ready to contribute his mite to the relief of the soldier, be - cause he felt that they were his brothers—(Cheers)—and, leaving out of the qttestion national pride and national glory, the poor man felt that the nation was insulted by the continuance of the practice. A letter was that day published in the Times, signed V, stating that the writer had been thirty-six years in the army, and was then in command of a regi ment, and could confidently speak from experience that the discipline of the army: could be maintained with out such a brutal punishment. He had seen men flayed alive.—(Great sensation.) He had seen a man receive seven hundred lashes at once ; the last two hundred were given while the man was in a state of insensibility, and apparently dead, and for ought he could know, dead in reality.—(Hisses.) He hoped that there would be very little more war.— (Cheers.) He had not the least objection to plenty of soldiers and sailors in times of peace. War was a system of national flogging, and as he did not like to see the backs of soldiers mutilated, he hoped there would be no occasion for mutilating them times of wan— ... Cheers.) He knew there were many regiments in which a case of flogging had not occurred for the last twenty years.—(Cheers.) Yet, curious enough, the re turns of those regiments had been refused in that very curious House, the House of Commons. He supposed that they wished to withhold from the officers and the men that credit which was justly due to them—(Cheers) —and the parties who refused those returns might perhaps think that it would operate prejudicially to the diameter of those regiments where the practice of flogging was kept up.—(Cheers.) (A voce—`Move fora return.") He should like to know why such prin ciples should not be acted upon in all the regiments. He did not think those regiments were commanded by what is called " stern officers," but by officers who con sidered and treated the men as human beings.—(Cheers.) With these remarks he would conclude all he had to say upon the subject, entreating those present to hear all parties, and if there should be any difference of opinion, then let them not give rise to angry feelings. If they could not sustain their case by argument it was not sustainable at all. If the meeting considered that they adopted the right course by their present pro ceedings he hoped that this would prove a good be ginning, and that they would go on and continue the work till they were completely triumphant.—(Cheers.) The Hon. Member then read a letter from T. Collett, Esq., M.P. for Athlone, as follows : Dear Sir—Will you be kind enough to hand the en closed draft for five guineas to John Mathewson, as a testimonial of my approbation of the honest and inde pendent manner in which he gave his evidence upon the late inquest at Hounslow.—Yours, faithfully, " JOHN COLLETT." The Hon. Chairman then went on to say that he had heard Mathewson upon a former occasion, and from the manner in which he gave his evidence, he felt that he could not but believe his testimony.—(Cheers.) He had never acted, and he never would act, upon the principle that a man, because he was rich, was to be believed upon his oath, and that a man, because he was poor, was not to be believed. It should not be forgotten that a private, of the name of Cook, hal been singled out from among the regiment, and in the face of his comrades was told that he was all but guilty of perjury, when he gave his evidence upon the late inquest at Hounslow. He really thought that those two unfortunate men, Mathewson and Cooke, should be released from their services. —(Loud cheers.) He did not like to advert t) any circumstance which had trans pired upon that occasion, but there was an anecdote of poor Mathewson which he would relate. There was some testimony between Mathewson and the command ing officer, and the latter had witnesses to support what he stated, and Mathewson had none. Mathewson stated with the utmost naiveté, " It is very true, there was this interview, but I will take care when I have a pri vote interview with the commander I will have a wit ness too."—(Laughter and cheers.) The Chairman then read a leter from Luke Hansard, inclosing a cheque for 201. in favour of the objects of the society.—(Cheers.) A series of resolutions, as follows, were then read by the Chairman : " That the practice f scourging and lacerating the bodies of soldiers and sailors, with the cat-o'-nine-tails, i 3 at once cruel and disgusting, and a disgrace to the British nation."— (Cheers.) " That the constitutional danger of maintaining a standing army in time of peace is exactly proportioned to the extent to which the soldier loses the character and feelings of a citiz . n."—(Cheers.) " That in the deliberately formed opinion of this meeting the will of the British nation has decreed that the practice of flogging in the British army and navy shall, at once and for ever, be abolished."—(Cheers.) " That it is now universally known and admitted that a sentence of flogging may prove to be a sentence of death, and that thus a capital punishment has been, and m i g ht again be, inflicted for a trifling, insignificant, and even a ' halloa ' offenee."— (Cheers.) That as sulo,titutes for floggings, degradations, and savage puni , ,hments, this meeting earnestly and fervently recommends the adoption, by the Government and the commander-in-chief, of short periods of enlist ment, and rewards and promotions for good conduct, in the firm belief that the adoption of a benignant and generous behaviour towards soldiers and sailors, would beget in them a spirit of honourable bearing, and high mural sentiments ; and that to allege that the means of bestowinLr rewards in the army and navy for good con ' duct would not be cheerfully granted by the people of this country, is a gross libel on the generosity and judg ment of the British nation."