The Sun. — London, England, 1837-04-13 00:00:00

which . shen he sat upon the Treasury benches arrayed againet his colleagues so formidable an opposition— pronounced one of the boldest pieces of vituperation he ever yet delivered against the empty benches oppo site. "It was nrt expedient, it was not decent for the Secretary for the Home Department (his Noble Friend, of course), to be absent from the House." It was, of 'course, expedient and decent, his Noble Friend . being absent, that he (Lord Stanley) should abuse him and abuse the Government (his Noble and Right Hon. Friends) who had all those opportunities for replying and explaining during their absence, which the kind ness and courtesy of the Noble Lord could have de sired. Never was worse feeling or worse taste shown. There was not a Tory Gentleman who would have spoken, or who did speak in the same strain. But the suiiject was exciting—the opportunity tempting. There were former friends, who could not defend them. selves, to be attacked, and there was a principle—one of the principles to which the Noble Lord has within the last year been so inviolably attached—the principle of irresponsible Government to be defended. Cer tainly the Noble Lord's argument was culious. The magistrates of England, said he, are the wisest, the ho nestest, the most excellent, well judging, and exem plary men that ever existed ; and here is that flagitiou, Secretary of the Home Office who has absolutely leE this great question to be decided, without any attempt to bias or influence such authority—by these mos: wise, most honest, most excellent, and best-judging of men ! ! The debate was a much longer one than was expected, and was conducted in rather a singular man ner, the Noble Lord's burst included. Mr. Hume had brought in a Bill, much too crowded with details. some of which, doubtless, were objectionable, for doing away with the irresponsible authority of the County Magistrates, and intrusting the expenditure and care of the rates collected to persons appointed by those by whom the rates were paid. The Bill last night was at its second reading—that is, was at a point when it is usual for the House to reject or accept the principle of a Bill, reserving the consideration of all details for a subsequent stage. Now, almost everybody who spoke, on both sides of the House, Lord Stanley excepted, allowed the principle of the Bill to be good ; but by far the greater number of those who spoke said that they should not vote for the principle which was goo] (this being the second reading), but against the details which were bad. Mr. Roebuck, who rose be fore Lord Stanley, rather encumbered the real subject by the introduction of questions which were really alien to the Bill, as well as by vituperation which was not exactly qualified to soothe or disarm opposition to it. He stated himself to be in favour of an elective magistracy, and railed with his usual bitterness against the existing magistracy. Now, an elective magistracy may be a most undesirable thing--but ti Bill did not appoint an elective magistracy and the existing magistracy may be the most he nottrable and gentle-minded men in the world, and vet the system under which they exercise their functions may be a most unjustifiable and ini prmer one. Mr. Maule, on being appealed to. said a few words expressive of his own opinion as favourable to the principle contained in the WI, and also contended that the Government were not wrong in leaving a measure which so entirely belonged to country administration in the hands of the countr.- gentlemen, who, from practical experience, were best calculated to decide upon it. Mr. E. J. Stanley, in a very few words, spoken just before the division, put the question, stating that he should vote in favour of it, on the proper footing. The: most amusin4 trait in the discussion was a remark of Major Beauclerk :—" Many of the magistracy (said that Gallant OfficLr) are the most high-inindej an,l honourable: of men—l am my e.ll a magistrate ;" while Mr. Flume closed the d.!- bat,! by exciting a peal of laughter at his proposition— that b,..fwe the question was put all the ma , istrates, himself excepted, should w:thdr-aw, "in wllict case.," sail the Finn. Member, I shall carry my second r:ading,"—Morning Cbro,t;cle. Every one who has looked dispassionately at the' state of parties within and without the Wills of Par o liament, must have been aware that there wai no im portant chaoge to be expected in the sentiments of the House of Commons before it shall hays node- 4 011 e the purifying , -,process of a new election ; and, there fore, that it was of very little consequence, unless to prevent a mi ., irLpresentation of the state of opinion lit the Tories, whether the division on • the pal Bill presented a few votes more or less in the tea jority than appeared on former occasions. The tr;flie; diminution of the majority on the late division, of which the 'Torie s vsnnt so extravagantly, is not attrihutahlo to any change or vacillation in the opinion, but to the non-attendance, of some of the Liberal Members of the House of Commons. Tnis will be at on ce e yid, m ; by glancing at the list of the division, in which not a single vote will be found on the opposite side to that on which it has already appeared. Therefore, to regard the slight decrease of the majority RS an evidence.of an incipient re-action, or of a less de termined feeling to carry the measure into law, would 1..! as absurd a delusion as any by which the Tories .ver attempted to mislead the public. Even if there were a real, instead of an apparent, diminution of the majority in the House of Com.nons, the questioe I%ould just stand in as favourable a position as it has hitherto done. From the commencement of the Ses sion it was not expected by any party that the Lords would accept the Bill without such imitilations as should render it worthless ; and therefore it matters little or nothing with regard to the advancement of the Bill whether it passed the House of Commons with an increased, or with a diminished majority. It is not from the House of Commons is expected the pressure that must popel th e measure throiNh the House of LordA, but fro.n the people. h is by the same force, too, that a chan g e must be operated iii the sentiments of the house of Commons itself. Rare, indeed, arc the instances in which Members have changed their convictions from discussion, or force of argument ; but innumerable are the changes which have been ef fected by a dissolution of Parliament, or the rerocess of au election. We have always stated our conviction that neither this nor any of the other great Ministerial measures of reform could be carried without a general and simultaneous demonstration of the national senti ment, similar to that which secured the Reform Act ; nor have we had, at any time, the remotest expecta tion that the work of reform could be efficiently car ried on without an appeal to the country. Be this appeal made sooner or later, it is on its result, and on that only, can the hopes of the country be confidently based. The dolorous description of the state of the country, and its domestic and forsign relations, given by Sir Robert Peel, and his modest insinuation that he was ready, if called upon, to take the helm and guide the vessel of the State through the dangers which cu• compass it, was the most mountebank and empirical exhibition that has lately been witnessed in either House of Parliament. It hears a striking analogy to the conduct of those quacks who endeavour to drive their fraudulent trade by first persuading people that they arc afflicted with all imaginable maladies, and then, after exciting alarm, offer their own nostrum as the grand Catholicon of human ill. It is not the first time that the Tamworth Baronet has betrayed himself by his insatiate craving after the sweets of office. But if any thing were wanting to increase to a dangerous exacerbation the excitement which the defeat of the proposed Reforms will necessarily occasion, it would be found in the prospect of Sir Robert or his col leagues being again allowed to usurp the Administra tion. Under a Liberal Ministry the delay of Reform may be brooked by the people ; but w h o w ill set bounds to n a ti ona l indignation if the Tory faction, whose machinations caused to a great extent the dangers which they aff ec t t o d eprecate , s h ou ld d are, as the Ministers of Government, to hurl defiance at the people, or, what would be worse, insult them, by claiming the honour of carrying those Reforms to which their previous opposition had been the great source of public embarrassment ?