The Sun. — London, England, 1852-12-31 00:00:00

THEATRE ROYAL, FIAYMARKET. Farewe:! eason of bdr. Derjamin Webster as Lessee and Manager THIS EVENING Will be performed the popular and highly attractive Comedy Or MASKS AND FACE-4; or, Before and Behind the Curtain—by Messrs. Benjamin Webster, Leigh Murray, Stuart, and Parselle; Mrs. Stirling, Mrs. Leigh Murray, Miss Rosa Bennett, and Miss Fanny Maske]l. After which, an entirely new Christmes Extravaganza, entitled LEO THE TERRIBLE. To conclude with THE TWO BONNYCASTLES. ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE. Under the Management of Madame Vestris. THIS EVENING, Dec. 31, will be performed the Comic Drama called A PHENOMENON IN A SMOCK-FROCK, Characters by Messrs. C. Mathews, F. Matthews, and Horncastle ; Miss F. Baker and Miss C. Mitchell. after which (sth time), a new and original Fairy Extravaganza, entitled THE GOOD WOMAN IN THE WOOD, in which Messrs. F. Matthews, Suter, Horncastle, and Templeton Madame Veatris. Miss Julia St. George, Miss Robertson (her ith appearance at this Theatre), Miss Martindale, Miss Ellis, Miss Wyndham. Miss :Eglin ton (her sth appearance at this Theatre), and .Miss Rosina Wright will appear. To conclude with LITTLE TODDLEKINS. Sole Agent for the Private Boxes, Mr. W. Aileron, 15, New Bond-street. THEATRE ROYAL ADELPHI. Open for the Season. Throprietor, Mr. B. Webster.—Directress, Madame Celeste. THIS EVENING, Dec. 31, the already popular Drama of SLAVE LIFE ; or, Uncle Tom's Cabin—by Messrs. Alfred Wigan, Cullen ford, 0. Smith, and Emery ; Madame Celeste, Miss Woolgar, Miss Harding, and mrs„ Keeley. After which (sth time), a new Grand Christmas Pantomime, called NELL GWYN'NE ; or, Harlequin Merrie Monarch. Principal Danseuse Mdlle. Anriol, and the inimitable Clown, Fie/more. ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE, OXFORD-STREET. Under the Management of Mr. C. Kean. THIS EVENING Will be performed Shakspere's Comedy of TWELFTH NIGHT. Principal characters by Messrs. W. Lacy, Addison, Meadows, J. Vining, Ryder, Everett, and Cathcart; Misses Murray and Mar shall, and Mrs. C. Kean. To conclude with the new and original Grand Comic Christ mas Pantomime, entitled HARLEQUIN CHERRY AND FAIR STAR; or, The Green Bird, the Dancing W a t ers , an d t h e Singing Tree. Harlequin, Mr. Cormack ; Clown, Mr. Huline (sth appearance here) ; Pantaloon, Mr. Paulo ; Columbine, Miss Car. lotta Leclercq. ROYAL OLYMPIC: THEATRE. Lessee and Manager, Mr. Farren. THIS 'EVENING, Dec. 31, will be presented ABELARD AND /lELOISE. After which, a new Grand Comic Christmas Pantomime, en titled ROMEO AND JULIET; or, Harlequin Queen Mab and the World of Drettms. Harlequin, Mr. Forest; Columbine, Miss Marie Charles ; Sprite, Mr. G. Thompson ; Pantaloon, Mr. Tanner ; Clown, Mr. Edward Edwards, who will introduce his wonderful dogs. Box-office open from Eleven till Five, under the superintendence of Mr. Edward Chatterton. ASTLET'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE. Proprietor and Manager, Mr. W. Batty. Immense attraction of the Christmas Holidays. Fifth Night of the new Grand Equestrian Comic Pantomime. 34th Night of Uncle Tom's Cabin. Entire change of Scenes in the Arena. THIS EVENING, December 31, and during the week, the Enter tainments will commence with the highly successful Equestrian Drama of UNCLE TOM'S C kBIN, with all its original - effects. 'm 0 be followed by unusually brilliant and novel Scenes in the Circle,,by the most eminent Artistes of the day. To conclude with, for the Fifth Time, the New Grand Equestrian Christmas Comic Pantomime, entitled FORTUNIO AND ins 110ftsE COMRADES or, Harlequin and his Seven Gifted Men. P oduced on an unequalled scale of splendour, and in which the following talented Pantomimist% will appear for the sth time here. Harlequin, Mr. Melbourne Ellar; Columb ne, Mdlle. Christine ; Clown, Mr. Gardner Boleno ; Pantaloon, Mr. Priorson ; Sprite, Mr. R. Hemming. Doors open at Half-past Six o'clock. To commence at Seven. Box-odice open daily from Eleven to Four. Stage . Manager, Mr, W. West. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. nTs DAr —Morning 52 min. after 4 I Evening 14 min.aft. 5 ' o-Monaow--Morning 36 Mill. after 5 Evening 59 min.aft. 5 THE WEATHER.--Sus OFFICE, Dec. 31. THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE. 49—highest since noon yesterday. 37—lowest this morning and during the night. 45—this day, at noon. BAROMETER, 30'23. WIND, S.W.—Fine weather. DAILY WEATHER TABLE. FRIDAY, DEC. 31, 1852. State of the wind and weather at each of the following rlaces at nine o'clock yesterday morning. ' The stations are arranged in order of latitude. • HASTINGS—S.S.W., gentle breeze—overcast. SOUTHAMPTON—W., gentle breeze—rain. romucsroNE--S.W., strong breeze —overcast. TUNBRIDGE=-S.W. strong breeze — overcas t . BASINGIBTOKE—S.*., hard wind-partially cloudy. GREENWICH—S.W., gentle breeze—partially cloudy. STRooD—S.W., gentle breeze —overcast. SWINDON—S., gentle breeze—partially cloudy. COLCHESTER—S.S.W., gentle breeze—partially cloudy. CAMBRIDGE—S. strong breeze—p ar ti a ll y Cloudy.. YARMOUTH— S.W., gentle breeze—cloudless. The returns from the following places indicate the state of the weather on Wednesday morning at nine o'clock : MULLENTGAR—S.E. storm—rain. ' HASTINGS—S.S.W., fresh breeze—partially cloudy. LANCASTER—S., hard wfnd—scud, rain. WHITBv--S., gentle breeze—partially cloudy. DARLINGTON—S., gentle breeze—partially cloudy, frost. SHAP—S., strong breeze—partially cloudy. Zbt 'z i* Allt . LONDON, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1852. Wonderfully strong though the ABERDEEN Cabinet undoubtedly is in administrative ability, it contains within it,--nevertheless, those germs of weakness which. must, we fancy, ripen into a very speedy dissolution. Among the numerous obstacles to its consolidation into a stable Go vernment, two are, to our mind, very glaringly paramount. It has already been remarked in . these columns that the new Ministry has too many Leaders. In addition to this really de- s plorable fault, it must now be observed that scarcely one of the various appointments made by the Noble Earl the PRIME MINISTER of England, is calculated to redound to the credit of his sa gacity as the organiser of an Administration. Hardly one of his Ministerial nominations ap pears to be judicious in the distribution of All the Talents placed at his disposal. Analyse the ABERDEEN Cabinet, and the fact here referred to will be at once transparent. Look at its principal members and see with what egregious blundering they are placed each one at the head of a wrong department--each at the head of a department where his capacities are the least likely to shine to the best advantage. Beginning with the Earl of ABERDEEN himself, we may be permitted to doubt, from his rather well-known antecedents, whether he will not make a very indifferent First Lord