—(Cheers.) F. LENTHALL, Esq., would not be guilty of the gross impertinence, after the able speech they had heard from their chairman, of detaining them at any length. He considered that the time was come when this barbarous and disgusting treatment should cease. The present mode of punishment he did not consider as calculated to operate in a beneficial manner; it was calculated to create a feeling of moroseness and revenge.—(A Voice—" Move, and cut it short.") lie would adopt the hint which had been thrown out, and would there fore move the resolutions which had just now been read. Mr. G. THOMPSON, in seconding the resolutions, said that it was not his intention to have addressed the meeting upon the present occasion; lie should, therefore, content himself with simply seconding the resolution. He did not adopt that course out of any disrespect to the purposes of the present meeting, but there were those present whom they might never ha ve an o pp or tunity of hearing again, and it would be an act of injustice in him to detain the meeting from that pleasure.—(Cheers.) In answer to a question put to the Chairman, he stated, that in law White received but one punishment for the offence. Dr. CARLISLE wish ed to ask a question o f th e Chair man, and could rot help, at the same time, alluding to his manly conduct in another capacity. The question, which he wished to be distinctly understood, was with reference to the statement made by the Hon. Chairman. He wished to know whether the warrant for the trial of White had been signed a considerable time before the offence was committed ? lie also wished to know why the Hon. Chairman, in his capacity of coroner, had not, as was usual with him, issued his warrant for the appre hension of those persons who had inflicted the Irvilies which the jury had stated had caused the death of private White ? Mr. WAKLET said. that with reference to the warrant, he had stated that it was (1 ,- ..tt d on the 26th April, and the crime was committed in June. Such was the state of the law, w i t h respect to th e second quest i on, h e would state, that if a verdict of wilful murder had been returned by the jury, he would unhesitatingly have issued his warrant for the apprehension of the parties concerned.—(Loud cheers.) Mr. BRIDGEgAN, M.P., said that he once commanded a body of grenadiers, and upon 0110 occasion he called his men together, and said that lie had the power to flog, but he was determined not to use it ; he had not done so upon any occasion, and he wished to know why, in the face of these faCtSt floggin , 7 in the a rm y cou ld not be abolished ? He h o p ed th at ' the degrading system of flogging would soon lr r . '=novt•d, and that every elector should press upon their candidates the necessity of their voting for its abolition.—(Lout cheers.) Mr. JOHNSON NEIL, now of the bar, but late of the navy, next addressed the meeting, and said he was glad to see a stand, a determined stand, being made against a system which he had all his life detested.— (Hear, hear.) He had witnessed the bad effects of corporal punishment in the navy, and he was rejoiced to find that its cruelties and , absurdities were being exposed to the public. The lash could only be defended upon the ground that it degraded the victim, for it could not be defended on the ground of its inflicting severe physical pain, because that argument was brutal, not to say disgraceful, to human nature. Well, then, did the lash degrade its victim in the eyes of his comrades ? No, it did not ; it only excited the sym pathies of all who witnessed the punishment, and this was manifest from the instance of it they had seen in the case of Mathewson.—.(Hear, hear.) Was he de- graded ? Would the 7th hussars say he was degraded on hearing the tribute of respect which had been paid to him by a humane and Liberal Member of the British Senate ?—(Hear, bear.) He would pledge himself for the statement that men could be disciplined just as well, nay better, without than with the power of inflicting cor poral punishment.—(Hear, hear.) Why, look at Napoleon ?—(Cheers.) How was it that he endeared his men to himself ? Was it by the lash ? No ; it was by kindly acts, of no great mag nitude in themselves ; and why should not the same system prove as effective in England as in France?—(Hear, hear.) Moral influence was the pro per means by which to s:-cure discipline, and when that influence was resorted to the army and navy would be come greater ornaments to the nation than even they were at present.—(Hear, hear.) The truth was, the regulations of both the army and navy ought to be re organised, and the power of the Admiralty, as well as of the Commander-in-Chief, rendered more in confor mity with the spirit of the times, and placed more within the censure, control, or supervision of the public —(Hear, hear.) Why, look how Sir Sidney Smith, Lord Codrington, and Lord Nelson—names which the British nation would never forget—had commanded their men without resorting to corporal punishment, and why was it this policy should not succeed as a general rule?—(Hear, hear.) For his own part, he would have the whole regulations of the army and navy sentm re o f d o e rm of e e d n — lis th tm e e pa nt y a o b f ol t i h s e men hed— t i h n e cr m ea e s n ed— the wiedprte o retire after a certain number of years' service, and to vote for members of the Legislature; and, above all, the pri vilege of having their grievances tried and adjudicated upon by a jury of officers and men in the same way that civilians are tried.