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

;* h . •• • - tenon io tec we; e NO . ;D"tit t o be talk ' " r there, and made the means of keeping up a sort of muck Popularity—a purpose that now vies of no avail. It Was not for Irish or independent Members to frame for the law-officers of the Crown a Bill to meet exigencies which they had over and over again admitted to exist. It was said that the Hen. Member's Bill proposed to Compel Irish landlords to l= t their lands at a fixed rate. They who asserted this had not read the Bill and made themselves masters of its details. The Bill really only g av e Compensation to tenants for improvements, which tenants in England would be entitled t o claim. He : W eald ask the-House if the letting v a lue of tee hold ings were incre ase d by the tenant's capitel or exertion s, nether it w as j us t or equitable that tenants should be dispossessed of their holeinge without the chance (t. ! a ,inieg a shilling compensation for that outlay of cep:- :al and that e x ert i on which had been made. It was onl y in cases where the letting value was increased that no olpeasation was to be given; and that made the Bill identical with the Bills introduced from time to time by G overnment. If irritation existed on the subject, it was from neglect of the introduction of such a measure a as his lion. Friend the Member for Rochdale had iutro nUced. The late Sir R. Peel had introduced a Bill for that purpose, bus it did not allay discontent, because it did not meet the evil ner go far enough. If Sir R. Peel's Government neglected their duty in this respect, this present Government had mere 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 question. Ne one abhorred crime in Irelaud more than be did. and he ee 'bored the law, if properly administered in Ireland, was *efficient to repress crime. But he would tell the Noble Lord, no law and no measure would be sufficient to re press crime, if everything was made a meter of party enactment, and every person, high and low, placed in office merely for party objects.—(Bear.) Why had not the Right Hon. Gentleman the Secretary for Ireland addressed the House on the subject? Why did he not state his opinions on this question? Why did he hold back? Why did he not manfully come forward and state his 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 ne sp-cific for this difficult ques tion, as assumed by the Hon. Member for Middlesex. lie 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 had formed an opinion on the subject, and had endea voured to embody his opinion in a few clauses in a Bill which the Noble Lord had examined. The Bill did not Meet with the general approbation of Irish Members or the Irish people, so he had taken no step towards intro ducing the Bill to the House. He was glad to see the sill of the Hon. Member for Rochdale had been brought forward, though for some of its clauses he could net vote. Ile beli eve d, h owever, t h e Bill m ight be made of use to Noble Lord du r i ng i ts p rogress t h r ough the House. The Lord had made a very ingenious speech in order get out of the difficulty of his position. The 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 the Zpect that the Noble Lord's Bill would have been of f slightest use fur the purpose for which it was brought °Mud. It was no me disguising the fact that in the Ca elnet there were large Irish proprietors, and it was easy to understand why large Irish proprietors should be alarmed at a Bill such as that introduced by the Hon. Member for Rochdale. They did not like the powers to he I,oterfered with which a landowners' Parliament for cen turies had made law. The question was, were cats the Proper legislators for mice ? The law as it stood V . tre the landlord the power of taking possessien of all e improvements made by tenants at the expiration of Stheir tenancy, without giving compensation. He would not consent to any Bill, or ciause of a Bill, which vio tated the principles of political economy. But the law !•11 it stood violated those principles, and that was why he Wished the law to be altered. Ac omparison of Scot land and Ireland was not to the purpose, Tor of 1,100 W i tn esses the Devon Commission had examined, the commission could only make out that about 20 landlords e a r a *pant money on the improvement of their property. th e y in Ireland sprang from the same causes now as did 70 years ago, and it was the decree of Provi e, arr - s, so long as the population of a country were de ed from all the interest in the soil by legal and legis lative chicanery, that such crimes as prevailed in Ireland °h old be committed and exist, as a warning and a :eon to th e u ph o lders of injustice. He should be glad support any measure that would settle this question, .;: r he believed th ere was no question which affected the reoPle of Of the England more intimately than the settlement relations of landlord and tenant in Ireland. Mr. WHITESIDE said if the Hon. Member for Man 42ne,ster had in three weeks discovered a remedy for the Solon of Ireland, he had eclipsed the fame of either Von or Lyeurgus.—(Laughter.) He confessed that it intuitive not the fortune of all to be blest with the power of say that legislation. If the Hon. Gentleman meant to that Irish landlords generally were merciless and "PPressors, he would, as the re pr es entative of a county in wat ch_ tenant-right p reva iled, repel the slander, and :sett that landlords were merciful and considerate te lt:ills their tenants.—(Hear.) He admitted that the hadto it stood, required alteration, and he would be h a d "" see the law altered judiciously. HOB. Members basked why he and other Irish Members did not hl:g° this? 44 a Bill on the subject? He asked, why should kilCit - The law was cumbrous and perplexed. ra was not true that the Members on his side of the "s Use had not attemp t e d t o correc t th e ex i s ting evils. T he Noble Lord sale this was a difficult subject, but was that a reason why Government should shriek from Aq Were they only to deal with simple and easy Questions? Where were the law officers of the erown? True it wa s th a t to con d ense a l arge num ber of statutes into a few good and practical laws would be a work of labour and value, but not a Popular work ; but he frankly confessed he did not !IPect such a valuable labour from the present Ministry. He certainly did think the Noble Lord ca ught to hav e d one somet hi ng t owar d s effecting a final settl ement of this great qu e stion. But he feared this session, like the last, was doomed to pass away in mere Profitless discussion. It would, however, have redounded more to th e N o bl e L or d' s cre d it h a d he brought fo rwa rd 4 , practical measure, ra th er than, as ho had done, raced b e f ore t h e H ouse a measure of spe cu lati ve re r°l. The great ques tion must, however, be settled at la st, ° a n d t h en, and not till t h en, m i g ht th ey expect to _ that lamiaous measure of the Hon. Member for Man