The Sun. — London, England, 1865-04-29 00:00:00

'ERIAL PARLIAMENT HOUSE OF LORDS—LAST EVENING. The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack al the usual hour. -- THE SITE FOR THE NEW COURTS BILL. Lord Cranworth, Lord Chelmsford, and the Lord Chan cellor presented petitions in favour of the Carey-street site for the new law courts. The Earl of DERBY presented a petition from Mr. Rigby Warne in favour of a different site, more economical to suitors and the profession. INDIAN OFFICERS. The Earl of DERBY presented petitions on behalf of certain officers in the Indian army, praying for redress of their grievances. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The following bills were read a second time :—Earl of Winchelsea's Estate, London and South Western Rail way (new lines in Surrey), and Midhurst Railway. The following bills were read a third time and passed : Witham Drainage, School for the In digent Blind Act Amendment, Lymington River Improvement, Aylesbury and Buckingham Railway, West Cornwall Railway, Kilrush and Kilkee Railway and Poulnasherry Reclamation, Assam Company (with amend ments), Brighton, Hove, and Preston Constant Service Water, and Crystal Palace Gas (with amendment). COURTS OF JUSTICE BUILDING BILL. The Lord CHANCELLOR, in second read ing of the bill, said that the accommodation at present offered, both in the construction and locality of the exist ing courts of law, was quite inadequate, and actually ob structive of the proper administration of the law. The offices of the courts of law were also scattered about in different localities in a manner most inconvenient. He contended that a concentration of the courts of law and equity was necessary, and its expediency was admitted so far back as 1822, and it was to meet that requirement that the present bill was introduced. The same necessity that existed for the concentration of the courts rendered it also imperative that the most eligible site for their erection should be selected. The site which he proposed was, in his opinion, the most desirable, for it was in the neighbour hood of the Temple, and the different inns of court, and of the offices of solicitors. With re ference to the financial part of the question, this bill presented sonic, remarkable features. In the first place, the £200,000 to be advanced by Government would be amply repaid by the property which they would come into possession of. In the next place, the " Suitors' Fund" was to be taken into consideration. That fund amounted to £2,931,047, which was public property, and with which the bill did not propose to deal. But the profits in the eoursA of time had attained to the amount of £1,291,629, out of which he proposed to take £1,000,000. That sum was to be advanced by the Government at a charge of 31 per cent., to be payable out of the resources of the courts. ' The great wurk proposed would therefore not cost the country one farthing, and would be accom plished by the application of a fund in a manner that was quite justifiable, and which would be advantageous both to the legal profession and the suitors in common law and equity. The noble and learned lord then entered into some details illustrative of this point, and concluded by moving the second reading of the bill. Lord ST. LEONARDS did not object to the concentra tion of the law courts, but he contended that a proper fund should be found for the purpose. He must, however, ob serve that this measure would not effect a complete con centration of the courts, for it would not bring the Central Criminal Court or the Court of Bankruptcy under the same roof as the rest of the courts. On the other hand, he ob jected strongly to the Divorce Court and to the court in which a Master of Lunacy would sit being thus located. He was also of opinion that it was not desirable to remove the equity courts from Lincoln's Inn. He admitted that two of the Vice-Chancellors' Courts were very indifferent, but it was not requisite to pass thismeasure in order to provide the necessary accommodation, because Lincoln's Inn had offered to build new courts. On the other hand, the courts of the Lord Chancellor, of the Lords Justices, of the Master of the Rolls, and of the Vice-Chancellor, were open to no objection ; and it was perfectly absurd to abandon them. Let the common law courts be removed to the Carey -street site if it was thought fit, but let the equity courts remain where they were. There would then be quite enough con centration, for the distance between the two sets of courts would be very small. The Lord Chancellor had told them that the proposed site consisted of 7 acres ; but he had not told themthat it is covered with houses and warehouses, and that it is inhabited by more than 4,000 people, 3,700 of whom belonged to the labouring classes. Where were these people to be sent to, and what was to become of them ? The result must be that the people would carry with them elsewhere the fever which was always rife amongst them, and that they would overcrowd and overpopulate other districts. He contended that, if the Government removed these people, it was bound to provide dwellings for them. The great question, however, was, where was the money for the construction of these ,new courts to come from ? He believed that no reliance could be placed upon the estimates laid before them with reference either to the cost of the site or of the construction of the new buiding. The cost of providing proper access would be much greater than was supposed. Means of approaching the new building from Holborn must be secured. It would never do to make the Strand the only means of approach. Indeed, the contiguity of the courts to the Strand was one of the main objections be entertained to the scheme, because it would plunge those who had to administer justice into the midst of noise and turmoil. But the great objection he had to the bill was that it proposed to appropriate the Suitors' Fund to a pur pose to which it was not fairly applicable. He utterly clarricrl that, tinier - rrevo m ralcrlio fund. To baleo Maio mono T was, in fact, nothing short of confiscation, and was totally at variance with the principles of the constitution under which we lived. The public had no right to touch this fund, which ought to be applied for the exclusive benefit of the suitors•of the Court of Chancery. The principle for which he contended had been admitted in 1852, when the salaries of the Vice-Chancellors, which had been previously charged upon this fund, were charged upon the Consolidated Fund, on the ground that the salaries of judges should be paid by the public, and not by the suitors. But if this really was a public fund, such a transaction would have been absurd. The noble lord concluded by repeating, with great em- phasis, his objections to the proposed application of the Suitors' Fund. By law, and by every principle of honour and justice, this fund stood pledged to the suitors in Chan cery for the reduction of their fees. The Duke of ARGYLL thought it was clear the Suitors' Fee Fund was at the disposal of Parliament. The noble lord had not even contended that this fund belonged to any particular suitors. All he said was that it belonged to the suitors as a class. But how could they deal with the suitors as a class ? The Legislature had, in point of fact, constantly dealt with this fund as a public fund, charging it at pleasure, with various payments. He thought that the fund ought never to have been accumulated to the extent that it had accumulated ; but however that might be, it belonged to no particular body of suitors, and was both at the disposal and for the good of the country. Lord CRANWORTH doubted whether a single six and-eightpence would be reduced from the cost of legal proceedings by the concentration of courts of law, but there could be no doubt whatever that suitable accom modation for those who passed their lives in the adminis tration of the law was a very legitimate object, and one that the Legislature might very fairly take in hand. As regarded the funds, the money must be forthcoming, and whenever the State undertook to be responsible for the money it was perfectly entitled to take it for any particular purpose. Lord REDESDALE objected to the expenditure of £150,000 for a purpose that he did not consider to be de- sirable. The English courts of law had been held at West• minster from the earliest ages of the constitution, and now when railways and the Thames Embankment would place those courts almost at the doors of the Temple and Lin coln's-inn, he saw no sufficient reason for the removal. The site proposed was not only highly inconvenient of ac- cess, but would if adopted involve the