of the Treasury—whereas he might have occupied the position of President of the Council, in a man ner that would have reflected honour upon his re putation, and have materially facilitated the ope rations of a Coalition Government. Again, every fact recorded in the political life of Lord PALMER STON sufficiently indicates that his powers qualify him to undertake, perhaps, no other duties less meritoriously than those connected with the Home office—while the whole character of h,is mind, his diplomatic skill, his matured experience, his Euro pean celebrity, his genius, and his patriot ism, all point him out as the candidate for the Foreign Secretaryship. Of the emi nent capabilities of Lord JOHN RUSSELL to fulfil the labours of an Administrator, there can not assuredly by this time be any question what : ever. We may complain, and we do complain, that he cannot preside over the destinies of this country in any way to the popular satisfaction, but that he can direct.the machinery of the State with the hand of a practised statesman, it would be preposterous to deny in regard to one who, (luring five or six consecutive years—in the midst of famine, and pestilence, and revolution—main tained his position as the Leader of the British Go vellunent. Yet, admitting all this, we are bold to declare that there is possibly no ministerial post ui the gift of the SOVEREIGN which the Noble Lord is less calculated for than the very one to Which he has, within the last few days, • been absurdly no minated—we mean, of course, the post of het MAJESTY'S Chief Secretary of State i n the Foreign Department. As Home Se cretary, Lord a -onN might have been spar e d those blunders 17/hi d , ar e almost inevitable now that he has been chosen to preside over the Foreign Relations of th e U n i ted K i ngdom. be What, again, can more ridiculous than the placing of Sir JAMES GRAn m , at the h ea d o f th e 1.)0a-rd of Admiralty, where no civilian, however gifted, ought again to have been installed, instead of entrusting to his rare administrative capacities and experience the responsible toils of Chancellor of the Exchequer ! Mr. Or _LADSTONE might then have been named to an office, for the credit a b le discharge of the duties of which he is eminently qualified by his abilities, namely, the office of Colonial Secretary —by which means his financial crochets (and if his intellect has any flaw it has that undeniably of being egregiously and preter naturally crochetty) need not have been dreaded as conducing to the unsettlement of our adroitly balanced system of receipts and expenditure ! Briefly, than, we have protested, and we must protest again and again, that the ABERDEEN , Cabinet is weak—in spite of all its grand array of talents—weak, not merely from the circum- I , stance of having `too many Leaders, but from the fact of its principal statesmen being so blunder ingly distributed among the different offices of the Government. Perhaps the • best portion of the ministerial catalogue is that relating to the minor appointments. Nothing could be in better taste than the tardy recognition of the services rendered to the country by the Hon. CHARLES VILLIERS—in his nomination to the place formerly occupied by poor CHARLES BuLLER, that of Judge-Advocate-General. There is tact, more over, in the selection of WILLIAM KEOGH, as the Irish Solicitor- General —in that of BERNAL OSBORNE as Secretary to the Admiralty —as well as in the choice for Under-Secretaryships of . such men as ROBERT LOWE and AUSTIN LAYARD, the Learned Member for Ayles bury and the astute Representative of Kiddermin ster. Occasionally, too, there has been mani fested by Lord ABERDEEN a laudable sense of hitherto unrequited ability, in the elevation of one or two " outsiders" to the higher departments of Administration. Such, we take it, is the merit of his nomination of Sir WILLIAM MOLESWORTH to the Chief Commissionership of the Woods and Forests—a nomination which, we trust, may be justified by the Hon. Baronet the Member for the borougi of Southwark, by his advocacy in office of such popular questions as that of Vote by Ballot. But—saving these well-selected names, " few and far between "—the New Ministry dis plays little more than talent of the very highest order erroneously applied, without any other apparent purpose than that of unsettling still more An already sufficiently distracted aid heterogeneois Government. It was said of MA CHIAVEILI that his greatest crime was that he dared to write what the Princes of his time did not fear to do. It may be said, however, still more of the Earl of ABERDEEN, that his greatest political fault—(and we say this in the face of his whole ;breign policy, of his subserviency to M. Glom, of his truckling to King Louis PHIL, and of his share in the Spanish Mar riages-the greatest political fault of this " dear " and "excellent " ABERDEEN is, that he has dared to do what the Statesmen of his time had not ventured to contemplate. He has constructed a Cabinet which we have not been extravagant In christening the Happy ' Family He has joinei together in a single Ministry men diametrically opposed to each other in principles ! And, not satisii.ed with this, he haS contrived to scatter yet further confusion among their ranks, by distributing the principal Members of his Ad ministration as mistakenly as possible among the different offices of her MAJESTY'S Government ! Every sincere Fiscal Reformer will consider it an imperative duty to exhibit an extraordinary degree of zeal and energy at the present crisis. It is certain that the Property and Income Tax must be renewed in some form, before the conclu sion of the financial year. And it is essential that the great work should be accomplished, in accordance with " the principles of Equity and Justice." The significant hint given by the new Premier in his Ministerial . Statement, and to which we directed public attention on Wednesday night, maybe accepted as an implied pledge tha4the distinction between permanent and precario4 in come would at length be recognised; but with a Cabinet in which GLADSTONE presides over the financial department, and Lord JOHN .RUSSELL and Sir CHARLLS Woon are .prominent Members, it is well to make assurance doubly sure; and to prevent the advocates of the present iniquitous system from asserting that the people are indifferent or lukewarm on the subject. If they remain apathetic until the Government are firmly committed to the future Budget, they will only have themselves to blame for the result, how ever unpalatable it may prove. This is, indeed, a golden' opportunity, which should not be wasted or misapplied. A similar one may not again occur for a long series of years. The Right Honoura ble and Noble Gentlemen, who, by their accep tance of office, have vacated their seats, are com pelled to solicit a renewal of confidence from their respective constituents. That