chester recorded in the statute hook. Mr. AGLIONBY said the difficulty of the subject was ,!at l 3 l increased by the turn the discussion had taken. an d tone imported into the debate had merged into party g e ud personal attacks. The Hon. Member for Athlone's n or appeared to him to have in view a party triumph; at had the Noble Lord (Lord J. Russell) by his speech ni. ` all cleared up the difficulty which surrounded the _.air It was the duty of all who wished well to which country to meet together and to agree upon that Mich would conduce to the general benefit. Let them im itate the course of the Members for Scotland, who met togeth er , a nd by each conceding something, had co ntrived to get through their public business with much Profit to th e ir country. He should give his best atten tion to the Bill, although he had no great hope of its su ccess, ae l fr• LENNARD thought the Hon. and Le a r ned " ee tuber for Athlone had not put the question fairly, When he asked whether a tenant oug ht not to be come e g o sated for improvements "Wade by him. He admitted t if the improvements were made under t he e y e s and with the consent of the landlord, the tenant would be en ttled t o compensation. S uc h wa s the practice in this otint ry• But if he understood the principle of the Bill eked t year, the tenant was to make what repairs he et dee t and the question of compensation was to be de ''ut by some tribunal. That, in his opinion, was a 0 property of injustice —an encroachment on the rights f t suoperty almost amounting to confiscation. He though naiad a Bill ought to have been resisted at its first stage; he Government had not opposed it, he, an humble prieAi u i al, must acquiesce undue protest against the Leave of the mea,ure. n rP7 4 was then given to bring in the Bill. 'cIARITABLE BEQUESTS (IRELAND). On t hew motion of Mr. KEOGH, the following return Xsit o r dered :—C o pies of the rep in of John R. Cerballis, "eireeie bearing date the 10;h day of April, 1849 and end t° the Commissioners for lharitable D maiions in at Ine th 3 , Ireland, upon the pecuisiary defalcationa th e Coo de partment; and of all correspondence between orealF,si oners and the Trea s u r y u p on th at s ubj e ct , and the minutes of the several meetings of the Board of Charitable Donations and Becreste relating thereto. M r R A ILWAYS (IRELAND). o Bill • WOULLAGLI move d for leave to bring in a IDs to enable gra n d j ur i e s iu Ireland to ma ke pr ese n t _ rt. a in aid of railways in certain cas es. He believed th Go vernment had no intention of opposite; the reee 'n eat its present stage. In the course of last session a numerous deputation of gentlemen connected with Ire land waited on the Noble Lord et the head of the Go vernment on the subject of railways, and received a n as surance from th e N oble Lord that he had no objection to consider the question raised by them. A c ts had been obtained for a great num b er of lines for short distances in Ireland, but unless some stimuluswere given, it was difficult to say when they would be r l r i i k e e d l oat. o neral feeling prevailed in the districts c be twee fitted by these lines, in favour of Contributing t by taxa tion to their completion, and the Bill which he had to Propose would confer such a .power. He proposed that in certain districts the grand jury should have th power fixed -eon the taxis-, levying a rate—a maximum bring tion in counties and burghs, and that when the rate w xn ae so levied by the grand jury. it should be in the power of the particular railway company to assign that rate to persons who might advance the money required to be raised. He hoped he should be able to show that the necessary amount would he obtained without any application to Government. Every Irish Memb er was cognizant of the mode in which post roads had been made in that country. and his object was to apply 8 0 much of the Act which related to these roads to the completion of railroads. He proposed that before any rate was made that an estimate should be obtained by the Co mpany which had obtained an Act of Parliament for the making of the railroad. and that a certificate should be obtained from the Board of Works that the estimate !as reasonable and regular. He did not propose that the Board should otherwise interfere in the transaction. That certificate would be lodged with the clerk of the Peace or the county officer, and the grand jury might then proceed to make the rate. Instead, however, of making the counties and once, he proposed burghs liable for the whole sum et that r the g and jury s hould have the power of distributi ng it ove - ra also proposed that the D period of ten years Ile number of shares to trustees representing should transfer a certain by which means the be protected, the ratepayers, w hil e a great public interest would l' e untiiiia Would be given to a branch of SUN, LONDON, he pr.— A.TURE eau reee e ;et t:e , ::":1• ., % sro,,d the Government were not pre:v.:eel to do se. If the Huse ehould assent to the intreduceion of the I3iil,.he should not object to refer it to a Cemreittee up-staire, in order that it, detaili; might be fully censidered. Mr. LABOUCEIERE did not object to the introduc tion of the measure; on the contra:-y, hz was glad the qeestion had beers broeget b9fere Perliaeaent curl the people. of Ireland. Foe principle of the reassure, us stated by tee Hon. Geeit!eeaan, had been brow-fit before the Government in the cnurse of last section 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 sugeested, he should be quite willing to give every facility for th e c u rrying their wishesinto cif c'. 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 desire that the principle should be carried out. If they had received such an assurance he should — having been convinced of the importance of grant in g facilities for the completion of railways in Ireland—have felt it to he his duty to bring the question . before the House. He did not think they would be justifiers 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 eff,ct were made by the Irish Members. Not having seen the proposd measure, he 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. Colouel DUNNE believed that the Irish Members were in favour of the principle of the Bill; in answer to the remark of the President of the Board of Trade, that no feeling in favour of that principle had been ex pressed by the grand juries of Ireland, recalled to his re. colirctien that no teisiz9s had been held since the elate of the answer of the Noble Lerd to the representation ad dressed to him. L,e LEcruuE on the ITALIAN L 3NGI7 AGE. By Ignatius Valletta. Vinton and Sons. Having imrselves.experienced much pleasure in the. perusal Of this very el , gant and ingenious disserta tion, we would here especially commend it to the atten tion at once of the classical student 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 dramstic 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, coming from the