destruction of a large amount of house property. The bill was read a second time. The Courts of Justice Concentration Bill was also read a second time. The house then adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS—=LAST EVENING. The SrEAKPat took the chair at four o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The following bills were read a third time and Passed :—Crofthead and Kilmarnock Extension Railway ; Dewsbury, Batley, and Heckmondwike Water ; East and West India Dock Company; Fareham Gas; London and Sou th - Western Railway (Torrington Extension); London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway (Additional Powers) ; Metropolis Sewage and Essex Reclamation ; Newtown Water ; North London, Highgate, and Alexandra Park Railway ; Rastrick Gas ; Saint John's Chapel (Portsea) ; and South Essex Railway. GREENOCK RAILWAY BILL. Mr. E. P. BOUVERIE moved that the Greenock Rail way Bill be recommended to the former committee. A discussion ensued, in which many hon. members ex pressed a hops that the house would uphold the decision of the court of referees, who had reported that the estimates contained in the bill were made out in a vague and unsatis factory manner. The select committee to which the bill was re ferred, acting on this, threw out the bill. Mr. DODSON said as the referees had not reported that the estimates were insufficient, but vague and unsatisfac tory, he thought it would be advisable to recommit the The house then divided, when there appeared— For the motion Against it Majority 34 The bill was accordingly ordered to be recommitted. GLASGOW CITY, SUBURBAN, AND HARBOUR RAILWAY BILL. Mr. WYLD moved that this bill be recommitted to the former committee. The motion, after a few words from Sir F. a....OLDsmm, was withdrawn. AZEEM JAH PETITIONS. Mr. C. FOSTER brought up the report of the com mittee to which the petitions in favour of the claims of Azeem Jah had been referred. The committee reported that a concerted fraud had been carried on, and that one half of the signatures affixed to many of the petitions were fictitious. The honourable member gave notice that that day week he should call the attention of the house to the report. FOREIGN RAGS. Mr. MACMAHON gave notice that on the 16th of May he should call the attention of the house to the export duty on foreign rags, as it affected the paper makers of the United Kingdom. AUDITORS OF ACCOUNTS. Mr. LIDDELL asked the President of the Poor Law Board whether it was the intention of the Poor Law Board to undertake for the future the appointment of all auditors of accounts to poor law unions, such appointments having been hitherto supposed to rest in the hands of the chair men and vice-chairmen of the respective unions. Mr. VILLIERS said it was not the intention of the Poor Law Board to undertake the future appointment of audi tors of accounts ; they had not the power to do so. CHURCH ESTABLISHMENT. Mr. WALPOLE asked the honourable member for Swansea whether he proposed to proceed with the ad journed debate on the Church Establishment (Ireland), which now stands as an order of the day for Tuesday next. Mr. DILWYN said he did not think there would be much chance of bringing the adjourned debate on on that evening. He would endeavour to get the Government to give him some assistance in fixing a day for the resump tion of the debate. UNION CHARGEABILITY BILL. Mr. FERRAND asked the President of• the Poor Law Board to name the day on which he would proceed with the Union Chargeability Bill ; and whether he would bring it on as the first order of the day, so as to allow a full discussion on the effect it would have in the manu facturing districts. Mr. VILLIERS said he was anxious that no delay should take place with respect to this bill. He hoped next week to be able to fix the day for going into committee. _ _ Mr. FERRAND asked whether it would be taken as the first order of the day ? Mr. VILLIERS said it was brought on as early as pos sible. PUBLIC BUSINESS. Lord J. MANNERS asked what business would be taken on Monday next. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the first business on Monday would be the address to be moved by his noble friend (Lord Palmerston). After that the Bank Notes Issue Bill would be taken. On Thurs day he proposed to proceed with the (Budget) resolutions laid on the table last night. SALARIES OF CITSTOM-HOUSE OFFICERS. Mr. HENNESSY rose to move that a select committee be appointed to inquire into the grievances referred to in the petition of the mayor, merchants, shipowners,and com mercial traders of Liverpool, which was presented on 20th March last, with reference to the outdoor officers of cus toms ; that the petitions from the Lord Mayor, merchants, and shipowners of London, from the Lord Mayor and mer chants of Dublin, from the Lord Provost and merchants of Edinburgh and Leith, and from the Mayor, merchants, and shipowners of Hull be referred to the committee. The hon. member said that the petition from Liverpool had ,been signed by all the principal traders of the port ; and the allegations which it contained were, that by reason of the changes introduced by the Government in 1860, the Cus tom-house officers of Liverpool had been deprived of certain chances of promotion enjoyed by them previously ; and that while their hours of labour had been increased, no corresponding increase had taken place in their pay. Great and general discontent existed amongst these ser vants of the public, who numbered, he might observe, as many as 3,000 ; and undoubtedly that discontent was owing to the changes introduced by the present Chan cellor of the Exchequer. In the report issued by the Com missioners of Customs after the effect of the changes of 1860 had been experienced, there was full recognition of the fact that the duties of the out-door officers of customs were every day becoming more arduous. Should the com mittee be granted, he pledged himself to substantiate all the allegations contained in the Liverpool petition. Mr. Alderman ROSE said that many of his constituents were interested in this question, and he therefore ventured to address a few words to the house on the subject. A series of years of prosperity, such as the Chancellor of the Ex chequer had ably expatiated upon on the previous even ing, was in marked contrast to the state of the public offi cers in this department. The Custom-house officers were men of character—(hear, hear)—and were entrusted with a very large amount of property, and they ought to be fairly paid for their services. The salaries of the merchants' clerks of London and Liverpool had been doubled during the last ten years, but the pay of these officers had remained stationary during that period. He hoped the house would institute the proposed inquiry. Mr. BAINES said he had been entrusted with a petition from merchants connected with, the inland bonding port of Leeds, confirmatory of all the statements which had been made in the petitions mentioned by the hon. member for the King's County. The petitioners prayed for an increase of their salaries, which they averred were inadequate for the comfortable maintenance of themselves and their fami lies, and in fact were so small as to present a temptation to depart from the line of duty. Mr. H. BERKELEY wished to say a few words in favour of the claims of these officers, who were a hard-worked and ill-paid body of men, put in places of great trust. (Hear, hear.) He thought the Government ought to give some pledge that the claims of these deserving officers should be taken into consideration. Mr. CAVE stated that he had presented a petition from the merchants and traders of Shoreham with referentr t. the grievances complained of by these officers. Mr. CLAY said he should be wanting in gratitude if he did not bear his testimony to the attention given some time ago by the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of the Treasury to the case brought under their notice—an attention so minute and conscientious that he had since always recommended complainers who had a good case to take it to the right hon. gentlemen, and those who had a bad one to take it to anybody else. (Hear, hear, and a laugh.) A very great boon had been extended to this class of officers by giving over to the Customs the whole of the patronage before enjoyed by the Treasury to the highest offices in the outdoor service of the country, but unfortu nately it did not touch those who had the greatest cause of complaint. He would suggest to the Chancellor of the Ex chequer that it would be well that the Custom House patronage should be given to those officers by strict senio rity, coupled with competence and good character. He thought the time was near at hand when the Government would have to entertain the much larger question of in creasing the salaries of all the lower grades of the public service. Mr. HORS FALL said he had been prevented by the forms of the house from presenting a petition that evening from Liverpool in favour of the claims of those officers. He should regret exceedingly if, after the expression of Opinion by the house, the Government should resist the motion for inquiry. It was well known that there was a feeling of dissatisfaction among those men, and if the appointment of the committee would tend to remove that dissatisfaction, it would be well togrant it. He only regretted that the hon. member did not extend his motion so as to include the offi cers of the indoor as well as the outdoor department. