The Sun. — London, England, 1846-03-23 00:00:00

- • nn_ t: 'du HARMONIC SOCIETY, .4t was ExE i ER H ALL. 'RID "of to the musicAl world oa Friday, by e So fle ,? of a selection of anthems and cathedral mus n i , Bt4"Y alranged, the productions of English period 0 _ l l • tii ce the iZeformation, extending over a m - f I lapi re e centuries, viz., from 1545 to 1800, by the me m of the sabove needs conducted by Mr. k t F"Pabilities and assiduity no comment. kilB 4401 th e h e ,,,-, no orchestral accompa i , ' "Ir. Turle; ' ti ' e g - iSt of Westminster Abbe), k The cl ioru ' s e w o a r s - 1 3 -e n ry efficient, and greatly aug lit r"',?si; neatly-CO in number. ~!''''r'n,,i'le-e commenced with an anthem, composed ifi,,,.., 'll.l:..arranged by Mr. 'l'urle; it contained some ;:, ) -Tra, but was retnarkable chiefly for the quaintness k , ) • by Tallis (1575), " Venite Exuit2mus," a c onsidered to be unrivalled where a great body 044 ire -attainable as in 1110 p r esent case; and the '7tl tghtened by ' the choir being a double one.. 0,11• 10 F, by Orlando Gibbons (1610), in our 17, let;;,. fl are be . en better a note higher, it being trying ~411tht oices. 4, i(InT,Z," I beheld, and lo a great multitude," by %14, be et arranged by Mr. Perry, was also one which !4effected by a powerful chorus. 0 1 4th eill (1690), " My beloved spake" (from the 1.1 ° 11 ), is a charming; composition, the quartett 1): , d elightfully sung by the professionals. The neyening Lo was the anthem by Weldon ( 1 7 30 ), w ,- t l qv' , " Part commenced with an anthem by Dr. Greene flop i 3 our hope and strength." This fine spirited tit.:e remember to have heard with infinite plea ligv "Ill's Cathedral, at the festival of the Son s of • , r o a • • it lost nothing in our estimation by its per• erenin `11, 0 ( " ) . 1 , art praised in Sion" (1740), and a solo and alinliriou in th e earth," by the same composer, n the extreme. omit noticing the anthem by Dr. Boyce l by h th e, waters of Bib Ion," and the concluding " The Lord is great" ( 1800 ), a ell lion, and one which would be exceedingly it m a bill orchestra, and we hope to hear it so per , .a n i n i le future pe r iod. Mr. Perry, the well-known leader of this Society, was one of his pupils. Nil. Portions of th e various anthems were sustained ' , 11,i1 1 11 , Miss Dolby, and Messrs. Hobbs, Genge , :er e Leffler, with their usual ability. eger•e4,t Y pleased with the style of Mr. Genge, the - : ; t3 a young beginner, and bids fair to rise in - ‘,rq l4l- " ° Ii• Mr. Raf, er, pupil of Signor Crivelli, a `, 110 ) t o placed for the part originally assigned t . o , 11 0 ) ; u ° was prevented from attending by indispost 4 "Ale ve r was unable to sustain the solos, owing to . kl e h tkj4 f t 9 be regretted that performances like these are I trti r a e , clll ent. It is utterly impossible, we know, to ,q",,,, °111. cathedrals or churches, chiefly for the lack . 2dzir f w er and professional talent; consequently, ,7111; t1 - Merit remain thus comparatively unknown. '6 l ert . ',„ ee of this Society are much to be commended for ujr OW d brinoin forward compositions like these ; st - ate g of the great room on Friday even- Say tha - t the public appreciated their efforts. 'lll,,,,par.ratorio, Joshua, is announced fur performance April 1. Th sROYAL SOCIETY. ‘irt ?roar the Lancet of March 5r 4 11 . 1 e ago, we b( , stowed . sor b 2 re L m ) arks on the (4 1, 4tl gn ' l°4 o honours attamab e y medical men. has since been directed to some of those bi," meh ought naturally to fall to eminent 1,,(1 `‘at .4 e Profession, we. mean scientific honours ,$. the 1 , 11 , th rst of these, and the one we shall con ):otiEe ,P r esent occasion, is the Fellewship of the its ( 4 . 3 . This is the blue ribbon to many of the Ni t :: Medical science ; its value is of course ,Itis: with the fairness and probity with f fi lt "' o l on the laborious and deserving, and th r e -41 , the drones and butterflies who pre- Oof th ",ll-)ur undeservingly. Besides the Fel kte Royal Society, some of its offic, rs and its ' C t objects of ambition with a few of our 'i t oe the office of Secretary, the Royal and tth , are of this number. It must be confessed L t he Pr. N ., , ,i,„"ent time, there is a very general feeling 't 4t .'tg '‘ a t Society, or rather the medical section of O: ri e ,rated into a mere clique; that the pathway " reward is not clear and open as the temple ceptq. sh ou ld b e , but that a man may more . ~,t114 4 'lrEly advance by sa-rificing to those who 47. it 3 Or' the goddes s h e rself ; that any one ambi lidkenours had better in tact fawn and cringe • 4 tha n devote himself to the advance of he , t 3l s ,P - rmitted to ask whether the office of 'ecome perpetual ? There are many and 0 4 1 , Ould why the secretaryship of the Royal So tltitu.,ll"t for ever be held by the same individual. ttl i t °r that i n di v id ua l ma y not be unattaek -11: as h 3: 40 t always have borne " his faculties so ; ° lvard` Ixight ; he may not always have acted 1d 1141 his compeers—with such possibilities, ► t h. grounds of change might be , urged. e t ' t f• eaia . 4 'i may wish to pursue the same career of r ter Q ' t jt)!ument, and why should one man be . 'sf ).° , tl rabl e ``'llg series of years, to obstruct the fair t y h t:e so . Path of all the rest! There is another ; It , Pet: the secretary has, properly enough, eh influence in the Society, in the election 1 1, : , and the distribution of its re .• ands. This iti ses .filaY not a l wa y s have exercised in the rO m t, diserectest, best. There is, indeed, a Of Ur afloat atthisinastther(o)p)ianlior: tti & th e , moment, concerning the t 'kt kk iY medal, which is damaging the , , many estimable men. This ,4 1 , ti, which we shad return with an unflinching t° sift the chaff from the wheat. The "ts of the Royal Society itself call for this nil 11 , o. (i h wh f t state of things be allowed to continue ? 4:?orirell aims at being the first scientific society „itil k , , " ; he allowed to sink still further into cliquism, '"&ei,Lhdfed, u n d e r Mephistophelian iufluences, a instead of a scientific temple ? We te ?, and ther e wa s f o rthwith a change of mea -6C/h a former occasion we made some stric s°cl t ', l tianagement o f the Royal Medico-Chirnr kd 4 1) n r oi lli en• There are points which will ill bear the kr_essional and scientific. opinion ; our present e Merely the first notes of a truthful prelude. VbNTR _ • REPORT FROM THE SE \NIC,PNIMITTEE ON RAILWAY BILLS fatten reported from the Select Committee th -e ' r the Classification of Railway Bills accord t,N,(ll: r esolutions adopted by the House, and who t b %r i3iii er "d to report from time to time, that they Vto N ' er ed the several matters referred to them, and s tie ,„ l ?°rt as follows : 01 4 ,21' h ig i tlee recommend that the North British Rail- Vtl l i e e o Extension) be removed from Group No. 8, 1) ( 4 Q°4l toit r°ll No. 13 ' kN 4 tee further recommend that the South Mid }• Rdon Branch) be removed from Group No. 27, U T OI IP No. 29. t tP 4 11 ea Li:EcT NORTH tf,RN RAIL— ALLEGED ERRORS IN THE Ylle„„; ; 4: . lh t e, 1;;1;9 11 having been made before the Standing 11 itt ee of the House of Lords, on Tuesday last, rat Els . (1 f this proposed line of railway were greatly 84;kirtmretil the 49th mile outside and so on to York, it C fh loi q l : l tirir Lordships that three engineers sh9uld h 'fif t ` 0 test the yllidity of so important a charge. 1 4 4: 4 t I h t ,; e , e !equested that each party—the London and st ir ; D irect Northern—should send an engineer, and 3 ,\ 1 '1a1 t ," 4 ' , 1 also send a third, and a disinterested pFr a,"4 check survev, whose decision , upon the point r ,"? be taken Cy their Lordships. _On Thursday N t ?a l , ll ,Theers met on that part of the line,. and after t e l h 'Yilig the most careful tests to five miles of the t zegi;t tn fixed by the Committee—no and York was lule th a t e an en a g d i d n i e ti e o r n f a o l r fi t v h e e Loridoia d miles should be mea kottelie:4thwas complied with, and the result was,C itnhiat that k L '44 „e engineer appointed to report to the th„'"at no such errors were to be found. It is un to all opposition in the Standing Orders' Corn !ti,ge Direct Northern line is to be withdrawn . , in 1 / 4q 4 tls „ °f the opponents failing to establish this al .ega "t'lay-ngitleers' report will be made to the Committee 11 ‘ `i,7e present at her Majesty's Theatre, on 1 1 1,41130, her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, At ` l by Lord - and Lady Dalhousie, Lady Mary j'ai lr , !lie. Hon. Captain Murray, and attended by 1 3 tI Y Itoward and Sir George Cowper; hl her ar ßoyal ui Duchess eßro o n f n Cambridge, esehee hattendedis Royal • Highnessl3oriess k k I L I I i„' 11 ,; ( 1 1 ,ge of Cambridge ; the ' Duke and Duchess of ;1 44. s„ of Worcester and the Ladies Blanche , M arc hioness ilers•et, ; the Duke of Wellington ; . the Marquisses h t,ll;4tlit aril, Huntley, Londonderry, Palacino, and Mc tarchioness of Douro ; the Earls of Falmout . h, e1 1 , 4 L e4 r , ( ligan, and Munster Count de Noailles ; Ng, 4,;''reagh and Cantalupe ; his Excellency the V : ',,t4lf o - „,, u assador and the Baroness Brunnow; Lords buncannon, Lascelles, E. Bruce, and Canter (le Brennes and Baron de Kubeck ; Ladies (4, lll iiii t VeY, Boyer Smyth, Gage, Goldsmidt, Wilson, 11. ; Sir 11,-.lph and Lady Howard; Honourables 4. 4 , 411 ", Colonel Fitzgibbon and family, Spencer 11: 1 1 -4' Ws. —es Johnstone, and Mrs. Dawson Darner and Il i ; 1 • 1-Panier ; Sirs ' Andrew Barnard, H. Webb, F. r t ' ll 4 llitek tl i e e re , and H. Willoughby ; Colonel Webster; Vtltif.,qiizZ,l?nd Whyte, &c. &Q. s.—A rumour has i k l l 4l tZLitt high sollntlylVthiaNtGtheßreeMn intends to request her 14,et;,`• W elee n-Dow c- a e ger, to hold drawing-rooms during her re -0 N i llpSlq Q „ ll° kno.v how far this rumour is founded, b her have a substitute more respected and bel u oved. 10" a t t h - u e ld be saved to the trade of the metropolis, whilst the te . o at the recent drawing-room shows that they have ; k l te 4 ; No ll ally to be of avail. f, t4 . - t %tr, a-rfe.t RIDAY EVENING.—The Duke and Duchess t l'Q ,e=ffected to arrive at the Castle the latter end of l' ar j'nning of June, to escort her Majesty and the Prince 14,„!>, open a visit to the King and Queen of the French. 1011,°tilt Family as at present arranged. will remain at during the absenee of their illustrious parents on the .;, exPeeted that the Queen and Prince Albert willg be 4 1 , 6 , Land at least three weeks. p lle t ,Ne tti "ENEV E OLNT FiTrin.—On Friday the annnnl 1 alts afternAg of the members of this Society, Incorporated by r„." l c.:4,.`mignst 2, 1827, was held at the Freemasons' Tavern, i tt, RA., in the chair. From the report, which to i ‘ t l ttii „ 0 „ • u. Thiselton, the secretary, it appeared that tk( t lY-o , tri,',: ti nned to receive the patronage and liberal suppor 11,, , wi d s's Patron, the Queen ; that there were at present 2 0/, " T s each receiving from the fund a yearly gra of ',.4,11d twenty-three orphans, each receiving a yearly Iq Th e ; that the receipts of the year bad been 1,3701. fiVo n'enditure 1,3381. 