—Morning Adver. All parties in and out of Parliament have agreed, that ,the argument on the Irish Municipal Corpora tion Bill is pretty well exhausted—that the recent debate, so far as concerned the nature of the Minis terial measure, its tendencies and objects, the duress under which its ostensible framers acted, and the pur poses to which its real authors, the wholesale dealers in Irish agitation, would, according to their own no torious avowals, have converted it—that the debate, we say. on all these topics had died a natural death, and that the division ought, strictly speaking, to have taken place on Monday evening. But to his Ma jesty's Ministers it did not seem good that things should happen in conformity with the usual course. The discussion, it is true, was worn out, but not so the expectations of the Ministerial whippers-in, that by gabbling against time, and by the aid of Mr. Brotherton, an adjournment for 16 or 18 hours might be accomplished, and another joint or two of the tail brought up alive and in marketable condition to their quarters in the rear of the Treasury bench. The device was not attended with any consequences pe culiarly fortunate for those who practised it. They gained the addition of just one vote to their majority, which was swelled from 54 to 55. But they made also another acquisition, the prospect of which most probably was not among the motives for adjournment on the part of his Majesty's Ministers—they got by it the speech of Sir Robert Peel, and had their judg ments cleared and their spirits refreshed by those piquant passages wherein the Right Hon. Baronet gave so rich an historical description of the British empire under the quadripartite sway of Melbourne, Russell, O'Connell, and Pahnerston, further illumi ' natcd by marginal indications of what was likely to be fall Great Britain should these " popular" and " libe ral" statesmen refuse any longer to devote themselves for their country,retiring from the Downing -street tread mill to their well-earned pensions and (those who are blessed with such articles) to their decent homes. The secret feelings of the House of Commons in that respect faithfully sympathising with those of the nation, betrayed themselves irrepressibly when the Conservative leader apostrophised the haggard aspect of public affairs under these Whig-Radical regenerators •91 —" the state of our foreign a ff a i rs (at which words the Ministerial culprit to whom that mortifying state is attributable, had the preternatural effrontery to af fect a smile I) —" the position of this country with reference to Russia and the whole of the northern Powers—with reference to Spain," that labyrinth where sae monster of anarchy waits to make a prey of all who enter it—with reference to France, where, amidst the shadows and mockeries of a pageant freedom, al ready obsolete after its six years' experiment, there trembles in the remotest corner of a prison-palace, the doomed victim of some recluse murderer, the no minal captain of four hundred thousand soldiers. The majority who heard Sir Robert Peel was prepared for a formal division upon the Irish measure, but was unprepared for the sudden advent of this frightful spectre, raised by the incantation of the Conserva tive chief. The genuine sentiment of Englishmen, therefore, the wounded sense of national honour, and no small portion of dislike towards the perverse arid unprincipled agent through whom the disgrace had been inflicted on us, burst out in a storm of cheers from both sides of the House of Commons, in testi mony of the truth and power with which Sr Robert Peel had struck the chord of universal sympathy. So throughout the rest of his thrilling denunciation of these Ministers, the " hundreds of questions" stag nant before the House of Commons, not advanced a single stage—" numberless propositions," hut nothing done. Where "is the Irish Poor-law Bill ?" Where the English " Church-rate Bill ?" Where " the Irish Tithe Bill," the boasted keystone of their Cabi net ? No, lock once more at the whole west of Eu rope, under the assumed policy of this disjointed and decrepit Administration—cur pupil " Spain without a Government"—our confederate France, who trusts England, and England her, as each would " trust an adder fanged ;,* while here on En g lish soil, i n lieu of a Government, we see or hear nothing but a doubt from day to day whether there exists ' a Gevernment or not ?" To that last question every honest and discerning Englishman feels what must be the answer. We have, in fact, no Government, nor apology for a Government. The very revolutionists by whom alone these melt are maintaineetin their several offices—the revolutionists to their faces scorn them for their imbecility, and treat them without the least disguise as a ladder, to he climbed upon and I hen kicked ,away. Under these circumstances we shall not guess what may happen. Rut something at length is gained for those waverers, douleers, and timid though conscientious men, who feared thet it was either Whig rate, or the rule of anarchy. The ripened action of good sense and con stitutional order throughout the country has forced the Conservative leath•r to speak cut. He will not lunar the Whigs in their distresses. He and his frieeds arc people can off rd to wait to wait the fitting time and season to begin. We have declared our conscientious wish that the chanee of men, and improvement of measures, may be slow in arriving. We desire the change to he date, that it maybe lasting. We pray the Ministers to indulge the nation with a fidi deve lopment of their characters and their projects before they disappear from the official stage for ever.—Times. The real merits of the question respecting Irish mu nicipal institutions are contained within a very narrow compass. The Ministers rely upon the argument of the aptitude of Ireland to be governed by similar insti tutions to those which Great Britain possesses. If so, why did Ministers apply a separate Reform Act to Indand, and one which places the elective franchise under d Krent regulations from those which obtain in Emit land ? How is it that the forty-shilling freeholders of Ireland were dWranchised, with the fel; approbation of Mr. Daniel O'Connell, who distinctly admitted, be fore a Parliamentary Committee, that they were un worthy of being allowed to exercise the elective fran chise ? How is it that Ministers framed and urged forward their Irish constabulary, by which some hun dreds of new places were to he created, on the,ground of the different circumstances of Ireland causing that coun try to require a different system of local Government from England ? How is it that Ministers framed their Irish Poor Law measure, or rather their apology for a Poor Law, upon time express principle.. that Ireland is not qualified for self government, even in regard to regu lating