renewal should not, in any case, be granted until they have been closely interrogated, and returned clear, explicit, and satisfactory answers on the point. We do not, of course, desire that they should be called upon to give the details of the forthcoming Budget but . they should be unequivo cally pledged to the principle that a dis tinction must be recognised, for fiscal pur poses, between income arising, more or less, from intellectual or physical labour, . and from accumulated and realised property. The citizens of ,London, and the electors of Halifax, and Of the University of Oxford, should more especially impress their own views on the candidates for their suffrages. The opinions so earnestly enunciated by Mr. GLADSTONE during the late financial discussion, show that he con siders the question not merely one of expediency. He placed it on a very different foundation in deed, declaring that the national honour, and the maintenance of public faith with thepublic creditor, were involved in the result. His feelings on the point were so strong that he could not remain silent for even a few days until the debate on the finanoial scheme afforded him a fitting opportu nity for expressing his sentiments. Not a mo ment could be lost ; and, therefore, at the very next meeting of the House, after the delivery of the Budget, he rather irregularly, but very emphatically, announced his invincible repugnance, his inextinguishable hostility to that portion of Mr. DISRAELI'S proposition, relying on the sup posed authority of WILLIAM PITT in corroboration of his arguments. 'Now, we have ever believed, and still believe, the Right Honourable Gentleman to be a strictly conscientious and high-minded man ; and we are convinced that he would not sacrifice what he believed to be a matter of duty, of honour, of national faith, for any benefit to or the party to which h e h as himself personally, allied himself. He might be content to record his vote against the principle without withdrawing his assistance from those by whom it was sus tained and carried yielding to the decisive and overwhelming majority of his colleagues with in the Cabinet, and generally of the popular Re presentatives in the Commons House of Parlia ment.. But how could he be directly instrumen tal in carrying into execution 'that which he believed to be not merely erroneous, , but radically wrong ? It is but an act of common justice to the Right Honourable Gentleman to declare our belief, that he would be and is incapable of such conduct. • Now, it must not be forgotten that from Mr. GL A DSTONE'S position, the arduous and important duty will devolve upon him of bringing forward the financial scheme of the New Cabinet. The most interesting portion thereof—that, indeed, on which the . remainder must altogether depend, be the renewal of the Income Tax, either in its Present shape, or with some modifications. Can we, then, suppose that he will so totally forget his, former opinions as to propose a satisfac tory measure in accordance with what Fiscal Re formers believe to be "the principles of Equity and Justice ?" We fear not ! It seems to us that greater reliance is to be placed on the energetic and unequivocal denunciation of the comparatively trifling distinction proposed by Mr. DISRAELI than on the rather vague expression of Lord ABERDEEN. How can we know what may be considered " the principles of Equity and Justice" by the Noble Earl? We know that Mr. GLAD STONE considers those principles involved' in the maintenance of the present system, and it is im possible to say by what crotchets his Ministerial colleagues may be actuated. The great majority have hitherto opposed what we believe to be the principles of Justice and Equity ; and it is, therefore, peculiarly desirable that we should ascertain, at the earliest opportunity, what the people have indeed to expect on this Point, that they may be prepared for the emer gency. This sh ou ld b e o bt a i ne d f rom th e b es t authority —the very fountain head—Mr. GLAD STONE himself. Lord Jones RUSSELL and Sir CHARLES WOOD have, on previous occasions, expressed themselves strongly on the same point. But they are con " squee za bl e ma t er i a l s. " Th ey fessedly made of are, long since, but too painfully aware of the fact TPE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 31, 1852. that, to their unyielding obstinacy on this matter, they owe the dissolution of the Ministry of which one was the Chief, and the other a prominent Member. They may now be " wiser," as they are assuredly much " sadder," men ; but if so— if they have, indeed, repented of their former error—they should say so at once. The approaching elections—more especially that for Halifax—will afford a suitable opportunity for exhibiting the required interrogatories ; and, as we have already stated, it should not be neglected or misapplied. Who of all the cliques and classes, parties and politicians of the day, should look forward so cheerily as the MANCHESTER SCHOOL to a happy New Year? Let no lurking ungenial imp whisper in their ears—" Neither your COBDEN nog' your BRIGHT, nor even your IVIILNER GIBSON, are in the New Cabinet." The schoolmaster's pride is to train men for Cabinets—not to enter there himself. It is in his scholars that he glories. Look, then, at the group composing the ABERDEEN Government,—why, almost to a man, they are the choice pupils of the Manchester School. That celebrated Academy was founded to teach Free-trade principles to the millions both of town and country yet ignorant of them, and to teach tlbLeir practicability and advantages to those RI Eperior minds who, indeed, admired ADAM SMITH' B. doctrines, but were almost as hope less as himsellf of their ever becoming the creed of an overpowering majority of the British nation. These gentian en, then, begin a New Year with a Cabinet which is even a more splendid evidence of their success than the minority of 53 in the House of Concimons, The leaders of the League are not assuredly the men to despise all but the aristocracy w'hether of rank or of genius, to be satisfied with fa small audience for their speeches, or to be very nice about the taste and style in which the ten-pound householders celebrate their deeds. Had they, however, the pride o f the most ft' stidious of our exclusives they would now :have all that heart could wish. They might turn from the " vilest rabble ever seen," shouting the praises of the big loaf, till the polished taste of Sir FREDERIC THESIGER wished it " stuck is their throats," and say, pointing - to the ABERBEEN list,- '" Satis est equitem mihi plaudere, Plotius, et Nr.arius, Maecenas, Virgiliusque, Valquis, et probet haeeOctavius Optimus, et que Fuscus ; et hue retinam Viscorum laudet uterque." Nor would any but prosodians object, if for one name they substituted Victoria Optima, so harmo nious would the alteration be with fact and the feel