10s. 2d., leaving a balance of 321. rri to the account of next year. The report I tto?l'y f 4 0rp,,,, /l r• ed Benjamin B. Cabbell announced that Lord M.P., had consented to preside at the 37th anni k„,,kg „ , °I I Stay 9th, and that her Majesty the Queen lied V"dy ',lol,l4anual donation of 100 guineas to the fund. The fol• tift; - 114, and gentlemen were elected life members of the Ltel t ,f.arl of Lincoln, the Earl of Derby, Lord Foley, Sir J. Tt, ; 4, 0 r i, ~,,a rt.; J. B. Byron, Esq. ; A. H. Goldsmid, Esq. ; C. qN q -di va ,, a ( l. the Rev. J. W. Mackay, M.A. ; W. C. Macready, L e kvs, Esq. ; and the following gentlemen were ta, , "I"Thers —George Godwin, Esq.,S.; Charles tt, secretary to tile Queen Dowager; Octavlus Thiselton, ""tbas w. • aring, Esq. A vote of thanks to the president closed the pr.;ceedings. t ld e :sis --A new r.rnai , ce. under this title, by the taOy. t. h e j'er, is a nnouncedßentley to appear in a few aL r , es ent dearth of goed works of fiction, a new produc -s Of thi',, 4,ll nired writer may indeed be regarded as a boon to 'Winging department of literature, ~/ ho'i" f ter° o the COUNTY ELECTIONS. A Bill to Limit the Time of taking the Poll in Counties at Contested Elections of Members to serve in Parliament to One Day. Whereas it is expedient that the time of taking the poll at contested elections of knights of the shire be limited to one day ; be it enacted by the Queen's most excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords spiritual and temporal, and Commons, in this present Parlia ment assembled, and by the authority of the same, that at any contested election of a knight or knights to serve in Par liament fur any county, or for any riding, parts or division of a county, the poll shall be kept open during one day only (any law or statute to the contrary notwithstanding); and such poll shall commence at eight of the clock of the fore noon of the third day after the day fixed for the election of each knight or knights, and the polling shall continue during such day only, and no poll shall be kept open later than four of the clock in the afternoon. Provided always; and be it enacted, that if such third day after the day of election be Sunday, Good-Friday, or Christ mas-day, then the poll shall take plsce on the day next fo‘- lowing such Sunday, Good Friday, or Christmas-day ; and if Christmas-day fall on a Saturday, then on the Mot day fol lowing. And be it enacted, that this Act shall not extend to Ireland. EARL GREY'S MOTION ON THE STATE OF IRELAND. The following is a copy of the motion that is to be sub mitted to-night by Earl Grey, in the House of Lords, respecting the state of crime, &c., in Ireland :—" To move an humble address to her Majesty, that this House, in com pliance with the recommendation in her Majesty's most gra cious speech from the throne, has taken into consideration the frequency with which the crime of deliberate assassina tion has of late been committed in Ireland; and that we hope that the adoption of measures calculated to give increased security to life, and to bring to justice the perpetrators of so dreadful a crime, may be the result of our labour; that we have also given our sanction to the measures proposed to us fur relieving the distress occasioned in that part of the United Kiegdom by the loss of a large part of the potato crop of last season ; that having thus attended tow h ,t appear to be the most pressing exigencies of the actual condition of Ire land, we think it right humbly to represent to her Majesty, that Parliament has repeatedly found it necessary to wake provision, by temporary measures, for difficulties with re ference to that country, similar in character to those which have now demanded our attention, grants having on various occasions been made for the relief of the Irish people from the apprehended miseries of famine; the Executive Govern ment in Ireland having also from time to time been armed with extraordinary powers for the repression of crimes ; that we observe with deep concern that the necessity which has now again arisen for measures of this description proves that their adoption heretofore has failed in eradicating the evils against which they were directed, and that the pro gress which might reasonably have been hoped for, has not yet been made in remedying the social disorders of Ireland : that we are impressed with the conviction, that, under these circumstances, .merely to grant pecuniary assistance for the relief of present distress, and to pass severe laws for the de tection end punishment of crimes, cannot be considered as fulfilling the duties of the Imperial Parliament towards Ire land, but that measures ought, without further delay, to be adopted for the purpose of effecting a real and permanent im provement in the condition of this part of her Majesty's domi nions. That to this end it should be the aim of her Majesty's Government and of Parliament, by giving to the Irish people confidence in the equal administration of justice, to obtain their co-operation in the enforcement of the law, and, by remedying real grievances, to allay the spirit of discontent to which the prevalence of. outrages and violence is to be traced. That, without the co- operation of the people, the enforcement of the law must ever be uncertain and unsatis factory ; and while the spirit of discontent continues to pre vail, no system of repression, however severe, can be ex pected to prevent its breaking out from time to time in acts of outrage; that a change in the temper and dispo sition of the people, brought about by an improvement in the laws, and in the mode in which they are administered, is therefore required for the establishment, upon a solid foundation, of the . good order and security indispensably necessary for the development of the industry of the nation, and the improvement of its great natural resources, whereby alone the periodical recurrence of insubordination and dis tress can effectually be guarded against ; humbly, therefore, to assure her Majesty that we shall be ready to co-operate with her Majesty in the adoption of measures having for their object to allay the discontent, and conciliate the affec tions of the Irish people, in the earnest hope that, by the blessing of Divine Providence, peace and prosperity may thus be established in Ireland." THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN INSTITUTE. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. Sin,—May I be permitted to corn , ct an error which occurred in the notice of the Soil% 4 of the British and Foreign Institute, in your columns of last evening. Pomara, the New Zealand youth, there introduced, was sent from New Zealand to Sydney, three or four years ago, by a friend of mine, named Scott, where he resided with the family of T. Brennand, Esq., who put him to school. _ _ I wish not to receive undue praise, and beg to state that I only brought Pomara with me from Sydney, and not from New Zealand, as there stated. I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant, GEORGE FRENCH ANGAS. 12, Upper Gloucester-street, Dorset-square, March 19. RISE IN THE PRICE OF 15READ —On Friday the bakers in the east end of the metropolis, and also on the Surrey side of the river, raised the price of bread of both qualities lid. The price of the best bread is now 9c. and 9id., and that of an inferior quality from 7d. to Bd. per four pound loaf ; the price of bread was only on Monday reduced a similar sum. THE WEATHER.—After a long series of unusually mild weather, the temperature having in several days within these six weeks been as high as sixty degrees, with vegetation generally presenting an almost summer-like appearance, at this period, which is termed the commencement of spring, the metropolis, as well as the provinces, has been visited not only with keen northern blasts, at tended by hail and rain, but also with frost and snow, resembling the very depth of winter. On Thursday evening frost commenced, and about two o'clock on Friday morning snow descended, continuing for about three hours, and lay to the depth of four or five inches in the roads and streets in the suburbs of the metropolis. THE WEATHER.— The mild and genial weather of the last two months was succeeded on Tuesday last by a sharp frost, which, on Wednesday, was followed by one of the heaviest falls of snow we have experienced for many years. There was no wind, and consequently no drifts, but in some places the snow lay as deep as three feet.—Durham Chronicle, The Coloyne Gazette mentions a rumour from Alex andria that Mehemet Ali intends to visit Constantinople, and from thence to go to Paris, so as to be there at the same time as Queen Victoria. THE NEW TARIFF.—The Commissioners of the Cus toms having received a communication from Mr. Cardwell, Secretary to the Treasury, stating that he had received directions from the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury to transmit to them a copy of the resolutions agreed to by the House of Commons on Tuesday evening, and to direct them to admit the articles therein named, except seeds, either free of duty, or at the rates of duty severally specified, under the usual conditions of the parties abiding the ultimate decision of Parliament, the Customs authorities, in order to meet the wishes of the Governmeat in the matter, and to afford every possible dispatch in carrying the resolution into immediate effect, have already caused the same to be commu nicated, with copies of their Lordships' letter and the resolutions of the House, to every port throughout the United Kingdom, with directions to the collectors and comptrollers of the revenue to take care that the same be duly obeyed. It is important that it should be generally understood and kuowa that it is not the intention of the Government that the additional duty of five per cent., levied on all articles of merchandise upon importation into this country by an Act of Parliament passed ix the session of 1840, should be consi dered applicable to the articles in respect of which the duties have been reduced by the present resolutions of the Commons' House of Parliament. SUSPECTED MURDER IN SOHO-SQUARE. —Friday even ing an inquiry, adjourned from Tuesday, relative , to the death of Mary Beal, Wins Slater, was resumed at Mr. Scholefleld's, the George, Hollen-street, Wardour-street, Soho. From the Jacts that were elicited at the previous investigation, it appeared that the deceased was found hanging to the door of the apartment in which she had resided with a man of the name of Slater, with whom she cohabited. Marks of recent wounds were found on her neck, and evidence was given of frequent quarrels with Slater, who had suddenly disappeared. Inspector Aggs, of the C division, who was called in when the de ceased was found hanging, and who cut her down, announced to the coroner and jury that he had been unable to trace the man Slater, but had found his son and daughter, both of whom were in attendance. Catherine Slater was then