The Sun. — London, England, 1846-01-26 00:00:00

TH E SUN, LON DON rbirb ambition SUN OFFICE, Seven o'Clock. WATERFORD AND KILKENNY RAILWAY COMPANY.—(THIS DAY.) A special general meeting of the Shareholders of this Company was held this day, at the Hall of Commerce, for the purpose of taking into consideration the subject of the proposed extension of lines of railway in connexion with this Company. The CHAIRMAN (Pierce Butler, Esq., M.P.) said, that the object of the meeting was sufficiently stated in the adver tisement of the meeting, so that nothing further remained for him to refer to than the propositions that would be submitted to them. Though it might be travelling out of the way as far as techni calities was concerned, it would be interesting for him to state that he had just arrived from the scene of action. He had been in company with the contractor (Mr. Wright) at that portion of the line which formed the first con tract, and had considerable satisfaction in stating to them that that portion of the line was very promising.-- ( Hear.) Some cottages had been levelled to the ground, proper compensation having been made to the possessors; and he was happy also to state that there was a sufficient quantity of timber to complete that portion of the contract.—(Hear.) There existed an ill feeling among the labouring por tion of the community through which the hue passed, who were very desirous of being emploved on'the work, so that there was nothing like combina tion among them to be apprehended. It would he a matter of congratulation for them to consider that that very speculation would give employment to the po pulation, as well as be -very remun e ra ti ve . They would feel a satisfaction in knowins that it would go a long way towards mitigating the distress that would be occasioned by the failure of the po tato crops in Ireland. To come to another point, he wou l d say that whenever calls were made on shareholders they had a right to del - nand from the directors the reason of the same, and the mode in which such were to be applied.—(Hear, hear.) The calls for 51. per share had caused some animadversion, but the Object of that de mand was, that they (the Directors) were anxious to pro ceed with the works as soon as possible.—(Hear.) Under these circumstances, they had determined to call a meeting. Sir R. Peel had selected to-day to lay down his plan with respect to railways, but whatever that plan might be, he conceived it would not affect the speculation to any ex tent. The engineer of the Company would lay down the plans and sections. The SECRETARY read the notice convening the meeting, and then read the plan of the propo se d ex t ens i ons T he first was from Kilkenny to Carlow, the next from Kilkenny to Clonmel, the sections and plans for which would be shortly arranged, and it would rest with the Committee whether the same should be proceeded with instanter or postponed till next session. The next line was from Kilkenny to Galway, which was an independent Company, and in which the Directors advised the shareholders to take shares to the amount of 50,0001. Amicable arrangements existed between that Com pally and the Cork and Waterford Railway Company. Mr. Hours proposed a resolution, that having the va rious plans and sections, they should empower the Directors to carry the same into effect, and to oppose any railways which might be in opposition to the interests of this Company. Mr. RICHARDSON seconded the resolution. Mr: TITHE said he wished to ask a question with respect to that experiment en what was called the wood line. What were the intentions of the Company towards the patentees of that plan ? The CHAIRMAN—There was no understanding with their company on the subject. It was merely to be tested for six miles. Mr. EMERY said it was a contract between the patentees and the Company. Mr. Trrim said he wished to know if the experiment failed whether or not the chief expense was to be borne by the patentees ? Mr. Emmy—Certainly. Mr. TITHE " said that his reason for asking the question was that they were aware of the difficulty that existed in carrying out those changes. Some companies in that country (England) had found a great difficulty in making those changes. If their line were an integeal one, it would be another thing, and before giving the Directors such powers as they now sought, he conceived it would be desirable that they should give some further explanations. The CHAIRMAN having read the clause in the Act of Par liament which enabled them to make such alterations as they considered were required, Captain Moasore said that the objections against the ex tension were quite a mistake. Not having been called on till very lately by the Directors, he was not conversant with the details of the Water. ford and Kilkenny Railway. He understood that Mr. Prosser was to bear a proper proportion of the expense of the experiment, and the Company another. They must consider the question involved in this agree ment. In the first instance, the expense of n iron railway was 2,0001., but the whole expense of the wooden part was about 5001.; there would, therefore, be an expense of 2,5001. per mile, and the greater portion was applicable to an iron railway. Their would be no change in the gauges, and there would be only twelve tiers of wheels required. Mr.TrrwE said he was very much obligedfor the clear ex planation given by the engineer. He did not possess any knowledge of the matter, and he was merely actuated in asking these questions by a desire to obtain full information. He was aware that on the line from Guildford to Working the difficulty between the Companies respecting the wooden rail had been surmounted, but would that be the case in the present instance ? He would wish to ask the chairman a few questions respecting the different lines he had named, The CHAIRMAN, in reply to these questions, said that the extent of the Kilkenny and Carlow line was 18 miles (Irish), or 22 and a fraction miles (English), while the parent line was 37 miles in length, of which the cost was 150,000/. The length of the Kilkenny and Clonmel was about 26 miles, and of the Kilkenny and Galway 70 English miles. There was considerable opposition with respect to the Care low and Kilkenny line. Some years ago there was a Com pany, called the Great Leinster, which had obtained an Act of Parliament. For some years they had given up the prospect, but finding there was money to be made, they thought it better to revive the speculation, and to take that portion from Kilkenny to Carlow. He believed they intended to go before Parliament and to offer opposition to their line, and he believed that they (the Kilkenny and Waterford Company) could oppose them with success. Mr. Trrne said he was not acting in concert with any other party, but merely from his own suggestions. He could understand that the line (which was a smaller one) would hex profitable speculation if it were carried out. Mr. EMERY said there were five companies anxious to obtain their line, Which showed its value. They established a communication with the Kilkenny and Dublin, which was the only line between Waterford and Dublin. Mr. CAPPINGER said that he wished to know, in the event of that independent Company failing to obtain their Act, whether they should, also suffer ? The CHAIRMAN having answered in the negative, a long discussion ensued, which terminated in a resolution, to the effect that they should take shares in the Kilkenny and Gal way Company to the extent of 50,0004 and interest them selves in that Company. It was then unanimously agreed that the Company should adjourn till next Saturday, at one o'clock. EXCITEQUER.—(THIS DAY.) (Continued from our Afternoon Edition.) IMPORTANT TO SHAREHOLDERS AND THE STOCK EXCHANGE. YOUNG V. SMITH. This was an action of debt for work and labour done by the plaintiff, as a stock broker, for the defendant, by the sale and purchase of shares in a number of railway companies, including the Churnet Valley, the Direct Noathern, the Armagh, Coleraine, and Portrush, and the Enniskillen and Neerry Companies, to which the de fendant had pleaded that the companies had not been duly and completely registered, in accordance with the provisions of the Joint-Stock Companies Act, upon which the plaintiff had raised a demurrer, denying that railway companies were liable to the provisions of tha Joint-Stock Companies Act, alluded to in the plea. Mr. Jeavis now appeared to support the plea in op position to the demurrer. He commenced his argument by informing the Court that the case involved a point of considerable importance to the railway world, upon which the opinion of the whole profession was com pletely divided, and both the bar and the railway world were looking for the decision of the Court upon it with the utmost interest. The action was brought by the plaintiff, who was a stock-broker, to recover a sum of money for work and labour done in the buying and selling of railway scrip, but the defendant alleged that the Company had not been completely registered in accordance with the Joint-Stock Companies Act, and this made sales and purchases in their shares not only null and void, but rendered the shareholders selling them liable to a penalty. Their Lordships would find that the first clause of the Joint Stock Companies Act re ferred to the powers of shareholders in joint-stock companies, and that the shareholders of all companies, formed or commenced after the Ist of November, 1844, were prohibited from selling their shares until complete registration should be effected ; but companies, su c h as railway companies, who require an Act of Parliament to enable them to carry on their objects, were exempt from ' the operations of this provision, except in certain cases to be afterwards mentioned. Now, it would appear from that part of the Act, that a railway company was slot liable to this prohibition ; but if their Lordships would just turn to the 26th section of the Act they would see that th e p ena lti es imposed on