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER thought that there was a clear and broad distinction between the case of public officers who were able to allege that their reasonable expectations—grounded upon the rules of the public service, and upon which they had entered that ser vice—had been frustrated and disappointed by the acts of the Government, and that put by the hon. member for the King's County. He admitted that the former was a grievance which it was the duty of the Government to inquire into ; but that was a question comparatively nar row when contrasted with the motion, which was one of first-rate importance. It was not because the representa tives of several parts of the country had risen in a matter touching directly and indirectly the interests of many of their constituents, and which were interests in many cases adverse to those of the country at large—(cries of No no)— it was not because those hon. members sup ported the motion that his hon. friend was entitled to say that there had been an expression of opinion in favour of it on the part of the house. The real question at issue had been fairly and ingenuously exhibited by the hon. mem bers for Hull and Liverpool, and it was this—whether the house, composed of representatives of the people, were prepared to hear, one by one, all classes of persons em ployed in the public service coming forward for an increase of pay and emolument at the very time when the number of competent candidates for admission was far beyond the number which could be accommodated in any one depart ment. Now, if there were one duty which more than another belonged to the Executive Government, it was that it should be held responsible for the pay and emoluments of the public service, and he trusted the house would at all times be reluctant to take that peculiar duty out of the hands of the Government. Nothing could tend more to disorganise the public service, or to lower the character of this great assembly. With regard to the case mentioned by the hon. member for the King's County, it was true that between 1860-61 the Commissioners of Customs had re- ported that, with regard to certain classes of officers, they had suffered injury as to their prospects of promotion, and he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) admitted that such a grievance was a fair subject for inquiry. The two principal pieTances complained of were the existence of day pay and he injury done to the prospects of promotion. With regard n the day pay, the hon. member for Hull had shown that a • fixed amount had bee n su b s tit u t e d f or it. A s t o p ros p ec t s - _ _ of promotion, how did the matter stand ? The Government had endeavoured to open to this class of officers prospects of promotion not only equal but superior to those they en joyed before 180 ; for now the outdoor officers could be promoted to the class of examining officers, and that was a great improvement in their position. There was this con dition, that as the labours of the outdoor officers were mostly manual and mechanical, while the duties of the in door officers were intellectual, it was required that outdoor officers, before they were promoted to the indoor depart ment, should undergo an examination. He admitted, ar a general rule, competitive exa minations:previous to admis sion to the public service, but not for the purpose of regu lating promotion afterwards. But this, however, was an exceptional case, for it was, in point of fact, a transfer from one office to another. The hon. member said that hard ships had arisen to this Blass of persons, because they had not had their fair share of promotion. The minute having only been issued in April last, the question had not yet been brought before the Treasury, because the report from the Custom House had not yet been received. It was therefore a new question ; and he would grant to his hon. friend that, if it should be proved those gentlemen had not had their fair share of promotion, and had suffered in con sequence of the change made in 1860, then the Government would be bound to make compensation. They were at this very time considering that same matter with reference to the indoor officers. There was another point referred to by the hon. member which called for some attention on the part of the Government, namely, that the officers at the water side complained that their hours of labour had been lengthened without any increase of pay. He could only say it was a matter which had not come within his knowledge, but he would cause inquiry to be made. At the same time, he could not admit that it was a grievance, because those officers had contracted for service generally, and not for any number of hours. They had been told that if they granted this motion they could not stop there. This committee was for the wholesale augmentation of the pay and emoluments in one branch of the public service ; but if they granted it in one case they should do it in all departments of the public service, from Customs to Excise and Post Office ; nor could they stop at the civil service, but should also extend the operation to the naval and mi litary departments. He did not believe that any House of Commons, whether a dying one or one just born, would involve itself in consequences so mischievous. (Hear, hear.) The O'DONOGHLT begged to state that he had also been prevented by the forms of the House from present ing that evening a petition from the merchants and traders of Tralee in favour of the motion. Mr. LYALL called attention to the great inequality of the remuneration of out-door officers at the outports, and it was impossible for merchants and shipowners to come in contact with them without feeling how miserably they were paid. Mr. GOSCHEN appealed to the hon. member for King's County, now that he had got all he wanted, to withdraw his motion. (Mr. Hennessy intimated that he had got nothing whatever.) The hon. member said that he had got nothing, but he had got a promise from the right hon. gentleman to look into all cases of grievance arising from the promotion cf these officers. There were two separate interests involved in the question—first, an increase of pay, and secondly i compensation for the loss of promotion. For the increase of pay, he thought the hon. member would not be able to carry his motion ; and it would be hard, by the loss of the-motion, to deprive these officers of the Customs of compensation for the loss of promotion. Under the circumstances, he thought the hon. member would do wisely to withdraw his motion, reserving free action to bring the matter forward again if the Chancellor of the Exchequer did not redeem the pledge. Mr. DUNLOP was sorry the motion had been brought forward, though he concurred in the statement of the hardships to which these officers were subjected. The house divided— For the motion 69 Against it ,so Majority ... —ll The motion was therefore lost. SPIRIT DUTIES IN IRELAND. Mr. P. lIRQI7HART then rose to move a select com mittee to inquire into the operation of the augmented spirit duties in Ireland. The hon. member quoted the evidence of a number of witnesses before the committee on the taxation of Ireland in support of the proposition, when the attention of the Speaker was called to_the fact that 40 members were not present. The house, after the expiration of the usual time, was counted, and, as the requisite number was not present, it adjourned at twenty-five minutes past seven o'clock. The Story of the Patent-Office. -a -- In 1833 Mr. Edmunds, thenthe Lord Chancellor's pursebearer, was appointed Clerk of the Patents, with a salary of £250 a-year, and an allowance of £l5O a-year to pay the expenses of the office. It was his duty to receive the fees payable at the office and pay the chief part of them into the Exchequer, another part (formerly appropriated to the use of the Lord Chancellor) to