—(Cheers.) The lley. J. NicnoLsott, who headed a deputation, was glad to have an opportunity of addressing the meeting, although at the time it wt a oven-d he was miles away ; and, he might say, without any intention of indulging in the metaphor, he had come there at a railroad pace to denounce a system which was opposed to Christianity, and to the word of that great and good Being whose attri bute was mercy. He reminded the meeting, that on the very day the Prime Minister was stating to the House of Commons the change he proposed to make in the system, the inhabitants of Hounslow were assembled in public meeting, for the purpose of petitioning the Legislature to abolish the lash ; and when they heard what the plan was, they met again and formed a local Committee, to remain in existence till the voice of the people prevailed, and the system was altogether wiped away from the British statute-book.—(Hear.) He was there in the double capacity of being an advocate for the abolition of a detestable system, and the head of a deputation from the inhabitants of Hounslow, sent there publicly to thank their noble, honourable, and respected Chairman, in their name, for his independent and unflinching conduct while sitting on a recent inquest as Coroner for Middlesex. Now, with regard to the question of flogging, what was it that gave rite to it? Officers in the army attributed it to drunkenness, but what caused that drunkenness but canteen system, which they themselves had established.—(Hear, hear.) Let them do away with that system, and adopt a moral and instructive plan, and there would be less of drunken. ness, and no necessity at all for, resorting to the brutal ising, detestable, and inhuman cat-o'-nine-tails. Mr. LURE HANSARD rejoiced to find that they were going to establish au institution for procuring the aboli tion of the practice of corporal punishment in the army and navy, and he assured the meeting that he perfectly concurrei in the spirit of the resolutions which had been read to them, namely, that the common soldier should be treated as a fellow-being and a citizen rather than a brute devoid of all human sensations and feelings. Mr. EDWARDS, a naval officer, said it was not his in tention to trouble themeeting with a long speech, because they had met together more for the purpose of doing busi ness than talking. He accordingly produced a cat u'-nine-tails commonly used in the navy, which, as might be expected, caused a considerable sensation; and read a return of the number of persons flogged in the army and navy during the last few years, which tended but little to subdue the sensation which had previously been excited. _ _ Mr. CIIRTEIS, M.P., said he had come to town solely for the purpose of attending that meeting—not so much to speak as to watch the progress of public opinion upon this subject.—(Hear, hear.) He had always been opposed to the system of flogging, and he was glad to find that the public voice had been raised against it in such a manner as to bid fair shortly to produce the downfall of this abominable system.—(Hear, hear. He was glad to hear that the Duke of Wellington had ex pressed a hope that he might live to see flogging atm-. fished, because the Duke being upwards of seventy years of age, it was hardly possible that he could survive many years longer, and they had good reason to expect that the downfall of the system was near at hand.—(Hear, hear.) He did not quarrel with the officers who administered the law, but with the system itself; and though he was a radical economist, he was quite prepared to vote for any additional ex pense which might attend upon the substitution of a moral for the present disgraceful system.—(hear, hear.) Now, with regard to the Hon. Gentleman who occu pied the chair, he thought the country owed a deep debt of gratitude for his manly and independent conduct while presiding over the late inquest. While he was upon this point, he thought their thanks were also due to the jury, and he must say it was unworthy in any Peer to attack the verdict of that jury solemnly come to upon oath.—(Cheers.) Mr. VINCENT regretted that the merits of the military system had been introduced upon that occasion, because he had met there solely for the purpose of protesting against a horrible system, and forming a society to procure its abolition.—(Hear, hear.) He deeply sympathised with that object, and, although as a member of the Peace Society, he was opposed to arms altogether, yet if the nation would have soldiers, in the name of common humanity, let them be treated as men and not as beasts.—(Cheers.) The system was sup ported on the ground of its moral influence. Why, good God, what nonsense that was, when was a man ever flogged into morals or morals into him?—(Cheers.) No, so sanguinary a system could not be justified by any plea, and he, therefore, blushed to see the names of Mr. Macaulay, Mr. Ward, and Mr. B. Hawes, who had aided many a good cause, amongst the members who voted against a motion which was calculated to throw some light upon this subject.—(Hear, hear.) If the system was to be defended, let it be left to officers in the army and the Duke of Wellington, and not the friends of moral and intellectual improvement.—(Hear, hear.) Nor was it a question of how many lashes should be given, because one lash produced just as much of moral degradation as five hundred.—(Cheers.) It was a question of whether the child of God should be tied up like a dog and lacerated more savagely than they would flog a horse.