ings of every a uditor. What, then, can they wish for more ? They; begin a New Year, not only with a nation on the eir side, not only, with Protection buried for ev.er, although conducted to the place of execution w ith funeral honours by its friends— not only wit h Protection, moreover, formally abandoned by the powerful and numerous party which, for years had, used it as their rallying cry, but with a /V [inistry composed, by universal ac knowledgment , of the ablest men in the House of Commons ; a iGovernment comprising more ability than the cell brated All-Talents Ministry, and nearly each on e of these a pupil, more or less, of the Mancheste r School ! Oh ! how bright the change from the time when VILLIERs was voted down byl " overwhelmin .g majorities ;" when Lord JOHN RUSSELL snub" bed them ; and Lord MELBOURNE declared that, r " of all mad things the maddest was to propose repealing the Corn Laws ;" verily, the times are changed , " and verily, we may add, on behalf o f all but the unchangeable 53, "we are changed with them." Indeed all the 53 are 'not quite hopeless, for even Mr. E. BALL himself declared "we are all good Free traders now."' A happy New Year, then, to our prosperous tutors ; who knows whether, before many years roll over us, the Lord CHANCELLOR, unless " fused."' down to a common Law Judge, may not sit upon a bale of cotton instead of a wool sack. How cheery-, too, does everything look which borders, on tbeir Free-trade Goshen ; our Exche quer never fuller, and that, too, = despite the re peal since 18.4 2, of eleven millions of taxes ; our Customs and 3Exaise all but as productive as ever, notwithstandii ag the immense remissions of duties ; our Imports sand Exports increasing rapidly every year ; our gi3 pbuilders and n2m. chants not only surviving the repeal of the Navigation Laws, but expressing their satisfaction with the change ; Jamaica, to be sure, sending home some melan choly strains. Only we have been so accustomed to them from our editorial boyhood, that we have hardly noticed them ; sending us, however, as Mr. DILRAELI assured us, much more Sugar also, which somewh at soothes us the consumers thereof ; then, employment is everywhere so much better than in the years of monopoly. Indeed, Free Trade .only begins to quake,. lest emigration, in connection with it, should make the labour-market too good for f.he labourer ; a fear which Mr. Ms- RAELI, somewhat too mirthfully, according to Mr. GLADSTONE, Zescribed as quite groundless. , We ,-think with the former, however, that population would soon overtake almost any demand. Money, again, is so abundant ; and not only did the predicted_ deluge not follow the retirement of Lord DERBY, but the symptoms continue rather of our being :overwhelmed with money than of sinking with our failing credit. It is astonishing how little Consols have fluctuated with the changes of Cabinets, since those who deal in them have been assured that Free -trade principles must hereafter govern the English Exchequer, and since the country has become too enlightened to refuse any amount of taxation needful to pay the na tional creditor. Even the operatives are becom ing capitalists ; the town of Birmingham alone records, for 1851, an increase of more than a thousand depositors in its savings-banks, and an increase of more than 20,000/. in its deposits; the total of deposits in its banks amounting to 400,0001.! Then as to foreign nations we con tinue, as her MAJESTY says, to receive assurances of amity and good-will from all Foreign Powers. Mono poly duties abroad, too, are beginning•evidently to quake. Europe must soon follow the example of England, or see its trade thriftless and stunted beside our all-prosperous and absorbing commerce. America has not only chosen its Free-trade Pre sident by an unheard-of majority, but even before the sound of FILLMORE'S Protectionist elegiacs had well died away, Congress was preparing to con sider, with a view to reduction, the Protectionist duties on imports. Everything betokens a vigor ous state of trade for another year. It were folly to prophesy, folly even to hope, that no overtrad ing, no ebbs as well as flows, will not soon occur ; yet one thing is clear, that never have we had such an abundance of money for so long a time, with so little tendency to merely spe culative or jobbing undertakings. We have not yet forgotten the• railroad panic—possibly that may have a very beneficial influence ; but, whatever be the cause, the immensely increased business of the country is, it is universally agreed, carried on to supply an actual demand. Why, even the Crystal Palace is a Free-trade monument. It would never have come into existence under the old jealous system of restricted competition--of timid and selfish monopoly. It was the generous spirit of •Manchester principles which invited all the world to come and see what we could do, and which asked the nations also to come and show us what they could do. The toiling artizan, if Ju daising bigotry will let him, will refresh and ele vate his wearied faculties amid the instructive beauties of Sydenham, and will be thankful that Wee Trade has provided him a palace more splendid than Royalty itself can boast, and at the same time the pecuniary means to pay for his ad- mission 4 And now our strictly rural friends, with equally hopeful expectations, we wish them also a happy New Year. They now begin a wholly new course; they now know the worst—every thought of pro tection, or compensation, or relief from unknown special burdens—all, all is gone. They will now put their hands to the plough without one dangerous glance backwards ; the work before them will be pushed with the vigour and sturdiness of English yeomen ; long leases, fair rents, increased produc tion, extirpated vermin (yclept game), taxation lightened from industry and increased on property, in such things will rest the hopes of :the sons of ''~'. the soil. They have weathered the worst already ; they are tasting with all of us the advantages of lighter shop bills, and of diminished poor-rates. Why should they, too, not look forward, and with good heart, to a happy New Year ? Yesterday we noticed the magnificent scheme set on foot for the construction of a Central Rail way Terminus in the heart of our metropolis. To-day we would direct the attention of the com munity to another and a kindred project of equal utility, if not of equal splendour. A Thames Railway! A railway traversing the noble river that almost bisects the capital of England—from London Bridge to the proposed new bridge at Westminster. A Company, provisionally registered under the Act 7 and 8 VICT., cap. 110, has already been formed for the purpose of carrying out the enterprise. Its capital is fixed at 600,0001., in 30,000 shares of 201. each, with a deposit of 21. per share. It is even now furnished with Direc tors, Engineers, Selicitets, Parliamentary