time interests of its own poor, and must, therefore, be placed under the absolute control of the pauper despots ofSomerset-house ? Are the distinctions which we have mentioned in the mode of internal government as to the two countries, insults to Ireland ? If they are, those insults have been inflicted upon the " sister isle" by the Whig Ministers themselves, who have either drawn those distinctions or approved of them. Those and other distinctions constitute the practical answer to the main, or indeed the only argument of the Ministers in favour of granting Municipal Corporations to Ireland, in the present state of that country. But the argument which Ministers put forward is not the one which weighs upon their own minds. They never saw the propriety of what they call " Corporate Re form" in Ireland, but which means nothing else than establishing a Roman. Catholic ascendancy, until the man whom they had formerly denounced in the Speech from the Throne, and who branded them with the foulest epithets that the English language could supply, became their ally, director, and patron, receiving in re turn the virtual government, and the actual dispensa tion of the Government of Ireland, and demanding, in addition to all that, the establishment of national schools of political agitation, to assist him in consum mating the grand object of Iris ulterior policy, as over and over again avowed by himself—the dismember ment of the empire. The present Administration has a pretty good sprinkling of Irishmen, and to that, per se, we have no objection ; but we do greatly object to the Irish mode of producing " tranquillity," by placing in the hands of the disturbers of the public peace additional means of agitation. What has the " healing measure" done towards effecting, as its zealous supporters, both Roman Catholic and Pro testant, promised, the pacification of Ireland ? Sir James Graham says he supported the Roman Ca tholic Emancipation Bill on the most solemn assur ances—the most solemn oaths, that the political pri vileges which were by that Bill to be conferred would never be exerted against the Protestant Church. Miserable delusion i Except in a period of actual rebellion political agitation never rose to such a height in Ireland as since the claims of the Roman Catholics were conceded. The Ministers who brought about that concession in a manner which afforded the strongest practical argument for Parliamentary Reform that ever was adduced, have been ever since pecu liarly the objects of the ungrateful detraction and ma lignant hatred of the Roman Catholic agitators. Every concession in Church and State which Minis ters now propose, O'Connell talks of to his Irish audiences as merely instalments—thus making present concession a stimulus to future agitation.—Morning Herald. The Irish Corporation question, however important it may be abstractedly considered, becomes a hundred fold more important when examined with reference to the views avo we d by th ose w h o su pp or t it, an d thein tentions professed by those who introduce it. Mr. O'Connell tells us—" Give me the Corporation Bill, and I will establish the voluntary system." Lotd John Russell tells us—" Deny me the Corporation Bill, and I will resign office." It is not surprising that the question wh e th er the blessings of mayors and al dermen shall or shall not be perpetuated to the Irish corporate towns—a question about which the Irish corporate towns appear to care very little—should cease to Interest the English people, except in so far as it bears upon the apprehension of annihilating a Pro testant Church and the hope of extinguishing a pro fligate Administration. Sir Robert Peel regarded the subjest in this light on Tuesday evening, touching but briefly on those points which had been disputed between the two parties in two sessions of Parliament, till argu ment and illustration were exhausted, but applying his masterly eloquence to the connection necessarily ex isting between the fate of this Bill and the results of the whole scheme of the present Ministerial policy. His speech, therefore, is not merely a speech on the Irish Municipal Bill. It is a speech on the present state of public affairs, and may be read as the manifesto of the illustrious statesman to whom, in an hour of fearful need, our country looks up for counsel and guidance. The remarks of Sir Robert Peel on the present state of the Irish Protestant Church will be read,. as they were heard, w ith the deepest in terest. Here is the man who, haying throughout his whole previous political life been the leading opponent of a particular measure, I:imself, as a Mi nister Of the Crown, carried that measure through the House of Commons, sacrificing to his sense of duty many perscnal feelings, many private friendships, relinquishing ne ity of the ties which had bound to him his political associates, and exposing himself for all future time to the taunts of the bad and base among his political adversaries. And why ? Because he trusted the solemn declarations and the sacred oaths of men whose declarations and oaths he now finds to have been worth as little as the breath wasted in the utterance of them. Surely Sir Robert Peel may well be listened to with a more than usual at tention, when he, the author of the Catholic Relief Bill, avers that he will no more rely on the declara tions by which he has been grossly deceived ; that he will not again credit the oaths by which he has been betrayed ; that he will pass no measure which shall give an increase of political power to the ene mies of our Protestant Establishment in Ireland until that Establishment shall have been secured, so far as legislative enactments can secure it, in the enjoyment of its property, its dignity, and its influ ence. But the King's Ministers are afraid of the Irish Church question. When the premature discussion of it, upon an abstract resolution, was likely to embarrass a hostile Administration, Lord J. Russell was very ready—but when the ripe consideration of it, in the form of a specific 1311, is likely to endanger his own pay and place, Lord J. Russell is very diffident. He is better acquainted, forsooth, with the difficulties of the subject than he was in 1835—less confident of sati4ying the Irish Papists—less hopeful of satisfying the House of Lords. Mi sera bl e cant . N ot hi n g i s changed in the Irish Church question but this—that in 1835 it was the question by which they expected to come in—in 1837 it is the question by which they ex pect to go out. Lord Stanley, Sir J. Graham, Sir R. Peel, may successively repeat their challenge to his Majesty's Ministers. They will pass no Irish Tithe Bill through their own House, the House of Commons, in this session. The menace of the Home Secretary, repeated by Sir John Hobhouse, and explained by the ilarning Chronicle, that upon the loss of the Irish unicipal Corporation Bill Lord Melbourne will either dissolve his Administration, or suhmit such advice to his Po - al Master as will probably lead to its dissolution, called cOrth from Sir Robert Peel, at the close of his address, an announcement which the nation - will hail with tiiumphant satisfac tion. After alluding to the difficulties which "must surround any Minister's who shall undertake to remedy the evils which the weakness or wickedue:s of our present rulers have brought into active opera tion, Sir Robert Peel declared himself ready to en counter those diflieulties if the voice of his King and country should invite him to the struggle. At tached as he is known to be to the studies and relaxa tions of private life, which no man is better fitted to. enjoy and to adorn, many doubted whether he would • again abandon them fur the incessant fatigues and nu:r. beelcss anxieties