parties for railway shares In companies not completely registered were applicable turilwal as well as every other joint-stock company, except a banking company, and this as well as other provisions i n t h e Act, was sufficient justification of the plea which his client had placed upon the record. It was difficult, from the contradictory terms of the Act, to ascertain wh a t was the real meaning of the Legislature, a nd he confessed thatti-iehinterpretation clause threw little or no light upon the subject. Mr. Baron ALDERSON rema t. rked that the greatest evil of modern legislatn,n was the • rpretation clause o f an Act of Parliament, which preventedlnte the Legislature f ro m explaining in precise words what its in ean n i g n l g ish wa s s o . It was like having an inter p ret er who spoke t bad that it was more difficult to understand the inter preter than the othe r . Mr. JER VIS admitted that his Lordship's objections were well founded, but he thought the Act wai suffi ciently explicit to show that all companies, except bank ing Companies , must be compl,aely registered bef ore their shares could become marketable. Mr. MARTIN, on the other side, contended that rail way companies were exempted from the prohibitory provisions of the Act. The Act only required that a railway company should be provisionally registered, and did not require it to be completely registered before the shareholders could be at liberty to dispose of their shares. The Loan CHIEF BARON, in giving the judgment of the Court, said that Mr. Martin had put two proposi tions to the Court, both of which he had established. It the apps clear to him (the Lord Chief Baron) that 26th section of the Joint-Stock Companies Act, did not a pply to a railway company. It was highly satis factory to be able t o say that they knew the intention of the Legislature in .passing the Act, and that the mean ing of the 26th section was the meaning the Legislature in tended to put on the 2d r thattion. It seem e d to hi m (th e L e rd clear Chief Baron) quite registration h e operation of this Act as regards complete re to railtwn a d penalties for sale of shares did not extend this a c e o t iti o p u. anies, and therefore there was ne defence to Mr. Baron ALDERSON and Mr. Baron PLATT con curred with the Lord Chief Baron, and the pleas of the defendant were declared demurrable. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. (THIS EVENING.) HOUSE OF LORDS. Their Lordships assembled at half-past four o'clock. CORN-LAWS. The Earl of RADNOR, presented several petitions against the corn-laws. The Earl of CLARENDON presented a petition from the Chamber of Commerce of Manchester, praying that all duties on articles of food may be abolished. ANSWER TO Tilt ADDRESS. The LORD CHANCELLOR then read from the Woolsack her Majesty's answer to the Address pre sented from th.:llouv,e of Peers, which was as follows : I receive wish satisfaction your loyal and dutiful Ad dress and rely with confidence on your constant desire to co-operate with me in my endeavour to promote the happiness of my people. 01: the motion of the Duke of WELLINGTON her Majesly's most gracious answer was ordered to be in serted on the journals of the House. LAND REGISTRATION. Lord CAMPBELL then asked leave to lay on the table of the House a 'Bill for the purpose of establishing a general system of registration of land. He would then merely move that it be read a first, and he would de ter the second reading until the exciting questions which at present pressed on the attention of th e i r L or d s hip s had been disposed of. But as soon as those questions were settled, he should lose no time in proposing its second reading. The Bill seas then road a first time. CORN-LA WS. The Duke of RICHMOND rose to present to their Lordships' House twenty-eight petitions from places in Kent ; from Kelso, in Roxburgh ; from Alford, in Aberdeenshire ; one of them signed by 977 tenants and tenant labourers in the county of Sussex ; also from Yorkshire ; from the Isle of Thanet; from Derbyshire, from Somerset, and other . places. In presenting these petitions, and in stating his intentions to support their prayer, he begged to state to their Lordships that the petitioners hoped and trusted that their Lordships would consent tono alteration in the present corn-laws, and, whatever might happen else where, that their Lordships would not consent to such alteration until they first appealed to the constituency to test whether they had changed their opiaions on this subject. He still would wish to keep inviolate the com pact entered into with the agriculturist in 1842, and he hoped that their Lordships would not permit themselves to be intimidated by the Anti-Corn-Law League or their emissaries. LORD DEVON presented similar petitions from the county of Devon. The DUKE of RICHMOND wished to ask the noble Duke (the Duke of Wellington) if he had received her Majesty's permission to state to the House the reasons for her Majesty's ministers resignation, and for their again accepting (Ace? The Duke of WELLINGTON begged to inquire whether the Noble Duke intended to ask any further questions ?—(Laughter). The Duk , ; of RICHMOND replied that he theught it would be more convenient to the House if, instead of making a speech, he contented himself by asking a ques tion, as he was sure the House would be anxious to know the grounds that led to the resignation of the Ministry, and also to know the grounds upon which a Government which declared itself one day un able to go on, undertook the Government of the country in ten days afterwards. The Duke of WELLINGTON—I beg to state, in answer to my Noble Friend's question, that in making the statement I am about to do I can only answer positively for myself and for my own motives. I shall, however, state to the House what generally passed in her Majesty's Councils. In doing so, I may have to detain your Lordships for a few moments, but you may rely upon it I shall keep you for the shortest possible time. ]Sly Lords, when accounts were received from Ireland, and from different parts of Great Britain, of the state of the potatoe crop, in the course of the last autumn, and of the consequences likely to rest.lt from this failure in different parts of the country, my Right Honourable Friend at the head of the Government considered it his duty to call together his colleagues in order to take into consi deration the various reports that had been received. My Right Hon. Friend called his colleagues together, and having laid before them the reports I have alluded to, made to them a certain proposition for the adoption of measures which he considered necessary her Majesty's Government should adopt, in order to avoid or medy the evils likely to occur in his opinion in consequence of this misfortune. One of the measures suggested to my Right Hon. Friend was, that her Majesty's Ministers should recommend, by an Order in Council, to suspend the operation of the existing corn-laws, so as to open the ports for the admission of corn duty free. My Lords, it is not necessary that I should discuss the motives stated, or the grounds on which that recommendation was founded, I was one of those who considered that it was unneces sary to adopt that measure. I considered that a mis fortune had undoubtedly occurred, which had the effect of depriving millions, I may say, of a large portion of provisions upon which they relied for food. But still there was a fair supply of foed in the country. It was my opinion arrangements should be made similar to those made in former years for finding employment for the people and for finding meant of rewarding them for that em ployment. And, my Lords, beside that, it appeared to rue that the existing corn-laws made provision for throwing open the ports, should that measure be deem ed necessary.—(Hear, hear.) That law enacted, that when the price of wheat or grain should reach such an amount as that there should appear to be a deficiency or want, then the law provided that grain should be admitted at a nominal duty.—(Hear, hear.) Under these circumstances I judged it necessary to suspend those laws, 4 and upon that ground It was that I objected to that proposition. At the same time I was most anxious that the Government shculd adopt measures immediately to form a commission in Ireland, and instruct that commission as to the measures to be adopted for giving employment to the people, and for procuring food for them, and for rewarding them in payment of that employment, and all those:measures which, on former occasions, have been found to be bene ficial and effectual. My Lords, I believe that all these measures had been adopted on former occasions. They are not new to the public servants in this country, they have been effectually adopted. My Lords, in the course of the discussion on this mea sure, it was intimated that a suspension of the corn laws might endanger a renewal of that measure, or that it might be necessary to make a very essential altera tion of it. My Right Honourable Friend inti mated his opinion of the necessity of making an essential alteration in the corn-laws. I be lieve every one thinks now that some alteration is necessary—an alteration in certain points was necessary, and was now admitted by all.—(Hear, hear.) It was necessary to make an essential alteration in the existing laws. Many Members expressed a strong difference of opinion on the subject. As for my part, I was eertainly of opinion that it was necessary to make an alteration in the corn laws. Bet My Lords, I confess that in my opposition, I considered that a division in the Cabinet might endanger the safety of the Government itself, and having served in England for more than fifty years in high places, I considered it my duty to endeavour to do all in my power to reconcile the difference of opinion amongst my colleagues. to preserve a Government which enjoyed the confidence of the Sovereign, of the people, and, t o a great extent, the confidence f both Houses of Parliament. I consi dered it my duty to make every effort to recon cile the differences of opinion, as the best ser vice I could render to my Sovereign.