mouth of a foreigner, have proved real matter of astonishment. The paper, delivered originally at the opening 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 than the one for which it was at first designed. Signor Valletta speaks of the language of bis 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, and the Etruscan. Alluding to its immobility from a very early period, he says, with considerable grace of metaphor—" a few changes of letters and a more correct authography 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, thoucrla 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 Cimabue, 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 lesser importance and celebrity are enumerated—such men, for example, as Davila, Sarpi, and Guicciardini. The influence of the Italian languge and of Italian literature upon other extraordinary men in foreign countries is, as might be expected, expatiated upon at some length—due notice being 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 Mr. F. FRENCH said that the Government ought to have endeavoured to promote the development of the in- terests of Ireland by means of railroads. He hoped that the non opposition ~f the Right 11:m. Gentleman oppo site would be converted into a strenuous support of the principle of the Bill. _ \lr. GROG A.NI had listened with pleasure to the re marks of the Right Hon. Ger th man the President of the Board of Trade. He willingly accepted his good in tentione, though he promised little more than not to op pose the principle of the me4sure. He di d not think it was asking too much of the Government to givo the people of Ireland on opportunity of developing the re sources of the country by means of railroads. Leave was then given to bring in the Bill. BEEK LAWS. Sir J. PAKINGTON moved, pursuant to notice, 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 to wards the close of lastseession, and, as a matter of form, ho had to move that tre House resolve itself into Com mittee on the subject. He wished to extend the provi sions of the Act passed on this subject some years ago, 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 ,at in the other House on this subject during the years 1849 and 1850. The evidence taken before that Com mittee afforded abundant proof, if proof were required, of the serious evils which had arisen in all parts from the present state of toe laws regarding the sale of beer. The se complaints had been so general and so loudly ex pressed both out of doors and in petitions to the House that he hoped, though there might be differences of opinion as to the provisions he proposed, that little or no opposition would be offered to some legislation on the subject. lie 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. SCiLOLEFIELD expr, seed his regret at the statement of the Hon. Baronet that the Bill he had to propose was the same as that of last year. He believed the complaints against beer-houses had reference mainly to those in agricultural districts, and did not be lieve that stay provisions, such as the Hon. Baronet contemplated to introduce, were required in the large towns. Mr. E WART protested against all attempts of making men moral by Act of Parliament. Mr. AGLIONBY had received communications from 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 " Othello arid 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 da 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 many of the jokes, which The Merry Wives of Windsor, play on Falstaff innamorato, are partly derived from another novel of the above-mentionod Ser Giovanni." Everyone interested in tha destinies of the Roman peninsula—as who is not ?—will feel emotion when he hears the lecturer in allusion to Shakspere's phrase in the Taming of the 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, far the ingenious and accomplished Ignatius Valletta. CARTE ON THE FL UTE. 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 the steps by which the ordinary flute attained its present condition, he describes how the Auto tracers°, so called from the position in which it was held by the player, ultimately superseded the flute- a -bee, 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 have been pleasant, moreover, to have found our author sprinkling his pages with anecdotes preserved to us from antiquity—such 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 is 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 boles 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 flat key in 1726, but contrived in 1752 a means of raising or lowering the pitch half a tone by a method of lengthening and shortening the head-joint. An Englishman 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. Subsequently came a variety of other 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 comple te form, together with a very masterly statement MS to the principles upon which flutes in general are constructed. Guided by the truths revealed by the examination of those principles, Captain Gordon, and ultimately Al• Boehm, effected • some really wonderful al terations in the way of improvement. Hence Boehm's first flute and that other and more extra ordinary flute 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—one 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 speak 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 ars 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 who can scarcely credit the possibility of this should hear and judge, for themselves. Meanwhile let them turn their attention at least to the description of these astonish ing instruments, as furnished in this present charm ing essay on the flute by their originator. they had now over public-houses. The SPEALER left the chair, and the House went into Committee. A resolution having been passed in conformity with The motion, the House resumed. On the question that leave be given to bring in the Bill, Mr. KERSHAW thought they ought to have a state ment of the details 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, and Mr. Scholefield, 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 boards for the assessing of county rates, and for the administra tion of county expenditure in England and Wales. — Agreed to. Mr. SCULLY moved for returns of translated copies of all charters or letters patent granting certain lands for the promotion of education in Ireland during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth, James 1., and subsequently (excepting such as appear in returns No. 475 of last session); .and 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 educational purposes over which the Commissioners of Education hays 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 such interest annually derived, and how and for what purpose the same is now applied.—Agreel a 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 department. 