which must beset a Conservative Mi nister in these eventful times ; and, powerful as he is felt to be ;n the position he holds in the van of the Conservative Opposition, some supposed that it would be his policy to content himself with the immense moral influence which that position enables him to exert over the destinies of his country. All good men will rejoice that he has spoken out, and will anticipate exultingly the period when those mighty tasks will he confided to him, which, for the happiness of this nation, he is rdling once more to undertake. We will not make so loud a noise about our di vision, as our adversaries made some weeks ago about theirs. It is true that the Ministerial majority in fa vour of the Bill was less than it has been on any for mer occasion. It is true that, adopting the Morning Chronicle's favoured reference to " the last division on the same subject, we find our forces stronger by 25 votes. It is true that with their present diminished su periority, the Government cannot with any decency prate of interference with the constitutional authority of the Lords, however, it may be exercised on this vital question. But the majority, small as itis, is larger than it should be. We sball not be satisfied with the divisions of the House of Commons until they represent the opinions of the intelligent people of Great Britain.—Morning Post. The frequenters of St. James's-street cannot fail to be struck with a forlorn and destitute figure who daily parades up and down opposite the entrance to Pickering-place, %here he is reported to have been plundered of the ample means of support which he once possessed. On Tuesday a Court of Aldermen was held for the dispatch of business. Alderman Wood said that it appeared to be the general feeling in society that some plan should be adopted by which juvenile offenders might be disposed of in a manner more likely to lead to reformation than the system generally acted upon. The necessity was the more obvious, as every session presented great numbers of children who have after trial been cast upon the town without protection or the slightest security against the repetition of the offences for which they were imprisoned. The Alderman moved that it be re ferred to a Committee of the whole Court to consider of the propriety of a change in the mode of trial as regarded juvenile offenders, and also of a change as to the place of imprisonment. The motion having been seconded by Sir Peter Laurie, was, after some discussion, agreed to. Some other unimportant business was transacted, and the Court adjourned. SEVEN LIVES LosT.--Early on the morning of Friday last, a party of ten, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur,- their son, and two servants, and their two sisters, and an Eng lishman, named Help, set out on a vraicking excursion, in only one boat, along the coast of St. Brelade. Having obtained as much of the highly valued weed as could be well jammed into the boat, they turned towards the shore, when, just as they were nearing " La Pulente," the boat unfortunately touched a rock, which caused a slight shock to be felt on board. On this, the females became considerably alarmed, and, uttering a piercing shriek of distress, very imprudently rushed on one side of their frail tenement. The consequence was, that the boat, crammed as it was with vraic and passengers, instantly upset, ilunging the whole into the sea. The dreadful occurrence was witnessed from the shore by a number of individuals, who, we are sorry to say, for the most part exhibited little desire to make any the smallest attempt at rescuing the sufferers from their awful situation. As soon, however, as the mi sc hi e f was observed by Mr. Henry Renouf, and his son-in-law, M r . Phi l i p Le Boulanger, who had just reached the shore with a boat full of vraic, they unhesitatingly put out for the scene of distress, though much against the advice of several of their more timid friends. At the imminent risk of their own lives, they suc ceeded in rescuing from a watery grave Mr. Edward Duhe aume, one of Mr. Arthur's servants, a man named Bailh ac h e , as alsD Mr. A r th ur ' s son , a youn g man of about nineteen years of age--the latter in such a weak and distressing state as to be obliged to be carried to his residence. Their kind-hearted preservers again braved the dangers of th e sea, and brought to l an d fi ve out o f the remaining seven, but from the whole of whom, dreadful to relate, the vital spark had fled ! The state of exhaustion into which their zealous and resolute exertions had placed Mr. Renouf and his son now obliged them to desist from further attempts that day at recovering the bodies of the remaining too sufferers ; but, we understand one of them was picked up early the next morning. The man Help, however, had not been found when we went to press, Jersey Argus. POLICE, INTELLIGENCE. MARLBORO UGH-STREET. EEL-PIE V. MINCE-PlE.—Four, young shopmen were brought before Mr. CONANT and Mr. HALL, charged by the police with having been found fighting together in Ox ford-street. No little merriment was caused by a detail of the circumstances of the case. On Sunday night last the complainant and friend, and defendant and friend, found themselves in front of a pie-shop in Wardour-street. The complainant's olfactories having been irresistibly solicited by the savoury smell of sundry hot eel-pies, he walked into the shop with his friend to be speak ascouple. While masticating, with vast relish, the little dainty, the defendant and friend, till then quite stran gers, came in, and called for something to eat. The atten tive pieman inquired which the gentlemen wou'td choose— " Heel, weal, or mince." The defendant, turning up his nose fastidiously, observed, " Heel-pies is only fit for snobs give me a mince 'un." The eel-pie eater, believing that the disparaging remark was levelled at him, turned round, and, looking the speaker full in the face, said, with a provoking laugh, " Vot a blessed ugly mouth to eat mince-pies vith." This was a " touch on the raw," the defendant's mouth be ing one of the "annual lease," or from "ear to ear," descrip tion ; so, walking up to the complainant, he declared he was competent " to yell vop any nine stun man in com pany." The complainant replied he weighed only eight stone, but his pluck was equal to nine, and if anybody threatened to" vop" him the person who did so would stand a chance of being " yell vopped " himself. This being con strued into a challenge by the defendant, he struck the com plainant, and a general fight took place which was ended by the police. Mr. CONANT asked the complainant if he had made any allusion to the size of the defendant's mouth ? The complainant replied he had said something about it after he had been indirectly called a •° snob." Mr. HALL—I suppose an eel-pie is not considered so treat a dainty as the other sort of pies ? The pieman, who was present, conceiving this to be a capital opportunity to display his gastronomic proficiency, said, " Heel-pies, yer Vership, as is chalked up a penny, is made of fish vith their heads, and tails, and hinsides, and all in it, chopped up together. But sitch pies as I sells aint ony made vith the werry beat sand or silver heels, cleaned in three vorters. Now, if you wants a slap up mince, vith a crust as"- The pieman's description was here cut short, very much to his mortification. The Bench desired all parties to retire and try to settle matters. He of the mouth for a long time refused to be pacified, but at length an amicable arrangement was entered into, and the case was dismissed. Three years ago when it was proposed at the Chu:chwarden's meeting at Banbury that they should try if they could not raise a sufficient sum by subscription, before making a Church-rate, one person said, " Thank God ! it is rot come to that yet." We presume that person's pious ejacu lations will now cease—for at this moment a subscription, sug gested in a printed address from one of the Churchwardens, is being raised to supply the place of a Church -rate, which al though moved and seconded, and declared by another Church warden to be carried, is after all but an abortion. We beLeve the greater part of the amount required has been already raised, two of the Churchwardens heading the list, with a handsome sum each. These two gentlemen declare they will not attempt to collect the rate, which the other official de clared was made ; if he attempts to do so, he will very soon find that Church-rates are matters of history in Banbury. No? thump/oil Chronicle. THE MURDERED CHILDREN.