—(Hear.) In this attempt I did succeed. The result was that I advised my colleague to tender to her Majesty his re signation, and to recommend her to form a new Cabinet. My Lords, it was necessary after his again taking office, to come down to this House and advise Parliament to make some alteration in the corn-laws. But previous to his informing her Ma jesty of the difference of opinion in the Cabinet, I strongly advised my Hon. Colleague to tender his re signation, after first asking her whether he would be allowed to make any alteration in those laws. The great difference, however, among +my colleagues made me of opinion that it would be better for him to resign his office under the cir , cumstances. All the members of the Cabinet were of the same opinion I know I was. My Hon. Friend followed the advice of the members of the Government, land he tendered-his resignation to her Majesty, and advised her to form a new Cabinet. Her Majesty asked a Noble Lord to form a new Administration, bnt that Noble Lord did not succeed, and the consequence was that her Majesty asked his Hon. Friend at the head of the Cabinet to remain in office. My colleague wrote to me informing me of her m a j es ty's wishes, and then it became neces sary for us to act nnder the circumstances. and iney Hon. Colleague having been of opinion that au alteration of the corn-laws was necessary, several mem bers of the Cabinet agreed with him in that opinion. I do not say that all were of the same opinion, but this I do know, that a great number of them were, and myself among them. I came to the resolution that let what would happen I should support him most cordially, and I am of the same resolution still. LORDS SUM MARY The Lords met to-day at Half-past Four o'Clock. Prayers were read by the Bishop of ELY. The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the Wool sack at Five o'Cluelc. Chamber of CommerceDo f N presented a petition from the The Earl of CLAaEN duties in America with o Manchester , praying that the The LORD foreignCllANCELLOßi,brought Majesty tes mightup her b e Majesty'sremoved. answer to the Address. o r i elie lo r on ity their thanked their Lordships fur their assurances attachment , to the Crown, ad and continued desire to promote n the an d contentment of the people. happines s Lord CAMPBELL laid on their Lordships table a Bill, for the purpose of, p romotin g a g eneral re g istra t i on on land. The measure was read a first time, the Noble Lord observing that he would not move its second reading until the existing measures now to be brought forwlrd were ditipt.,,d ii:', The Duke of Iticumosn, in presenting petitions in favour of the corn-laws, expressed his hope that Parlia ment would not make any alteration with respect to those laws without an appeal being made to the people He was convinced their Lordsqips would not be intimi dated by the hired emissaries of the Corn Law League. The Duke of RICHMOND then, in pursuance of the notice he had given, asked the Duke of WELLINGTON the causes that had led to the late resignations in the Ministry, and their reasons for accepting office again, pledged to carry out the same measures that had caused their resignations ? The Duke of WELLINGTON said that he had received her MAJRSTY'S permission ,to state what had occurred. He wished, however, to know whether the Noble Duke had any further questions to ask ? The Duke of RICHMOND was anxious to know the grounds which had led to the late resignations. The Duke of WELLINGTON then went into a state ment of the causes which had led to the resignation of himself and Sir R. PEEL, and the rest of the Ministry; the calling upon Lord J. RUSSELL to form a Ministry, and the failure of that Noble Lord to accomplish the task. The Noble Duke confessed that at first he was strongly impressed with the conviction that the p ()- position to open the ports was not necessary, and th At alterations in the corn-laws were not necessary. Upon the question being brought before the Members of the Government, great alterations of opinion existed, and the result was, the determination of Sir R. PEEL to resign—a course which he strongly advocated. That resigcation, as was vs ell known, took place. A Neb:e Lord had been sent for by her Majesty, to form a Gvernment, in which he failed; and upon Sir R. PEEL being sent for again, ho (the Duke of WELLINGTON) considered it his duty to his Sovereign and his country, from whom he had received so many marks of favour, whatever his opinions might be, not to leave his SOVEREIGN in the predicament of meeting her Par_ liament without a Ministry. The Duke of BUCKINGHAM thought their Lordships ought to know why those who had been called upon to form a free trade Government had failed in their task. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE did not feel called upon to enter into all the reasons that h2.d led to the failure of his Noble Friend, the Member for the City of London, to form a Ministry, after the explanation that had taken placed elsewhere. He had, after great consideration, been convinced that the retaining of the corn-laws in their present shape was impossible. The Duke of WELLINGTON said that upon being asked whether he would form a Government upon the principle of maintaining the corn•laws as they at present existed, he declined doing so, believing it impossible. He trusted the House would wait till they had heard what the measures of his Right Hon. Friend were, and not at tempt to conjecture them. After some further observations from several Noble Peers, the subject then dropped, and the House then adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS. The SPEAKER tcok the Chair at Four o'Clock. ANSWER TO THE ADDRESS. The SPEAKER—I have to inform this House that the House waited upon her Majesty on Saturday last, a hen she was pleased to return the following gracious reply : "I receive with satisfaction your loyal and dutiful Address, and I rely with confidence on your support in carrying out the measures about to be proposed to promote the welfare of my people." NEW WRIT FOR rHE BOROUGH OF RIPON. Mr. YOUNG moved that a new writ be issued for the borough of Riron, in room of Mr. T. B. C. Smith, who had accepted the office of Master of the Rolls for Ireland. CORN-LAWS AND THE LEAGUE. Mr. OCTAVIUS DUNCOMBE presented several petitions from the North Riding of Yorkshire in favour of protection to agriculture, and they prayed that some means might be taken to prevent the wholesale manu facture of votes by the Anti-Corn-law League. An HoN. MEMBER presented a petition from 870 oc cupiers of land, to the amount of 104,674 acres, in the county of Leicester, praying the House to uphold the corn-laws, or at least to appeal to the opinions of the country before adopting any system of free trade. Mr. HOWARD ELPHINSTONE presented ' a pe tition, sigma by upwardss of 3,000 persons, from the city of Westminster, against the corn-laws. ASHBURTON AND DEVON RAILWAY. An HON. MEMBER presented a petition, praying for leave to bring in a Bill to construct a railway from Ash burton to Devon. MANCHESTER AND SALFORD WATER WORKS. Mr. BROTHERTON presented a petition from the Manchester and Salford Water-works Company, praying for leave to bring in their Bill. Mr. G. BAN KES presented a petition from the borough and town of Wareham, and from the Isle of Penbeck, in the county of Dorset, praying for a continu ance of the present system of protection to agriculture. boRN-tAws. Mr. BOUVERIE presented a petition from the borough of Reading in favour of the abolition of the corn-laws. Mr. B. ESCOTT presented several petitions from Somerset against the corn laws, and in favour of the re moval of all restrictions on the importation of foreign food. RAILWAY BILLS. Several petitions were presented by Hon. Members in favour of the North Kent and other railway Bills. NOTICES OF MOTION. Lord DUNCAN gave notice of his intention, on th e 20th of February, to move for a Committee of the whole House, with a view to the repeal of the window taxes. Dr. BOWRING ga% e notice of his intention on a future day, to move for certain returns, showing the effect of commercial restrictions on the exports and im ports of the Isle of Man. Mr. HUTT gave notice of his intention to move, on a certain day, a resolution respecting the Excise Laws. Mr. BROTHERTON moved for a return of the number and names of the persons summoned for offences against the Factory Acts, between the Ist day of January 1845 and the Ist day of January 1846; specifyiug the date of the conviction or hearing, the place of hearing; by whom each conviction was made; the offence in each case; and the manner in which the penalties and costs were appropriated ; also, a summary of the to•al number of informations and convictions, and the amount of penalties and costs. Mr.WODEHOUSE moved for a return, in continuation of previous returns, showing' the highest and lowest prices of corn in this country for a period of several years past, and comparing them with the prices of corn in every other county in Europe. The Hun. Gentleman said this return would extend the aggregate returns over a period of 150 years. Dint ON FIRE INSURANCES. Colonel SIBTHORP said he regretted very much that the returns for which had moved during the lost session, respecting the amount of duties received by Govern ment on fire insurances, had not been presen'ed to the .House.