Agents, Bankers, Brokers, and a Secretary. It has tem porary offices at 18, Cannon-street. Its title is simply that of The London and Westminster Thames Railway : and we have now lying before us its first " Prospectus," illustrated by a plan of the course intended to be taken, as well as by a view of the design in section and in elevation. According to this document, the undertaking is to build not only a railway, but over the railway a commodious roadway—two miles and two chains in length—from London Bridge to the Bridge at Westminster. Both roadway and railway are to be supported on cast iron columns and wrought-iron girders —a hint taken, doubtless, from the framework of the Palace of the Exhibition. Such positions and such levels are to be adopted, as will admit of free access, at all times of the tide, to the various wharves along the Thames—the line taken through out being along the side of Middlesex. As yet it would seem that nothing has been definitively settled as to whelthibrvtlke power of traction will be stationary or locomotive—a question to be submitted to the consideration of the Committee on the Bill when it is laid upon the tables of the Legislature. As to the rate of travelling, passengers are to be conveyed by this railway in six minutes from London Bridge to Westminster---instead of, as at present, twenty minutes or half-an-hour by steamboats dependent upon the fluctuations of the tide, or a still longer period by omnibuses liable to stoppage and some times to a dead-lock, by way of pleasant interrup tion. Between intermediate stations the lapse of time will, of course, be still less, but six minutes will carry the passenger from Lon don Bridge to Westminster. As to the cost of this rapid travelling—it is proposed that it shall be a penny for third class, twopence for second class, and threepence for first class, making an average of three-halfpence per passenger. surely a magnificent enterprise an enter prise which we have justly called a com panion one to that of the Central Railway Terminus—and one which, combined with the long-talked-of embankments on the Surrey side (if not also on the Middlesex side of the Thames) would tend not less to increase the convenience than to enhance the beauty of the capital of Great Britain. COURT CIRCULAR. WINDSOR, DEC. 30. Those who dined with her Majesty yesterday were her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, his Serene Highness the Prince of Leiningen, her Serene Highness the Princess Adelaide of Hohenlohe, the Lady in Waiting to the Duchess of Kent, and the Baroness de Speth, and Sir James Clark. Her Majesty's private band attended in the Castle in the evening, and played the following compositions : Overture, "Lestocq" Auber. Finale, 3d act, " Le Pre aux Cleres" Herold. Introduction, " Le Prophets" Meyerbeer, Air de Ballet, &c., Scene et Choeur "L'Enfant Prodigue" Auber. His Royal Highness Prince Albert, accompanied by the Prince of Leiningen, went out shooting this morn ing, attended by Colonel the Hon. C. B. Phipps, Colonel the Hon. Charles Grey, and Colonel Bouverie. The following noblemen arrived from town to-day, and had audiences of her Majesty : The Marquis of Exeter, on resigning the office of Lord Chamberlain. Viscount Newport, on resigning the office of Vice- Chamberlain. The Earl of Sandwich; on resigning the office of Cap. tain of the Gentlemen-at-Arms. Lord Colville, on resigning the office of Clerk Marshal. Lord E. Bruce, on being appointed Vice-Chamberlain. Lord Drumlanrig, on being appointed Comptroller of the Household. Lord Foley, on being appointed Captain of the Gen tlemen-at-Arms. Viscount Sydney, on being appointed Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard. Lieutenant-Colonel Grant, to deliver up the Stick of office of Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard, in the absence of Lord de Ros. Lord . John Russell, the Queen's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, held a diplomatic levee at one o'clock yesterday afternoon, at the Foreign-office, Downing-street, for the reception of the representatives of Foreign Powers. Tae following Ministers were pre sent :—M. Van de Weyer, the Belgian Minister ; Baron de Cetto, the Bavarian Minister ; Baron de Brunnow, the Russian Minister; Count de Kielmansegge, the Hanoverian Minister ; the Chevalier Bunsen, Prussian Minister ; Baron de Rehausen, the Swedish and Nor wegian Minister ; Senor Isturiz, the Spnish Minister ; M. Tricoupi, the Greek Minister ; M. Musurus, the Turkish Minister ; Baron Bentinck, the Netherlands Minister ; Count de LaTradio, the Portuguese Minister ; M. de Bille, the Danish Minister ; Count Colloredo, the Austrian Minister ; Mr. Ingersoll, the American Mi nister. The following 'chatg6s d'affaires also attended the re ception :—Colonel Facio, the Mexican charge d'affaires; the Marquis Oldoini, Sardinian charge d'affaires ; and the French charge d'affaires. Their Excellencies attended in full official costume. His Excellency Prince de Carini, the Neapolitan Mi nister, was prevented tttending the levee by the bap tism of his daughter having been appointed to take place at the same time. The christening of the daughter of the Prince and Princess •de Carini wag solemnised at the embassy in Park-lane, by Cardinal Wiseman. The infant was named Maria Concezione. The sponsogs were, Commre. de Martino and the Countess de Lavradio (proxy for the Countess de Lostanges). There were present at the ceremony, the Austrian Minister and the Countess Col loredo, the Danish Minister and Madame de Bile, the Portuguese Minister and Countess Lavradio, the Bra zilian Minister and Madame and Mademoiselle de Ma cedo, M. Minasi, consul-general for Naples ; the Mar quis Oldoini, and several of the gentlemen attached to different foreign legations. After the ceremony the company partook of a clejeun6;. The following Ministers were present at the Earl of Aberdeen's dinner party on Wednesday :—The Lord Chancellor, the • Marquis of Lansdowne, Lord John Rus sell, Earl Granville, the Duke of Argyll, Viscount Pal merston, the Duke of Newcastle, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Jellies Graham, the Right Hon. Sidney Herbert, and Sir W. Molesworth. _ _ Sir James Graham left town yesterday for Netherby. Lord and Lady John Russell had a dinner party yes terday at their residence in Chesham-place. HER MAJESTY.—We have reason to believe that an event may be expected in the early part of April next which will add a new member to the Royal family. We understand Ouseley Higgins, M.P., has been offered an appointment in the Queen's household. Mr. Peel has appointed as his private secretary Mr. Higgins, of the Colonial-office. This gentleman, who is the son-in-law of Sir Frederic Thesiger, has filled this appointment under the several Under Secretaries of State for the Colonial Department since January, 1848. THE FRENCH EMBASSY.