examined, and deposed that she was the daughter of John Patrick Slater, with whom the de ceased had lived as hi; wife. Witness visited Holien-street daily. She had not seen her father since Sunday last, when she met him at her cousin's, in George-street, St. Ones's, where he left about four o'clock in the afternoon. By the Coroner—On Sunda - , week witness went to Hollen-street to dinner. Deceased was in bed, and although pressed by her father to get up and partake of it she would not. After dinner her father and herself left the house. While she was present no quarrelling took place. Deceased was subject to headache, to relieve the pain of which she was in tee habit of taking laudanum. She never saw deceased tipsy, or knew her to attempt to wound her self. Witness saw the deceased washing, herself on the Saturday prior, and then mad discern no cuts on her neck. The witness never heard her speak about arsenic. Mr. J. W. Webb, stir ' geon, who was called iu to see decreased when discovered, said that he had examined the bed, and found spots of blood near the upper part and about the middle of the bed, as also a po,l of blood under where she was suspended. Inspector Aggs said that he had made every exertion to discover Slatsr but without success, and although be bad no impression that he had murdered deceased, he could not account for his keeping out of the way. It might be through fear, in consequence of its being cried about since the jury met before, that the deceased had been murdered, and that against the murderer, a man with whom she had cohabited, a coroner's jury had returned a verdict of wilful murder. There being no other witnesses to be exa mined, the Coroner summed up the evidence, and the jury returned a verdict that the deceased was found hanging, but how she became so hanged there was no evidence to prove. LAMENTABLE SIIICIDE.—On Wednesday a long in quiry- took place before William Carter, Esq., the Coroner, at the George Tavern, Kent-street, Dover-road, respecting the death of Mr. Benjamin Charles Minors, aged thirty-five years, lately residing at 239, Kent-street, who corn in'tted suicide under the following circumstances :—James Allen stated that he was an apprentice to the deceased, who carried on an extensive brush manufactory. The deceased had been some time past in a state of despondency arising from his business having failed through another sbop opening in the same street, which had taken away the chief por tion of his trade. On Saturday morning last several per sons called for money, which seemed to weigh heavily on kis mind, as he was unable to pay them. Deceased continued on the premises, and whilst witness was passing through the yard from the factory, he saw his master hanging to the banisters adjoining the bedroom. Witness opened the win dow and cut the deceased down. He appeared quite dead and cold, and had fastened himself up by his silk pocket handkerchief. An alarm was raised and a surgeon sent for, but all efforts to restore animation were unavailing. The deceased had often referred to the shop at the end of the street, and said, "Oh, James, that new shop will ruin me." He would frequently leave the business and get intoxicated to allay his feelings, which seemed much excited when called upon fur money by his creditors. He was certainly in great difficulties in his pecuniary affairs, and lie bad a bill come due on Saturday which he we's unable to meet. His mind had been impaired for some weeks in consequence of the•great depression in trade. Other evidence of a cot firmatory cha racter having been adduced, the coroner briefly addressed the jury, who ultimately agreed tO a verdict of "Temporary Insanity." The Bishop of London visited the estiiblishment of Baths and Wash-houses for the Poor of the North-west District of the Metropolis, situate in George street, Easton-square, on Thursday last, and was pleased to express his high approval of the general arrangements of that excellent institution, of which his Lordship is patron. The Moniteur contains a long report to the King, fol lowed by a Royal Ordonnance, occupying together four columns, on the subject of a change in the unifor ofe Naional Guard. The National Guards are to substitute the tunic or round t frock, for the coat hitherto w the infantryorn, ani inof other nrespects make their dress in fom sl. con- ROYAL MILITARY ACADEMY.—A number of gentle men cadets will, next month, receive their commissions as officers in the Ordnance corps, should they pass the military examination required before a board of officers appointed for that purpose. These promotions will take place in consequence of the 10th battalion being added to the Rol al Artillery, and ordered to be immediately officered for that purpose. BIGAMY OF TWENTY YEARS STANDING.—Mr. Sage, the individual who held the contract for building the church at Swindon New Town, was taken before the magistrates at Swindon, on a charge o bigamy, on Saturday. lie has been married to his present wife about twenty years. it is alleged that a fanner wife is still living, and that he had by her two children. He was remanded till Thursday next for re-examination, hall having been team for his eppeetatiee.—Devises Om*. TnE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY MORNING, MARCH_23, 184 COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL. THE CITY PRISONS AND THE INSPECTORS APPOINTED BY GOVERNMENT. A Special COurt was held on Friday, for the discus sion of an important motion relative to the City prisons. The members did not assemble till two hours after the usual time of meeting, and the discussion was necessa rily protracted to a late . hour in the evening. Mr. WinE said, in rising to introduce the motion which stood for di-cussion that day, he thought it was not necessary for him to go into very minute detail as to the state of the prisons in the City, in order to lay the foundation for the appointment of a Committee of Inquiry. The attention of the public had already been sufficiently dire cted to the subject by the publication of the reports of the Prison Inspectors, by the recent dis cu-sions in another court, and by a threatened motion in the House of Commons. These sufficiently indicated the necessity for inquiry. —(Hear, hear.) If the state ments respecting the condition of our prisons were true in part, or in the whole, it was true that something should be done to remedy what was defective, to remove what was evil, and to make the metropolitan prisons not only a model for this country, but for all other countries. If the reports were false, it was equally necessary for the Corporation to inquire, ancl to v sidicate itself from the charges of inattention or neglect of the important considerations involved in the construction of prisons, the treatment of prisoners, and the moral effects result ing therefrom. Ile was not going to descant upon the various subjects involved in these large questions, nor to examine into the details given to the public by the prison inspectors. It was sufficient to state tha the Corporation had five prisons under its jurisdiction : Bridewell, which vas simply used for confining refrac tory apprentices and persons summarily convicted, with its house of occupation, adjoining. Bethlem Hospital, in St. George's-fields, a most noble refuge for reforming young criminals, and receiving destitute youths of both sexes, and teaching them household work and trades ; Newgate, which was now used, not as a place of punish ment, but of safe custody for the prisoners awaiting their trials, and who, every month, were removed thither from the different gaols of Kent, Essex, and Surrey, within the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court, and who, immediately after trial, were removed again, ei.her to the different gaols or to the Peniten tiary, preparatory to transportation, so that the average duration of a prisoner's detention in Newgate was not more than ten days. Then there was Giltspur. street, used both as a house of correction and a place for personi remanded for further examination ; Whitecross street, a prison for debtors, for London and Middlesex ; and lastly, the Borough Compter, happily untenanted, except now and then by a few debtors. All these prisons (except Whitecross-street) were built in the last century, and were then adapted to carry out the only ideas which then prevailed, that of being places of safe custody for criminals, tried and untried. Since then more correct notions of the object and end of criminal law had been diffused, both amongst our legislators and the public, and that not only in this country but in America and on the continent.—(Hear, hear.) America, untrammale I by the prejudices of the old world, had take: the lead in discussing the question, and in the construction of prisons on a different system. France had thought of the question—Belgium and Holland had re modelled their prisons—all had been anxious to combine with safe custody, correction for past offences, and the reformation of the offenders.—(Hear, hear.) Nor had our own country been indifftrent. In various counties, in this great metropolis itself, prisons bad been erected ; and efforts had been made in all to combine the great end of criminal law—pu aishment and reform.—(Hear, hear.) Nor ought that city to be the last in the race of improvement. Some thing had been done already; but, owing to the construc tion of our prisons, much that ought to be done could not be accomplished ; and, although the building of a new prison or prisons might be attended with great ex pense, that expense would be cheerfully sustained if it were deemed necessary to incur it.—(Hear.) He was far from thinking that prisons should be made so com fortable that parties would be more ready to break into than cut of them ; or that the diet of prisoners should be superior to that of the honest industrious poor, whom necessity, not idleness, had reduced to the workhouse. — (Cheers.) He would have prisons "a terror to evil d )ers," but he would not have them places of torture, where bodily suffering or privation led to morbid disease. —(Cheers.) It was the dictate alike of humanity and of religion to seek out the desolate and the neglected— to reform the vicious—to correct the evil—and, by all moral and spiritual means, to bring the depraved, the erring, the tempted, and yielding natures under the healing influence of Chris tianity. Let it be known, that "he which saveth a soul from death" accomplishes a more meritorious act than he who builds a palace, and " they that win souls" will shine brighter in celestial history than the con queror of nations. or the mighty in art or science.— (Hear, hear.) The Court was bound then, by a careful examination of the whole of this great subject, to master its details, and apply to the principles of common sense and common humanity, and it would soon wipe from the Corporation any reproach, and set an example worthy of all imitation.