—(Hear, hear.) He begged to state that he would renew the motion on that subject during the pre sent session. THE NAVAL RETIREMENT. Admiral DUNDAS wished to know what had been done by the Government with respect to the number of naval captains who were anxious to retire from service ? Mr. CORRY, the Secretary to the Admiralty, said that the number of captains who had applied to be dis charged did not justify the Government in carrying out the intentions which they had held on this head, but satisfactory arrangements would be entered into as soon tut possible. COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY. Mr. CARI)WELL moved that the whole House re solve itself into a Committee of Supply. Sir THOMAS FREMANTLE moved that a grant of 50,0001 be made for the purposes of carrying out public works in Ireland. Sir H. W. BARRON said that such a sum would be for the purpose but as a drop of water was to the ocean. Sir T. FREMANTLE said that that sum would not be expended unless a similar sum was levied to meet and further the same objects. Mr. WILLIAMS wished to ask the Right lion. Ba ronet whether they would take the usual securities for the repayment of sums raised for the purposes of public works in Ireland. Sir THOMAS FREMANTLE observed that the present sum was to be an absolute grant, but that there were other sums which would be lent upon loan. The Irish loans had always been very punctually paid. The Government were willing to afford every facility j for the carrying out of these works. Colonel SIBTHORP said he did not wish things to be done in the dark. How was this money to be applied? Was it to be given for the furtherance of that job of all jobs, the Shannon Harbour ? He should like to know whether the 50,0001. now proposed was to be in addi tion to the sum which was already granted. Sir T.FREMANTLE replied that the sum now pro posed was in addition to what was already granted. The former grants were nearly exhausted, and it became neces sary to vote the present amount to carry the works on. It was necessary, however, for Honourable Members not to in clude sums which were loans with these which were grants. Mr. HUME wished to ask the Right Hon. Baronet at the head of the Government whether it was to bo re cognised as a principle that the public money was to be given away for the employ ment of the people? The question at present for their consideration was, for what purpose the money was to be applied ? He doubted whether any good had ever resulted from any former grants which had. been voted for a similar purpose. He decidedly protested, therefore, against any money being given for the employment of the poor, when other causes were allowed to exist which prevented that employment. In England and Scotland every man was employed, and there was no necessity for votes of public money; but in Ireland this was not the case. He could attribute such a state of things to nothing else but bad legislation and misgovernment. He really feared that by granting the money without inquiry into the causes which led to the want of employment, they would be lending themselves to perpetuate that state of t doh h tiad i d n e g trh s be w eye h ne i c e h t a arose pmpleikde , out graa of nedt s t th h ee e i rstprotestede e k. misgovernment. port again Paisley,st W hy .thande Imperial h plae e s. Parliament_ l e di dn o voting o k t i n n o g w how thi3 the former money t s _ah out inquiring ibto the eriiii l e e s r,f of the want g of ran el t n o P n ki" th in a t t 'at grou ll ud e ; P' f " o t r " h te e d. ' cons i d ' p w l o h y e mr where ni it d district r g i e a t considered it rinst ld th be e I affirming a pernicious principle, unless it wa t s w t o h u ought at Coto l a e w o a n y every a su m occasionot. money of a scarcity for t he d to es v ir o existed. 1,1 t MONDAY _EVEN] NG, JANITARY 26, 1846. Sir ROBERT PEEL begged to assure the Hon. Mem ber that any information. upon the subject he had men tioned which it was in his power to give, should be freely granted. With regard to the grant in question, he would also beg to assure the Hon. Member that her Ma jesty's Government were resolved to take care that it should not be expended otherwise than in the pro motion of public works ; and when the time came, every information as to the manner in which this sum should be expended would be freely given. —(Hear.) But. with reference to the past, it would be remembered that former Governments had the discre tionary power to make grants of this nature, while they did not consider themselves liable to be called upon for a disclosure of the manner in which it had been ex pended. For several years past it had been the habit of Government to vote sums of money fur public works, and surely the present was the last year in which such a proposition ought to be opposed.—( Hear.) Mr. lIUME said he would not have made the ob servations that had just fallen from him, but for the fact that he had in his possession returns with regard to the manner in which public grants to Ireland had been applied, that were sufficient to remove all confidence rcont his mind as to the future management of this expenditure —(Hear, hear.) He remembered when distress was great in Ireland that a grant from Go vernment was given, and a large sum besides was sub scribed by the British public, a very large portion of which went to pay rents to landlords.--(Hear, hear.) However, after the assurances of the Right lion. Ba re et, be would not oppose the motion. Sir 11. W. BARRON said he only regretted that this sum was so small.—(A laugh.) Gentlemen might laugh, but he would ask was this a time, when millions of people were starving in that country, to be haggling about some paltry fifty thousaad pounds ?—(Hear, hear.) And when he stood up, was he then to be met by a laugh.--(Hear, hear.) He would say that this was a paltry sum, when it was borne in mind the awful state of Ireland at present, where thou sands and hundreds of thousands had at that moment no other resource or dependence than the Government of the country, and the charity of their neighbours. — (He ar, hear.) He stated this under the solemn conviction of the fact, and as the result of his own personal experi ence and inquiry in the counties he was connected with. He was told that the people of Ireland were net to be considered, because such a step (lid not agree with the axioms of political economy. lie could only say, that it was bad economy to haggle about such a paltry sum, and he for one only objected to the smallness of it. He hoped at some future time to hear her Majesty's Minis ter come down to the House and demand that the people of Ireland should receive more effectual as sistance. Mr. WILLIAMS - said that he was sorry that he had appeared to his friend unwilling to allow any assistance to the people of Ireland, as he wa;, and always would be, the last man to hinder any such mea sure. Ile was as anxious as any man to see dis tress in Ireland provided against, but he thougth that there were means of avoiding it by inTroducing some measure that would afford the same security to life and property in Ireland as there was in this kingdom. By that means there would be a gicater inducement for capitalists to make an outlay of money in that part of the empire. He knew that Ireland was as capable of improvement as any part of the United Kingdom, and afforded as good opportunities of securing money to account, and he hoped that means would be taken to in troduce that peace and confidence which was so essen tially necessary to its welfare. Lord CLEMENTS begged leave to find fault with some expressions that had fallen from the Hoy. Gentleman, who appeared to forget, or to pay very little attention to facts. Ho forgot that a vast number of Irish landed proprietors were living in England and paying income-tax on revenues derived from Ireland ; and as that fact could not be disputed, could he object to a small portion of the tax being returned to the people of Ireland? There was little or no reason to suppose that such money would not he applied to the end for wlich it was bestowed. Nothing on the part of her Majesty's Government led to the supposition that any portion of the grant was to be laid out on public works. Vast sums of money had already been laid out on works of that kind ; but the grant now sought for was to be applied to works which were to be reproductive. Dr. BOWRING said that the Hon. Member who had just sat down did not seem to understand the objection of his Hon. Friend (Mr. Williams), who only wanted some security that the money would be applied to the purposes for which it was sought. It was necessary that some guarantee should be given respecting the proper application of the grant. He (Dr. Bowring) would offer his cordial support to any measure calcu lated to improve the condition of Ireland, only it was his duty to know that it was properly applied. With this explanation he would not offer any impediment to the grant. every reduction from the total amount of railway plans deposited at the Board of Trade, namely, 813, and from the 20,000 miles of new lines whioh they comprise. After making every reduction from the num ber of merely rival schemes, and from the number which will not pass the ordeal of the House of Commons, or that will fall them from other causes, I think there will certainly be such a number of plans left as to make it almost totaily impos sible for Committees of this House, bearing in mind the other important business that will have to be considered to devote that proper attention to them which their extent and importance demand.— (Hear, hear ) At all evente, it will be of the greatest importance to devote due and proper attention to them in the present year. Now it may be said, if the House of Commons cannot dispose of its business we ought to con , Sider whether part of it could not be submitted to some other tribunal, but I think it is a great and impor tant question, whether or no we will permit or encou rage so large an application of capital towards these railway undertakings—whether it is consistent with the public advantage—whether it will conduce to the best interests of society, or really conducive indeed to the satisfactory carrying on of the railway system.—(Hear, hear.) Ir. peat I should be more willing to encourage the application of capital to British railway enterprises rather than to foreign undertakings, but as for the advantage of sound railway enterprises, that such an enormous amount of capital should at once be abs sorbed by them? I doubt it.