—During the temporary ab sence of his Excellency, the Ambassador of France, his official duties have devolved on M. Charles Baudin, first secretary of the Embassy, in the character of Charge d'Affairs. DEATH OF TIE REV. NEVILLE ROLFE.—We have to record the unexpected dernise'of this gentleman, a close relation to the Lord Chancellor Cranworth. He died suddenly on Christmas-day, at Heacham, Norfolk, of which he was Vicar, aged O. INCORPORATION OF BRIGHTON.—The people of this town have been endeavouring for some time back to have a charter of incorporation granted to them, but they have failed. On Monday a message was received in the town to the effect, that her Majesty had refused to make any such grant. RUMOURED CATASTROPHE.—It was rumoured in Glas gow yesterday, with what truth we know not, that the heavy swell on the west coast, in consequence of the gale of Sunday, had forced in the gates of one of the docks at Troon, by which the lives of eight persons were sacrified.—North British _Daily Mail. 'ti.:: ;.. . ' -~ `"~ - IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF COMMONS--(THIS . DAY.) The SPEAKER took the chair at 12 o'clock. Mr. BLAND took the oaths and his seat for King's County. On the motion of Mr. HAYTER, it was ordered that the house, at its rising, adjourn until Thursday, the 10th of February. On the motion, new writs were ordered to be issued for the county of Haddington, in the room of Mr. Char teris, appointed a Lord of the Treasury ; for Lichfield, in the room of Lord Alfred Paget, appointed Clerk Mar shal to her Majesty. Mr. OLIVEIRA. gave notice, that after the recess he should move a resolution, that the duties on foreign wines be reduced to one shilling on the imperial gallon. Mr. BUTT gave notice that after the recess he should move for leave to bring in a bill for re gulating the mode of granting new trials in criminal cases. Mr. BLACKIE gave notice that after the recess he should ask her Majesty's Government whether it was their intention to bring in any measure founded on the recommendation of the Commissioners for enquiring into the University of Oxford. Mr. KEATING gave notice that after the recess he should ask whether it was the intention of the Govern ment to introduce any measures obtaining uniformity in acts of Parliament for the arrangement and consoli dation of the existing statute law. The House then adjourned until Thursday, the 10th of February next. RAMSGATE HARBOUR. As the case of Ramsgate harbour will most likely be prominently brought before the public view during the present Session of Parliament, and all its faults exposed, we trust that its merits (however partial they may ap pear to some people) will not be passed over entirely unnoticed. We would merely ask any one interested in ship ping to see it at the present moment, with its basin filled with vessels of all - sizes and' all nations, and the outer harbour affording shelter to many others, and then say whether this nobl e h ar b our oug h t to be Rowed to go to' ruin, or be rendered useless, as there is every probability of its being reduced to this state, if the proposed mea sure of entirely abolishing the passing toll be carried through Parliament? Has Government so little to do that it is anxious to take the harbour under its own protection ? or has it not had quite enough experience in constructing dockyards, harbours, and breakwaters of its own ? Surely, quite as good or as bad a case might be made out against Dover harbour, which, notwithstanding the immense sums already laid out and now annually ex pended on it, is very often during a south-westerly gale such as we have lately experienced (and to all appear ances are likely to experience again before long) unap proachable even by its own mail-packets—an instance of which occurred on Monday last, when the French and Belgian mail-steamers were both obliged to run for Ramsgate, not being able to e n t er D over h ar b our. T he English mail-boat of that day is understood to have landed her mails and passengers at Margate. It rarely happens that any of our English boats come into Ramsgate ; the captains being mostly, if not all, Dover men, seem to prefer the risk of landing their mails and passengers either in open boats on Deal beach, or else, passing by Ramsgate, run on to Margate ; thereby giving those who are consigned to their care the benefit of at Jeast an extra hour at sea in a gale of wind, or the chance of being swamped off. Deal ; and most likely this state of things will last till some accident of this kind happens to the mail-bags, or, it may be, to an unfortunate passenger. One advantage might perhaps result to the town if the harbqur were to fall into the hands of Government- Its utterly defenceless state is well known most likely to foes as well as to friends. It has been visited lately by three or four French war-steamers. What they came for nobody knew ; it was reported that they came to look after the French fishing-boats, but the herring fishery has been over some time.. One thing is quite certain, that tiny employed their spare time in taking soundings of the approaches to the harbour, &e. Now if, instead of spending motley in raising a useless militia, batteries were placed on different parts of the coast, some real security would be granted to the coun try at large, and especially to this part, which, with all due respect to the principles of free ;trade, is really in want of protection of this description. It would be hazardous to trust volunteers with great guns and as we supply the nary with m en and boys to a considerable extent, the country might grant us a few artillerymen in exchange. We have nearly 300 sail of vessels in the harbour at the present time.—From a Correspondent. AUSTRALIAN MAILS AND POSTAGE. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. Six;—Would not a reduction to threepence (if pre paid, sixpence if not pre-paid) increase the number of letters to Australia more than fourfold, and thereby in crease the revenue, besides conducing to Cie interests of trade, and inducing many emigrants to keep up a con stant and regular correspondence with their families, in stead of their letter© being, as at present, "Like angels' visits, few and far between ?"—I am, Sir, yours respect fully, AN EMIGRANT'S FATHER. Strand, Dec. 30, 1852. THE ORLEANS FAMILY.—NO right-minded or right hearted Englishman or Englishwoman will hear, with out a mixture of indignation and regret, that the collec tion of pictures made by the late Duke of. Orleans, with a view to the encouragement of French art, is to.be sold by auction for the benefit of his widow on the 18th inst. in this metropolis. The amiable, excellent, and univer sally respected Duchess, to whom they were bequeathed, is understood to have been driven to this step by con-, siderations of prudence. The collection consists exclu sively of pictures of the modern French school. Amongst the most remarkable 4 f flti: "The Francesa di Rimini," and " Th e Ch r i s t us CZi rso l ator of Scheffer ;" "The Death of the Duc de Guise," by Delaroche ; "The. cEdipus," and the " Stratbnica of Ingrbs," &c. CASUALTY AT SEA.