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, and Common Pleas in Ire land have been absr-nc from their offices at the Four Courts in Dublin respectively; also specifying the causes of their absence:, and the manner i❑ which the duties which they are 'required to perform have been discharged, by what persons, and by whose authority, during any such period of tthsence.—Agreed to. Tile House then adjourned at a Qriarter to Ten o'clock. TO THE SECRETARY OF THE BRADFORD REFORM ASSOCIATION. (PUBLISHED EVERY MONDAY AND WEDNESDAY.) Sir,—lt would be useless fur me to lay before you the details of the Ministi rial Bill of Reform. It makes some great emissions; but the impression on the whole was favourable, and the tokens ot opposition were weak. The representative of Manchester and its Congress, made an admirable speech; but not a word ot the threatened intention to oppose the Bill if it did not come up to a cart in mark. On 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 bs presumed the Government was anxious to leave something to do another time. The objections of the Government to the Ballot may lie eonsideted as announced in a place out of doors. Th. l are, first, that the absence of the Ballot is neces sary to sicure the influence of the non-electors ; secondly, that the ballot in France did not prevent a injoril tur Louis Napoleon. To the first, the aoswer iv, that the irfluenee of the classes bfluu; the posse.s.mrs of toe traechise is an ounce, where the utiluence of the classes above them is a p ou nd. .Eximme any borough and sse what the in flaence of the non-electors amounts to. They can in fluence half a-dozen publicans, and the same number of small tradssinee. The non-electors therefore will be the m .st easily led creatures upon earth, if they run after this temptation. , The secon6, is a clear argument the other way. By dint of the Ballot, which it was held too dangerous no minally to retuso, a small minority braved the danger of voting against Louis Napoleon; for there can be no doubt the b a ll ot -b ox was l ea ky in a hundred ways, and the man who v enture d, h as to this day a lively proba- If iof finding him s ,if i s one wa y or o ther at Cayenne. had not it It is to b eentheßale hoped nobodywouldlot,there willhav beentreyto nroobtlle there minority at a Governme n t of its argument. Another weakness (though perhaps it may be defended c i f t a l c o o li i e d y s ) t he in the Minis* • the way f: h e t r i r e al justdistribu tionplanisteowna y t the score which if it were of the electoral power. Would° possible, e fo r instance, tha ho g should be made equal that of of o s i e cease every y n d c minority decreeing pbewaenry t h e majority by making each of its votes tell in the in verse proportion o f their number? But if t hi s woul d c l ear ly be absurd, where does the principle cease to be a b sur d? What is the point, at which a minority is to be conceded to be a minority, and no longer to be prop pe d by a factitious arrangement? The answer seems to be, that things as they are, must not be too violentl altered, and that unjust minorities must be le! down gently. Nobody doubts, in lam everybody avows, that the landed tin erest for in- • 'Lance, possesses an eaormous factitious power, which it desires to keep. But in spite of this, it is liking out grown by other interests; and this is perhaps a safer Course than rousing the resistance which would be con ziuent upon attacktree i t i n i ts s trongholds. There is use in demand in n to produce that will which be as wellg a vioproeduced e at, w ithout. Time, the equaliz is • , doing the work. On Tuesday lair, sh r d' Bill on Tenant Right, after a longarman Craw,or s discu- •cd to be brought in without a division. 'S °l' was all" I stn, Sir, your obedient servant, Blackheath, l l Feb. 1852 AN OLD REFORMER --- - MR. FEARGUS O'CONNOR AT THE LYCEUM. THEATRE. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. SIR,—In 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 charges' with creating a disturbance at the Lyceum Theatre. On the night in question I occupied a seat in the dress boxeb, nearly directly opposite to the one in which the eccentric M.P. was seated, :and, therefore, had an oppor turiity of knowing something of what actually occurred. Mr. F. O'Connor certainly conducted himself in a very eccentric manner, so far as gesticulat in g went, but yet, to my thinking, did not create such a disturbance as Policeman " A 17 " would make out. Mr. O'Connor acted as many a man of excitable tem othyvrweorefea! perament would act on listening to orchestral music, present raised the , and the although his gesticulation's were certainly vehement, by the P po r lt a m o a t n ' eulated rather to amuse than annoy the the bc yr ya far rf audience, c es e i a a m n e d , on a n h d i s not" being T ofurnpersonaremovedhi greater portion out." I cannot speak as to the blow given to the policeman, but I certainly did not h ear it, although, according to one witness's evide nce , t h e " slap could bo heard all over the house," I am no friend, and certailbly not an admirer, of Mr. O'Connor, nor did I know I.t was the worthy Member who was rendering himself ao conspicuous on Saturday evening, but I bear in mind the old adage of " giving the devil his due," and in that spirit beg to offer these few remarks for insertim i a your paper, if you deem them worthy of a place. I am, Sir, your very obedient servant, ONE. OF THE AUDIENCE. PAT PIGS.—The farm-r w ho.e Ogs were so lea n that it took two of them to m a k e a • - b n beaten shadow, has Pe. OXFORD, FED. 10.—Tlle Praalector of Logic will by another, who had several so thin that th would crawl through the cracks in their pen. o ' cloc k, and on Friday at oixe o'clock. meet his classes again on oh arsday next, at nine and one fua by tying knots in their tails,— Boston Bee. He finally stopped that WEDNESDAY SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS. FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF' THIS DAY. TlNlES.—lastead of the stormy and protracted debate which agieated two successive Parliaments can the ocea sisn-cf the last Reform Bill, the present bids fair to be thscussed as calmly as a Police or a B ee r 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 salient point is the enfranchisement of the 51. householders. On this proposal 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. Ho who said the other night that the 51. 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 51. 