—(Cheers.) No, the nation would not suffer it, and he felt confident that a moral combination amongst the people would bear down this, as it had often before, borne down other evils. Mr. CLEAVE, the newsvendor, and late naval officer, strongly urged upon the meeting the necessity of looking up and pressing their representatives in Parliament upon this subject, and getting a pledge from them to vote against flogging.—(Hear, hear.) The iron Duke had to be consulted upon this matter, and let them re member that the people had gained many a bloodless victory over that nobleman by the means he had men tioned, and they could do it again, by forming a moral combination against this terrible flogging system. The resolutions were then put, and . carried unani mously. Mr. WRIGHT, of America, then moved— " That a society be now formed, to be called The Flogging Abolition Society,' and that a committee, con sisting of the following gentlemen, with power to add to their number, be appointed to carry its objects into effect : J. Brotherton, Esq., M.P. John Hastings, Esq., M.D. J. W. Boyes. Esq. John Meredith, Esq. The Rev. J. T. Cuffe, M.A. W. B. S. Taylor, As M. T. S. Duncombe, Esq., M.P. George Thompson, Esq. John Drakard, Esq. Wm. Williams, Esq., M.P. Wm. Ewart, Esq., IMP. - " That Mr. Henry May, and Mr. Thomas Plume, be the secretaries ; that a subscription be now entered into to promote the objects of the society ; and that donations and subscriptions will be received by the members of the committee, the secretaries, and the fol lowing bankers :—Messrs. Strahan, Paul, and Co., 217, Strand : and Messrs. Glyn, Halifax, and Co., Lombard street." The resolution was seconded by Mr. G. THOMPSON, and carried unanimously. The meeting was subsequently addressed by Mr. THOMAS MORRIS, author of " Recollections of Military Service, in Germany, Holland, and France, in 1813, 1814, and 1815 ;" and several other gentlemen connected with the army and navy. Thanks were then voted to the Chairman, both for his conduct as coroner, as well as in the chair, and the meeting broke up at half-past ten o'clock. SERIOUS ACCIDENT AT HAMMERSMITH.—On Tuesday evening an accident of a serious character took place at the Broadway, Hammersmith. Shortly before eleven o'clock a splendid horse, drawing a Brougham, proceeded along the road from Kew towards London, having no one inside, and no driver on the box. On arriving at the Broadway, it came in contact with one of the Hammersmith Conveyance Company's omnibuses, which had just arrived from town, and which was setting down its passengers. At the time the accident occurred, there were still seven or eight persons remaining in the vehicle, all of whom, from the concussion, were thrown together with considerable violence, some of them receiving bruises. The poly of the omnibus was broken cff, and one of the horses so severely injured that it was found necessary to slaughter him, and the other had one of his legs broken in several . places. Neither the Brougham, nor the horse drawing it, sustained any injury beyond a slight abrasion of the skin. GREENLAND F ISH ERY. — PETERHEAD, AUG. 6.—The Enterprise, Martin, arrived here from Greenland, full ; left the ice 12th ult., and reports as follows :—Eclipse, 5 fish, 120 seals, 75 tuns; Dublin, 3 fish, 400 seals, 40 tuns; North of Scotland, 1 fish, 35 seals, 15 tuns; Commerce, 4,000 seals, 40 tuns; Sarah and Elizabeth, 6 fish, 2,900 seals, 75 tuns; Forth, 2 fish; Swallow, 1 fish, 90 seals; Anna, 2 fish, 3,400 seals ; Jane, 1 fish, 1,500 seals ; Bon Accord, 3 fish, 70 seals; Union, 900 seals; Hannibal, 1,600 seals; Fairy (Dun dee), 50 seals; Hamilton Ross, 1,100 seals ; Flamingo, 900 seals; St. George (London) , 700 seals; Constantina, 1,200 seals; William Ward , 40 seals; Eliza, 2,800 seals. And also reports the Fairy, of Dundee, and H am ilt on R oss , o f this t por , being beset in the ice 27th June, but expected to be got out ; also met the Commerce and U n i on gett i ng among the ice to the fishing ground. HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE. • On Tuesday night was the last subscription night of the sea son. Theopera was IPuritani, the ballet Le Jugement de Paris, andtetween the opera and ballet the " National Anthem " wa3 sung, and, of course, all present rose from their seats. The house, at this moment, presented the most brilliant coup The effect of the bouton d'or draperies was very fine; the idea of " the framed pictures," which had suggested the adoption of the colour, was here completely realised. There will be one more extra representation on Thursday—the farewell " long Thursday" of the season, of which last night may be considered the legitimate termination. At this, the close of the season of 1846, we cannot take leave of Mr. Lumley without congratulating him on the success—the great and deserved success—which has attended his enterprising and spirited management. A success achieved too, in spite of a continued succession of ill-natured attacks upon the manage ment and all connected with it. These attacks, however, were so palpably groundless, that we think they did rather good than harm, inasmuch as they not unfrequently drew at tention to the virtues of omission in the management, which but for these would have passed unnoticed; for instance, a great outcry was made for an opera to be com posed expressly for her Majesty's Theatre, when it was found that Verdi was too ill to finish Lear in time. Now, with the music of Don Carlos still ringing in their ears, we think that the majority of the subscribers will consider that Mr. Lumley exercised a very sound and judicious discretion in acting as he has done. The season opened with great brilliancy. So completely were the audience on the opening night surprised and delighted by the novel and gorgeous, yet tasteful, character of the decorations, that they actually when the house was fully