—(Hear, hear.) I doubt whether it would not be discouraging, rather than holding out encouragement to legitimate railway schemes, for I think it probable that in consequence of the severe com petition which would be created by the great and ex traordinary demand for labour, and in the great rising of prices which the application of such an amount of ca pital would occasion, the progress of the railway system would he considerably retarded, and I doubt whether some.. of the estimates would not be found greatly inade quate for the completion of tile undertakings themselves I certainly think that it would not be for the benefit of the public that so great an amount of capital diverted from the natural courses for the formation of railways, and I am of opinion that so extraordinary a demand as has been made on money for railway purposes should tneen with the encouragement of this House.—(Hear.) But as I said before her Majesty's Government has thought that it was better that the sanction of Parliament should be necessary, and for that purpose, it is my inten tion to move that a Parliamentary Committee, composed of men whose opinions will be entitled to the highest respect should be appointed whose duty it shall be to inquire into the merits of the schemes which shall occupy our future consideration. The plans of all the lines, as the House will be aware, have been depo sited, and they have been classified under different heads, and the plans which relate to the completion of existing lines have also been arranged ; for instance, where a line between the metropolis and a distant part of the country is now incomplete, either from there being avoid or from some part of it not yet finished, these plans, I say, are classified under a different head, and those of other descriptions are classified under other heads. Under another head are classed railways connected with the internal defence of the ceuntry.• The Committee will, therefore, be spared much labour which might have been necessary if no previous preparation had been made, I trust, therefore, that the House will approve of the proposal with whi sh I shall conclude, namely, that a Select Committee shall be appointed, for the purpose of considering what course shall he taken with railwie) s proposed to be submitted to the House during the present session. I propose that the Committee that shall be appointed shall make re ports to this House from time to time of the result of their labours, and the conclusions which they shall have arrived at. The Right Hon. Baronet then concluded his speech by moving the appointment of the Committee. Mr. GISBORNE observed that he very much feared that the decision of the Committee would meet with no more respeot than those of the Board of Trade did last year. He doubted very much whether the amount of money which would be subscribed for carrying out these undertakings would de pend on the decision of that House. He wauld give them a case in point. ,About fourteen or fifteen years ago the Manchester Rail way Company started their project. It was opposed on all sides, but notwithstanding the public opposition, Par liament decided that it ought to be made, and although a Bill was passed to enable the Company to carry out their designs, that rail way was never made. He was very sorry that the Right Hon. Gentleman thought that interference was at all necessary. He was under the opinion that the amount of capital invested in these projects would wholly depend upon the state of the money and labour market. Upon them it would certainly depend what would be the amount of railways finally carried into ope ration. He had never heard a more meagre explanation. He wished to know if the report of the Standing Orders Committee, and the other Committees, would be sus , pended till the Committee now preposed came to a de cision. Sir R. PEEL,who spoke in a very low tone of voice,was understood to say that the the report of the Committee was be made in sufficient time to prevent any of these in conveniences which the Hon. Gentleman alluded to, and the report of the committee on the standing orders need not be suspended. Sir GEORGE GREY said that on this committee depended the most important results. He also consi dered it desirable that there should be a tribunal of the kind just referred to for the purpose of obtaining a record of the facts which were to be ultimately sub mitted to the House. This would prevent the great ex pense of bringing witnesses up to London, and the work would be much better done. Sir ROBERT INGLIS said, that some better mode of proceeding should be Adopted than that pur sued last session ; for oftentimes Gentlemen, after sitting for a most protracted period could come to no decision which gave even themselves satisfaction. There would be three times as much work this session as there was last, even if only one-half of the projected lines were brought forward, and six times as much if they were all brought forward. He agreed in the suggestions made for au ambulatory tribunal, for he considered that 31. out of the 41. now spent would be saved if the investigation took place on the spot. on those grounds then he trusted that the Government would afford the House some further opportunity of con sidering the question before they came to a decision upon the mode in which they were in future to legislate upon it, and the rule by which railway committees were hence forward to be conducted. Mr. CHARLES BULLER said he looked upon this matter as one of so great importance, that he would make no apology, even at this period of the evening, for addressing a few observations to the House upon the subject,. He trusted that the question of the railway management would be brought under the con side ration of the House at a period when a comprehensive plan for a more perfect system could be taken into consideration. It should be recol lected that the act of appointing railway committees was in - fact transferring the jurisdiction of the House, and that was an act to which great importance ought to be attached, and great attention given to it before it was done.—(Hear, hear.) He could not but believe that if the House were to follow the proposal made by the two Hon. Members who had preceded him, it would be in terfering very materially with the authority of this House.—(Hear, hear, and cheers.) The mode of forming election committees was a very different matter, and bore no analogy to this ; but with regard to railway committee, he would say, that if the House were to give up its authority to the Government on the question, it would be parting with what he would all his local autho• rity.—(Hear, hear.) A short time since, some gentle men waited upon him to request he would in terest himself in a railway about to be made in the neighbourhood of Liskaird ; but he told them he could not interest himself in any way, in consequence of being the Member for the town. Every question in which local interests were concerned are by the present system transferred to people strange to the country, and who had little or nothing to do with its interests. He said that Parliament should delegate its authority to a committee of its own body. They would not be bound by the report of that committee, but they would pay great attention to its proceedings; and such a body would help to give information, and the final judgment might be reserved for the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Such a body would be better able, from Its experience to take into considertion every question that came before it. On considering the case as it was at present, it appeared preposterous that two inquiries should be made en the same question—one in the Com mons and one in the Lords. The House of Lords was not so essentially different from the Commons, that the whole question decided by the Commons should be gone through again before the Lords. SUMMARY: The SPEAKER took the chair at Four o'clock, and re ported to the House that her Majesty had been phased to receive the Address, and had returned a most gra cious answer to the same. A new writ was moved for Ripon, in the room of Mr. T. B. C. Smith, who had accepted the office of Master of the Rolls in Ireland. Several peti.ions having been presented, among others, one by Mr. OCTAVIUS DUNCOMBE from the North Hiding of Yorkshire, to prevent the wholesale manufacture of votes; and various notices of motion having been given, and certain unopposed returns having been moved for and agreed to, Mr. CORRY, in reply to a question on the subject of the naval retirement, said that the number of captains who had accepted of the retirement was not sufficient to enable the Admiralty to carry out the plan, but that the subject was still under consideration. The House then resolved itself into Committee of Supply, for the purpose of voting a supply to her Ma jesty for the navy. The House having resumed, again resolved itself into a Committee of Supply, for the purpose of voting a grant of 50,0001. for public works im Ireland. In answer to Sir H. W. BARRON, Sir T. FREMANThE stated that it was his inten tion to bring in a Bill in the course of the week for facilitating the building of harbours in Ireland and to propose an additional grant for that purpose. I a(I . Colonel S IBTIIO RP asked if this 50,000/, was in d LE in_ addition to the h sumsna°- don to what bad been already voted, and if the to have any more votes for that job of all y jobs, were the Shannon Harbour. ai, b id o Ay u N r T . Sir voted, which we re n said it was a vote nearly y exhausted. He begged the Hon. Member not to conf use l oans w i th g rants. a n Mr. TlumE asked the Right Hon. Baronet of the Cs'overnment t wl ie ti la ,"b ) this at the held twitt“.l th • pririoipie tii:,t poblie yaa employment for the people. e protested li""" against any money being given under the plea of employing the people when there wer© which prey other causes in operation ented the people from bein g e P° m 1 ed. If