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 be either a revocation of the dangerous boon or vote by ballot; but which is the snore likely we 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 he has not the courage to disfranchise. We warn the public that a comparison of the proposed schedule with the map of English counties will disclose the grossest absurdities, not to say impossibilities. In some p a rts small boroughs lie 30 t hi c k t h at if th e y are decently augmented as proposed they will form con tinuous borough districts, and reduce the county pro perly so called, to a very inconsiderable area. Nay, in some instacces we do not see how the boroughs can be augmented, so small is the interval between them. If the new Parliamentary boroughs are made without re gard to the divisions of counties, then we have a great step towards equal electoral distri c t s , t o w hich 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 kroposed annexat i on 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. Bat, after all, when so many counties have a Lair claim to a larger share in the repre sentation, and also so many towns, will th ose two rea sonable demands be satisfied with the creation of hybrid coun ties or swollen towns, as people may ' please to describe miniature hs L b o e r t d w ;eon)) John counties andsays totilnts boroughs England does not nt boroughs.et having ascertained country. He fi n d s the wan t p towns, and that a re p resen t a tion confined to those t wo Species of consti tuency os would not adequately express the in terestss up supplied and d i n opinions cis wholly of counties and large this object, and found the p ro p er me ans applied in the existing small boroughs, b e p roceeds to alter •their cha racter altogether, and to c han g e that which exists into something which as yet can o nl y be i magined. In every small smaller of tthe aspect of the scheme we see only a superficial remedy and an ephemeral duration, and, accordingly, we cannot anticipate for the propose Bill even that degree of finality 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 o f 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 assurance to dignify W ith 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 changt s in the working details of our political life, it may b good, bad, or indifferent; but as an enlarged and amended Parliamentary Constitution for the British empire, carefully f ra med and pr etentiousl y an nounced by the First Minister of the Crown and the " leader of 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 and n arrow spirit. Years of elaborate trifling 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 agreat 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 which 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 w hi c h are quite as bad as St. Alban' 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 all of them were quite as great as in St. Albans. The only parties who will feel any gratitude to the Noble Lord for their enfranchisement, aro those in small boroughs, who see a reasonable chance of finding the franchise a marketable commodity. They will priz3 the electoral right for no other reason than that they hope to be able to turn a penny by it. Its value in their eyes will be measured by the money it will bring. Had the measure included the ballot, we might, notwithstanding its many defects, have deemed it worthy the acceptance of the country ; but without that accom paniment, it will be altogether worthless; and whatever amount of time the Legislature may devote to it, will be wholly wasted. As the measure now stands, it will be found, the moment it comes into °oration, should that moment ever arrive—a mockery en a a delusion. LAW INTELLIGENCE, COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH, Feb, 10. RETIREMENT OF MR JUST ICE PATTESON. In expectation of this event, there was from the first sitting of the Court not on l y a very large a ttendance of the members of the ba r , b ut also a cons id era bl e number of visitoro. The inconve n i ent court , w ith no proper mea ns of ingress and egress, and very few means o f ac commodation, soon became a prison to those who were i n it, and was literally wedged up with human bein. gs The back gallery of th e court was filled w i t h gentlemen, aaller d , and the side - was occupied almost entirely by ladies. So sincere was the desire to pay respect to the retiring judge that nut - Jahr:l. s remained standing in the court during the whol e of the day, maintaining with ~m , edable pertina c i ty the ,positions which they had fi rs t taken up. Mr. Justice Erie came in f rom the B a il C o urt, and took ni his seat on the bench. Sir Thomas Acland, Sir H. Inglis, and Mr. Napier, M.P., were also present. At the close of the ar guments in a mot i on f or a new trial, (Turning rose with him, and continued Gentleman was speaking-, rose, and the whole bar d standing while the Learned The ATTORNEY-GENERAL be half of my brethren of the bar address a few words to thesaid—My Lords, on see Learned Judge whom we all bar I claim permission to the bar Patteson, 1 am the last time upon the u»derstand that we no r , sorro w ar to convey to you our bench of this Court. that we see you for Judge, he proceeded)-_eur. .T. then to the Learned charged by my brethren at sincere regret and common the last time on that bench wherer°7 two years, you have occupied a , or now nearly twenty honour to yourself, and such uub seat with such infinite the prof, ssion. And, as we are :waded satisfaction to it may not be entirely unbecoming now about to lose you, wholly unwelcome to you to ree• in me to offer, nor the universal sense of the whel °lv u , the assurance of high and sacred duties of the profession, that the never more honestly or ably discharged office were during your whole judicial life. ged than we by you your memory will yet remain to Though lose you, proper position among those revered us, assuming its nify this place and this hall, and will names which dig not more for that vast and varied learningo cherished by us have profited and which all have admired h_ y which all untiring love of justice and truth, , than for that oppression and wrong, that unflinching that hatred of pose, that simplicity and singleness of integrity of pur benevolent kindness of nature, which leave heart, and that whether we should more revere t h e 'eave us in doubt man. You will carry into your judgeor love the and veneration, and the enduring attachment, retirement the respect member of the profession. We re j eie of every though the sense of one infirmity, and theto think that lest that should interfere with the perfect apprehension your duty, have made you withdraw fremt discharge of the vigour of your powers, you will long your office in impaired health, and long enjoy a ll the pleasuresremain in un We hope and pray that in that honourable of life. you have so well earned, you will enjoy longretirement happiness, and with full hearts we bid you years of and affectionate farewell. ulu you a respectful At the close of this address, which • delivered, the whole bar bowed in assent was . admirably Lord ship; but the strangers, who were not I fetteredo his rules of prote.sional decorum, expressed the by the by applause, as, indeed,t he y had d one more ir thanapproval during its delivery. Their appl ause _ once as soon as silence was restored, was checked, and Mr. Justice P ATTESON, who was much swered—Mr. Att orne y -General and affected, an bar, I receive with p roud satisfaction and gentlemenlofth with feeling' of Ihe deepest gratitude, this kind ar.d fistteri T ex presiion of your feelings. OF the entire sincerity what you have said I do not entertain a doubt, and though lam painfully conscious that the sentiments you nave expressed ire_ beyond . rvhat I have deserved, yet I shall n o t be guilty of the aftectalion .