the Accountant-General of the Court of Chancery, and another part of the Clerk of the Hanaper, the fees to be paid over by him every quarter and the payments verified by affi davit The fees received were considerable ;in some years they exceeded £9,000. Still larger sums were paid into office every year for stamps to be procured and affixed to instruments which had to pass the Great Seal. In fact, public money, amounting in one year to £30,000; and in the last 30 years to more than £461,000, passed through the hands of Mr. Edmunds, or rather of his clerk, Mr. Ruscoe, for Mr. Edmunds never performed the duties of the office in person ; neither did he ever pay any thing to Mr. Ruscoe for performing them for him. Until this latter obtained an official salary, in 1852 (when the Patent Law Amendment Act came into force and Mr. Edmunds also had an additional salary of £6OO a-year), Mr. Ruscoe's emolument appears to have consisted of public muney kupb bauk. 4rom thc avrct umein wIa.UG just cause, with some small gratuities from some of the patent agents, and the profit upon boxes which he sold for containing patents. Neither did Mr. Edmunds ever pay any portion of the cost of the parchment or ot the expenses attending the prepa ration of charters and patents, or any other of the expenses of the office ; they were all defrayed by Mr. Ruscoe out of the stamp discounts which be longed to the Government, and the sums which he deducted from the fees received for the Government. In the performance of his duties Mr. Ruscoe was subjected to little or no superintendence or control by Mr. Edmunds, and no proper accounts of the receipts and payments of the moneypassing through the office have been kept. The fee books previous to 1839 have been lost or destroyed, and it is stated that no fee book was kept between 1852 and 1857. Under these circumstances it has been found neces sary in the investigation which has recently taken place to resort to other sources of information ; but the gentlemen who conducted the investigation, and from whose report all our statements are taken— Mr. Greenwood, Q.C., and Mr. Hindmarch, Q.C. —are confident that Mr. Edmunds is chargeable with sums received for fees to a greater amount than is shown by the account they have thus been enabled to make out, and that fees have been re ceived of which no account has been kept in the office, because during the investigation Mr. Ed munds has sent in to the Treasury an account in which a larger receipt of fees is acknowledged in some years than the amount of which they had been able to obtain any particulars. In order to show more clearly the irregularities and deficiencies of Mr. Edmunds, an account has been prepared containing on the debit side of it the whole of the fees payable to the Exchequer which it has been ascertained that Mr. Edmunds has re ceived in every quarter of a year, grouping together the fees received in two or more quarters, where necessary, so as to accord with the payments made by Mr. Edmunds from time to time into the Ex chequer, which are on the credit side of the account. For Mr. Edmunds soon became very irregular in his payments into the Exchequer, sometimes making payments for two, three, or even five quarters at one time, instead of quarterly as required by the act of Parliament. Mr. Ruscoe made up at first monthly and afterwards every quarter an account of his receipts and gave or sent it to Mr. Edmunds, paying to him or into his "Patent-office account" at Coutts's the money which the accounts showed to be payable to him, so that the fees received in each quarter of a year were always in Mr. Ed munds's hands within a few days after the end of the quarter ; but Mr. Edmunds delayed his pay ments of them into the Exchequer for longer and longer periods after he had received them from Mr. Ruscoe. Thus his payment on account of fees re ceived in all the five quarters ending in March, 1839, was not made until August, 1839 ; his pay ment on account of the two quarters ending in De cember, 1816, was made in April, 1848 ; his pay ment on account of the two quarters ending in December, 1850, was not made until August, 1852, which was the last payment made to the Exchequer by Mr. Edmunds previously to the discovery in 1864 of his defalcations. And with regard to the amount of the sums which Mr. Edmunds paid into the Exchequer, it appears that the first few pay ments were correct, or nearly so, but afterwards they became frequently less in amount than the fees actually received, and occasionally the de ficiencies were very considerable. Thus the fees payable into the Consolidated Fund for the three quarters ending December, 1837, amounted to £1,634, but the sum of £1,402 only was paid into the Exchequer. The fees for two THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, APRIL 29, 1865. quarters of 1844, amounting to £1,444, had never been paid at all when this investigation commenced. For the first two quarters of 1849 Mr. Ruscoe paid in to Mr. Edmunds's " Patent-office account" at Coutts's, £1,78-6-as-the amount of the fees received, but Mr. Edmunds paid over to the Exchequer only £1,197, a sum not corresponding with the amount of fees for either quarter. It seems impossible to ascribe the withholding of such sums to any mistake. In December last, months after the investigation of Mr. Greenwood and Mr. Hindmarch commenced, Mr. Edmunds rendered to the Treasury an account of fees received by him in every year that he was in office, and of the sums paid by him every year into the Exchequer. This account shows that by his own admission, he had received up to August, 1852 (his receipts, say the two gentlemen just named, were, in fact, larger), £51,245, and he had only paid into the Exchequer £46,055, leaving a defi ciency of £5,190, and, this being after the date of his last payment into the Exchequer, he has con tinued to withhold that sum from the Exchequer for 12 years—namely, until after the discovery of his defalcations. About the time of that last pay ment into the Exchequer the Patent Law Amend ment Act came into operation and abolished the fees previously payable on patents for inventions.. But there were still fees received on other patents and charters, which ought to have been paid into the Exchequer as required by the Act of Parlia ment. At the commencement of this inquiry, how ever, Mr. Edmunds had not only failed to pay any part of the £5,190 into the Exchequer, but had allowed the subsequent fees payable by him into the Exchequer to accumulate in his hands to the extent of a further sum of £2,682, making together £7,872. It was not till September, 1864, that he paid over this sum. The various sums thus detained from the Exche quer by Mr. Edmunds remained in his possession unknown to every person but himself. It has been mentioned that he was bound to verify his receipts by affidavit every quarter, and Mr. Ruscoe regularly prepared and transmitted or delivered to Mr. Ed munds' engrossmeirts of affidavits to be sworn by him verifying the sums to be paid into the Exche quer as the amount of fees really received. Mr. Ruscoe knew that the affidavits would be false, but he says that Mr. Edmunds also knew them to be false ; so Mr. Ruscoe went on preparing them year by year. But it was a mere farce; Mr. Edmunds allowed Mr. Ruscoe to believe that he actually made the false affidavits year by year, but he did not in fact swear to them ; he admits that he has them still in his possession. He alleges that as he found on the first occasion that the Controller of the Ex chequer would not receive the affidavit he never made another. The fadt is that the affidavits were not required at the office of the Controller of the Exchequer, but at the Treasury, and Mr. Edmunds did make the proper affidavits on the first three payments and transmitted them to the Treasury, but he made none afterwards ; and the deductions which he made from the public money explain why he did not make the affidavits. It has to be stated that some at least of the moneys which Mr. Edmunds received from Mr. Ruscoe for the fees of office never were paid into the Patent-office account at Coutts's. A sum of £433 for Patent-office fees was paid by Mr. Ruscoe in 1845 to Mr. Edmunds, or to his private account at Coutts's, but it never found its way into his " Patent-office account " there. It also appears that the sums withdrawn by Mr. Edmunds from the " Patent-office account" at Coutts's, and trans ferred to his private banking account, in the period between 1834 and 1857, amounted to £5,869. Other sums appear to have been taken from the Patent-office account for Mr. Edmunds's private purposes. In 1840 and 1841 sums amount ing to £6OO