—(Cheers.) He concluded by moving the following resolutions :—" That it be referred to a special committee, to be appointed by this Court, to view and examine the prisons belonging to the City, and to report their opinion as to the accommodation afforded to prison( rs, the o t ,portunity for classification and separate confinement, and whether there exists any necessity for t. building a new prison, or enlarging or altering the ex isting prisuns, with a view to carrying into effect the im provements in prison discipline which modern experience has suggested on the subject. " That the committee do also inquire whether any, and what alterations are necessary to be made for the ac commodation of judges, prosecutors, witnesses, and the public at the Sessions House in the Old Bailey, with a view to expedite and facilitate the administration of justice, and to save both time and expense to the public." Mr. BENNOCH seconded the resolutions. Alderman COPELAND rose, and said that he had no intention or desire to impede the investigation, but he wished the Court to understand that he and his colleague (Alderman Farneomb) being in the position of visiting magistrates to the priso s for the next fortnight, they could not, at the same that they were anxious to do all in their power to aid those engaged in the investigation, allow any persons, except those who were duly autho rised to visit the gaols, to enter as a right.—(Expres sinus of disapprobation.) Mr. ANDERTON said he had never heard a more ex traordinary speech than that which had been just ut tered.—(Hear, hear.) What ! was it to be endured that one of the members of the corporation should refuse the application of the corporation itself to give aid to the magistrates in an investigation of so important a nature ? (Hear, hear.) Was it to be endured that, while the aldermen were dipping their hands for any purposes they fancied into the City purse, one of their body should oppose the offer of co-operation in investigating the causes of complaint of so serious a description, in volvieg as it did the character of a!1 its branches ? Alderman COPELAND— I refuse no co-operation. I say, that while no impediment shall be thrown in the way of the investigation ; still, the gaols being under the charge of the magistrates of the City, if a committee be appointed, the viewing of the gaols must be considered as peimissive, not as a matter of right, and I would give every facility to the committee to further the inves- Ligation. Alderman FARNCOMB coincided with the view taken by Alderman Copeland. They did not by any means object to the investigation by a committee, but, as visit ing magistrates, they were responsible for any contin gency w hich might turn out disarlvantageously. Mr. ANDERTON raid that the two visitir g magistrates who had just delivered their opinions had greatly mis taken the extent of their power in that capacity.— (Hear, hear.) It happened that the Sheriffs had some power. Those officers had the custody of the pri soners and the care of the prisons in their hands, while the authority of the visiting magistrates merely extended to the matter of seeing that the rules and regulations of the gaol were properly carried out. — (Hear, hear.) He had read some things in the reports of the inspectors, which he would not say were correct. He should be sorry to suppose that they were, but if they were, the fact would reflect no credit upon the visiting magistrates. Could there be any doubt of the necessity of inquiring into the merits of these charges ? —(Hear, hear.) As for the matter of going into the prix , n, if he wanted at any time to enter, he would apply, not to the visiting magistrates, but to the Sheriffs it whom was vested by t he law the real authorit y ; and if there was any doubt existing, that should now be s tiled by a reference to the Secretary of State. Mr. Anderton here alluded to some of the statements made in the report of the inspectors of prisons, in which cer tain females, who had broken the Lord Msyor's windows, were represented as sitting idly and comfortably by a good fire in one of the City prisons; and to be put in pos session of such a luxury they had committed the offence ; and he asked how it could be that indulgences of this kind could be tolerated ? Alderman COPELAND—They were punished for their conduct, but it did not suit the inspectors to give that information. Mr. ANDERTON believed that the City workhouses would be found to be much worse places of punishment than the City prisons, and he wondered that crime was not more extensive in consequence of the temptation thus preseated to it.—(Hear, hear.) Dr. LYNCH could not understand the custom of refer ring every subject proposed to the Court to a committee. It was a custom little in unison with the practices of a deliberative assembly. It was putting the judgment and intelligence of the Court into commission, and it was a practice more honoured in the breach than in the observ ance. The committee might be the cream, the subli mated essence of wisdom itself, but the duties were too multifarious, too onerous, to be accomplished satisfacto rily and adequately.—(Hear, hear.) He preferred the alternative of looking a question straight in the face, and, after discussion, coming to a decision upon it. To refer a question which the Court was specially summoned to discuss to others reminded him of the feat of the King of France who is described as having, with 20,000 men, gone up the hill and thin come down again. It was not necessary to have a committee to inquire whether Newgate and the Ccmpter were unfit for the purposes ( f prisons, much less for the improved system of prison dis cipline, or whether they would not admit of proper clas sification? or afford adequate accommodation. Mr. Wire had endeavoured to make out as good a face as he could for a bad case. Was it not notoricus that the City prisons were unfit for the purposes for which pri sons were intended ? They had been already condemned by the, inspectors appointed by the Government, gentle men who had no interest or desire to find fault with the authorities of the City, and who had made the subject their special study. The new mode of treating criminals, by improved secondary punishments, had been crowned with success.—(Hear.) The harsh and savage mode of irritating punishment, such as the treadmill inflicted, which, after twenty years' experiment, totally failed, only tended to confirm criminals in their guilty courser. --(Hear, hear.) jay persuasion, by education, by a par tial use of the separate system, by which habits of self reflection were awakened, the most encouraging effects were produced.—(Hear, hear.) By impressing the pri soner with the conviction that the law was not his enemy but his friend—(Cheers)—that society was desirous to reform not to punish him, he was to be won back from his most obdurate condition to the ways of virtue, through a sure repentance. Man was not a tiger, to be tamed with bars of iron. The mind was the avenue through which his better nature was to be reached. — (Cries of " Hear, hear.") Individuals, like nations, were not to be subjected, nor were their affections to be gained by !coercion or cruelty.—(Cheers.) He would abhor to see the solitary system exclusively carried out. The intellect, like the muscles of the body, required a certain degree of exeicise to preserve it in a healthy state. The body, if denied the faculty of wholesome labour, dwindled into feebleness and incapability, and the mind, under corresponding restriction, sunk into idiocy and " mere oblivion."—(Cheers.) Dr. Lynch hoped the Court would indignantly resent the childish castigation which one of the Aldermen had presumed to inflict upon it, by pretending to dictate the course it was bound to pursue. He then said he should delay the Court but for a few moments, in reference to the manner in which the public health was likely to be affected by not following up the system of prison improvement. In the centre of a densely populated city there was not space for a large gaol. To absorb more of the already pre-occupied and limited area would be injurious to the health of the neighbourhood. Men were not now hung by scores. The number of felonies which a few years ago were punishable by death, amounted to one hundred and sixty, but they were now reduced to fourteen, and that number virtually to one. Public opinion was set ting in strong against capital punishments, as they bad not only utterly failed to deter fi °in crime, but actually had stimulated and increased it.—(Hear, hear.) Clime was contagious—out of 167 who had been executed, 164 had been frequently present at executions, and, having seen the criminal made the hero of the scene, " the ob served of all observers," they were seized with a morbid appetite fear notoriety, and struck with the horrible am bition of imitating the example.—(Cheers.) In every age the same effect was produced. In the bloody reign of Henry the Stb, 22,000 were put to death—a frightful emblem of the congenial spirit of that Prince. These executions tended to nothing but to provoke a taste for crime. The never-ending, the notorious, the terrible punishment of perpetual imprisonment was the means of cure. Education and employment were the only means of prevention.—(Hear, hear.) Sir James Graham stated that when poverty was rife, when bread was dear and wages low, crime increased. The committals proved that fact. Many of our criminals were the victims of misfortune and might be reclaimed, but to carry out en improved system ten times more space would be required than the Old Bailey could afford. He hoped the Court would not be precipitate in their, adoption of any plan. There were better and wiser courses to pursue than any referred to in the resolutions, by which the purposes of justice and humanity might be promoted, and the inte rests of the City best protected.—(Hear, hear.) Sic PETER LAURIE said it had been his intention to state all his views before the committee, but as Dr. Lynch had gone into the subject, he must follow the Learned Gentleman. He was surprised that any gentle man in the medical profession should not have been better instructed on the subject. He (Sir Peter Laurie) was first roused to it several years ago by going over the Penitentiary at Millbank with Captain Chapman, the then governor, and he was shocked to find a model cell with a water-closet without a lid, lest the unfortu nate inmate should violate the system to which he was doomed by breaking the silence with it. H e was shocked to see their faces covered with hoods or masks, to hide each from the observation of the other. They were, in fact, suffering from a refinement of torture, and verified the description given by Sir Walter Scott—no mean judge of human nature—who said that forced solitude was of all punishments the most cruel and in tolerable. He did not wish to harrow up the feelings of those he addressed, but state that there were at that moment sixteen inmates of Bedlam who had been sent from Millbank, where the want of mental health was attributed to damp ; and five from Penton ville, where no such ground could be assigned, inas much as no spot could be more salubrious. Thus, there had been, in fire years, twenty-one prisoners sent by the Secretary's warrant, from prisons under the control of the Government and Government inspectors, into the madhouse ; while from the prisons under the magistrates not one had been received into that asylum.