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 hint honestly, without ostentation, and independently, ho 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. I; 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 capa 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 bench, 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 urned the salutation, and the Court then broke up. BIRMINGHAM DISTRICT COURT OF BANKRUPTCY, Feb. 10. (Before Mr. Commissioner BALGUY.) TUE STOURBRIDGE AND BROMSGROVE BANNS. 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 ❑ulled, 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. Ntinshulf, and these proofs were now presented to the Court as against the estates of Messrs. Rufford and Wragge. Tho 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, but 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 (...bout 5,0000 should be set aside to meet the claims in full of certai❑ benefit societies, for whom it was contended that the bankrupts acted as treasurers. His Honour had recently decided that the societies were not entitled to receive their claims in full; and against that deci,ion 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. The 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 laghan; 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. Pyw, S. Osborn, H. Hannant, J. H. Craig, T. Clayton. APPOINTMENTS. Captain Kingcome, who commanded the Belleisle 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 Fervice 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 Simoon Assistant-Surgeons—James Whither to Greenwich Hospital, vice Domville promoted; Richard King to the Victory, flag-ship, Portsmouth. Second Master—F. B. Youel, to the Sinaoom. 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. _ _ _ FORTSMOUTII, 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, Indiaman, sailed to-day for Madras. SHEERNESS, MONDAY EVENING, FEZ. 9.—Her Majes ty's steam-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 carried away part of her forefoot. Her bowsprit was removed today, the new ono being nearly ready to be fitted. She is reported ready to be removed from the drydock into the basin by the 18th inst., bat it is not expected that she will bo complete in her fittings before the end of March. " -- Her iajesTyTship Horatio, 24, screw steam gua rd ship, Captain the Hon. S. T. Carnegie, has her top. masts fidded, and has commenced setting up her topmast rigging. Tho 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, c ontinuing 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 are 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 thapay 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 satisfectory manner, having obtained a high certificate of his knowl e dge of steam and the working of mar ine steam engines. NATIONAL M ELODIE S. —If we Burlington-street, m istake not the Messrs. Robert Cocks and Co., of New were foremost in bringing out the beautiful melodies of " Morceaux" for the Scotland and Ireland, arranged as drawing-room (by Vincent Wallace). That farm . (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,7by that . favourite com poser and pianist Brinley Richards. The title of this series is " Recollections of Wales." 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 composed two lovely romance s f or t h e piano-forte, full of po etr y though. without words. They are always heard with rapture, and Mpublic elicit repeated Angel'seate den cores. We allude to " The Vision" and T Song"—the latter of which sweetly interprets that unutter able thought of Longfellow— " Ye sounds so low and calm Tbat, in the groves of balm, Seemed to me like an Angel's psalm." THE R A wmAESLI COLLIERY RELIEF hPUND.—The fund collected for the widows and orphans of t e sufferers by the awful explosion at the Rawmarsh Colliery, on the 20th of December, has reached the large sum 2,400/. Of this 9 amount Sheffield alone has contributed Odol 2s. F weeklyromthis forfund vi it is in cont em p lation to allow to each 1 life, and 6d. per week for each child until 14 years of age. This will require a sum of 3,9001,, and the am ou nt collected, w i t h interest at 5 per cent . ,the deductions from the p r obable marriages of widows and provisi l o n n d w ill amply allow of this the deaths of children, , 1852 C:3TTRT CIRCU L,A WINDSOR, FEB. 10. The followieg were the additions to the Royal dinner rwty yeser,lay—hiir Ro) al Highness the Duchess of the Lady in W•:iting to her Royal highness, L'ldy France; Br Speth, the Earl of Hu!- Brix?, the Baroness grave, and Lien . tenaut-Colonel Francis Stsmour. I-I! , r Majesty's private band attended aft,r dinner in the Castle, awl performed the f , llowing compositions:— Overture "Marguerite de Anjou" ... Meyer beer. Qaartetto, Op. IS. Allegro me nun lento, Scherzo, A n d a nte, Minu?tto and Trio Allegro. Finale, 2 violins, viola, and Violoncello, Messrs. Sainton, Day, End, and 11. Chipp ..• ••• ••• ••• Beethoven. Romance, Chcear et Marche du Bo3af Apis "L' Enfant Prodigue" ..• •.• ••• Auber. The baud of the Royal Horse Guards performed a l'vfatinale 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 and pony ex ercise. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent arrived in town on Monday morning from her residence, Frogmore, near Windsor. Her Royal Highness visited the Duchess of Gloucester, 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 Buckingham Palace, will be holden this day at Windsor Castle, instead. Lord Rendlesham and a deputation had an interview with Lard John Russell yesterday, at his official resi dence in Downing -street. The Cambridge University Commission had a meeting yesterday, at the official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury, in Downing -street. Present, the Bishop of Chc ster, 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 UNITED STATES. (Extract of Letter.) CINCINNATI, JAN. 23, 1852.