were thus withdrawn from the Patent office account, and paid to Mr. Leman, Iyho states that they were received by him in repayment of loans he bad made to Mr. Edmunds. Mr. Edmunds in August, 1852, had in his hands, according to his account, £5,190, money that ought to have been paid into the Exchequer, but the balance to the credit of the Patent-office account at Coutts's at that time was only £2,777, so that he must have misap propriated, by applying to his own use, £2,412 of those fees. He admits that at the end of 1862 he had detained £7,656 from the Exchequer, but the balance standing to his credit in the Patent-office account at Coutts's was only £3,230. He increased the balance by £1,450, a few days after Mr. Green wood completed his report, in January, 1863, on the defalcations of Mr. Smith, a clerk in the Patent office. But, in fact, the sums which Mr. Edmunds had withheld from the Exchequer were much larger than his accounts show. Soon after his appointment he authorised Mr. Roscoe to deduct from the feee payable into the Exchequer small sums to defray expenses of the office which Mr. Edmunds was bound , himself to discharge. In 1844 he allowed Mr. Ruscoe to deduct from the public money a salary of £l3O for himself. Of the misappropriation of the discount for stamps it is unnecessary to repeat the history,nor of the unjustifiable deduction of 125.10 d. for every skin of parchment used. For severa years Mr. Edmunds took upon himself unlawfully to charge £lOO for Mr. Ruscoe's receipt of those fees which belonged to the Clerk of the Hanaper, the real object being to give Mr. Ruscoe remunera tion for his services out of somebody else's pocket than that of Mr. Edmunds, which ought to have borne it. Nor did Mr. Ruscoe fail to follow the example set him. Year by year he continued to keep back from the amount of fees to be paid into the Patent-office banking account sums of money vary ing in amount, apparently at his own discretion. When the fees for a year amounted to a large sum, the sum abstracted was proportionally large, and when the amount of fees to be paid was small, the sum abstracted was small also. The largest sum ab stracted in this way by Mr. Ruscoe was £64, taken in the year 1858 ; and it is curious to observe that in 1862, the year in which Mr. Greenwood made an inquiry into the defalcations of a clerk in the Patent office, as already mentioned, the abstractions by Mr. Ruscoe from the fees payable to the Exchequer en tirely ceased. The manner in which these sums were kept back by Mr. Ruscoe was, to say the least, very disgraceful. Instead of entering the deductions in the books so that the sums deducted would be ap parent, the entries of fees or the castings-up were falsified in the fee-books or in the Patent-office ac count, and occasionally accurate entries made in the first instance were afterwards erased in order to insert false ones in lieu of them. The misconduct o] Mr. Ruscoe was clearly made out in his presence from an inspection of the books, and he admitted the facts. The abstraction of money in this way be fore he became a salaried officer of the Commis- sioners of Patents would not have been so surpris ing, considering the wretched remuneration he had for the performance of his duty ; and Mr. Green wood and Mr. Hindmarch are strongly inclined to think that all the abstractions were effected with the connivance, if not with the authority, of Mr. Ed. muuds. But after the time when Mr. Ruscoe be. came, in Oct., 1852, an officer of the Commissioners of Patents, receiving a salary of £4OO a year, the abstraction of money in the way just described was without palliation, for he admits that he was aware of the provisions of the statutes, in pursuance of which the fees were to be paid into the Exchequer and into the fee fund of the Court of Chancery, and that he knew Mr. Edmunds could not authorise him to take the money. Mr Ruscoe, however, contends that Mr. Edmunds was master of the office, 'and had the actual control of the money passing through the old Patent-office, and that he, Mr. Ruscoe, was not responsible for anything done by him in pursuance --- - of Mr. Edmunds's directions. The result is as follows :—Mr. Edmunds paid into the Exchequer in Sept. last the sum of. £7,872, as the balance due from him for fees that ought to have been paid in long before. But that sum is found by Mr. Greenwood and Mr. Hindmarch to be £892 short of the true balance ' • and if to that be added the £3,033, the amou n t of the sums of 12s. 10d. unlawfully deducted from the fees, the balance of fees still payable to the Exchequer by Mr. Edmunds amounts to £3,925. To this also must be added £5,132 unlawfully kept back on the purchase of stamps, and £560 for deficiency in the payments to the Suitors' Fee Fund of fees he re ceived on account of it. The four sums amount together to £9,617, which has been withheld by him for years, and, if treated as a debt, ought to be augmented by compound interest. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. TIMES.—If anything could mitigate the distress of the American people in their present affliction, it might surely be the sympathy which is expressed by the people of this country. We are not using the language of hyperbole in describing the manifesta tion of feeling as unexampled. Nothing like it has been witnessed in our generation, for we accept of course those domestic visitations in which the afflic tion of a Sovereign is naturally the affliction of the nation. But President Lincoln was only the chief of a foreign State, and of a state with which we were not unfrequently in diplomatic or political collision. He might have been regarded as not much more to us than the head of any friendly Government, and yet his end has already stirred the feelings of the public to their uttermost depths. It has been said that the Papal Aggression created a more universal excite ment among us than had been produced by any political event even for a whole generation, but that excitement was of gradual and tardy growth. At first the news fell flat upon the public mind, and was treated with unconcern. It was not till later in the day that the resentment of the nation found a voice. But now a space of 24 hours has sufficed not only to fill the country with grief and indignation, but to evoke almost unprecedented expressions of feeling from constituted bodies. It was but on Wednesday that the intelligence of the murder reached us, and on Thursday the House of Lords and Commons, the Corporation of the city of London, and the people of our chief manufacturing towns in public meetings assembled, had recorded their sentiments or expressed their views. In the House of Lords the absence of precedent for such a manifesta tion was actually made the subject of remark. That much of this extraordinary feeling is due to the tragical character of the event and the horror with which the crime is regarded is doubtless true, nor need we dissemble the fact that the loss which the Americans have sustained is also thought our own loss in so far as one valuable guarantee for the amity of the two nations may have been thus re moved. But, upon the whole, it is neither the pos sible embarrassment of international relations nor the infamous wickedness of the act itself which has determined public feeling. The preponderating sen timent is sincere and genuine sympathy —sorrow for the chief of a great people struck down by an assas sin, and sympathy for that people in the trouble which at a crisis of their destinies such a catastrophe must bring. Abraham Lincoln was as little of a tyrant as any man who ever lived. He could have been a tyrant had he pleased, but he never uttered so much as an ill-natured speech. The Civil War was attended by all war's own horrors in too many in stances, but there was no cruelty at Washington or New York—hardly any prolonged or unaccountable severity. In the whole of this sanguinary strife, notwithstanding the exasperation of popular feel ing, there has been no political bloodthirstiness. Fanatical speakers have given .vent to their passions on the platform, but violence never went beyond words. If the people of the Seceding States were rebels, as the people of the North chose to consider them, never was rebellion, except on the field of battle, more gently handled. The North put forth its whole strength and exerted its whole energies to conquer the insurrection and subdue the insurgents, but, on the single condition of reunion, it would promptly have made peace with them again. At first, the South might have had almost its will even in the matter of slavery, and to the very last, even up to the meeting of President Lincoln with the Southern