lighted up gave three rounds of enthusiastic applause. The opera chosen for the opening was Verdi's Nino, and the manner in which this opera was produced and conducted, at once established Balfe's fame as a conductor,. and secured to him his position. This is an opera which, perhaps, snore than any other, de pends for its success on its chorusses, its orchestral effects, and the general ensemble of the music, and therefore upon the abilities of the conductor, and yet deprived of that which all his predecessors for the last fifty years had enjoyed—the as sistance of Dragonetti, whose marvellous powers of ". pulling up " an orchestra have passed into a proverb, and to whose exertions are due no inconsiderable portion of the credit which former conductors have enjoyed; deprived of the invaluable assistance of II Drago, Balfe con ducted this opera in a manner which left nothing to be de sired, in a manner so admirable, that Nino and I Lombardi, an opera by the same composer and of the same character, have been repeated more frequently during this season than any others, and have always drawn crowded houses. After Easter came Grisi, Mario, and Lablache, the glorious trio. They made their debut in I Puritani, and here again we had an opportunity of observing how Balfe conducted an opera of a totally different character ; , and with a perfect recollection of the night when this opera was originally produced, and of the manner in which it has been conducted during each suc cessive season, we have no hesitation in saying that Balfe need not shrink from a comparison with any of his pre decessors: The production of I Lombardi was the great operatic "fact" of the season ; the cast was amazingly strong, and the raise en scene magnificent. We have already given a list of the operas performed during the season, which it is, therefore, unnecessary to repeat. With regard to the performers, the present season has introduced two to our notice of great promise —Madame Sanchioli, whose powerful voice and energetic action will, when somewhat refined, entitle her to aspire to the rank of prima donna, anti Mademoiselle Corbari, whose sweetness of voice and artless ness of manner have created a general feeling in her favour Castellan, notwithstanding some one had thought proper to kill her in Russia in December, returned to us in March, im proved in voice, in science, and in acting. Fornasari has been with us since the cominencement of the season ; and Grisi, Mario (whose marvellous improvement both as an actor and a singer we have repeatedly had occasion to notice) and Lablache have ban with us since Easter. In the choerographic department we had on the opening night the new ballet of La Catrina, with Lucile Grahn as the heroine. Her pas strategique in this ballet created quite a furore, and La Catarina was repeated almost every night until the arrival of Cerito and St. Leon, when the gorgeous spectacle of Lalla Rookh was produced; the pas de neuf in this ballet was perfectly original, and exceedingly beautiful, and on the. " long Thursdays" it generally formed a portion of the evening's entertainments. Eoline, Alma, Ondine, and various stock ballets, were re peated during the early part of the season, and at length in the month of July came La Gitana, and Taglioni. She re peated the Gitana for a few nights, and then was produced the great hit of the season, the Pas des Dresses, which has been repeated every evening since its first production, and which has created quite as great a furore as the Pas de quatre. The Deesses Taglioni, Cerito, and Grahn, are confessedly the three greatest danseuses in the world, and they were sup ported by Louise Taglioni, Demellisse, and Cassan, either of whom, on any other stage, would rank as premiire danseuses. Hitherto each season of Mr. Lumley's manage ment has been an improvement on the preceding one. How it will be possible for him to surpass the glories of the season of 1846, we are utterly at a loss to imagine. BRIGHTON and DOVER RAILWAY COMPANIES. TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES. SIR, —I feel it to be an act of duty to call your atten tion to an instance of criminal negligence on the part of the Brighton and Dover Railway Companies, which, but for the mercy of God, might have been fraught witi a frightful sacrifice of life. Owing to repairs now going on ' one of the lines of rails from the Annerley to the Sydenham station is impassable; and the consequence is, that for that distance the down and up-trains have to traverse the same single line. At twenty minutes past eleven on Monday morning, I was waiting at the Annerley station, when a down-train was seen approach ing at the usual speed, and just as the locomotive had passed me, I heard loud exclamations from t'lw numerous workmen, who at the same time were waving their hands ; and then, on looking through the arch of the Annerley bridge, I saw a policeman violently waving his red flag, and an up-train rapidly approaching. At this instant the two trains, rapidly approximating, could not have been at the most more than 200. yards asunder ; the distance could easily be measured, but 1 feel certain it was, if any thing, less than stated. Both engine-drivers turned off their steam and applied their breaks, and in this way fortunately the collision, whicl to all the by-standers appeared inevitable, was prevented. The trains were long ones, especially the up-train. and full of passengers. Now, Sir, in a case like which, if it bad occurred in the dark, I hesitate no! to affirm must have ended in a fearful collision— for there is a bend in the line at this spot preventing, it. conjunction with the bridge, the approach of a train being seen at a distance—in