money were granted to Ireland,[why not to Stock port vs Paisley? He wished to know bow the former grants had been employed. Sir R. PEEL would give every information with re spect to the appropriation of trust grants, and he assured the Hon. Gentleman that nothing was further from the intention of the Government than to expend this grant ID the promotion of private interests. For several years grants had been proposed for public works in Ireland, and he should not think during this year of discontinuing the practice. A full account would be rendered by the expenditure of the grant. Mr. HUME objected to the public money being appro priated to the payment of rents to the Irish landlords, as had been the case in former instances. Sir H. BARRON thought this was not a time to haggle about 50,0001, when famine was imminent in Ire land, and hundreds of thousands in that country were depen dent upon charity. Mr. WILLI/um .'as as anxious as any one to alleviate the distress of Ireland, but that could only he done by doing justice to that country, and not by grants of public money. Lord CLEMENTS denied that England was taxed for Ireland. Many Irish proprietors resident in England paid the In some-tax, their income being derived entirely from Ireland. Dr. BOWRING thought his Hon. Friends were misunder stood—they doubted whether the grant would relieve the misery of Ireland. The grant was then agreed to, and the House resumed. RAILWAY LEGISLATION. Sir R. PEEL then rose to call the attention of the House to the number of railway plans, and to suggest to the House what the Government considered the best method of dealing with railway legislation. Considering the serious difficulties of the subject, he thought it best to move for a Select Committee to con sider the subject, the Government being ready to suggest to the Committee what they considered the best method to be pursued. In 1844,48 Railway Bills passed. In 1845 188 Railway Bills received the sanction of Parliament; and a capital of fifty millions was authorised to be raised, extending over a period of three years. Within the last two years there had been sanctioned the levy of a sum of nearly seventy millions, for railway projects. Thus, in 1846, a sum of twenty six millions 1847, 23,000,0001., and 1848, 18,000,0001., would have to be raised for railway purposes. The sum of 23,540,0001- to be applied in one year for railway purposes was a large drain on the capital of the country. During the present year the number of English railway plans deposited were 606, of Scotch, 121, and of Irish, 88. Many were rival schemes, and many others could not be proceeded with, but the number which would be brought forward would far exceed the number brought forward at any former period. They involved the con struction of 20,687 miles of new railway, requiring a capital of 50,000,0001. sterling. It would be impossible to appropriate such an amount of capital without the greatest inconvenience. It was, therefore, necessary Id lay down regulations for the guidance of railway h gislation. He bad the greatest objection to the interference of legislation with pri vate enterprise. After making every deduction for failures, he thought that there would be such a num ber of plans that it would be impossible for Parliament to consider the whole of them. It was also a matter of consideration whether it was for the public advantage to devote so large an amount of capital to the pro motion of rail say enterprise at once.. The consequence of the serious competition would be that the estimates for those railways would be ex ceeded. He greatly doubted whether the power of the House would enable them to make proper inquiries into each scheme, and whether it would be 'for the public advantage to create such a great demand for labour, and such a great division of capital. That, however, was for the consideration of the Committee. A map had been prepared showing the proposed lines, and the different schemes had been classified under proper .heads. These would be laid before the Committee. They had been classified into direct metropolitan lines—lines required for public purposes, and lines for defence or coast lines. He trusted the House would agree to the appointment of a Committee to report from time to time, and that the matter would be left in their hands. The Right Hon. Baronet concluded by moving fur the appointment of the Committee. Mr. GISBORNE was not satisfied as to the grounds on which the Committee was moved for. The House would not be in a position to decide without better information; besides, what was to be done with regard to the standing orders ? Sir R. PEEL did not consider it necessary to propose ' any alteration in the standing orders, for he hoped the Committee would make an early report. Sir G. GREY thought it would be better to suspend proceedings before the Standing Orders' Committee until this Con mittee should have trade its report. He thought it would be desirable to refer the investigation, as to matters of fact, such as traffic-tables, to some tribunal out of the House, reserving to the House the power of coming to a final adjudication. Sir R. Islosas believed it physically impossible for the Members of that House to give proper attention to these Bills. He thought that an ambulatory tribunal should be appointed to investigate facts. Mr. C. BULLER considered that some better tribunal should be appointed than a Parliamentary Committee for the consideration of railway matters. All influence was taken away from local Members, and Parliament, by the present system, delegated its authority to a Committee, by the decision of which it was not bound. Why should not the same authority for inquiry be delegated to a commission? In that case an inquiry would be suffi dent, and it was preposterous that there should be two inquiries into facts before two Committees of tot o Howes. It was a waste of time for each House to go through that same process of inquiry into the same facts. It would be much better that one inquiry should be out of the House by a commission.. After a Member had served upon a railway Committee, and he acquired some knowledge of the subject, he was turned loose upon society, and other Mem bers employed who had again to learn their business. A commission, composed of men au fait in railway matters, would get through the busi ness in one third of the time. The House was now de prived of the advantage of the reports of the Board of Trade as to engineering matters. The Objection to the Board of Trade was, that they could not inquire into other matters ; and he thought it would be much better to transfer those inquiries to a commission out of the House ; and if the salaries of those commissioners were to be paid by the promoters of railway Bills, he thought those promoters would be glad to umede to such a propo sition as a measure of economy. Col. SIBTHORP thought all commissions jobs, and he proposed that to avoid improper expenditure of public money, these commissions, if appointed, should be paid by the job, and not by the day. • Mr. HUDSON suggested to the Right Hon. Baronet that there were two ordeals through which these railway pro jects ought to pass before they were submitted to the Committee which he proposed. It should first be ascer tained that they had made the necessary deposits, and , secondly, that they were in a condition to comply with the standing orders.—(Hear, hear.) Hewas not under the same alarm as the Right Hon. Baronet as to the diffi culty of making the necessary deposits. Wherever lines were required for the public he doubted not but the money would be found to complete them, provided the money was not sent abroad to purchase South American bonds or foreign grain. —(Loud cheers.) He thought there were defects in that position of the Railway Committees of the House ; but he had always respected their decisions, and was prepared to abide by them. He was quite certain that the business might be got through to the satisfaction of the public and the ho nour of the House. [LEFT SPEARING.] THE QUEEN'S SPEECH.—A DIFFICULTYSOL VED. There is in her Majesty's speech a p assage of great im port, the exact purport of whi c h, h owever, has given rise to some discussion, and considerable speculation. Her Majesty, after an allusion t o th e failure of the po tato crop in Ireland, says, " I h ave adopted all such precautions as it was in my power to adopt for the pur pose of alleviating the sufferings which may be caused by this calamity." The nature of those precautions has, it is believed, now been ascertained here There are off e the port of Cork 30,00 0 quarters of Indian which are understood t o f orm a portion of 100,000 quarters which have b een or d ered by the British government for the relief of the Irish people—a proof that her Majesty and her mi n i sters have not been altogether insensible to the threatened destitution and starvation of the poor of Ir eland.—Manchester Guardian. ACCIDENT TO LORD ISIOSTYN.—This venerable and venerated nobleman met, we deeply regret to state, on Sa turday last, with a most serious acciden', whilst engaged in that manly sport, of which his Lordship is well known to be kwarm patron and active participator. He was, as usual, amongst the foremast in the chase, and close at the death of poor Ileynard, when the horse stumbled and pitched his Lordship over head, rolling over him and kicking him se verely. We are, however, glad to state that no bcnes are broken, and that his Lordship, though much mangled, is, owing to the native vigour of his constitution, not only out of danger, but rapidly convalescent. The inquiries at Peng wern, of he neighbouring gentry, during the course of the eek, were mot numerous.—Carnareini Herald. Native industry petitions have been circulated in the South of Devon with more vigour than success. The conviction exists among the farmers that the settle ment of the question is the only benefit to them that can be looked for. They know that farmers have not grown rich under the corn-laws, and that the labourer has bocome depressed.