—(Hear.) Dr. LYNCH said he knew that Sir Peter Laurie would not wish to fight with shadows, and, in the present in stance, the worthy Alderman was certainly engaged in a contest of that kind, for he (Dr. Lynch) had depre cated the system of solitary confinement as destructive of the mental power, just as the want of the exercise of the muscles of the body enervated the frame. Sir P. LAURIE said the separate system differed from the solitary system only in name, and that all experience proved its awful effects. He then referred to the report laid before Parliament from Van Diemen's Land, which, he said, stated that on the embarkation of three hundred or four hundred convicts from Pentonville, the superin tending surgeon described them as having fallen into strong convulsions on first going on board, and continued in that state for four days, their seclusion, though not greater than eighteen months at the maximum, having so far impaired their faculties that, although docile and obedient in the highest degree, they could not understand the plainest directions for settling them in their berths. —(Hear, hear.) After having, in terms of strong indig nation, described the simihr effects of the same sort of 5) stem in other gaols, Sir Peter Laurie hoped that a House of Commons' Committee would look into this matter before any other prisons were constructed, and prevent such cruelties as had been exercised under the disguise of reformation from being any longer inflicted. —(Hear, hear.) It was a matter which must be stopped. There was the League mania, the railroad mania, the wood pavement mania, and now there was the separte or solitary mania to be contended with.— (Laughter.) He had given evidence before Parliament, in which he stated that he had never seen a reformed convict, and that he would go twenty miles to see one.--(A laugh.) He had seen many who pretended to be reformed, but the mask of hypocisy dropped from them the instant they were liberated. In that observation, he did not mean to include transports, yet he found, from a me morial from Van Diemen's Land, that in 1844 upwards of 800 men had been tried, and of that number 700 were convicts. Sir Peter Laurie concluded by expressing a fervent hope that, although the London Inspectors said, " We earnestly submit that nothing short of Newgate's complete reconstruction on the separate system will avail, by which prisoner may be separated from prisoner, by day and by night," if the Government itself should demand the observance of such a rigorous discipline, Vie Court would, as they had done in 1837, utterly re ject its application.—(Cheers.) Sir JAMES DUKE said he was sure the Court would not lend an inattentive ear to the representations of the Inspectors, if they showed that the prisons were a dis grace to the city of London, and the schools of crime, instead of being places of reformatory tendency. — (Hear, hear.) Perhaps the Lord Mayor and he knew as much of the condition of Newgate as any one who had passed the shrievalty, and it was quite palpable to them that it was impossible to adapt that prison to the existing improved notions of discipline. He hoped the Committee which should be appointed that day would join cordially with the Aldermen in the investigation, and that, if they came to the conclusion that a new prison should be erected, they would, from motives of economy as well as other cogent reasons, build it out of the city. The sale of the sites of Newgate and Giltspur•street prisons would defray the expense incurred by the con struction of a prison of adequate dimensions at Hollo way, where the city possessed nineteen acres of ground. Alderman SYDNEY declared that there was no founda tion for the statements of Sir Peter Laurie, at any rate for the inferences deduced from them. It was not taken into consideration that the very fact of a number of per sons, who had before them the certainty of transports don, was likely to- lead, in several instances, to great depression arid distress of mind ; neither was it consi dered that the Penitentiary at Millbank was the place to which convicts from all parts were consigned previously to transportation. The state of that prison was by no means a criterion of the eff. ct of the separate system, of the extraordiuory efficacy of which Parliament had the most indisputable proofs. He agreed with Dr. Lynch as to the fatal effect of solitary confinement up m the mind, but the separate system differed as much from the soli tary system as night differed from day.--(Hear.) Mr. H. TAYLOR said that the characters of both Courts of the Corporation were concerned when such complaints as had been made by the inspector formed subjects of conversation. Whether the subjects were matters of humanity, of policy, of law, or of finance, in quiry ought to be instituted ; and as the Court of Com mon Council were the keepers of the money of the City, they had a right to join in an investigation whici , would, in all probability, have reference to that money. —(Hear.) He altogether dissented from the position of Sir Peter Laurie, that there was no hope of reforma tion in the case of a convict. He knew that the instances were numerous. He had, three weeks ago, shaken hands with a man who had, thirty-five y ears a g o, been cHwaesara person at that m , hear.) The n be reform e d was ab surd—phtroo(esent notion, it would n w ere unw orthy O ooo n ttmi V do i e C inonn t s e ft todthlroiaeaftnthedhxe crimina l sttgcrrhaeomnu s rre p et. o s tp r oAe e t w e ss d eat afry , oebrti andhiinspectorsntiehtoyetw. of credit. The Court must go into the inquiry, and either decide that the inspectors were in error, or correct the errors in the existing state of the prisons of the City.--(Hear.) Alderman WOOD said that insinuations had been thrown out that th e Alderman had, in the course they pursued with respect to the regulation of the City pri sons, been influenced by selfish motives. There had tto been no foundation for an y suspicion of the kind. They were anxious , consistently with The whole of the classified s according to the a mere o notria i viehnwe. power of the magis trates to make a diff erent classification. The ins p ectors prisoners tthe ieeiapnle expenditure io of u f s i Newgate.it o w of andmee th t i et thew c publicp s complained,and it was their interest to complain—(Hear, hear) —but they were not justified in malting the state ments which had appeared in the report. After all, if the City were to go to an infinite expense, they could not accomplish a legal classification. He contended that a gaol out of the City would be atttended with the greatest possible inconvenience, and observed, that the practice of the Government itself, in the treatment of prisoners in the hulks, showed a total disregard of the classification contended for. The Inspector of the City Prisons never thought proper to say a word about that.—(Hear, hear.) Alderman Wood concluded an able speech by expressing his surprise that such a report should have proceeded from persons appointed by the Government to enter upon so grave an in q uir y . . Mr. WIRE briefly replied, and the re so l u ti ons were carried by a vast majority, and the committee was ap pointed. Upon the motion of Mr. WIRE, it was also resolved that John Clark, Esq., de clerk of the peace for the City, be requested to make a return to the Court of the num- her of criminals tried at the Central Criminal Court during the years 1843, 1844, 1845, ending the Septem her session last year. MESMERISM. AMPUTATION (AT CHERB( 'URG, OCTOBER 2, 1845), OF THE LEG OF A YOUNG PERSON, SEVENTEEN YEARS OF AGE, IN MESMERIC SLEEP, WHO DID NOT EXPERIENCE THE SLIGHTEST PAIN. (From the Zoist.) Miss Mary D'Albanel, seventeen years of age, had laboured for many years under disease of the right foot, occasioned by a sprain. For above three years amputa tion had been pronounced inevitable. But, notwith standing the progress of the disease, the patient could never be brought to consent to an operation which the most courageous man never contemplates without dread. At length it was determined to have recourse to mes merism, in order to render her insensible of pain, and in order to perform the operation, the necessity for which was every day becoming more imminent, without her knowledge. She was mesmerised by M. Durand, who had no doubt of success ; and the result proved the ac curacy of his judgment. The first elf, ea of mesmerism was the restoration of Miss D'Albanel' appetite and sleep, of which she had been very long d, prived. The degree of her insensibi lity having been frequently examined, was at length found to be such as was necessary, and she consented during her sleep waking, to submit to the operation, or rather she earnestly entreated to have it performed The amputation was fixed fer the following Thursday, the 2d of October, at half-past twelve. On the day fixed, at eleven o'clock. Miss D'Albanel was sent to sleep in less than three minutes, and then placed upon a table. Preparations were immediately made in her presence ; and, as soon as M. Durand was satisfied that the insensibility was deep and positive, he informed the surgeons that they might begin the operation with perfect certainty. Then, in the midst of a solemn silence, and while all the assistants were fixing an attentive and scrutinising eye upon the peaceful countenance of the patient, Dr. Loysel made a large circular incision with his knife, which, penetrating deeply into the fle..h as far as the bones, laid bare the greater part of the tibia and fibula. The blood flowed abundantly. The two flaps were cut and dissected, the periosteum cut, the bones sawn ; the ligature of the arteries, the cleans ing and putting up of the wound, the application of bandages and lint all was done without the patient giving the slightest symptom of pain. Her countenance continued calm and undisturbed ; her hands remained constantly free, and she several times smiled and con versed with her mesmeriser, even during the most pain ful stages of the operation, which, including the putting up, lasted above half an hour. The insensibility was complete ; the patient had no knowledge of what was doing ; th pulse underwent no change in either strength or frequency. Miss D'Albanel was immediately carried to bed, and allowed to remain still for a short time. In a quarter of an hour she was awakened, as on former days, by the mere will of her mesmeriser, in three or four seconds, and at the distance of two metres. She opened her eyes suddenly, smiled to those around her, and thus remained above ten minutes without perceiving what had taken place, and free from all suffering: then she said, without too strong an emotion, " Ah, I perceive it is over ; what a blessing—oh, thanks! thanks! gentlemen." Being requested to mention what she had felt and ex