a case,l say, like this, there musi have been gross and criminal negligence in some quarter or other ; and although no injury was done to life or Ikub, it is the duty of the Government Inspector to insti tute a rigid inquiry into the matter, to ascertain who is the party to blame, and then, be he high or low, a secre tary or a policeman, to inflict a punishment, if indeed he has any means of giving efficacy to his investigation, com mensurate with the wrong committed. Several questions immediately suggest themselves in such a proceeding. How came it to happen that in a distance of eight miles between two stations, New Cross and Croydon, provided with the electric telegraph, two trains travel liag in opposite directions were so timed, as by any possibility to allow of their meeting on the single lint of rails ? This is the fundamental question, and whoever is responsible for controlling the transit is responsible for this gross and dangerous negligence. What is the gain of such splendid and beneficial discoveries as that of Professor Wheatstone, who. by placing in our hands a messenger which in ve locity outstrips light itself, has given us a power to regulate the comparatively creeping locomo tive, if these railway officials are to be allowed to dis use it? Then the question would arise, was any charge given to the engine-drivers to observe special caution in approaching the single line? If not, the parties vthe start the trains at both termini were guilty of neglect of duty. All the rest is a subordinate matter, for it re lates to engine-drivers and policemen—men of no educa tion, and who will, whilst the present preposterous system continues, again and again be guilty of that gross indifference to safety which marks the conduct oi all ignorant persons engaged in perilous undertakings, To expect forethought, judicious alertness, and prompt mental action on sudden emergency from such a class indicates a total want of knowledge of the human mind. In reply to all this, the authorities may attempt to make light of the matter; but it was thought no trifling occurrence by those wo were present. One of the workmen said, "It had made him shake all over." I enclose my card, and if any inquiry be insti tuted, which I repeat for the sake of prevention anti future safety is urgently demanded, I shall he happy on being called upon to that effect, to give evidence to the inspector. I state this, because it is certain that there is a species of intimidation exercised by the official gentle men of these railways, which, as in the case of the Poor law Commissioners, repels useful and confidential com munications from their subordinate officers on ordinary occasions, and which, on any unusual inquiry, tends stifle the truth.—Your obedient servant, Aug. 18. VIATOR. NAVAL AND MILITARY INTEL LIGENCE. PORTSMOUTH, AUGUST 18.—The Athol troop-ship Master-Commanding E. J. P. Beam, is perfectly read: for immediate service. The Mercury tender returned from North Yarmouth this morning, The Columbine, 12, Commander Booth, having had her defects made good, will go out to Spithead to-morrow. Lieutenant Lyon (1846) goes in her as junior lieutenant, and notwithstanding the fact that there are more thud 2,500 lieutenants on the list, still this ship cannot get her complement (three). The North Star, 26, Captain Sir J. E. Home, is hourly expected, having left Simon's Bay on the 30th of Ma:, and was at St. Helena on the 24th of June. APPOINTMENTS. Commander—C..l. Postle, to the Coast Guard. Mates—Robert Sheldon, to the St. Vincent ; W. G. Douglas, to the Victoria and Albert. Midshipman—W. E. Choriton, to the Scourge. Master's Assistants—Thomas H. Julian, and Richar. Muinford, too the Acteon, for disposal. Mat..—C. 0. B. Hall, from the Excellent, to the Co. lumbine. Master's Assistants—Richard Friend, from the Gla , iliator, to the Columbine; W. G. Aldrick, from the Co lumbine, to the Gladiator. —C,,maander—H. G. Morris, to study at the Royal Maval College. PROMOTIONS. Mr. Francis Cole, Acting Paymaster and Purser 01 the Osprey, to be Paymaster at.d Purser ; Mr. Andrew Murray, Assistant-Surgeon of the Spider, to be Surgeon. PLYMOUTH, Auc. 17.—lier Majesty's steam-sloop Ardent, which came in with marines from Milford on Friday, sailed this morning for Malta. The Trinity yacht, which arrived on the 14th inst. remains at her :moorings in Catwater._ Her Majesty's steamer Comet sailed last evening with dispatches for the squadron of evolution under Admiral Sir H. Parker. WOOLWICH, AUG. 1 7.—ROYAL ARTILLERY.—Caps. Cater's Company, 2d battalion, relieved Captain 13.‘nn's Company on Al onday morning from field battery duty at Woolwich, and the latter company proceeded on Wednesday morning for Euston-square, and thence by railway en route to Dublin, to relieve Captain Taylor's Company at Athlone. Captain Harrison's Company returned to head-quarters on Monday evening. Captain Cuppazo's Company, 9th 'battalion, were in spected on Monday morning at the Ordnance Hospital, having been placed under orders to embark for Gibraltar, to relieve Captain Shone's Company, sth battalion. ROYAL SAPPERS AND MINERS.