— Western Timex, N x ILK 1:1.,.; I TON.-----\ , ti it, i s Mr. +•,!•:• kt) ;., in Opposition to th e D u k e ' s no approaching el etion, minee, in order to give his friends an opportunity of recording their votes in his favour ; and if the elec• tors will but be true to themselves, they will beat the nominee. We heartily wish they may.--IY9ttimglians Norm. , RISCA COLLIERY EXPLOSIOI4 (From the MonmouthAit e Merlin.) FURTHEIt PARTICULARS. , Ic tfaa Since our last account of the appalling oeeurr ---e ' l it most commendable exertions, day and night, ahn e- ,, without intermission, were continued, for the purr.; of removing from the fatal pit, t h e seven remaining 7 /0 tiros, who were known to be still in the workings. ~,e the course of Friday the bodies of Isaac Bryant, I% Barfield. and George Barfield, jun., were found, an° " - iii spectacle they presented was piteous and affeeti e g o f the extreme. The father, actuated by the feelinga,,, paternal affection, strong even in the a gonies °f death' paternal firmly clasped his son in his arms, in whic h }) ot tic'u they were found. They had worked in differiew stalls, arid at the first alarm of the direful explosi%ira poor :lad ran to his father, who, alas, could affordthey, no succour.; and overcome by the noxious gas. /j oy sunk in death together. "If he must die 1111 w ily, wrapt in. his 1" The deplorable fate of this fs,, 0 whose pious life and blameless conduct had g ained ''', e o f much respect, is one of the most melunchol) fined''' this dreonful calamity. The remains of Isaac 9 0 ,tich were placed in a coffin, and laid beiween thes n .,, os , contained the bodies of his two sons—three de l " ! 1- cottage 1 h el lea The coroner, accompanied by the jury, that -I' s i g ur empannelled on the previous day, met again ° II " P e day, to view the bod:tes found up to that period., ...,, 0 . spectacle was quite revolting. Decomposition hod 'Li r menced its defacing ravagPs, whilst the wretehea '; ut tives, in the anguish of a1m0,,,t broken hearts, Or tering lamentations. ,„,hicb. On Saturday night, during the sJitary hours Ti ll , o ild distressing cries were occasionally hatirdi-,ei— Jame fearfully, on the winds, the corpses of is..lan•L' -v-l b ja t .i - Gullock, and James Lane, were brough: ng; i li ca s ; efforts to find that of George Curtis failed, tim:l;ete l l' evening, when this, the last of the thirty-d"f : „* .il x 'IT: was an brought to the top of the shaft, placed P' . ., -- 5 ,1 i); dconveyed to the church, in order toe e siell,e r the coroner and jury, which duty took pc e I , ° „ 40 °. day, and the inquest was then adjourned to for the he li t :, February next, The churchyard, prepared ° ne t rto,, torment of the numerous dead, presented an aPr n i' 4 ifo_gi somewhat resembling a ploughed field, so e t h e- c i• sal' lay the upturned sods; and on Saturday, the thirteen victitns of the destroying blast were Jai" - 9 , 1 graves—one was borne to rest in his native towe,',hola' bridge. The many-coffined grave yard was s ad to 7irg leaner We learn, from authority on which we place ell ' n o' , ance, that within the last three months, pendieghsich!c: portant butineas arrangement, the colliery in , w ,,, e a r dreadful a . 10... s of human life has just taken 1)11'-ipto' carefully inspected by an eminent suriniot, l e l ', d, ooanced by him to be properly and safely ve nti ' 3 e EDUCATION AND GAOL oC • 41 PLINE IN AMERICA. ci , Y eP tlie The following observations were last week a , 0 , „. by Mr. G. 11. Vernon, M.P., to the grand jor? ri ajtO , ; East Retford sessions:—" gentlemen of the gr b ' ee t 01 1, —On the last occasion when it would he: Li a fee: province to have presided here, I was di au 8 ,0 03 ;„ doing so from my then being engaged in re e ' l l7e bc ' t j what extensive tour in America. 1 mu; not t,: r r oi ' a tio i 0 ever, as an idler, but as one seeking all the ° 1 Tbere. o , could obtain during the shortness of my stsi' ri tte ol ; one subject which I think deserves our seriont., seek ,), as members of the English community. T I ra el i bi di resolves itself into two points; first, the mann er a i :0 3 ' d , education is conducted; and secondly, thermal' . , - s i t rilli their gaols and penitentiaries are managed. I t 1 ' to w e e r that, in a comparatively new country, educatiete o ne:, common phrase) has gone so much ahead of t e r c lsc, country, and that particularly amongst the I ° W e i t teolof where every man feels ashamed who has Do ha ke re , and where every man who is educated f e els A s i, t,1', 01 , committing a crime. In our own country there tia,lii, judice against going ahead in education ; and ill pt' s e 6 mediate neighbourhood a foolish prejudic e : ip g ing amongst the middle classes against be v- 1 00 0 if children educated where the children of the rio i; io classes receive their education. But in Aul o iele t ir totally different. I had, during my stay in Pe i c hol 9 o f an opportunity of visiting one of the largest k s iic ire%, establishments In that city, and I found that ab o ut „i. all classes, not only in that city, but throngPtol,roi whole state of Pennsylvania, were ; there congrerig o,6hilt were all taking an education in common, not b, e .; of 0 , A hat were the circumstances or situations ill 1' thel of respective parents, or what churches or chaPe ls o bjec c ) tended, but all seemed bent upon attaining the, sec- 0 which they were sent, that of a sound a n d e f e tee s l education, to fit them for their respective ceding after life. I found many of these youths e';' f oli, t . acute, and put several questions to them, a ll C :0 id :Di were answered in a surprising manner ; a nd 'O4lO of quiry, after a lengthened examination, as self i l l young man was who had acquitted "";" tbicilll best in the establishment, I was answere., i d was the son of the lamplighter of the sit o. ls 0 0 respect to the management of their r_ 0 0 0 1, .penetentiaries, I find that they have established P o , r 0 of discipline and correction which is working 133 . e of T O mirably, and this is to be found in the decreasneete:# offenders under confinement. The prison I l es p r o5 1) , ( 11 capable of holding 700 prisoners ; and a few P t isti` 01 the averege number confined was about 600, be or sy,° e ,i, these have dwindled down to about an ti.l'i Dili 350. I inquired, in the various states villicil' A a ll ot whether the same system was adopted, an'e 0 ( variably told that it was, and that with 1 . - pt° if results. Education, going hand in hand will ilig,4 discipline, must produce results which are not Ob e r o e( desirable, but which must in time lead to a aeee °t t, better state of society in general. There is %all/ benefit in America-which cannot always be 'o4"d 15 and that is, plenty of labour. Now, when ,lev",,i, gets out of gaol, and after having suffered 0 0 10 for his crime which the law awards, he ultimo of" grates to another state where his former e01 1 . ,,"'" fee: c ol and his crimes are unknown, and where he ejriiref,ai his character by folio .sing a different course 0 ',.. a what he had previously done where his crime s° him out. A LLOYD'S SHIPPING. vl r FORTUNATE ESCAPES FROM SEIIPIVR,E.g eo p# ARKLOW AND BLACKWATER BA-L'7 1 ,1 1 h e During the last week two vessels had hairbrea-,,alcir of being wrecked on the banks, when not a soul l c ' ,or been saved to tell their fate. € r oal I V The brig Lady Mary, of Dublin, Scott, master , .- j ;jor h of pool to Trinidad, with general cargo, put ila e bie,V," leaky, having got on the Arklow ank in the is o°2'll rainy weather, so dangerous to navigation At t' ,:ell' P hOl ° She struck violently, and was miraculously P_„r e i,vlL'lll i being lifted with a tremendous su r f over the h' l " .. . W ar loss of rudder ; had she drawn a few feet I' o ° l ' A of' would never have come off except in atoms. iOn (t The brig James Reid, Alexander Robinson, °- t rue-, from Liverpo o l t o M ar i c h a b o , w ith genera l carge , , l3 rt iee the Blackwater Bank at night, and was equally 1 0 ° ote r 2 her preservation without damage, although the d ry sured the writer, hope had almost vanished. a° 1. % ° !,l This bank is most dangerous, as there must be wile ~, which carries vessels on it in dark winter nightt r e !,,.tee lights are seen and therefore a lig ht plated u,,`" ify save many poor fellows and valuable ships lost e" . " —Cork Examiner. isi lti AWFUL OCCURRENCE Q — T - 0 0 AT ~PAXTON.-- -- ~41-6 , 1 last the Rev. W..H. George, rector of the above, j ' a 1 6 Y tered his pulpit with the intention of preac h j iil. 1, sermon on the death of one of his parishioners; ' - `" te gril, livered the following singular text, from Eccles 0 , 4 6 0 f " Then shall the dust return to the earth as it vo l , Oc s ' V; spirit shall return unto God who gave it" he P 410 1 017 comment upon it for about five minutes, when P toe JOets purpose dividing my subject into two parts,'' i le ytlf a ri l, upon uttering this sentence he reeled, and fell be n 4 ,. 0 1 0) the steps of the pulpit. Several persons sitting ' I , e i j iol , h , diately came to his assistance ; they remove d , ,vit'", adopted various remedies for his restoration , b u t ", c ol )° teft effect ; he never spoke afterwards, and expired i 0 ,`;see' re:, An inquest was held on the body before W. Iv ',„*, j"''ir t Esq., Deputy-Coroner, on the 18th inst., when t i ',, - d '' A r turned a verdict of " Died by the visitation of '''„ 2 - . sg e ' 0 deceased, who was much respected, is 50 yelire'; DO 5 has left a disconselate widow and family to deploy 10' den loss.—Somerset County Herold. i , the 0 4 SOUTH DEVON.