—The winter in the United States is unprecedented in the memory of the oldest inhabitauts-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 hero 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 ROSSI:ITT:CS SUITE. " Otsego,' the Washingt on correspon d ent o f t h e 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 fire hundred thou sand dollars could be raised, and ten hundred thousand men. If Kossuth relied on these promises, he will cer tainly bi disappointed. Daniel Webster will not be President. Ile is too clever. MR. FEARGUS CONA OR, y.P. T'ne Hon. MeaTberforNotiinghani, whosias removed, ' pursuant to his sentence, to Coldbath-fields Prison in the ordinary criminals' van on Monday night, watt re ceived by the officer o n d u ty, an d the charge against him duly entered. Shortly after his entrance, however, the necessary search of his person was commenced; but 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 the gaol were com plied with. Mr. Chesterton was soon iu attenclatice, 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 iu York Castle, where he had been treated as a gentleman, and as be 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 ho 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 he could make 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 cf 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 deprivati,n 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 r e p resen t a tion of Perth, vacant by the appointment of the Right Hon. Mr. Fox Maule to the Presidency of the India Board, took place here to-day, on a hustings erected in front of the County-buildings. M. Maule Caine forward to ask for a renewal of the suf fiages 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 CRA.WFORD appeared on the hustings precisely at 12 o'clock. and read the writ and the Act against bri bery end 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. Mr. 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. Menlo 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 (lit idend will be 2s. 60 a share, leaNing about 1,300/ to t 3 carried to the c.' rent half-year's moon - The ditidend for the year 1851 w;ll therefore be 4s. 6c' , 2e. for the year 1850. SOUTH-WESTERN.--The forthcorring report of the as compared with directors will contain the arnouncement, that 10,000/. f..om the revenue account has been put to a reset ye account, in order to pay for the extra cerriages required for the extraordinary traffic of 1851, and for such other wants as may arise; and also that ;attire additions to the main and completed liles, for sicungs or stations, or any fat Cher expenditure ttiercou, sPpa from the shag be charged to revenue, and liqvidated in t1:0 awns not be opened way as has atready been established for the roPin g stm ii . _Railway Times. GREAT NORTHERN.--0 W. ing to Cal ta:l EXETER.—The promoters of this lat 3 wet weather, the Great Northern vv;" y s T , E i if they. DORCHESTER beDfooreßclEa I , ne have proposed to the South-West, them 40 per cent. of the excess of -ra board to r"ow traffic of 1852 brought on the South-Western I "affie over the South-Western to give them 02e,„ Westein o ne, the in Parliament for obtp'ning ea Actsupport and it - Alliance shareholders individurli, to recommend their , to take aid to dovetail the working 'cA she-es in the said line, coast line. of the; tra i ts - r RAILWA s cA N N D .ll -------- ING ER OTHOREDR B S I . LLS ON SHR EWSBURY AND BIRMINGHAM RAlLWAY.—Yester day the standing orders ß were complied with in the case opening, and workin of this company ' s Stour Valleyviniggattit=teaSptaittailoni Rail way, Bi r m and i the use lollf, theto authotise the completion,h t?n, and o ° f lve th r e a N mP a - - n i t n o s ß to ir c nl k inghau3' NEWMARKET RAILWAY.—The standing orders were declared and for convert not complied with in this case, to make altera t'-onst and to construct a new lino between Newmarket and Bury St. Edmunds. The non -compliances were slight miscalculations in the financial declaration of the 1 funds in the company's possession. LONDONDERRY AND ENNISKILLEN RAILWAY.—The standing orders were complied with for the Bill to ex tend the line to Enniskillen, and other works, at a cat of 152,0001. LONDON AND COLERAINE RAILWAY—AIso in this case, for subscription towards construction of bridge over river Foyle, and other objects. NEW RIVER COMPANY. —The standing orders were complied with in the case of this company's Bill, for proposed new works, and arrangements with the river Lee trustees. The following Bills also complied:—Londonderry Bridg, Ul v erstone Waterworks, Ikley Waterworks, 1 British' E m pire Mutual Life Insurance, and Stockton I Extension and Improvement. The offices of Paymaster-General and Vi d e nt of the Board of Trad e h ave b een o ff ere d to and accepted by Lord Stanley of Alderl e y, w h o i n th e year 1841 filled the office of Paymaster-G enera l . ce-Presi- • , • THE SIGNALS AND SIGiVALE; An important concession has lately teen made by &h - South-Eastern Railway CL mpany on the ropresentaiiona of the. Astronomer Roy a/, for the catablishnint of eft,e tricol communication between the Royal Obsetvatory at Greenwiel , , and the London-bridge Railway Tereninus,; - -- - t;'; Th.• subject has, for a considerable time. eng ed the at- 1.4 i tendon of Mr. Airy and Mr. Charles W a lk er, the tele . grAph engineer of the South-Eastern Railway Company. and their plans are now matured. The operation for erectiow the wires have commenced this week, and will very rhut fly be • completed. Wires are to be laid underground from the Roy al Observatory to the Lewisham station by the Electric Telegraph Company, and thence to Londo❑ . along the line of rail way by the South-Eastern Railway Company. From 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 are— I. To transmit Greenwich time and corrected time to and from the clock at the New Houses of Parliament, and the Royal Exchange. 2. To transmit Greenwich time throughout the king dom by the various lines of electric telegraph. 3. To compare the transits of stars at Greenwich with the same at Paris. The transmission of time signals will be automatic; n b a e l t o agreed Shepherd' s e l ectr i c c l ocks will be placed i n t h e R oya l Ob servatory, in c on j unct i on w i th an automat i c appara t us t o certain limoto the willsig be appended t o th e c l ocks at the various stations. Wi t h respect icl u e p w o n, Douses til . l th of adjustment Parliament, a Greenwich will be made accordingly. There will be a permanent electric circuit maintained between West minster and Greenwich, broken only at the clock at Greenwich, and in three places: one of these breaks is completed every minute, ono 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, tho signal which then passes will be the true time required, and it will be made accurate to 1-20th of a second. In the first in 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 " too fast," and the other for " 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 ti me . 