perienced during her sleep, she replied, " I know of no• thing ; I have felt no pain ; I recollect nothing." She was then asked, " How then did you know imme diately that the operation had been performed ?" " Without that elevation which is above my knee," (the cradle to elevate the bed-clothes from the leg), she re plied, " I should not have perceived it so soon ; for I have no pain at this moment." She was very calm the rest of the day, and slept quietly the greater part of the night. It was the same the following days. On Monday, October 6th, the first bandages were removed at two o'clock, and the wound dressed during mesmeric sleep. The dressing, which is generally very painful, gave her no sensation. On being awakened she had no knowledge of what had been done. From the moment of the operation (ten days had now elapsed) she constantly preserved a remarkable serenity and cheerfulness. She had not one bad symptom ; not even the nervous excitement which is so common after painful operations. The wound is now nearly gradually healed, and there is every reason to hope for a speedy cure. It is thus completely proved by experience that mes merism, producing the most absolute insensibility in the organs, may be of valuable assistance and render great service in surgical operations, and in amputations which are always so painful, by sparing the unfortunate patient both terror and anguish. And after an operation, the agony of which excites an irritation which is sometimes very dangerous, how happy are we in being able, through the means of mesmeric sleep, to prevent nervous acci dents, lock jaw (tetanus), for example, which often de stroys life, and to restore the vital powers which such a shock has exhausted. This is always the result when sleep-waking is effected, and was very striking in the case of amputation which we have Just witnessed at Cherbourg. Whet happy, what blessed results, then ! The ter rors which usually precede amputation, the agony which accompanies it, the cruel recollections which follow it, are all destroyed and annihilated by mesmerism. What an astonishing phenomenon, and how deserving of rivetting the attention of the learned ! Unluckily for the science, mesmerism, this unknown but real power, this mysterious and imponderable agent, ecapes obser vation ; and the men who have devoted themselves with the most ardour to the study of this most interesting branch of anthropology, have hitherto been unable to discover the causes of so prodigious a change, of so deep an alteration of the laws of life.—Cherbourg, Oet. 11, 1845. P.S.—Yesterday, Sunday, the tenth day after the operation, the patient got up, and sat at the window from twelve till five o'clock. To-day, Monday, Oct. 13th, she left her room and took a turn in a neighbouring garden, and sat there afterwards for above two hours. She is now perfectly well and goes out every day.—Cherbourg, Oct. 13th, 1845. The fourteenth day of the operation the wound was completely healed, and all dressing left off. This emputation, performed under such extraordinary circumstances, and the rapid cure which ensued, have produced a strong sensation here. Cherbourg, Oct. 30, 1845. DELENTE, Directeur des Lits Militaire, de la Garrison de Cherbourg. MARIA D'ALBANEL. LOYSEL, Docteur Melecea, P. C. GIBON, D.M.P., Docteur Me lecein de la Faculte de Says. DURAND, Professeur de Philosophic. L. DARAGON, Professeur. The operation performed by Dr. Loysel does the greatest honour to this young surgeon, and to Dr. Gibon, who assisted him with the obliging concurrence of M. Arsene Delente." With the printed account came the following private letter : "Sir—ln the two-fold interest of science and hu manity, of which you are one of the most noble supporters, and to which you have devoted your whole life, I have the honour to send you three copies of the account of an amputation of the leg lately performed at Cherbourg, in circumstances and with success altogether remarkable, upon a young lady, seventeen years of age, in the mese manic state. This operation, with those which have taken place in your country, always at the head of useful inno vations, and which is of such importance to medical sci ence, is exciting the very highest sympathy in our city, and producing a great sensation at Paris in the learned world. It is the first mesmeric amputation of a limb that has been performed in France. A fact worthy of remark is that this young person was very insus ceptible. The steep-waking state did not appear till she had been frequently mesmerised : and I could not induce perfect sensibility, such as I considered ,ndispensable, till I had mesmerised her a hundred and sixty-two times. Great patience and indefatigable per severance were necessary, and you may conceive that, moreover, I had to struggle with more than one kind of prejudice and obstacle ; but I was firmly convinced that I should succeed ; hope and charity gave me courage. My expectation was not disappointed ; thank God, all was completed. " If, Sir, as I doubt not, you are interested in this offi cial communication, and judge it, as well as my letter, worthy of being translated into English and inserted in the very interesting journal the Zoist, in which you are one of the most enlightened writers, I shall request you kindly to receive other accounts, which I will transmit relative to some successful mesmeric cures of mine, and of fresh operations which will be performed shortly by the same means—two amputations of the leg and the re moval of a cancerous breast. " A very remarkable and consolatory circumstance in the present case was, that the two surgeons who assisted were but a short time before shockingly incredulous. But both, being men of feeling, talent, and foresight, at length did homage to truth; and, after having witnessed numerous very interesting physical and psychological phenomena, which I produced expressly for them, they bent before the undeniable testimony of fact, which is stronger than all reasoning. Their well-grounded con viction of the reality and importance of mesmeric science will prove a happy circumstance to all of us here, and to you likewise. It is another triumph of good sense and experience over prejudice and preconception. " Persons who, like you, Sir, ate practising mesmerism. with such praimworthyperseveren :Tend disinterestedness, ought to take courage more and more. I say it with deep conviction, the day of ridicule and spite is past. Our age is one of cool reason ; observing, analising, and dis posed to eelectism, it no longer affirms or denies ; it doubts. This is the most favourable state for the ex amination of the important question which agitates and excites all mines at present. Men at length comprehend chat it is neither rational nor philosophic to condemn a priori whatever human reason cannot at the first glance embrace in all its details—whatever resists the first in tuition of intelligence. In truth, all is mystery around us ; without speaking of the phenomena ot gravitation, light, and electro• magnetism, the faintest act of human will is sufficient to confound the proud pre ensions of those who still desire to measure the greatnes of the wonders of creation by the standard of their owl, intelligence, and to blast with powerless anathemas the truths which they cannot understand. Contemptuous silence, prejudice, and obstinacy are now useless befote , the material facts which any person may produce ane renew in some measure at will ; and whatever, in short, be the situation or grandeur of individuals, they must submit to the admirable and e' er al order established by turnsthe Sovereign of allthings. The earth, therefore,still in spite of the chains with which the Inquisition dared to load the unfortunate Galileo : and the blood still cir culates in spite of the implacable enemies of Hervey. Lord Bacon has said with reason, " Time is a great in novator." 7be father of experiment and philosophic method might have added, when men deny a fact of na ture, it is certain that sooner or later she will conquer, HER MAJESTY'S GAOL OF NEWGATE. The following report of the Prison Inspectors has, Within the last few days, caused a great deal of excite ment amongst the City authorities : " The alterations that have been made in the con struction of this ;orison since our last report have been few, and some of them insignificant. The females' ward, No. 28, adjoining the matron's office, has been convertel into a bed-room for that officer. She used to sleep in a small recess in her office, which was imper fectly lighted and ventilated, as well as inconvenient and unhealthy ; and this led to the present improve ment. The dust-bin, which was formerly in the females' bath-room, is now removed to the adjoining passage, and the walls of the bath-room are covered over with mastich cement, and p tinted to prevent the damp from rising. The alteration is a desirable improvement upon the for mer slovenly arrangement of having a dust-bin in the bath-room of the prison. The chief alteration in the discipline of the prison since our last report, has been the nomination of a deputy-keeper, William George Wright. formerly a master in the navy. lie was ap pointed on the 30th January, 1844, with the salary of 3001. per annum, and an allowance of 60/. exrra, for a residence outside the prison. We have repeatedly no ticed the want of a deputy-keeper in this important prison, and we feel satisfaction in adverting to the pre sent appointment, which supplies a deficiency which had been long and severely felt. In the beginning of June last, the subordinate officers were put into uniform, con sisting of a blue coat and trousers, and a scarlet waist coat. This is also an improvement. But, with the ex ception of the fore-mention,d alterations, everything remains in the same defective and objectionable condi tion it? before. The routine of duty also of the governor, chaplain, surgeon, and other officers, is the same as when last reported. l'aotu ournd p t e h e e t i o w n a r e d , o s 3 e o na an t d li the s e o f e u c t t h i v s e i d i e n o v f e n t t h i e_ pri W o e n lation, which was in a great measure caused by the de fective state of the adjoining water-closets, which are upon a bad construction; and, although they are said to be cleansed every morning from a reservoir - on the roof of the prison, the process would appear to be ineffectual; besides, the soil pipes sometimes get closed up from the mischievousness of the prisoners, who are in the habit of throwing down pieces of their clothing, scrubbing brushes, &c., so that when the water is let on from the reservoir, it overflows the closets, and floods the interior ward. It would also destroy the ceiling of the apart ment below, were it not that the joinings of the floor are filled with pitch, to make the whole floor water tight. The frequency with which the wards were flooded in this way led to the necessity of pitching the floors. We noticed, however, one floor that had se veral holes in it, through which the prisoners could communicate with those in the ward below. The plan