—On the subject of the strangulstion last week at Nottingham of four children by their own father, whose Confession was published in 'lles Sun of Saturday, the following observations are found in the Nottingham Review :—The records of desperation and crime have seldom, if ever, presented a case more calculated to inspire horror—speechless, breathless horror. That a father, whose general demeanour towards his children has been marked by kindness and humanity, should be urged by pecuniary distress to adopt the terrible and atrocious plan of deliberately strangling the four young and lovely pledges of his buried partner, in calm and regular succession, with brief pauses of reluctance ra ther than remorse, followed at each interval by a stern renewal of his first deadly and tremendous purpose—a purpose so intense, concentrated, and terrible, that neither the sympathizing selfsanticipating shudder of his awakened victims, nor the soft sweet repose of his unconscious martyrs, nor the touching humanizing appeal of the little duteous lov ing child, that had that very day taken him his dinner, nor the starting blood, the gasping death pang, and the blackened corpse of each and all the beings of his heart's natural love, could chase, nor mitigate nor soften—is an event far more calculated to excite surprise than even the cool, self-collected, and deliberate terms in which the soul-harrowing confession is recorded. ft is the nature and tendency of all stern, delirious. and deadly purposes to leave, when their consummation is effected, an after state of cold and sullen quiet, which shows no outward sign nor symptom of the horrible e.xcess of pas si,n by whith it has been induced. We do not, therefore., w• - 11..r at the demeanour of the unhappy man upon his examination before she Coroner. Our sensations, intellectual awl moral, are bound up in one deep feeling of shuddering in quiry as to the gloomy apprehensions of certain or uncertain evil that could induce in the mind of this man so desperate a purpose, so horrible a deed—a deed so unprecedented or rare in its occurrence, as to have procured for itself no specific and descriptive name. Our readers will doubtleSs share in this state of painful wonder ; hut who can lift the veil, and portray the sense of misery and hopelessness that could induce the act. That must be left to the Great Searcher of the human heart, that " yawning sepulchre," whose sickening recesses its owner knows not, nor can know, beyond those outward symptoms which trial and temptation may reveal. LORD ELDON.-His Lordship is exceedingly fond of the pleasures of the field ; and while walking but a few years ago in his shooting dress, in a very private part of his estate, he met a stranger with hii dog and gun. " I suppose," said his Lordship, " you are aware, Sir, that you are trespassing." " Well," said the sportsman, " and if I am, what is that to you ? I suppose you are one of old Bags's keepers." " No," said Lord Eldon, with the most good- natured composure, " I am 0:d Bags himself !" A patent for ten years has just been granted by the Emperor of Russia to one of his Aides-de-camp, for the in. vi•ntion of a new species of road, whickit is calculated will ex cel all others. The plan is to place the wheels (mere friction roilors), not upon the carriages, but upon the rails of the road itself, and to have it travelled over by sledges, drawn by horses. The experiment has been tried in St. Petersburgh, and it is said that a horse can gallop at the top of his speed, and draw a great load after him.—Frankfort Paper. A grand antiquarian discovery has been made in the far west, that promises to provide abundant speculation for the learned of every civilized country. Babylon, Balbec, Pal myra, Thebes, and Memphis, present ruins that were once in habited by people who are well known to us by the records of history. But in the back and beautiful wilds of North Ame rica have been recently discovered the ruins of a large half buried city, of the population of which nothing whatever is known. They were probably a race of men who have entirely passed away from the earth. Certainly the Indians of the• present day and their forefathers never dwelt in cities. I have seen much in the wild western regions of Missouri and Illinois, and particularly that singular structure, " Monk's Mound," all of which bear evidence of having been constructed by a totally different and more civilised people than any of the (so called) aboriginal tribes. But here is a city the discovered parts of which are built with brick. By whom built and by whom peopled I leave to the learned in archeology, merely remark ing that some of the Indian tribes have traditions of another race of men having once lived in North America. They have also traditions of the mammoth having roamed in the forests, " crushing the pine trees in his walk, and devouring men and animals for his prey, until the Great Spirit, in a dreadful storm of thunder and lightning, killed the mighty beast; since which the red man has fished in the clear waters and hunted in the forest and on the prairies." It should be stated that these people were different from the Mexicans, their buildings being dissi milar. But, as I before said, I leave these, and a hundred other speculations, to the learned in antiquarian research.—Anteritan Paper. ALLEGED MURDER.—We noticed shortly in out last the distressing circumstances attending the death of Mrs. Thomson, of Gilmore-place. We have since ascertained the following particulars respecting the melancholy event I—Cap tain aneMrs. Thomson were both given to take liquor to ex cess, and quarrelling over their cups, though in other respects they lived quietly enough. On Saturday night they had one of their quarrels, both of them being inebriated (and the ser vant also, we have heard, was not sober), on which occasion, it is stated, Mrs. Thomson struck her husband with the tongs, who retaliated by lifting a chair, and giving her a blow on the face, by which she was struck down. This happened late on Saturday night. An alarm was given to the neighbours, and on one of them entering the parlour a shocking sight presented itself—Mrs. Thomson was lying on the floor with her head on the hearth rug, her face covered with blood, the bridge of her nose broken, and her lower jaw battered in, her teeth lying flat in her mouth, while beyond her, her husband was also lying on the carpet, reclining on his elbow. Mrs. Thomson was still breathing, and lingered till about half-past twelve o'clock on Sunday morning, when she expired. There was a gash on the back part of the head, but that is understood to have arisen from a fall which she had a few days ago while in a state of intoxication. The fender of the parlour was marked with blood, from whence it is conjectured that Mrs. Thomson had come in contact with it. Captain Thomson was taken into custody in the course of