Commissioners in Hampton Roads, he was ready with amnesty, oblivion, and liberal considera tion for incidental difficulties. At any moment the rebellion itself and all its terrible cost would have been forgiven, and the South might have had its ven ture for independence at no charge but that of the war itself. A melancholy interest will now attach to the ceremony of inauguration on the 6th of last March, and those who incline superstitiously to the notion of prognostics or coincidences will probably think with some emotion of the brief ar.d even mournful speech in which the re-elected President characterised the occasion. The grave and despon dent tone of his short address was so strongly con trasted with the usual oratory of his countrymen as to create remark at the time, and it seemed as if some insight into the future impressed him with misgivings unknown to others. Except, indeed, for such forecast or presentiment, there was nothing to suggest distrust. The dreadful storm by which the eve of the inauguration had been signalised, and which frightened the members of Congress from their seats in the dim gre y o f th e d awn , had given way to fairer weather, a n d a s t rea k o f ight in the sky enlivened the day. We read now, with a strange kind of sensation, of the popularity and security which the President enjoyed, and which en abled him to drive unprotected and in an open carriage through the streets of the capital At the time the fact seemed hardly worth recording, but we were reminded that four years before it had not been so, and that when in 1861 Abraham Lin coln first took office his appearance in public was thought not unattended with risk. With still deeper interest may we observe that on this last occasion, when all around the President seemed so hopeful, and yet he himself seemed so depressed, his life did, perhaps, hang by a thread. It appears not impro bable that the crime just perpetrated was originally plotted for the day of inauguration. The mail of that time informed us that a man was actually arrested at Washington on suspicion of such a design, and it is now said that papers belonging to the assassin show that before the 4th of March the conspiracy had really been matured. In all America there was, perhaps, not one man who less deserved to be the victim of this revolu tion than he who has just fallen. He did nothing to aggravate the quarrel ; short of conceding the independence demanded by the South, he did every thing to prevent or abbreviate it. He recognised it as his onegreat duty to preserve the Union, and what ever opinions may be entertained in this country about the war and its policy, nobody can say that such a principle was otherwise than becoming in the President of the Republic. He was doubtless glad at last to see slavery perish, but his personal opinions on that subject were not permitted to influence the policy of the Government while there was a chance of escaping the extremities of strife. Homely kindness of feeling, his plain sense, and his in stinctive aversion from violence combined to keep him in a course of clemency and to incline him to conciliation whenever it might be practicable: He was hardly a representative Republican so much as a representative American. He did not express the extreme opinions even of his own party. He did worship the Union, but next to that he put peace. These are the feelings which have prompted our present manifestations, and if the Americans set as much store by our English opinions as.they are said to do, they may console themselves with the assur ance that no incident in the history of a foreign State"could have excited more universal or more, ge nuine sensation. Th e a dd resses wh i ch they will re ceive from us are expressions of sincere and unaffected sympathy. In its political aspect the event is mo mentous enough, but of that at the moment we do not desire to take heed. We trust that the counsels of the Republic may be guided by a spirit like that of its late chief, but by our present proceedings we design only to put on record and communicate to Americans a feeling which can differ only in intensity from that of Americans themselves. -- • HERALD.-It is true that our experience of the last four years in America has not done much to pre possess us in favour of the Federal form of govern ment. It is not the less obvious that in presence of the anarchy which prevails in the formerly United States of North America, the general break-up of whose unstable s y s t em is likely to be precipitated by the crime committed in that Washington Theatre on Good Friday, it is eminently desirable that everything should be done which can be done, and that quickly, to co nso lid a t e an d establish on the firmest foundation our British colonial empire be yond the Atlantic. - The area of these provinces, which extend from the Lakes to the Pole, is at least equal to that of the late United States. The country is, however, in great part a desert, and not capable of maintaining so dense a population as that which is settled to the south of the 49th parallel. The people of the British provinces are increasing rapidly in numbers in spite of the severities of the climate and the sterility of the soil with which they have had to contend over a large portion of the area inhabited by them. The race is healthier and hardier, and partakes more closely of the nature of its British sires than the mixed' and more degenerate people of the lower latitudes. If well disposed and well governed the people of British America have a future before them. The development of political events beyond their boundary bids fair to leave the game in their hands at no distant period. A few more years of this de structive civil war in the States • may leave British America, Acadia, or whatever we call it, the domi nant nation on the great North American continent. The three and a half millions may have the better of the thirty millions when the latter are split up into ten or a dozen discordant and counteracting parts. But in order that she may take her place as a nation beside any possible section or develop ment of the American Union, in order that she may present a strong front against any aggression or ambition from beyond the border, it does seem necessary first that the 10 or 12 independentprovmces should be united under some central Government, bound together by some closer tie than their depen dence on England. We are not surprised that the idea of a confederation of the provinces has for some time past been favoured by leading minds in the Canadas and other British possessions in North America. A central parliament at Ottawa would give that real unity of action which could not even be attempted bythe distant influence of the Colonial Minister in London. At the same time the weak ness which has been shown by experience to be in herent in a federal union of equal states would not be dreaded in a combination of peoples who owned a common allegiance to the central authority in England. The confederation of our American provinces would be a development of our colonial system ; it would tend to simplify it, and reduce it to working order. It need scarcely be feared that it would lead for a long time to come to a separa tion of these dependencies from the mother country. It is a far greater thing to form a part of a great nation, whose subjects are numbered by several hundred millions, who takes the lead in the van of civilisation, whose power is felt everywhere, and whose flag covers the seas, than to•be the mere citi zens of a puny republic whose weakness would leave it a prey to the first aggressor who might turn his attention that way. What is more important, perhaps, is, that these provinces, looking to the mother coun try as a common centre and arbiter, would escape for all future time that conflict of interests which has led to this bloody civil war in the United States. The heart and core of British America is in the twin provinces of the Canadas. They are the most thickly populated and most fertile of the British possessions. There is Lower Canada, bor dering on the St. Lawrence, in which the French element still predominates, in which the old respec tablility, the aristocracy of North America, is con centrated. There is Upper or Western Canada, bordered by the great Lakes, peopled by British im migrants, very modern and progressive in character. These two countries, historically antipathetic, and far from having yet forgotten their century of rivalry, are united in a sense of common danger and a common aspiration. The danger lies in the well understood fact that in any invasion from the south it would be their cities that would be aimed