—The whole of the men of this corps, recently employed at Windsor Castle, have returned to Woolwich, and describe the work they were engaged in as the most difficult they had to contend with, as all their progress was made by boring through the hard rock, which it would have been dangerous to effect by blasting. Some idea may be formed of the scientific abilities of the corps, when it is stated that the parties engaged in boring operations • commenced tunnels on the opposite side of the rock on which the Castle is built, working night and day, by . relieving each other, and so correct was their progress, that on reaching the centre there did not exist two inches of difference where the two tunnels merged into one. WILLS. The Right Hon. Lady ELIZABETH PERCEVAL, of Odell Castle, Bedfordshire, had made her will as far back as the year 1803, and lived to the age of eighty-three, with out having altered the same, saving a few legacies and directions by codicils. With this exception she leaves the whole of her property to her sister the Right Hon. Lady Margaret Walpole and her children, subject to her direction and appointment, and to whom the administra tion of her effects were granted. The executors ap pointed in the will being her brothers, the Right Hon. Charles George Lord Arden, and the Right Hon. Spen cer Perceval, both having pre-deceased her Ladyship. The amount of her personal property is stated at 6,0001. DOWAGER COUNTESS OF SCARBOROUGH.—The Right Honourable Henrietta, Dowager Countess of Scarbo rough, by her will, executed in June, 1837, has left to Richard George Lumley, Esq., of Tickhill Castle, Baw try, Yorkshire, all h er p ro p er ty, b o th rea l an d persona l, subject to the payment of an y l egac i es w hi c h m i g ht b e specified in a codicil or memorandum signed by her, and appointed him the sole executor, to whom probate was granted on the sth of August, by motion and decree of the Court. Th e p ersona l estate was va l ue d at 100,000 1 . Ihe Countess d ie d a t t h e a d vanced age of eighty. Within two months after executing her will, her Lady ship made several codicils, being lists of legacies ; these were written consecutively on one sheet of letter paper, commencing with the date 19th of August, 1837, and each signed by her ; most of the bequests therein stated, amounting altogether to 17,0001., her Ladyship appears to have afterwards paid to the parties at various periods during her lifetime, and has erased their names, placing opposite to each the word "paid," and the date. Her Ladyship had also made a further codicil in May, 1844, sod attached her signature, in which there are eight legacies of 1,000/. each, and four of 500/. each, but these intended bequests, amounting to 10,0001., are invalidated for want of attesting witnesses. ADMIRAL OTWA Y.—Sir Robert Waller Otway, Bart., (4.C.8., an Admiral in her Majesty's Navy, died p vssesied of personal property amounting to 60,0001. lie had executed his will in 1842, and has made ample provision for his relict, Lady Clementine Otway, ap pointing her residuary legatee for lite, and then the -time to be divided equally among all the children, to acit of whom he has left a legacy of 2,0001. He has also left his lady the residence at Hyde Park-gardens, with the furniture and plate, carriages and horses, but subject to the payment of 3001. a-year to such son or grandson. as shall inherit the baronetcy. To his brother, the Rev. S. J. Otway, and General Sir Loftus Otway, he leaves a pecuniary legacy to each as a token of affection, and specific bequests to others of his family. Leaves 50/. to he distributed among ten poor deserving persons on the Castle Otway Estate in Ireland. The acting executors sire Sir George Graham Otway, Bart., the son, and Francis L. Beckford, Esq. Lady Clementina Otway, the relict, having a power reserved to prove hereafter. Sir Robert was Groom in Waiting to her Majesty. General Sir EVAN LLOYD, Colonel-in-Chief of the 7th Dragoon-Gunads, late of Ferney Hall, Shropshire, had, .ns his marriage with the Right Hon. Alicia, Lady Trimlestown, settled 22,0001. on her ladyship and their issue, and having provided for his two daughters on their marriage. viz., his daughter Alicia, now Mrs. Oakeley, Ind his daughter Louisa, now Lady Dixie, he leaves to his son, Evan Lloyd, Esq., subject to her ladyship's life interest therein, the whole surplus of the trust moneys invested in the Bank of Ireland, also the freehold and leasehold estates, lands, and hereditsments, farming stock, Sce., and his personal estates in England, valued at 5,0001. To her ladyship he leaves, for her own ab solute use, all the furniture, plate, books, pictures, car riages and horses, and has appointed his son sole exe cutor. This gallant officer died at the age of seventy -ight, and has been sixty-six years in the service, thirty two of which was in the 17th Light Dragoons, in which regiment he entered when twelve years of age. The late Lieut.-General Sir CHARLES PHILLIP,., of her Majesty's army, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Neapolitan Order of St. Januarius, has devised his freehold messuage and lands at Linwood Lyndhurst, in the New Forest, and all other his real estate to trustees, to permit Lady Phillips to occupy the mansion for life, or, if judged more convenient, the trustees are empow ered to sell the estates, the surplus funds arising there from to be deemed part of his residuary personal estate, Ind to be invested on good security, the dividends, in terest, and annual proceeds to be applied for her own Ise, and after her decease to assign and transfer the principal to such of his nieces, the daughters of his late sister, Mrs. Emily Bignell, as shall be living and un married. Leaves to Lady Phillips, the carriages, horses. ind household stores absolutely, and the use of all fur niture, pictures, books, plate, and other effects in and shout the mansion. The acting executors are his re lict Lady Phillips, and her brother, Frederick Leman Rogers, Esq., a power being reserved to the deceased's brother, %V. E. Phillips, Esq. This distinguished offi cer had served his country, for upwards of half a cen tury, in the West Indies, Egypt, Genoa, Sicily, and Malta, where he was for some years Deputy Quarter master-General. Sir JOHN SAUNDERS