Sunday ; he was then under the influ ence of liquor, and we have heard that he has been suffering dreadfully under the influence of delirium tremens and agitation of mind, owing to which he has not yet undergone an exami nation, though we understand that he was quieter on Monday than at any previous period. The case has excited intense in terest here, from the respectability of the parties, and their long residence in the city, Captain Thomson having formerly been a merchant in the South Bridge ; after which he obtained a commission in the army, and at one time commanded a re cruiting party of the 52d Regiment in Edinburgh. He was afterwards appointed to a veteral battalion. —Edinb. Courant. . - Owing to the early commencement of the winter, and the extreme backwardness of the spring, the cattle are begin ing to suffer severely from want of provender. In many places the stacks of hay arc nearly exhausted, in all the price is enor mous, and in some instances farmers are compelled to feed their cattle on corn. PRICES OF CANALS, DOCK STOCKS, ASSURANCE COMPANIES, &c. &c. &c. LONDON, TUESDAY, APRIL 11. Number Dividend CANA! S. of Shares per Annum. Price per Paid. Share. 1,760 7 De' cent. Ashton and Oldham....Average 971. 18s. sh. 135 1,182 41. Ashby -tle_le-Zouch Average 113/. sh. 65 1,260 Basingstoke lOO/. sh. 51 1,005 5/. Brecknock . ind Abergavenny 150. sh. 100 8,000 1-16 sh. 91. 9s. Birmingham, 1-16th share 81%. & 711. 218 4,00) Ditto acid Liverpool Junct...1•251 sh. 100 pd 31 600 , Bridgewater and Taunton ....1001. sh. all pd 64 400 4/. Chelmer and Blackwater .. lOO/. sh. 102 500 481. Coventry 1001. sh. 700 4,545 Croydon - Average 31/. 2s. 10d. sh. 3 2,0601 41. Os, Dudley 600 7/. Derby 1 001. sh. 122 20,000 3,575,,a 3/. Ellesmere and Chester Average 133/. sh. 80 ZI 40/. Erewa.,ll 'OOl. sh. 600 1,297 28/. Forth and Clyde Average 4e.01.101. sh. 600 11,500 121. Grand Juncti&r, lOW. sh. 204 2,M91 11. Grand Union lOU sh. 2 I -1.5i lo Grand Surrey 120,1)00!. 41. per cent. Ditto (optional) Loan lOOl. 70 3,1196 Grand Western 600 la'. Ns. Bd. Glarn-rganshire, Average cost 172/. 13s. 4d. 230 749 104. Grantham 150/. sh. 20'2 6,23'3 11. 15s Huddersfit Id Average 571. Os. lid. sh. 35 100 Kenning) 'n l0) sh all pd. 10 25.321 11. 2s. Kennet aid Avon, Average 39/. 18s. 10d. sh. 22 2;4971 20/. Leeds and Liverpool 100/. sh. 540 5451 12/. Leicester l4O/. sh. 195 1,897 41. 10s. Leicester and Northampton... Aver 43/. Ins. 77 2,400 10/. Monmouthshire I OW. sh. 200 50 164 Melton Mowbray 100/ sh. 200 - ..._. ._ .... _ 500 25/. Mersey and Irviiell lOO/. sh. 560 3,0;10 1/. 10s. Macclesfield 1001. sh all pd. 54 21.1 171. Neat h 1,786 801. Oxford lOO/. sh. 580 2,x00. HZ. Peak Forest Average about 78/. sh. 104 21,418 12s. Regent's (or London) Aver. 331. I6s. e,d. sh. :G 5 4 6 Q 8/. per cent. I';ochdale Average 8.51. sh. 1; 0 500 81. Shropshire 1',5/. sh. 138 800 9/. 10s. Somerset Coal l5O/. sh. 149 3,,;041/. 4,4 per cent Ditto 1 ock Fund Stock l2l. 10s. sh. Ili 700 401. Stafford and Worcester l4O/. sh. 730 500 9/. Shrewshu; y 125/. sh. 24:4 300 81. Stourbridge 3,647 21. i's. Stratford-cat- Av. it ...Average 70/. Os. ;.,41. sh. 50 533 12/. Swansea .... ._.. 3,762 I/. 4s. Severn and Wye and Railway ...Av 35/. sh. 18 2,60P.1 sr, t 521. 10s. Trent awl Mersey, 1 share IGO/. sh. 550 8,149 Thames .n.I Medway...Aver. J 9/. ss. id. sh. 2 1,0005h.1 151. Warwick aid Birmingham lOOl. sh. 2.50 1,000,45 h. j 9 , 40 H'.. Warwick and Napton lOO/. sh. 180 6,000 41115, Worcest , t am: Birmingham... Av. 7' , !. Bi. sh. 51 5,000 225. Wilts ass Berlis .. Average 671. 108. Sd. sh. '1 800 31. Wyrley and Essington 1:251. sh 75 ItNi ...... WiSbe3Cll 905 I/. Wey awl Arun llOl. sh. 22j DOCKS. 2 . 600& / 3 Commercial lOOl. sh. 56 1,1c),1,,h j p. c. 498,687i4/. 6 per ct. East India 4 . Stock ll4 3,23'3,3101/. 505. p.ct. London Ditto Bowls 1,3,?0,000/. 5/. per et. West India Stock V 5 2;.:0.1 2/. 193. Bristol G 5,324/. 51. per cent. Ditto Nwes, various amounts ll5 1,152,712 4 n -rent. St. Kathatiiie Stock 90 „__ 500,000 4f per cent. Ditto 100 200,000 4 per cent. Ditto Bonds Icr 10 years lOO Shoreham 11.0 hour 2-500 Deptford °Ol. sh. 31. BRIDGES. 1,6'0 Is. Hammersin ti 5Ol. sh. 223 7,231 Southwark, Old kv„ FM 2s. Bd. sh. 2 1,700 1/. 15s. Ditto, Nov, of 71 per cent. 5Ol. sh. 11 5,000 Waterloo lOO/ sh. 5 5,000 ISs. 80. Ditto, Old Annuities of 8/. 6O/. pd 184 5,000 16s. 40 Ditto, New Ditto of 71 401. pd 15; 30,000/. 51. per cent. Pit•o Bonds llB 6,000 17s Vauxhall Avarage 70/. 10s. 3d. sh. 10i AS I.,RANCI , COMPAN:ES. 2,000 3/ 10s Albion 5001. sh. 501' pd 81 5 0 ,000 [ s ln e :i i r, t 'l Alliance, British & Foreign 100/. sh. 1041. pd 12.1 50,000 6 per cent. Ditto, Marine 106/. sh. 51. pd ni 24,001) i 1 per sh. Atlas 50/. sh. 5/. pd 13; 1,200 ish. 5/. Birmingham t ire 2501. sh. 55/. pd ll's 20,000 41 per cent. British Fire 12,000 61. per cent. British Commercial 51'/. O. 5/. pd 61 5,000 U. per cent. Clerical, Medi al,&c. Life, ICO/ sh. 12/10s pd 4 4,000 21 103 County 1001. sh. 10/. pd 42 20,000 ss. Eagle „„, 5 per c m Economic Lit:: t.? 1000/. sh. 250/. pd 373 -"" Land 30/ bs. S 2,271 225. per cent. European Li. • "0/. sh. all pd 22 30,000 2a. Ditto, New 2O/. sh. 21. pd 1; 1,000,0001. 71. per ct. Globe 20,000 5/. Guardian lOO/. sh. 271/ pd 231 40,000 6s. rd. Hope 5 01. sh. W. pd 6-4 2,400 5/. 7s. 6d. Impertal Fire 7,500 Os. Imperial Lite.. 100/. sh. 10/. pd 10 13,438 12e per sh. Indemnity 51:aine 1(01. sh. 8/. pd It) 2,020 31 10s Keat Fire 50/. sh. all pd 82 3/. Ditts Life 79 10,P00 16s. Law Life 100/. sh. 10/. pd 27 5 00j 10s. ' London, Fir. 9 5/ sli. 12/. 10s. pd 13,1 0,900 10s. Londca, Ship 25/. sh. 12/. 10s. pd 13 1 3J,000 3/. per cent. Palladium Lito VV. sh. 2/. pd 2/ Ss 61 50,003 Prote tor Foe °W. sh. 2/. pd :Ss Cd 2,500 11. Provident Lue 100,000 5/. percent. Rock Life 201. sh. V/. pd 61 risd,22o/ 51. per cont. Royal Exch .i.ii,e Ste k... 2'o 6,000 5 per cent. University 1.:to OO/. sh. 5/. pd 5-1 50,000 4 per cent. United Kii, ~ lom Life 0 1. pd JOINT Sld./CK BANKS 25,t100 Agric .7.ndCmm. of Ireland 2.!. sh. 10/. pd 14 5,000 Australa is 4Ol. sh. 401. pd 591 10,00 10 per cent. Ban . ; of Bu mingliam 5t 1. sh. lul. pd to 10,000 10 per cent. Fliimingham Bank 5O/. sh. 51. pd 14 3 0 ,000 5 percent. London and Westminster-100/ sh. 20/. pd 191 3,000 4 per cent. Lancaster 100/. sh. Vl. pd 3 5:5,100 Liverpool 1001 sh. 101. f d 19 50,1.410 6 per cent. Manchester and Liverpool] 1001.4 h. 15/ pd 211 Discount 2.1,000 71 percent. Blanchester. 1(01. sh. 251 pd 231. 20,000 Pr:wincial Bulk of I reland...loo/. sh. 25/. IA 3 20,' tO • National Bank of Ireland ...5 I. sh 171/. pd 14 10,000 5 per cent. National Proyincial Eng. ...1001. sh. 35/. pd :9,900 Gloucestershire 5O/. sh. 10/. pd 20 0,000 lOper rent. Hampshire . 501. sh. 51. pd 9 GAS LIGHT AND COK?_: COMPANIES. 2,500 II 2s lid Bath 2Ol. sh. 101. pd .21 5,00!) British 4O/. sh. la. pd 21 5, ,, 00 {.as/Aei 6,e 3 c1 5 1..} Ditto ProY;acial 2Ol. sh. 19 pd 23 928 5/ lOs Birmingham 5Ol. sh. !14 4.,/%0 '2l Os Bristol '2o . sh. 40 1,500 3 103 Bright. , ' - '9l. sh. 12 7:44 3/ 10s Ditt , , New 2O/. sh. I ;.=1. pd 1 , 2,471 5 per cent. Brighton tleneral 20/ sh. all pd 17 1,000 41. Continental tlansolidated lOOl. 021/. pd 70 1,000 10/. - City of Loudon 3OOl. sh. all pd Itkt 1,"00 01. Di t.o , New 4,000 41.105. Equitable ... (0, 1 00 2i per cent. Imperial sfll. sh. 411 800 5,' per cent. Isle • , f l'hanet 2,350 61. per cent. !ndependent 3O/. sh. all pd 49 9,0 , 11 31. per cent. Phoeni t ... SOL 01. 39/. pd 26 1,000 41. per cent. Rateliff 1001. sh. SOl. pd 1,0 , 0 South ,'lctroptilitan 8,200 51. per cent. United General 5Ol. sh. 401. pd 23 240 5/. per cont: Warwit k ..5111. sh. 50 ... .. .. 400 81. per cent «':+k, hold 2:;l. sh. 221 12, 0 00 -3/. We-itminster Chartered 6,001 12s. Ditto New FGO Yarmouth 26/. sh. IS?. pd 11 WATER WJRKS. 