adopted for ventilating the dining-room on the master's side, and that of the middle yard, is very inefficient ; it consists of several circular perforatons, about two inches in diameter, slanting down from the top of the walls to the outside adjoining the slaughter-houses of Newgate market : and, occasionally in hot weather, instead of ventilating the apartments, they only serve to convey the offensive effluvia arising from the decaying animal matter into the dining-rooms. Sometimes the stench in hot weather is said to be very bad. Many rats also come through these so-called ventilators, as they open close to the ground at the back of the prison. Surely a less objectionable method of ventilating these rooms might be devised. The dining tables are scrubbed with soap and water every day after dinner ; and, in those departments of the gaol where there are no dining-rooms, the prisoners take their meals in the wards. All the bedsteads were taken down last year and cleansed, and large quantities of bugs were destroyed, but those on the male side have not been similarly cleansed this year ; the females' bed steads arc said to be taken down and cleansed once a year. It would appear that as a general rule, the rugs were never washed prior to the appointment of the deputy-keeper. In the beginning of last year, however, they were washed and fumigated, and this year the same most necessary process is being performed. The pri soners' clothing are only fumigated and cleansed when there is a suspicion of contagion, or when they are very foul from filth or vermin. The Newgate clothing of convicts, when returned to the gaol, is always fumigated before it is again used. The washing in this prison is always a laborious ope ration, and very often a disgusting one, from the foul state of the prisoners' linen on admission. The female prisoners do all the washing, but receive extra rations, including beer and tea. The general cleanliness and order of the female side of the prison appeared to us to be much better than those of the male side. We think few prisons could exhibit such a disgraceful list of prison offences, which, however, furnishes an index to the practices going forward in New gate, and which are precisely such as might be expected to result from the system in force in that prison. If we analyse the list of offences, the following would ap pear to be a fair specimen of those which are the more common:—•" Laughing anti talking in chapel, stealing a handkerchief', stealing bread from each other, feur prisoners conjointly engaged in forcing open the school master's desk, eight punished for tearing and defacing the bible (among the bibles we examined at our last in spection we found one defaced with obscene language written on several leaves), indecent conduct to a fellow prisoner, using bad language, spitting through an in spection hole into an officer's face ; and, as the result of idleness c\ith gaol association, numbers are punished for marking and cutting their names on the bedsteads, win dows, and prison walls and floors, gambling, selling their clothes for bread, throwing potatoes at each other during dinner ; whilst whole wards, comprising from three up to sixteen prisoners, have been disorderly, riotous, insubordinate, playing at leap-frog, and throw ing their beds about, &ie., ten have been punished for striking their fellow-prisoners, and twenty-six for lighting." Such is the lamentable summary of the scenes going forward in this metropolitan prison. They speak for themselves and need no comment. There is scarcely an offence mentioned in the return which is not, directly or indirectly, referable to and consequent upon the associ tion of prisoners. We are rather surprised to find only five cases of gambling recorded ; for we are convinced that gambling, in some shape or other, is extensively carried on in Newgate. Amongst the first wards, we saw, through the inspection opening, about eight pri soners busily engaged at some game, with a sentinel keeping his eye on the inspection hole, but when we en tered not a vestage of the gaming was discernible. Doubt less the noise of turning the lock was sufficient warning to the prisoners within, and when we entered, the whole group deported themselves as if nothing had been going on—a proof of their being used to conceal their practices by their dexterity. Before, how ever, we had ascended half-a-dozen steps on the staircase, we again looked into the ward through a nother inspection opening in the wall, and there we distinctly saw that the game had been resumed. The Governor then directed the officer to make search for the implements of their amuse ment. Besides, there is scarcely a table or form on the male side of the prison that is not marked for gaming, although these marks are generally planed out once a year. It is said that the prisoners have recourse to many contrivances to supply the means of gambling ; they cut off the buttons from their clothes, reserve pieces of their bread, pick up portions of coal or stone, or break off pieces of wood, lead, &c., or anything they can lay their hands on, and these they convert into rude Implements for gambling; whilst the paper supplied to them for necessary purposes, together with the leaves from the prison books, furnish the ready means . for making substitutes for cards. The retur n of prison punishments also attests the fact th a t many tobacco pipes and lucifer matches are occasionally conveyed into the wards, a circumstance which says little for the strict the prisoners undergo n m e , s o s o o r f t t h h r e ee searchers , ordeals 0 of although searching are ad befcre they mitted. The govern or sa y s, that prohibited articles are ve ry often attempted to be introduced b y the visitors, a nd that when they a re detected, he sometimes himself admonishes them; occasionally he takes them before a magistrate, when they are most frequently admonished and discharged. We have not been able to find any notice in the prison journals of their be in g punished. In this prison, where communication and i ntercourse are the characteristic features of the discipline, we have often before detailed, at length, the various circum stances which facilitate this most demoralising associa tion. It would appear that even prisoners under punish ment for infringements of the prison regulations, have occasionally the opportunity of communicating with their fellow-prisoners, and of obtaining through them a mitigation of their just punishment. We were in formed of the following case in point at our last in spection :—Three men were, for a prison offence, sepa rated from their companions, and sentenced to a short confinement alone, with a diminished dietary, in one of the lower wards adjoining the staircase leading to the juvenile department of the prison. They easily ob tained communication with the boys passing up and down stairs, and prevailed upon them to give them daily a portion of their provisions. Under ordinary circumstances, we think it would have been no casyyretter to have devised the means of introducing the fond, especially as it was in a liquid form. But what might be difficult, or impossible, 41. most prisons, or with an ordinary class of prisoners, is not so in Newgate. The men under punishment soon accomplished the feat. They tore from a Bible several of its leaves, which th e y rolled up in the form of a tube ; this they passed through the inspection opining in the door—and, by the aid of the boys. they made it funnel-shaped, by m eans o f w hi c h 1 soup and gruel were conveyed into the mouls of the in adults, each his turn taking the sma l! er en d of the paper funnel into his mouth. We a e unable to ascer tain o r e o x ex ac t ly t n l . ) a , s h owdetected, ay had . been carried on permitted an' c to as w hat are the inferences to be drawn res p ect i ng th e results i of a discipliee which admit s o f ouc h i rregu l ar i t ie s -. Is it calculated to reclaUm a e guilty,or to pr )test the ii a cent? on the contrary, it will be evident that the guilty limit become more hardened and expert, that the innocent will be corrupted, and that the inmates of Newgate, when they regain their liberty, will be the more dip gerous to society from the experience they have ac• quired in this most defective prison. As an example of the numbers in confinement in the various wards of this prison, we have annexed to this report return (B), being a copy of the ward book for the months of No vember and August, 1844 . It will be observed that the numbers in a ward vary from three to nineteen. There are, indeed, a . few cells, wherein prisoners may be separately confined, if they desire it, but they are the old condemned cells of Newgate, and are only ordinarily used as refractory cells, and for " Accept, Sir, I beg, my expressions of the esteem respect, and admiration with which your distinguished talents and ardent philanthropy inspire me.—Your very- obedient and devoted servant, "L. DURAND, " Professor of Philosophy in the College at Cherbourg, Officer of the Royal University of Paris. "Cherbourg, Nov. 8, 1845." the confinement of unnatural offenders, and others, charged with heavy and brutal crimes ; they are, besides, cold, ill-ventilated, and gloomy, and thus from assecia don, as well as their actual condition, are peculiarly repulsive; but many prisoners, unused to such scenes as are prevalent in Newgate, and desirous of retaining the little good that remains in them, have the courage to seek an asylum even in those comfortless and offensive cells, rather than live in the contaminating atmosphere of the common wards. We found two young men at our last inspection who preferred being separately con fined even in these places to being ass o ciated with others worse than themselves. Oe, "I. 0.," had been a month alone, and did not regret the choice he had made ; nor did the other, " E. 5.," who had beers there five weeks. From all that we could learn, prisoners very seldom, if ever, request to be again associated with others after a short confinement even in those cheerless cells. An imperative sense of duty has compelled us, year after year, to remonstrate against Newgate as a most objectionable prison, and on the pre sent occasion we have no alternative but to reiterate our complaints of it. We have repeatedly entered into the details of its radically wrong construction, and of its pernicious system of discipline. In whatever light we contemplate this prison, we see in it a vast school, where the jui emle and immature offender, or any one in whom there may yet he some sense of virtue remaining, is, by reason of a compulsory gaol association, quickly' per fected in the arts of crime. This result is inevitable. Here prisoners of various degrees of depravity are thrown into the most intimate companionship, in numbers varying from three to nineteen, for twenty hours of the twenty-four, in the various wards, in utter idleness, and without even the re straining presence of an officer. And during the two hours allowed for exercise, that sphere of association snd mutual contamination is prodigiously inert ased by the prisoners of the different wards being allowed freely to associate in the airing-yards. That contamination goes on to a fearful extent in the wards and yards of Newgate is not a matter of conjecture or random specu le tion, for every day's experience demonstrates it. It is no uneomnion thing for young men, committed to this prison for a first offence (although they may on entering evince deep and unfeigned sorrow for a short period), to recover rapidly from their depression of spirits, and give way to a reckless state of mind, which soon binds them in the closest intimacy with the depraved, and the old and oft-committed depredator. The reply of a prison officer on this point was very significant; he said that it is a commoe occurrence to see persons brought into prison fur the first time, who, when their grief had subsided, became the companions of the worst characters, and in a short time they may be seen walking with them in the common airing yards, arm in arm. Every one must ad mit, who Las paid attention to the subject, and narrowly watched the progress of the cri m i na l' s career, that his first commitment to prison is the crisis of his future destiny. The very turning-point of such a culprit'ir: subsequent career depends upon the kind of discipline.