at, their fertile fields that would be the first to be devastated, their country that would be made the battle-ground on which the quarrel between England and America would have to be fought out. It is to their interest that the surrounding states should make common cause with them, and be ready to confront this danger with a universal armament. Again, the Canadas are inland countries, and, unlike other inland countries, desire before all things a ready com munication with the outer world, as a means of de veloping their commerce and extending their in fluence. It is their ambition to gain a seaboard, by at once establishing intimate relations with the mari time provinces. They offer to these provinces a fair share and equal representation in the central Go vernment. But the chief advantage of the union would be evidently theirs, and the maritime pro vinces, which have little to gain by it beyond the gratification of a sentiment, are now pretty clearly the master of the situation. Out of the total popu lation of British North America the Canadas con tain two millions and a half, the seaboard countries about one million of people. Thus, on the eastern coast, we have New Brunswick, with a population of 250,000 ; the peninsula of Nova Scotia, with 350,000 ; Prince Edward's Island, with 80,000 souls ; and the island of Newfoundland, with 130,000. In the eastern maritime provinces there are abOut 900,000 men. In the western maritime countries, the newly settled re gions of British Columbia and Vancouver, on the Pacific, with splendid harbours, and already a vast trade, there are some 100,000 inhabitants. The majority of these seaboard countries have con sented to a measure of which the practical effect will be a considerably increased taxation and absorp tion in Canada. The principle of confederation on which they have agreed has been cordially approved by the central Government in London. Messrs. Cartier and Galt, members of the Canadian Go vernment, have come over from Canada to confer with our Government on the subject. There is, however, an awkward fact, which is likely to operate as a bar to this arrangement at the outset. New Brunswick, with its population of a quarter of a million, has been polled, and, by a small majority, has refused to agree to the Federation. New Brunswick is at present independent of the other colonies,and we cannot fairly force her to consent to an union of which she disapproves. It happens, however, that St. John's, in the Bay of Fundy, and Fredericton, and the capacious harbours in the Gulf of St. Lawrence are regarded as of vital im portance to the projected Acadia. What is to be done in this dilemma ? Perhaps the stalwart New Brunswickers will change their minds, if they are convinced that public opinion condemns them for their mistaken policy of selfish isolation. If not it may be possible to form an Acadian Confederation without including this province, leaviro. New Brunswick for the present out in th e cold,'' in the hope that on the first threatening of an American invasion the little colony will be only too glad to throw herself repentantly into the arms of her more powerful cousins. The ?Metropolitan Board of Woks, The weekly meeting of the Metropolitan Board of Works was held yesterday at the office in Spring-gardens. Mr. J. Thwaites, chairman, presided.. FINANCE. The financial statement was presented, which showed the following cash balances in the hands of the treasurer : Current accounts, £284,614 16s. Id. ; deposit accounts, £297,300 ; total, £581,914 16s. Id. Government securities £51,371 11:1s. 10d. THE STATE OF THE RIVER AT THE OUTFALL SEWERS. The CHAIRMAN said he wished to call the attention of the Board to a subject that had seriously affected the health of their officers at the outfall works at Crossness on the south, and Barking on the north—the effluvium from manufac tories of glue and other offensive substances. Those manu- factories were a great nuisance and an injury to the health of the officers, and he had hoped it would have been abated. He had visited the place, however, and found the nuisance - almost unbearable, and, so far from it having been dimi nished, it had greatly increased. It was of great importance that this should be made known, or the public might en tertain the notion that these offensive smells were caused by the sewerage works, and not by these manufactories. That had been the state of things long prior to the sewage being discharged into the river, and he thought the engi neer ought to report upon it. The nuisance had greatly in creased during the past two months. He wished to men tion that within the last few days a friend of his, a whar finger on the Thames, had caught a very fine jack in the Pool, nearly opposite to the Custom-house--(hear, hear} — which showed the improved state of the river in conse quence of the Main Drainage works. Mr. CARPMA.EL said he could also bear his testimony to the fact that fish were again making their appearance at points higher up the river, where for many years they had never been seen. Mr. LE BRETON said he should move that the subject be referred to Mr. Bazalgette, the chief engineer, and Dr. Letheby, to report on the best means of getting rid of the nuisance. Mr. EVANS seconded the motion, which was carried una• nimously. PRESERVATION OF COMMONS AND OPEN SPACES. A report was brought up from the Streets Committee on - - - - the subject of the preservation.of commons and open spaces for the use of the public. The committee stated that they had given the subject their most serious consideration, and had unanimously arrived at a resolution that it was highly desirable to preserve the open commons and spaces near the metropolis for public recreation and enjoyment, and that the board should compensate the lords of the manors and the commoners for any rights of which they might be de prived, such open spaces to remain unenclosed ; also that, towards meeting the expenditure to be incurred, power should be given to the board to sell certain portions of such open spaces for building or other purposes. Mr. Pnirmups moved the adoption of the report, which was seconded by Mr. DIFFANGER. Mr. RocHE moved, as an amendment, " That the report be printed and circulated, and taken into consideration at the next meeting." Mr. EVANS seconded the amendment, and said he believed it would be very imprudent to adopt the report without due consideration, as it was impossible to say what expen diture it might.entail upon the board. Mr. DOULTON, M.P., said he had no objection to the matter standing over for a week; but he wished it to go forth to the public that the adoption of the report would not involve the ratepayers in a large outlay in purchasing the rights of lords of manors. Mr. CARPMAEL trusted that the board would not take upon itself the responsibility of purchasing the rights of lor4l of manors, or doing anything of the kind. The amendment was then put and agreed to. PROPOSED PURCHASE OF METROPOLITAN BRIDGES. The CHAIRMAN brought under the notice of the board the bill brought into Parliament by Mr. Alderman Salomons for purchasing the present toll-paying bridges and throwing them open free. He said the purchase of those bridges might involve the ratepayers in a very serious expendi ture. As the board had taken no active part in the promo tion of this bill, he thought that the subject should bo re ferred to a committee. Mr. M`DorniELL moved that the subject should be re ferred to the Streets Committee, and that they be em powered, if they should see fit, to take steps to oppose the Bill. The motion was put and agreed to. UTILIZATION OP THE SEWAGE ON THE SOUTH SIDE OP THE RIVER. The CHAntmAN submitted that, as the plan for the utili zation of the sewage on the North side of the river was now settled, the Board should take steps ih reference to the south, and that tenders should be advertised for. This was embodied in a motion, which was put and agreed to. The other business was disposed of, and the Board ad journed. Naval and Military Intelligence. The Duke of Somerset will hold levees for to' reception of officers of the Royal Navy and Mari° on the following days, at half-past 2 Pi n ' Thursday, the 4th ; Thursday, the 11th; a n Thursday, the 18th of May. The Hindostan, 78, fitti ng a t Devonport as a d f mitory for the nava l ca d e t s on b oar d the Brit l,' at Dartmouth, has bee n remove d from No. 3 doc in the yard, and placed alongside the hulk Bello' 114 in Hamoaze. The iron-cased ship Caledonia, 31, Vs. CO; missioned at Devonport on Thursday by CaPt., e , Hon. F. A. C. Foley, l a t e i n com mand of the 1; venge, 73. The paddlewheel steam-sloop Sphynx, 67 Ic a. moved yesterday