4,800 Os. Birmingham . ._ __ ... 251. sh 251 pd 241 1,143 (;1. li:ai* London lllOl. sh. ISO 5,501) 21 lOs Or OW JllllOlOll 1 verage 411 13s. 4d. sh. 50 2,1)00 Qt. Kent lOO/. sh. 43 372 . 10/. Liverpsol floot le 2.:!01. sh. 3X 1,510 2/ lOs New River Lo u don Bridge Water Annuities 58 6,181 1/ 15s Mznehester and Salford 00 1 per tent. Sjuth Lon.lon - 100/. sh. 8 i 5,2114 3/. West Middlesex .... Average 13/. 12s. 11d. sh. 78 1,300 1/ 14s York Building Co. Lessee Prop 1001. sh. 35 IRON RAILWAYS, 6,000 • Birmingham and Derby ICI pd .6 , 9,5150 Birm ingham and Gloucester lr t t pd 31 7,500 Birmingham, Bristol, and Thames Junction 0 . 15, , 143 Bristol ant Exeter ION. sh. s pd i .1. MO Calcutta and Saucur 501. sh. 21. pd Cg 7,5 0 0 ..... ... Cheltenham and G. Western...loa sh. 71/. 5 3.000 Clarence lOOl. rh. 100/. pi 41 12,0010 8,000 Dublin and Kilkenny lON. sh. 24 pd 1 60,000 E stern Counties '2sl :h. 21 pd Of ('rand Junction 100/. sh. 501. p i li 7 Great North of England 7/. R 1 54 25,ca0 Great Western lOO/ sh. 40/. pd 44 2,0:10 Ilartlepool 100/. sh. 100/ pd 100 8,000 Hull and , elby 5Ol. sh. Si. pd 21 10,003 Leeds and Manchester 100/. sh. N. pd ,14 7.100 Leeds and Selby 1,500 Leicester and 8 wannington ....W. sh. all pd 70 5,103 10 per cent. Liverpool' and Manchester...lolr sh. lOW. pel 204 Ditto Quarter Shares 25/. pd 61 10,000 London and Brighton loe/. sh. Si pd 31 451 , 00 Ditto ditto (Gibbs') ...20/ sh. 1/ pd 01 16,000 Ditto ditto (Rennie)..so/. sh. 31. pd 11 8,0.,0 Ditto ditto (Cundy)...loo/. sh. 31. pd 0, 3 / 4 12,000 London and Blackwall 50/ sh 31 pd 04 20,000 3 per cent. London and Greenwich "W. sit. 201. pd 19,1 25,000 London and Birmingham ...1001. sh. 75/. pd 99 20;110 7,000 London and Croydon 401. sh. 151. pd 12 12,000 London Grand Junction ...5 I. sh. Si. pd ti 10,000 North Midland lON. sh. 1 I. lxl 81 Northetli and Eastern lOOl. sh. :3/. pd 4 2.600 Preston and Wyre 50/. sh. Si. pd 28,000 South Eastern and Dover .. 71. pd 31 1,000 61. per cent. Stockton and Darlington lOO/. sh. 240 9,000 Thaoies Haven 5O/. sh. 2/. 10s. pd 04 1,400 Westminster and Greenwich 501. sh. V. pd 01 6,000 York and North Midland ......50 . sh. 131. pd 21 MINES. 13,000 A lbion Copper 5/. sh. 34/. pd 12 4,000 11.55. A lten 151. sh. 121. lOs pd lit 10,000 ... ..... Anglo Mexican, iss. 5/. pm.... 100/. s h . all pd 3'l 1 Ditto Subscription 'l5/. pd 4 2,000 Bolanos 10,000 11. lOs Brazilian Imp. iss. 51. pm. 35/. s h. 20/ . pd '(0.- 6,0 0 11,000 Ditto St. John Del Rey - 20/. sh. Ft/. pd 21 10,000 Bolivar Copper Company 201. sh. 20/: pd ISt 10,000 ......... Ditto Scrip 101. sh. Al. pd 9 20,00') British Iron 5O/. sh. 5111 pd 4(1 6,000 .... ..... British Copper Cata Branca 6.1/. pd 01 ' - Candonga 7O. pd 7 10,000 1/. Copiapo 2O/. sh ,12// pd 15 8,500 Columbian, iss. 5/. pm. 2,850 3/. English . l2/ Its. pd ‘.22 20,000 General Mining Assoclation...2o/. sh. 151. pd 10 6,155 Mexican Company 100/. sh 541/. pd Ot 3,000 Polberou Consols 10/. sh 8/. pd 7 11, 500 Real del Monte Unregistered l6 Ditto Loan Notes l5O/. pc! 125 30,000 United Mexican, iss. 2pm ....40/. sh. all pd 21 Dart. Scrip 2 Ditto New Scrip 5/ pd :31 West Cork 50/. sh. 50/. pd 33 LITERARY INSTITUTIONS. 1,000 London, with Bronze Ticket 75gs. sh. 2.'4 1,500 ...... ... London University 1001. sh. all pd 234 700 Russell 25gs. sh. 8 King College lOO/. pd 32 MISCELLANEOUS. 10,000 . 15s. Australian Agricultural...JOU sh. 2f41. pd 36 6,000 61. per cent. Brit'sh American Land Company 23/. pd 161 10,000 61 per cent. Canada Company 109/. sh. 241 pd 344 200,000 51. per cent. Upper Can a d a L oan 9 s' City Bonds, 4 per cent lOl 15,000 1/. 6s. General Steam N av i ga ti on ...15/ ' sh. 131. psi 24: IC'l. per cent. Hudson's Bay Stock 2,000 11. London Corn. Sale Rooms Av. 75/. sh. 19 8,000. New Brunswick Land Company 43/. pd 13 2,754 51. per c: at. Reversionary 1 nterest 50c...100/. sh. 1001. psi 120 2,633 51. per cent. Ditto New 100/. sh. 4:;/. pd 601 4,000 10,000 LIST OF SCOTTISH COMPANIES' PRICES , APRIL 6, 1837. BANKS. 1,51X1,001/. 61 p. ct. Rank 01 Scotland 83/, 6s. Sd. sh. all pd 19=/, 2,000,0X1. 51 p. ct. Royal of Scotland... ......... —lOO4 sh. all a 1581 500,0 X ./. Bp. ct. British Linen Company 100/ . sh. :11 p d : - .361. 3,000,00 e/. 61. p. ct. Commercial 5OOl. sh. lOW. pd 175'. 5,000,000/. sp. ct. National lOOl. sh. 10/. pd 151/. 2,0011,04)01. 51. p. ct. Glasgow Union 2514/. sh. 50/. pd 68'. 4,000,01.,0/. 4p. Cl. Western of Scotland . . INSUItANCE COMPANIES :25/ .000 sh 61 p. ct. Stott;sh Union 'NV. O. l. pd 25s - ,500 sp. ct. Hercules ... . ........ . lOO/. sh. 10/. pd 1410 s. 11r,000 sp. ct. Insurance Co. of Scotland ....10/. sh. all pd 81. 50,000 6p. ct. North British 2001. sh. 10/. pd VI. 1,000 sp. ct. Caledonian Fire 1001. sh. 101. pd 16/56 5,000 6p. ct. Edinburgh life 100/. sh. 10/, pd. 14/10s 00,000 . West of Scotland lO/. pd it !'s _ _ _ MISCFLLANEOUs 4,810 Edi . n. and Was lin. Canal 501. sh. all pd 22/. Ditto Allocated ',Pi. sh. all pd 651. 5,400 5 per cent. Edinb.:3o4.lt Stock Water... .25/. sh. all pd 13741, Carron Iran oman 250/. sh. all pd 2,0005 h 15 per cent. Sh otts Iron F C ound p ery y 5Ol. sh aq. pcl 44 1 10,000 3 per cent. Edinburgh & Leith Glass ....201. sh. 16/. pd 6/. 4,500 10 per cent. Edinburgh Coal Gas ` , 5/. sh. all pd 56/ 4,450 10 per cent. Glasgow Gas 25/. sh. all pd 61/ 750 7i per cent. Leith Coal Gas 20/. sh. all pd 451. 1,206 ... .... Edinburgh 9 ndDalkeith Railway...so/.sh. 60/. 3.000 5 per cent. Equitable Loan Company 251. sh. W. pd 101. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF COMMONS, APRIL 12. The SPEAKER took the Chair at the usual hour. SEVERN NAVIGATION. Petitions in favour of the above Bill were presented by Mr. Dillwyn ; Mr. Tooke, from Truro ; Mr. Hardy, from Bradford ; Captain Berkeley, from Gloucester, and five other places ; Sir John Beckett, from Leeds ; Sir George Grey and Mr. Robinson, from the City of Worcester, the Town Council of Worcester, and the Inhabitants of Bir mingham. Petitions against the Bill were presented by Mr. W.. WYNN, from Welshpool, Mr. CLIVE and Lord DAR— LINGTON. Captain WINNINGTON moved the second reading. of the Severn Navigation Bill. Captain BERKELEY trusted the House would favour' him with its attendance while he stated the grounds; on which he intended to move that the Bill should be read a second time that day six months. It vita not necessary for him to go into the details of the measure, as the Committee was the proper place to do that.— . (Hear, hear). The Bill, however, was of so objectionable a principle,-30 monstrous a monopoly for the pur— pose of giving profit to a few adventurers, and took away land to which the public had been entitled under several Acts of Parliament since the reigns of Henry the Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth—he felt that the whole principle was so objectionable, that he could not allow it to, go to a second reading without his decided objection. This; Company, which claimed to have tolls to the amount of WI per cent., had not raised by 60,0001. the money said to be. subscribed for, anti they had not a farthing to meet the ex-- penses of the mischief that would occur to the proprietors of land throughout the line. He felt bound to oppose the Bill upon the great principles which the House had laid down with respect to railways. The first of those principles was, that there should be a certain number of assents of the proprietors ofland.