- he may be subjected to on his first commitment. A per son, for instance, under circumstances of greater or less tempation, is led to commit a criminal act, without duly weighing the probability of detection. It is only when he finds himself lodged within the walls of a prison that he becomes thoroughly alive to his unhappy con dition. And then, indeed, he sees every thing in the darkest point of view ; his prospects are blighted, his characte r is gone ; sorrow and disgrace are brought home to those nearest and dearest to him, and his own utter ruin would seem complete. We snbmit that this is the state of mind prevail ing in the case of most criminals upon their ' first commitment to prison—a mental condition predis posing them to be the recipients of good or bad impres sions, according as circumstances may present either the oneor the othei to his mind. If the prisoner be at this critical moment set apart from the viciouN, and be made the object of kind treatment, judicious instruction, and religious admonition, the best hopes may be entertained of his being rescued from ruin, and restored to society as a useful member of the community. But if his treatment be the reverse of this—if he be thrown at once and unavoidably into the society of the corrupted, the result is inevitable. To drown his cares, he listens to the seductive narratives of his depraved companions; and only longs for his liberty that he may give scope and gratification to his criminal propensities. The common dictates of humanity, the safety and well being of the community at large, and the all im portance of moral discipline to the prisoner himself, alike condemn a system of discipline that compels a prisoner to be the companion and close associate of the hardened and depraved. It is no mitigation or excuse to urge that prisoners are here confined but for short periods; that they are classified; and that order is main tained. We reply, that no discipline, however rigor ously enforced—no classification, however judicious— can prevent contamination where there is gaol associa tion, and that the period of this association matters little, if it allows of the evil being accomplished. It might have been reasonably supposed that Newgate, the chief prison for the untried in the metropolis, should combine everything in its construction and management which experience could suggest to render it an example worthy of imitation. Indeed, the necessity of its being so is as great as any other con sideration, receiving as it does within its walls nearly 4,000 prisoners per annum, many of whom are of the most prefligate character, and who are as dangerous to eoeie:y from their dexterity and daring as from their numbers. But in Newgate we find arrangements the most inefficient in construction, and pernicious in disci pline. A strict compliance with our duties gives us no choice but to.report matters as we find them, and again and again protest against Newgate as it at present exists. We earnestly submit that nothing short of its complete re construction on the separate system will avail, by which prisoner may be separated from prisoner by day and by night ; the innocent be protected ; the moral welfare of the first offender, and those just entering upon a course of guilt, be carefully attended to ; the hardened and often convicted criminal have no opportu nity of disseminating his baneful influence among others, and by which even he may be brought to feel the effi cacy of the means employed for his reformation. LORD MAYOR'S COURT. (Before the Hon. C. E. LAW, Recorder.) DENTON, PLAINTIFF, THE GLOUCESTER, ABERTSTWITH, AND CENTRAL WALES RAILWAY COMPANY, DEFENDANTS, AND MESSRS. GLYNN, HALIFAX, AND CO. GARNISHEES. Mr. Locke appeared on behalf of the Gloucester, Aberys twith, and Central Wales Railway Company, to move that an attachment issued from this Court of moneys in the bands of the garnishees alleged to belong to the above company should he dissolved. Mr. Ryland appeared to watch the case for the plaintiff. Mr. LOCKE contended that the attachment could not be maintained, as, in fact, no such company was legally in ex istence, it nut having been incorporated , b ut onl y provision ally registered ; and therefore the parties connected with it could not be sued as a company. Mr. RYLAND said it did not matter if they chose to assume a title; but, at all events, this was not the time or mode to ti y the question, as the matter of the attachment could not be brought before the Court till the case came on for hearing. The REconDER said the attachment was with Messrs.. Glynn and Co., the garnishees, and he therefore wished to try the question on affidavits by another party whether that attachment was right er not. Mr. LOCKE—Our answer to it is, that the garnishees have no such goods, for there are no such persons or no such Company. The RECORDER—I do not see how I can decide that point. You want to dissolve the attachment, but you do not put your answer in the shape of a plea; the garnishees may plead that they have no money belonging to such persons, and if they succeed in proving that on your present or future argument, then, of course, there will be an end of the attach ment. Mr. LOCKE—But the great difficulty is, that the garnishees are not likely to plead. The RECORDER-1f you make out that there is ne such company in existence, how will you make out that any money paid into the bankers belong s to y ou at all? You wish to be a vivacious body for one purpose, and a disem bodied spirit for another—that you have a legal competency to become a plaintiff, but not to be sued. You would appear as a brave body against the bankers, but on the appearance of a plaintiff would vanish. (Laughter.) The Learned Judge said that these unincorporated persons had a quick sense of their rights and a very dim view of their obliga tions. He did not consider he could take off the attach ment on the ground submitted; it must be argued on the merits. If the garnishees did not plead, the defendant was not condemned if he could make out his plea. The motion was refused. ISAACS V. GREEN. This was an action to recover the suns of 51. for money lent. It appeared by the evidence that the defendant had been treasurer to a club called the Friendly Union, held in Hounds ditch, which, in the early part of last year was about to be dissolved. Defendant was found to be deficient 1201., but, on a day appointed, paid 90/., and the difference was advanced by a person named Brandon, on Isaacs and his brother, and two other persons, undertaking to leave their five pounds each due from the club as security to Brandon. The Isaacses shortly after commenced an action against the defendant, but afterwards, in March last, agreed to suspend all proceedings for twelve months, if the costs in the two actions were paid, and Brandon paid the cost, 6/. lls. Sd. An agreement was put in to prove th a t f ac t, an d M r . Ryland and Mr. Laurie, who appeared for the plaintiff, said they had been very much deceived in their instructions, and m ust at once consent to a nonsuit, and begin again when the - me had fully transpired. AN IRISH. WITNESS At an inquest held on Friday, Mr. Walley, M.P., on the in s ? ' died suddenly on the even Great Wild , -street, Drury-lane, by at the Ben Jonson public -house, suing of St. Patrick's -day, the following sin gulare y , of Thomas I ower, an Irishman, who and ludicrous evidence was :—The . deceased lived at No. 1, Brewer's -court, in the neighbourhood, and it was alleged that . he had been drinking to an unusual Julia llolleus examined —1 ala s a ua lris e lt ees l knewon the day in question. believe he was supported by his son,. who is a th b o ric d t e l c a eased, and H lis a daughter that is married, an tWs daughter, and ye m r. e an 3 himself were together, drinking a bit, on St. Patrick's-day,' and the desase, told his daughter that he thought he was going for good, and then he began to cry tears. The Coroner—Was he tipsy? Witness—lle was drunk before he got t (Laughter.) Coroner—How old was lie? Witness—l should say about forty. Coroner—flow long should you think he had been married? Witntss—l know he was married about thirty-six yea(Laughs ter.) A Juror—He n t have married very young, then. Witnes (in continuation) —Yes• because his daughter is more than thirty. Coroner—What was the deceased man? Witness—Not Witness —We hiag at all, Sar. Coroner — I me an formerly, my good woman. l, then, he was a miller and wheelwright by trade.—(Great laughter.) Coroner—Those arc two very different things, which do yeti mean ? Witness—l don't know, but this I know, that he had something to do with the making of "whales" (looking at the jury), and that was his prodshian, gentlemen. it here because evident that little or nothing could be made out of this witness, and the eaughter or de ceased was therefore called to give evididtee, but her paucity of ideas rendered her statement very little mote intelliglbla than the testi mony of the former Witness, and the jury, convulsed with laughter, returned a verdict of " Died from natural causes." A COSTLY WEDDING ORNAISIENT.—TiIe Paris papas inform the curious in such matters, that there is now to be seen in a jeweller's shop on the Boulevards the diadem of precious stones to be worn by the Princess Olga, of Russia, on her wedding day. This diadem is worth 18,000,000 f. The large centra l diamond is estimated at 1,000,000 f. This 6 diadem Is to be presented to the bride by her Imperial father. MAGISTERIAL APPOINTMENT.—J. 0. Seeker, Esq., of the Oxford Circuit, should have been named as the successor of Mr Trail' at the Southwark Police-court, instead of Mr. Luckett, of • Bath, and the Chester Circuit, . _ up with 7 the ished c•ine► ;;linst P his In 3 pride con' 1 one ssible w hich ks w ,