—lntelligence was received at• the Liverpool Underwriters' Room yesterday, announcing the total loss, in the late gales, of the barque Lily, which sailed on the 23d inst. from Liverpool for Africa. It appears, from what we could learn, that she went ashore at night between the Calf and the Isle of Man, when the captain and crew (with the exception of five), got safely to shore. In the morning the people from the shore, with that portion of the crew who were saved (in cluding the captain), boarded the vessel, and .were on board about an hour, when she blew up, destroying every person who happened to be in her at the time. We have not heard how many lives have been sacrificed, but it is feared that the number is considerable. SEVERE STORMS IN NORTH WALES.—The violent gales which have been so prevalent in most parts of the king dom have been severely felt in many parts of North Wales. In the neighbourhoods of Ruthin and Denbigh the country is one mass of water, the high winds being accompanied by heavy and almost incessant rains. The beautiful vale of Clwyd is so completely inundated as to resemble a large lake ; and in the vicinity of Holywell the depth of water is such that not only boats but large vessels might sail upon its surface. . A most terrific gale has been experienced at Carnarvon. The force of the tide was such that the massive wall which forms the quay was forced down in five places, huge stones being scat tered in all directions, and the spray dashing furiously up to the walls of the ancient castle. Many houses were partially unroofed, and windows in some instances were blown in. The landing-stage of the pier was detached from its position, and now floats like a raft on the Menai. A vessel or 900 tons' burden, the Onward, bound from Liverpool for New Orleans, in ballast, has been driven ashore off the bar, her sails being blown to atoms. On Tuesday the weather had somewhat moderated, but to day (Wednesday) it is blowing strongly, accompanied by heavy rain, SANGUINARY RIOT IN DERRY.—A serious riot, attended with bloodshed, occurred on Christmas-day last, at Cas tledawson, 'in the county of Londonderry. According to the custom of the district on this anniversary, a number of young men assembled to shoot a mark for cer tain prizes. For some time the amusement proceeded happily enough, but as the day progressed and the com petitors refreshed . themselves with ,whiskey, disputes arose, ,which appeared to have caused no ill-feeling be tween them, and they separated. However, about seven o'clock in the evening a quarrel ensued between the Catholics and Protestants, and shots were freely ex changed. ' The result was that five persons were seriously wounded. Their names are Mary Brown, shot through the lungs ; Thomas Murray, leg fractured ; Catherine Spear; a ball in the body ; William O'Hara and Marga ret Beckas, slightly wounded. Several others were more or less injured by the stones and other missiles dis charged during the fight.. The police stopped a party of upwards of 50 armed men, who were com i ng i n t o t h e town to aid thei r side. Three of the leaders were ar rested. On Monday an investigation was held before Robert Peel Dawson, Esq., and four other magistrates of the district. The persons who fired the shots are not yet known, as the combatants have refused to give any information to the authorities. ADVANCE IN THE PRICE OF IRON.—Yesterday after nooon the usual preliminary meeting of iron-masters of South Staffordshire, and the neighbouring counties, was held at the Swan Hotel, in this town, for the purpose of considering the present condition of the trade, and fix ing prices for the ensuing quarter. The meeting was most numerously attended ; indeed, a larger meeting of masters for a similar purpose has not been held since 1845. Every house of note in the district was repre sented, and amongst those present we noticed Messrs. Barrows, Forster, Haines, B. Williams, W. Williams, Browning, Matthews, Smith, Sparrow, &c. M. Glaie brook, Esq., chairman, presided. The subject of prices, and propriety of advancing was introduced, and a dis cussion ensued, which resulted in a unanimous resolu tion to advance 20s. per ton upon present prices. It was also agreed to advance the workmen's wages in pro portion to the increase of price on iron. THE LAUDER MURDER.—Williams, who is at present in Greenlaw Gaol, charged with the murder near Lauder, was discovered attempting suicide on the evening of Saturday last. He had his towel, handkerchief, and neckerchief all tied together, and the end f as t ene d .to the bars of his cell window, which is some height from the ground, when his operations were discovered from without. Some of the other prisoners have since then been confined with him ; and latterly it has been found advisable to keep him constantly in fetters, except when exercising. —Scotsman. MONEY AND COMMERCIAL NEWS. CITY, Two O'CLOCK.. The sales of cotton at Liverpool yesterday were estimated at 4,000 bales, of which 300 American were taken on speculation. The market closed heavily with prices of all kinds, a shade in favour of the buyer. The sales comprised 3,000 American, 390 Pernam and Maranham at 6d. to 71(1., 50 Bahia at 64d. to Cid., 200 Egyptian at 60. to 62d., and 700 Surat at 3/d. to 4d. per lb. Railway Shares were flat. Privately there has been business done in many staples this week, at very full prices. Of Sugar the quantity consumed this year shows a great in crease. IPrices are expected to open firmly in January. Native Ceylon Coffee has been brisk at 475. for good ordinary. Tallow has been dull and Cotton steady. In Hemp, Oils, and Tea there is not much doing. The year that this evening closes has been one of almost unexampled commercial prosperity. Mer cantile transactions have been conducted upon a profitable basis. Money , has been plentiful ; cre dits have been remarkably short. The artizan has received better wages ; and' the necessaries of life, while they have paid the producer or importer, have been, notwithstanding, obtainable at com paratively low rates by the consumer. Such has been commerce generally during the year 1852. The New Year will open with even brighter prospects, owing to the last news from the land of gold--a land included in the British. Colonial Em pire, concerning whose future destiny, in a commer cial sense, it would be speculative to make any cal culation, and whose political future it would ba hazardous, to predict. • To the mother country the consequences are obvious. A surplus population that has hitherto been ill-requited for its launched into fields of wealth, the description of which, but for evidence that has put