from Keyham basin, and P i o ° at her moorings in the first division of the 5 reserve in Hamoaze. Tweet The transport Windsor Castle, Capt. bound for London, which sailed from Bombs/ , the 14th of January, and touched at St. Helena the 7th of March, was four miles south of re n Point, Plymouth, yesterday afternoon. S ile : e under three royals. Wind, a whole-sail 131. `,. a i i ; being east by south. Sh e h as on board CaP iy , Graham, Lieuts. Welsh, Kemp, and wither, Eikin, and 310 men, women, and children bel°lls ing to various regiments in the East Indies. to While practising at the target at Mount Bat., Plymouth, yesterday morni ng , a soldier be lon g , to Capt. Wilson's company, 6th Regiment, vir ...A a s to cidentally shot in the neck. He is not expert` c-, l j . • F3ii r ail, recover. derd sl The following appointments were made Yes' C. at the Admiralty:—Commander St. George D'Arcy Irvine, to the Caledonia ' • Lieut. AlD: o e ' Dale, to the Caledonia ; Lie u t. A. J. W. 311156- , to the Sphynx ; Lieut. S. R. St rea tfield, Lie n " t i l e A. Arundell, and Lieut. F. J. J. Eliott, O nt . Terrible ; Charles Wotton, master, to the SP 13 1;:; Henry S. Ley, master, to the Caledonia ; Townsend, master, to the Terrible • Sub* - nc , Crawford Coffin, to the Caledonia ; B. Walpole, to the Sphynx ; Sub-Lieut. p Cameron, to the Terrible ; Frederick IL . 1 ° 1111 :icl: Edward J. P. Wade, and Alfred A. Taylor , shipmen, to the Caledonia ' • Edward Ba tt r„ r iei Arthur W. Massy, Arthu r E. B ancr oft, and v, u " s it C. Wood, midshipmen, to the Terrible ; an d P- C. L. Stunt, midshipman, to the Sphynx• COUNTRY MARKETS BRISTOL—THURSDAY. I'll On our market this a ft ernoon th ere was 1 3'soo- of English wheat, whi c h me t a slow sale at CO r Or r 0 is par qr. Stocks of foreign are reduced to a narl . „o ; pass, and on the few sales made is to is 6d more, realised. English barley . in slow request for nialbtir, fl to the hot weather ; grinding parcels 6d per qr. deL _ a fair demand. Oats held for more money, but n e ' ra tioll• at over last week's prices. In other articles no alt BIRMINGHAM—TnuRsDAY. P ofte u ' During the present week few transactions ar e Atre tho but oats and beans are still tending upwar ds ' day's market there was a f a i r su pply o f wheat, 0 jo t advance of fully is per qr. was generally obtaiasu }3eSP trade closed dull. Barley and oats quite as d e r 564 again is per qr. hi g h er . P eas i n li m it e d deraan ' Currencies :—English wheat, whit e , 40s to 4 4 n li ' e f to 42s per 36 stone. M a lti ng b ar l e y, 28s to 3 4 5; b:;45 22s to 25s per qr. Oats, 24 s t o 30 s ; I r ish, 2 0 1,!,,ercl r ' 30 stone. Beans, 38s to 42s ; and p ea s, 38s to 4"' MANCHESTER—THuBsDAY. n ites 6 „, e ':t Our market this morn i ng was t o l era bly vre_ ll- 0 fir English wheat was fully is per q r . and Itine'cl 6 upi cental dearer, but the sale limited. •Flour adv: o- 4 511.).4, sack, which checked sales. Oats brought ld l as tP e l`; to oatmeal 6d to is p er l ea d over th e r ates Of rn 61 Beans further improved in value is, and Indian porn is per qr. EDINB UItGII—WEDYEsDAY• f c otilJ i t i e '; At our market the re was a sma ll supply (,) 0 011 of wheat, which sold quietly a t a b ou t 6d decline °- , last week. nd do 0 1113 1 Wheat on the top, is Od up average , Os 1 10( , Barley on the top, is Od up average, is s s d li p it It o Oats on the top, is Od u p aver age, is 2€l d o Beans on the top, is Od up av erage, ' Average prices. C Os 5d Wheat, 41s 6d I Oats, ......... f,', s 5d Barley, 2Bs 6d 1 8ean5,....... ° Total supply and sales. id 837 - Wheat 1145 qrs ............ so , 0 Barley 786 q rs sold 118 9 Oats 2870 qrs 501€ 1 6 4 Beans lB3 qrs sold ii l j; c 4 Town-made flour sells as follows :—White, 3„,,' 68 superfine, 34s 6d ; superfine, 33 8 Od ; fine, 310 0"4. GLASGOW—WEDNESDAY. 6 a del This day's market was well attended. Whet' lid , t ' per 2401 b ; flour, 6d to i s p er sac k • barley, beau s, . 3 firm ; oats 3d p e r b o ll ; oa t mea l and Indian coo 2801 b. higher. BRISTOL SUGAR--FRIDAY. o st 6 t , ° l There has been a good demand this week for D I 01 1) 0 0 scriptions of sugar, and large sales have been nlat a s it 0 is per cwt. advance. Refined goods are freely is advance. Rum sells steadily at former 'value' COAL MARKET. Price per ton at the close of the market' E. tf i 8. d. iG 6 Holywell Main l6 6 Kelloe ................... 14 , Oarway and Duffryn Eden Main ....... :. 1 7 6 , Malting 22 0 Braddyell's liettoli' . Heugh Hall l7 0 Walls End Hass" ‘. P. West Hartley Cowpen Hartley Buddle'sWestHartley 16 6 South Hetton ........ ' 1 .! , 1 Hetton lB 0 East Hartlepool ..... li South Kelloe Ships at market, 50; sold, 47. Foreign Mail Packet List. e . gitz i s, Australia and New Zealand, via S ou th amp t o n..• • . go ' 4. Ditto, via Marseilles .......................... g o 3 Brazil and Cape Verde. by British pac_et ......... iDI ' ..5 Ditto, by French packet ..... ...... '131;, Cape of Good Hope, As cens i on, and 6t Helena .... 3 ,t4i " 1 0 China, Penang, and Sing , ipore, via Sou:hamPton' goi Ditto, via Marseilles. .......................... 2, Falkland Islands ................................. :10 Gibraltar, via South amp t on ....... • • ' ' , sof 1 1 3 India (Calcutta), and C ey l on, v i a S cu th am pton•• • fisi 13 , Ditto, via Marseilles •• —•'" 01 6, India (Bombay), via Southampton.. ................ .gal .., Ditto, via il arseilles .. Mauritius, via Southampton . ................... ftis° i e. Ditto, via /Larsen. ei, ...................... ' • ..01 1 1 i. Newfoundland .................................... .ssi Portugal .. . .. ..... • •••• Ditto, by private ship to Lisbon.. ...... . • •:; 1 4,, i United States and British North America, W I . ISO tish packet Ditto, by United States pack e t, vi a Southator ton il Ditto, via CA* ......... .. ......... . . A pi• 4 , Ditto, by Canadian pack e t , v i a L on d on derrf..gof West Coast of Africa, Madeira, and Teneriffe •• . ............ . ;: ii. i .1.; West Indies and P ac ifi c (except Baha I.as, Cu u . Mn l 4. and Mexico ..... gsi 0 , Bahamas, via New X 0rk... • .., ••• ' 31 3 9 1 e• Bermuda, ditto i ... ............ ...01 , Cuba and Mexico ................................. of ;tee" ° -. l' LADVERTISEMENT.I—HoIIoway's Pills,-- - tealth.—ln the hand-to-hand struggle for stolle, the present day, goo d h ea lth i s every thing- e purifying, dig es ti ve , an d gen tl y l axa ti ve pills gr ..aoSe 16 adapted for restorin g soun d ness t o i nva lids 0 5 , 0 fv, 1 tions are so feebly p er f orme d th a t lif e itseif A S es rev oil sc precarious. The st omac h h as its mirny r 4 ,; ( 1 by a judicious use of th ese p ill s ; th e torpid L - o rgl'iv o by them to active secretion, and every other ocito serving digestion is placed at its natural st s to better fitted for its duties. It is impossible bu t t oe doctor at our elbow at all seasons and place s ' ilet pills will supplant that lo ss , f or th e y u nivers ficially in every ailment. °Births. ~ al „,0 ANDERSON.—On the 27th inst., at Heathfield , Thames, the wife of Captain J. H. P. Anders°'' il of a son, stillborn. / 4 o rtb MESSENT.—On the 27th i ns t., at T ernot", °0 berland, the wife of Philip J. Messent, of tya son. POWNALL.—On the 26th i ns t ., a t N orw i c h, 01 01 ' Rev. Alfred Pownall, of a daughter. Marriages. , at Ge ° 6 1; HARGREATES—HuLToN.."—On the 27th ult., a t Hanover-square, John Dennison Ilargrealc e. 2 a P' a f Hussars, eldest son of John Hargreaves, 1- '"l,lef - Park, Berks, to Frances Amelia Jessie &tug - 0 4 F. Hulton, Esq., of Hulton Park, Lanca ' slii r r e ' r d:r i f KENT — WHEELER.—OR the 27th inst., at W,ati c) r i s , t,°; - 4 11 ., Weedon Kent, Esq., Mayor of St. Albans, P Selina, second daughter of Frederick Wiley- Cassiobury Cottage, Watford, Herts. JO' Deaths. VOn def BATES.—On the 25th inst., at his residence, -05. 0 Henry Bates, Esq., age d 52. Airifb G . GRIFFIN.—On the 24th inst., at Leamington' To it' Esq., aged 78. 0,5% HULLETT.—On the 25th inst at the Pnrs-0 0 m e . 0 0 Knutsford, the Rev. J. Hullett, late of AileStr;:peel FRAMPTON.—On the 27th inst., at 4, Eaton - X 1 : 13 00u5d0,, 0% 1 ,; N. Frampton, Esq., aged 48. PirruamouE.—On the 27th inst., at ShiPl a '„ ° , l o yet fordshire, John George Phillmore, Esq; , ,, - " v r tow Counsel and Reader on Constitutiona l P 111; History to the Four Inns of Court. THORNTON.—On the 27th inst., at WandsW° rt Thornton, Esq., aged 84. ;1(°. S i lto Ll London : Printed and Published by WIL L IA . of No. 112, Strand, Ranter, at THE SU N ( ! h e 0 01°2 Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, — Middlesex.--Saturday, April 29, 1865. ;' . t t Li+ •0 r. t ' • $