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 bo provided with special Wheels and studs. A cer tain hour will be determined on for transmitting time to Dover for example, and about fifty cr 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 and at all other stations on the same wire. The Green wich contact will be instantaneous, but that at London will remain a few seconds longer, always allowing a margin for the variation ef the ordinary clocks. As the Greenwich wire is taken off the Dover wire, it will be placed in contact automatically with the Lothbury wire, where a clock may be fitted with contacts corresponding to such lines of railway and such towns or stations as may require the time signals. The transits of stars at the two observatories at Greenwich and at Paris will be ocesoienally compared in the following manner. The old mode of Doting 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. Tne connexion will be either made by baud 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 aces the star in contact with the wires in the transit in strument, the fingers Pia press a stud; and in another room of the Observatory an clectro-magnetic record of the time will have been accurately and permanently im pressed en a revolving cylinder. Mr. Airy at Greenwich, and M. fir ge at Paris, will thus be able to fix a time when the eye of cech shall be directed to the same star at the same time; and signal to each other us each wire is passed; the comparison of times will give them the relative lonjtude of the re spective places, and will assist them in the solutkn of other problems. We can scarcely overrate the importance of these 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 Reyai Observatory, so long the standard of reference for mean time, w ill be visible, so to speak, throughout the land; and the ma riner at the most distant parts of the coast—wherever, indeed, the net work 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 companies will find the advantage of these arrangements, for they will have Greenwich time " at their fingers' ends," and will really be able to keep uni - form time. HEAVY GALE, AND EXTRAORDINARY HIGH TIDE. Yesterday morning it blew a very strong gale from the N.N.E., accompanied with a driving snow-storm, 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 volume 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, sweeps with rapidity up the river Hoogley, than the natural flow of the tide iu an European river. At this time the 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 anchors, and drove a considerable distance before they could be brought up again, and not then in some cases without letting go a second anchor. At three-quarters flood the w ater had nearly attained the height u t 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 Med.way, the sea beat over the embankments with such violence as to inundate completely the marshes and other low grounds in the vicinity. In London, more espe cially on the south bank of the river, a good deal o f damage has been sustained, in consequence of the base ments of several houses adjacent to i the Thames bein g and at low water lulled o verflowed; fortunately , however, t was nearly day l;gbt, or else the destruction of property must hav e b een itemense, as some streets ttiat he low we i re. under water. breeze,fel l t he b g u a t l e a s s u t b h s e i daef afternoon tide made it h a d again increased to a fresh gale, alt h ou g h not s o violent es that of the mor nin g , and, , rnoon notwithstanding that the twithstandin g to As a the strong d te evening tide was unusually high, f; - , did not threaten either destruction or damage to property: THE CATASTROPHE AT HOLAIFIRTIL On Mon-ad A v three other bodi es , one that of a girl, end • the two others the bodies of youths, were discovered. The [5 . 7' - I was fOl•nd in a milldam at Hol m fi rt h ; t h e two ot h er bodies were picked up at Dalton, Car.laer down the river. They had not y e t b een i dentified. A me2t ' ag wa s held at Huddersfield the same evening, presided over by Mr. Brook, of At mitage-mills, who had en Saturday subscribed 5001, in a;cl of the survivi ng su ff e rers by the calamity, end whose worltpeople have sub scribed 102/. At this meeting the sum of 1,6001., raised on Saturday, was increased to with'n 601. of 5,0001. A series of resolutions were oassed, expressing s3Japathy with the sufferers, out decluving that, while a subactiption might be raised hero to relieve pressing necessities,any loci effort would be q u ' te inadequate to meet tho case.woud l A en h d o t p h e ei w r a g s en th er er o e u f s or a e id e . xp m re r s . se lv d . t L hat u o r t o h o e k r vos to t;st a ttee n ed s tllat a young lady had been to the clothing t e 4 m for clothing fur a family, who she said up occur rence of this accident were worth upv_ve n r e d w t3o o t and Mr. Joseph Charlesworth, who k that the EPrl corroborated the statement It was stated bute, and we P'so of Dartmouth had promised to cont i . rton,, Independent f he lo l , a ol3 o o il / y ! lenta that the Rev. John ? d ie d ii,smcotongt:hee gati.en on Sunday, and sent frfolmfirth. The subscription li::v. Mr. Mactarlene, 0 - mir;ster at Huddersfield, rris it f 2n o o r l. among dstrih u h t at liolmfirth has been increased to 1,0501. LAUNCH OF ANOTHER STEAItI-SHIP. The rapid progress wbich has taken place of late rani in ocean steam net igation was strikingly illus trated yeiterday in the launch f:om Mr. Patterson's yard, at Bristol, of tne fine steam-ship America, originally in tended to have been called the Witch. This beautiful vessel was plrined and designed by Mr. William Mot gan,of Clifton, many yeas the csinsult;ng engineer and naval archioct to the Austrian Lloyd's Staam Company. She was bc;lt by Mr. Patterson (whose renown as a ulti mately is well known), under the e alive superinten dence of Captain Morgan, originall y - a s the likewise firer of a p m a a n t y e I , y of qW w a h e ie d h b le t i h s e t the con tracted for Mr. G. Braine, R v;i N th"t e h n e d vi v ei s s :o r i f g ig a ti t il i eg o i n : g Eastern Steam a line of steamers intended to accelerate the communica tion between Europe and the East. riCCP,lltly the vessel N a vigation Company, by has been treTißforred to Mr, Joseph Dimon, director of the Eastern Steam Schtea9irtumea4 whom she will be held for the purposes either of the same company or those of the Austrian Lloyd's, as oc casion m a y require. The America has been visited during her construction by n?any cn em• ent engineers. khipbuiltlers, end otbe h r as wqellt m . t characters and seimen, by whom she been uni uniformly awarded the palm for beauty of modtl and for a rata strength combination of gre at ..and corapi.ra five lightness. Th ese quali,les, combined with her unusually even lines, make all parties interested in look forward with confidence to her p rov i ng unri hercd among sea-goi ng . steamers for speed and other good qualities. .._lot.r engines have oscillatingconstructed by Miller, R e venhill, and Salkeld on the prin c iple, with the feathering paddle-wheels, known as Morgan's paddle - wh - ell," and they will ' erected be in t h e vessel in the floating hart: ir at Bristol. — i The vessel was named by Miss Edlesan, and the launch was wit , i nessed by many thousands of sp'c:a:ors. On Saturday Lord Cranworth'h Bill was printed to amend the Municipal Corporations Act, wish respect to pro prietors of newspaper s i nsertino • corporations. Th ey are to be saved penalties, and not to be disqualified from corporation offices by reason of such adver tisements. em 40' ere U V