SEBRICHT, Bart., late of Beech mood park; Hertford, has directed his executors and trustees, within three months after his decease to invest 2,0001. in their names, or of tru , tees to be nominated by his son and the officiating minister of Flamstead, to be held and applied as a perpetual endowment for a na ,ional schoolhouse and school, lately erected by him at what place for the support of teachers, and the education of the children of the poor in that neighbourhood, in the principles of the Established Church. Has left legacies to all his servants, and annuities to the follow ing :—to his gamekeeper, his butler, his late groom, and to widow Wilson, 50/. a year to each. Bequeaths to his son, Sir Thomas Gage Saunders Sebright, Bart., the fur niture, plate, books, pictures, horses, cattle, and farm stock, at and about the park and mansion at Beech wood, together with the estate called Seddesley Woods, in Worcestershire, and all other lands and tenements; and to his daughter Frances, 7,000/., to be a charge upon his estates at Worcester and Salop. Leaves the residue of his personal estate in trust for his daughters and their issue, in certain portions and under certain provisions, on-failure, for the children of his son Sir Thomas or the right heirs. The personal property was estimated at 90,000/. The executors are Sir Thomas G. S. Sebright, Bart., the son, and his nephew, the Rev. N. R. Calvert, , Hector of Hunsdon, Herts. The venerable baronet was in his 79th year, and made his will in January last, being three months before his death. He was Deputy- Lieutenant for the county of Harts, which shire he had represented for nearly thirty years. The late WM. TYRINGHAM PRAED, Esq., M.P. for St. Ives, Banker, London, of St James's-place, West minster, and Trevethow, Cornwall, has devised the whole of his freehold property to his sister, Mrs. Eliza beth Hoare, wife of Richard Hoare, Esq., and at her decease upon certain special trusts ; he leaves her the house at St. James's-place, with the furniture (except certain pictures), and the carriages, horses, &c. Be queaths all the furniture, plate, and other effects, at his mansion, at Trevethow, to Charles Tyringham Freed, jun. His shares in the_ Grand _Junction and Grand Union Canal Companies he has bequeathed in certain portions, and has left several pecuniary legacic,s, and to each of the clerks in his banking house nineteen guineas, and to each of the porters 104 and to his own servants mourning, and one or two years' wages, according to service. He directs 1,0001. to he applied to charitable purposes, in sums of not less than 50/. nor more than 100 L, in En; Eng land tobod a divided th eda e to m e o x n e g e s u ts r u s ch sh i a n li in stitutions or socie ties think proper. Gives to the Rector of Lelant, Cornwall, tool, to be distributed amongst the poor of that parish. Leaves 1001. to the Cornwall County Infirmary, and 1007. to the Bucks County Infirmary, at Aylesbury. The residue of his personal estate to be divided equally between his nephews and niece —Ellen, William, and Edward, the children of his sister,-Mrs. Whinfield. His nersonal property, liable to duty, was estimated at 45,0001. He appointed as his executors his partners, Vere Fane, B. J. M. Praed, and P. Johnston, Esqs. llis death occurred on the Sth of July last, aged sixty five, and he made his will on the Gth of March previous. THOMAS BUNBURY, Esq., late one of the representa tives for the county of Carlow, of Lisnevagh and Moyle, in Ireland, has left all his real, freehold and copyhold, and leasehold estates, to his brother, Kane Banbury, Esq., for life, and after his decease to his nephew, William Banbury APClintock, and his heirs, for ever, upon the condition that he shall apply for the necessary license under her Majesty's sign manual to use and bear the surname and arms of Bunbury; and bequeaths tiJ his brother, for his own absolute use, the furniture, hooks, ;arming stock and implements, and other effects at Moyle, the plate for his life only, and then to his nephew, John M'Clintock, absolutely, to whom he leaves all his furni ture and effects at Bath, and at the St James's Hotel, and also bequeaths to his nephew, John M'Ciintoch, legacy of 50,000/, sterling, and 10,0001. Irish currency, , ;ecur,l on mortgage; and to his said nephew, William B. M'Clintock (to whom he leaves the reversion of his real estates) a legacy of 30,0001. To his cousin, Thomas Bunbury, 2,000/. To Mrs. C. Elmore an annuity of 40/., or a sum equivalent, and an immediate bequest of .001. A few other legacies, including his bailiff and household servants'; and hopes that his brother Kane, on his succeeding to Moyle, will follow his example and give to each of the labourers and others employed on the estate a suit of clothes, as he had done when he took possession. All legacies to be free of duty. The residue of his personal estate he leaves in trust, to pay the interest, dividends, and annual proceeds to his brother Kane for life, and at his demise to divide the said residue into three parts, giving two-thirds to his said nephew, W. B. M'Clintock, and the remaining third to his said nephew, John M'Clintock, absolutely. The exe cutors are his two nephews, W. B. M'Clintock, Esq.., of Manor House, Highgate, near Cloves. Fermanagh, and John M'Clintock, Esq., of Dromaskiu House, near Clads Bellingham, Louth, and William Elliott, Esq., of Har court.street, Dublin. The personal estate in England and within the province of Canterbury was estimated for probate duty at 180,000/., which is exclusive of the, value of the real estates and other effects in Ireland. The de ceased died at the age of 71, and executed his will only two days before his death.—Post.