—( Hear, In ar.) Now, in the present measure, out of seventy-one miles of beautiful pasture land through which the canal went, only seven miles-and-a-half of th• proprietors ha 1 assented. His next objection w as. that there was no terminus ; and his third was that there was no instance where a public river had been allowni to be interfered with, and made the property of a joint; stock Company. For these reasons he felt bound to oppose: the Bill, and move that it be read that day six months.. The Hen. and Gallant Member concluded by moving, as an amendment, that the Bill be read a second time this day six months. Sir G. STRICKLAND seconded the amendment. The Earl of DARLINGTON felt it to be his duty to oppose the second reading of the Bill. The Company sought to be established by this Bill was a joint stock Com pany, for the purpose of making Worcester a sea port- If the people of Worcester wished to convert that city into. a seaport, it ought to be done at their own expense, and not by taxing the public. The opposition to the Bill was very general and powerful. There was first the Port of Glou cester Company ; secondly, the Dudley and Gloucester- Canal Company ; thirdly, the Birmingham and Gloucester' Canal Company ; and, fourthly, the Montgomery acre Shropshire Railway Company. The whole of the land owners between Gloucester and Worcester were oppose& to it ; and under all the circumstances he trusted the House would see the necessity of postponing the mettsum at least for another session. Sir G. STRICKLAND did not like to shut out par ties from going before Committees, where their cases were sifted minutely ; but on some occasions he thought the House exercised a wholesome control by throwing out Bills , upon a second reading, where strong grounds were made out. why persons should be saved from the enormous expense• of going before a Committee. He thought that this. was a Bill upon which the House ought to• exercise that controul, first, because the beautiful river . Severn had for centuries been a common highway, and a• Joint Stock Company had no right to seize upon it for their• own purposes.—(Hear.) If the navigation could be im proved, then he thought it ought to be done by Act of Parliament, appointing Commissioners who should be ob licred to pay off the debt as soon as possible, and thew to throw the river open again.—(Cheer.) By the Bill, too, the river was to be raised four feet. At present the meadows on the margin of the river were flooded often but if it were raised, then they would be rendered useless and of no value. No wonder then that the landed pro prietors were opposed to the Bill. They were so, for out 71 miles, there were only four miles of assent to this monstrous Bill. Colonel WOOD said the river Severn was as much a highway as the river Thames. The reason he troubled the House on the present occasion was, that he had been cad" trusted with a petition from the Abergavenny Canal Goat" pang, which stated, by the improvements contemplated' la the river Severn, they would be enabled to send Welsh coals considerably higher up the river than they could at present A therefore he should support the second reading of the BA. The Hon. and Gallant Member concluded by presenting' a' petition from the Abergavenny Canal Company in favour of the Bill. Alderman W 00 D opposed the second reading of the Bill_ Mr. RICHARDS agreed with the Hon. Member for Gloucester, that if it could not be shown the measure was of public utility, it ought not to receive the sanction of the , House. That Hon. and Gallant Member commenced his opposition to the Bill by stating that he would not enter into details—it was most wise of him not to do se , for if he had, he would have shown clearly that it was A measure of great public utility.—(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Member proceeded to address some further ob servations in support of the Bill to the House, but the cr►ce of " Divide," were so loud and general, that we could not catch a single sentence. Mr. ROBINSON supported the Bill, The Company by whom it was brought forward had undertaken a gr eat public improvement at their own risk and expense, and hoped the House would see the propriety of allowing the Bill to go before a Committee, when its details could be more fully investigated. The Severn was now running through the heart of a manufacturing country almost use lessly. By the Bill before the House, a Company sought , at their own expense, no doubt for their own benefit, bu t equally for that of the public—they wished to make the r iver at all times useful. There was but little navigation in i t at present, and for four months in the year it was total!): useless for want of water. The Bill would - make it weft' at all times, and hr, on the part of the promoters of the Bill,. undertook that, in the Committee, a clause granting ample compensation would be introduced, if it wer e were thought the Bill did not already provide sufficien t for such damage as should be done. Mr. CLIVE trusted the House would allow the 1311 to pass the second reading. • Mr. T. HOPE would support the amendment. Sir J. WROTTESLEY supported the Bill. Two par tiesepposed it...the inhabitants of the City of Glouceste r and the traders on the river. On what grounds theinhabita nte of Gloucester opposed the measure he could not conceive that city had never been a very flourishing one, but be thought it would be much improved if the measure was ca r " vied. If any danger would result to the landholders, then they must.have very clumsy engines. Captain WINNINGTON s aid th a t th e p eo ple of We" cester had as g reat an interest in preserving the saline!. fishery as the people of Gloucester bad—they did to ; by any means seek to injure it. He hoped that tb Honourable Gentleman would withdraw his or position to the measure, and let it go to a C o mmitte e ' where it could be rendered as perfect as possible. Mr. CRESSETT PELHAM hoped the House wo ula not sanction the passing of that monstrous measure. The Sir ROBERT PEEL had only one word to say. argument of the Hon. Member was conclusive in favon of the Bill. Strangers were then ordered to withdraw, and the He lls° divided, when the numbers were— For the second reading For the Amendment Majority The Bill is consequently lost. BATH AND WEYMOUTH RAILWA Ir 'B a tis Mr. W. MILES move d th e secon d rea di n g of the and Weymouth Railway Bill. t o f Mr. ROEBUCK opposed the Bill, stating tha t, n , ou e sl, 2,614 of his constit uen t s w h om th e mea sure e ffe ct 1,963 had petiti one d aga i ns t it, as i n j ur i ous to thei r .' v b e rest. The Hon. Gentleman then moved that the P I ll readlagain that day fortnight. and After a few words by Mr. F. Buxton, Mr. Poulter.'..o - R. Inglis and from Mr. Roebuck and Mr. Miles.,vrsio, planation, the amendment was agreed to without a n cli foot it Mr. ROEBUCK then moved that the petitions 1 000 1. of and against the Bill should be referred to a s elect u mittee.—Agreed to. jo es Sir G. CLERK presented a petition from Mr- 0, f oil.. Gibson Craig against the Edinburgh and Glaag e way M Bill. r. MACKINNON was desirous of pustpro in g ice otio n tion for the second rea di ng o f th e Patents for 1 Bill 'ne th Ato at TTO ay % d fortnight. o _, l d be RNEY-GENERAL though t it s' better to postpone it to that day six months. iltb The second reading was then postponed un til tnu of next month. 1‘ Mr. C IE K R I C N H GIi tN A ' A r i SEA MEN'S BILL• ding of BUmoped . the Merchant Seamen's Bill. The House would r Te,. 55:00 . last •-... that a Select Committee had been appointee ifferent Sh ip ' to inquire into the number and cause of the I deo-uld be dc wrecks, wrecks, and to report whether any remedy leged that many of the shipwrecks arose from To three sources stanccs independent of he elements., 5. Tile o! . _ were attributed the frequency of shipwrecl _ econ d t he was the defective strength of the vessels ; the " 124 151 --.27 THE SUN, LON DON, THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 1837.