—The incessant rains °' y° 0 few days have done considerable damage to t h r e at wheats in hilly situations by was hi ng the ea r of r e from the roots. The extraordinary - niilde es- iel h e a rl weather has baffled the chronicle of that ke e :, "J''', 1 corder of rare occurrences, the oldest inbabittl- s ' is not a man in. Devon who remembers su ch / season so long c o n ti nue d . — W estern Ti mes . rjr 4 P . o, THE LEAGUE QUARTER OF A MILLIO ea# 3 ,oo! • The subscripti ons rece i ve d s i nce our l as t in ti e- 0 1 ' 2 ' Yt total amount to 80,536/. Thi s i s exc l us ive of l - r e e .. -6 t ,10 subscribed at the f un d mee ti ng a t Oldham, vt:i 3 e n s is 0 4 was the aggregate amount of the s u bscripto l g ' i joP h er , room. The subscripti o n s a t C oa lb roo kdale ; '-ifoO r , 2,0671.; these at Preston, Lancashire, 2,3004-'4 01 A ter Guardian. bi o- 0 13v POTATO DISEASE.—A meeting of the Par' s th e 0 6 Liscarrol was held in the parish chapel on Strode; ford, inst., (at which the Rev. William Golden presiclo:,,c) "do purpose of ascertaining the probable amount of !Woe f t ier• to the potato crop in that locality ; and to transit i thoL l e, stance of the information derived to the pro Per t h e " ' 1- re' The accounts given of the gradual progress of t he 1; 0 . were truly appaling, and, to judge from analog: I' k if / pects are gloomy, desponding, and deplorable.- -( '' 1•111111MIMMOINIMMI1•11.1. of rt ' BIRTHS. 00 - idi On the 20th inst., in New-street, - Spring-gardens , 90 0 0 Todd, of a daughter. ~.„..0111, v itf On the 19th Inst., at Denmark-hill, the lady of - (11 , E sqdaughter. rfireli' r 0, On the 21st inst., in Albion-road, Holloway, preln a- 1 0 o. of Charles Claridge, Esq., of a daughter, still-born- lad , o f ' ...„/ On the 22d inst., at Milner-square, Islington, the of a daughter. ______ / ..g a' MARRIED. 60 31 . 1(0 1!" On the 21st inst., at St. James's, Westminster, SiglicloP of ~n 4 Bologna, to Laura Eliza, second daughter of the W e eac c esi Esq., of Maize-hill, Clreenwichark. On the 22d inst., at Twineham Rectory, Richard, o° oo o * s o Edward Vincent, Esq., of Stratford, Essex, to Louisa 4096‘4,0,90.4, daughter of the late Hon. General St. John, of Chola , - jor- s tee l ' On the 22d inst., at St. James's Church, riccadillYierite Webb, of Monk Slierborne, Hants, to Miss Mulle d, of St. James's. 0 0 0 1 DIED. 00 2 " i'. fa ' On the'sth inst., at Monkrigg, near Ha ddi n gton, a fa, Keith, Captain, Royal Navy, aged 46. honl eWAr On the 20th ult., on board the Reward, on the , Dip. peo from Jamaica, James Barclay, Esq., Captain of thall,,ae, De ft On the 15th inst., at Edinburgh, Alexander GI ' * god Su Lodge, near Lanark, aged 64. A CoP ti'iri 10' On the 26th inst., at Coln Lodge, Twickenhan-' - p r. Cockerill, formerly of the 67th, aged 71. re lict of D or On the 21st inst., at Basingstoke, Hants, An n ' , of 1" D.D., aged 89. On the 21st inst., Martha, the wife of Mr. ,f Of ' T. GillosP , ' o plo°' place, Well-street, Hackney. _ e _. c .c,,, Dn the 21st inst., at Ventnor, Miss Anne L Y ' e l ' ,1 terrace, Stoke Newington. fir .1' 11 ' s ' On the 22d inst., in Ilavil-street, Camberwe l7 ' , ' - '', 0 , , In.' '..!,, i , , , ' , , 1 ',,. ,I, nv,ii ii,111 . : ~,t) ,ed 3 4 ' On the 23(1 hist., John Tyndall Withors,,, ' ll 5 , i.foL o ot vr.--ff London : Printed and Published by MURDO YO%-,00,;.n0r. Strand, Printer, at The Sun Office, No. 112, straii.4, 4 o 0 c'r the SAW, the Count 7 of litidcUitiest °l9l. 2 1 11 - RAILWAY BUSINESS FOR THE SESSION. Sir ROBERT PEEL rose and said,—Sir, I rise on behalf of her Majesty's Government to state the course which they recommend in relation to the railway business of the session. Her Majesty's Government have felt it their duty to avail themselves of the earliest opportunity of calling the attention of the House to the various railway Bills that are about to be sub mitted to it, in order to take its opinion as to the best mode of disposing of them. The attention of het Majesty's Government has been called to this subject ; they have seen the necessity of making arrangements to meet it ; and I, as their organ, have considered the present time the proper one of call ing the attention of the House to it. In ordinary cir cumstances it might not have been so urgently necessary to call their attention so prominently to the question, but considering the great interests, I have felt it my duty to bring this matter under your consideration, and accordingly, I now make this application to the House for the appointment of a Committee in order to examine into and report on the best course of disposing of the rail way business of the session. The Government, under ordinary circumstances, might have been prepared to arrange the carrying out of the business in question, but, under the existing:circumstances, they felt it to be their duty to ask the House to appoint a Select Committee. The Government have been making all the necessary inquiries, and they will be prepared to lay before the Committee all the information they have acquired, leav ing it to them to institute an inquiry, and to report as to the necessary course the House ought to pursue. Sir, the importance of the interests involved will be made apparent by me calling the attention of the House to the numbers of Rai,way Bil:s passed during the last two years, and the amount of capital these Bills were empowered to raise. The number of Railway Bills passed in 1844 was 48, sanctioning the raising of a capital of about 14,708,0001. In 1845, that is last year, the House agreed to one hundred and eighteen Railway Bills, giving powers to raise a capital of not less than fifty millions. It is generally understood that it requires three years for the completion of a railroad. At least it is now a matter of experience that, for the formation of a railway in this part of the United Kingdom, three years are ge nerally required for the completion of railways of any length. If that time be allowed to be correct, we shall find that for the construction of the railways which have received the sanction of the Legislature, during the last three years it will be necessary to levy a sum of upwards of 70,000,0001. sterling on the capital of the country for the entire completion of these t ail ways ; that is to say, that in the year 1846 an amount of 23,500,0001. will be required to be drawn from the capital of the country, which is employed in the usual channels of commerce and trade for the completion of rail ways within the year. In the year 1847, also, there will be required the sum of 23,500,0001. sterling, which can be found in no other, source that I am aware of than that which 1 have just stated. And in the year 1848 the sum of 18,000,0001. must be drawn from the public for the same purpose. In making this calculation I of course intend to except the railways which obtained the Bills authorising their construction during the last year; and, therefore, something is to be deducted from this amount, bnt included them the compliment of capital re quired for the completionofthe railways authorised during last session, and the years 1843 and 1844 isnot a less sum 70,000,0001. sterling. Now the sum of 23,500,000/, I think, it will be allowed, is a very large sum to be drawn from the ordinary course of its circulation during one year, and that so large a sum as this cannot be thus occupied without detrimeet to the general advantage, and, as it appears to me, without serious inconvenience to the interest of the country. The expenditure of this sum however, has been sanctioned by the Legislature. I now turn to the number of railway schemes which have been deposited at the Board of Trade, and which are seeking the sanetiou of Parliament in the course of the present session. I am aware that the number of schemes requiring the sanction will be some time before they can get into the course of execution. The number of English Railway Bills that have been deposited at the Board of Trade, is 606 ; the. number of Scotch Railway Bills, which have been deposited at the Board of Trade, is 121 ; and the num ber of Bills for Irish railways, is 188 ; there are, there fore, no less than 815 Railway Bills, which will re quire the consideration and the sanction of Parlia ment. I am aware that many of these are Opposing schemes for the same lines of rail way, and that Parliament will not give its sanction to more than one. lam also aware that several of these Bills cannot p oss ibly rece i ve that sanction from their incapability of complying .with the standing orders (Hear, hear.) The House will, therefore, also be aware that the number of these Bills will be very considerebly reduced ; but yet it should be remarked, that the plans deposited with the Board of Trade pro posed the construction of no less than 20,687 miles of new railway, and that the amount required for their com pletion is upwards of the enormous sum of 380,000,000/. It is impossible that the application of such an amount of capital to these undertakings can be sanctioned with out inflicting injury on the trade and money markets of the country.—(hear, hear.) I think it most important therefore at the earliest period of the Session that the House of Commons should consider what principles ought to guide them in railway legislation. Now, no one can feel more strongly than I do the objections which there are to the interference either of the Govern ment or the House, to stop legitimate speculation in railway or any other undertakings ; and with re spect to the railways of this country, I for one feel most favourably disposed towards the application of British capisal to them, rather than to foreign un dertakings, so calculated as they arr to the promotion of fair and legitimate enterpriae, so calculated as they are to promote the erns vellitalee • , 1' the publit., and to promote the gout-sal welfare of the ;people. The glue..tiun then is, whether there are good and sufficient reasons for inter fering at all with the progress of railway 'speculation, and if so what should be the principles which guide and govern that interferance.—(Hear.) In the first place , then, I think there is gfeat partiality, after =kin A i RA ES! c , At itOr,, , Z Tht eaan Z Audio/lee d] l 'eqUeit ed at All I) th the °Mee fo r; Yof r diatai , iv 1 E pp U lder 10 0 P( It rrk E for ‘oo 14torkns seen t PPI lett t mi t atiot Paddi,