a'veto upon doubt, would have found a congenial place in fabled story. The end of the emigration that is daily increasing is to transmute the idle into the indus trious, the dependent consumer of others' earnings into the independent - enjeyer of his own. In other words, the labour market is relieved, and the de mand for the productions of the artisan increased. The effect, consequently, is twofold on our hives of industry. Gold, of itself, neither feedslior clothes, but it can at all times command the necessaries of life. Two millions of 'the precious metal were shipped in a few days from the Australian ports. A very insignificant proportion of this enormous export was drawn against. It is , to - be inferred that the bulk is sent here to cover orders for provisions . and manufactures to be shipped to these possessions. It will not come here to be , . warehoused. If people send gold, it is because they require something returned —not to have it invested 'here permanently. The disposition of an agricultural people is to obtain a_ status by laying out their surplus moneys in lands. The old country offers no inducement for such pur chases. The attention of the colonists is, there fore, turned to thei r a d o pt e d country. It is to be perceived that this movement is not only by rapid strides producing an equilibrium of the labour mar kets of England and her southern territories; but alsb equalising the values of their respective lands. The opinion of- those who; trom their experience and disinterested poSition, are able to give an un blassed judgment, is, that 'purchases on English account of Australian lands are still likely to attract a large amount of attention, . although some lands have already advanced 1,000 per cent. in value. We refer not so much to Gold, Companies proper 'they being purely 'corporations of mining adventurers, subject to all the • freaks and vi cissitudes that characterise = every mineral specu lation. These undertakings, as a whole, will no doubt amply re p ay th e spirit with which they have been set on foot ; but we allude specially to those simple associations that have purchased lands to wait the effect of the enhanced gold value upon such properties. Such companies as the Australian Agricultural, the South Australian Land, and the Australian and the Australian Consols, whose lands are in the auriferous districts, will derive large in comes from their gold royalties, and not small ones from their agricultural leases, since it is quite clear that all farming . produce will find their most remu nerative markets where the easy gold getters are located. It is reported that the Adelaide steamer will not be able to get away to-morrow, but no notice to this effect has been given at the Post-office. The English Stocks are rather heavy again, but with very little doing ; Consols are at 1004 to The New Three-and-a-Quarter per Cents. have been marked 104 to f, and the Three per Cents. 101 i to f. Bank Stock is worth 223 i to 2244. Exchequer Bills of March have been quoted 695. to 725. premium. The Foreign Securities have been rather brisker. Mexican are worth, however, only 23k to g. Grenada Deferred are up to 13i Equador Stock is at sg. P eruv i an D eferred have been' at 65, being steady. Portuguese 4 per Cents. are up to 40i and 41, because of the proximate payment of the dividend. Spanish Certificates are at 4/ and very firm. Sardinian Bonds have been at 951 Russian 5 per Cents. keep firm at 1211. Dutch 21 per Cents. brin- , 681.. The Railway Share Market is firmer, but with limited dealings. Gold Mine Shares are at full rates, but the Land Companies of Australia are not generally in de mand. The Banks look up. BRITISH FUNDS AT ONE O'CLOCK THIS DAY, (From the Official List.) • Bank Stock 2244 3i 3 per Cent. Reduced Annuities....... New 31 per Cent. Annuities.......... Long Annuities, Expire sth Jau., 1860 6s Consols for Opening 18th Jannary Exchequer BIN I,ld. March. June. £1000........... 69 72 £5OO 69 72 Small 69 72 , _ PRICE OF FOREIGN FUNDS AT ONE O'CLOCK Equador Bonds Grenada Bonds, Deferred, Mexican 3 per Cent..... ::..... Peruvian Deferred 3 per Cent Portuguese 4 per Cent. Russian Bonds, 5 per Cent. Sardinian Bonds, 5 per Cent. ...... •• • ..... Ditto for the Account 953 Spanish Committee Cert. of Coup, not fun 4i p e Dutch Exchange 2i per Cent Ditto 4 per Cent. Certificates i!ig -4 4 23$ 4. 65 41 404 121 HALP-PAST TWO ION 4 ex d. Consols for Opening 18th January DEATH OF THE PROVOST OF ETON.—The Rev. Francis Hodgson, 8.D., provost of Eton College, expired at the lodge of that place on Wednesday last, Dec. 29th; in the seventy-second year of his age. Mr. Hodgson was educated at Eton, where he became an assistant master for a short time, and King's College, Cambridge, of which he was classical tutor. While at the university he formed an intimacy with the late Lord Byron, equally honourable to both, and which was only put an end to by the death of the noble poet. The appointment of provost, which carries with it the rectory of Eton, and is worth about 2,0001. per annum, is in the gift of the crown, and is the first piece of ecclesiastical patronage placed at the disposal of the new ministry. ... UNDER SECRETARY FOR IRELAND. —Some very ani mated discussions have already taken place respecting the appointment of an Under Secretary for Ireland. One section of the Cabinet insist on the appointment of Mr. Anthony O'Flaherty, the member for Galway, to the office. Another section are equally resolute in their as sertion of the superior claims of Sir Thomas Redington, the former Under Secretary under the Whig Adminis tration ; while a third section of the Cabinet are opposed to the appointment of either gentleman. It is thought probable that the result will be that a third party, not yet named, will be the happy man.—Morning Advertiser. DEPARTURE OF THE LORD LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND. —The Dublin papers of yesterday, contain the official announcement of the departure of the Lord Lieutenant and Countess of Eglinton on Tuesday next, when an undress levee will be held at Dublin Castle. Few chief governors have left Ireland more sincerely regretted than Lord Eglinton. He has discharged the functions of his high office with singular impartiality and discre tion, and by no section of Irish people will his removal be more felt than by those who disapprove of the policy of his Excellency's political friends and associates. FIRES YESTERDAY.—A great loss of property was oc casioned on the premises of. Messrs. Green and Co., clothiers, 13, Bevis Marks, St. Mary Axe, through the outbreak of two fires in their warehouses in eight hours. The first alarm took place about a quarter past twelve in the morning, in the cutting rooms. Two powerful engines soon subdued the flames. The stock of the rooms, as also the staircase, was, however, damaged. At the hour of e i g h t t h e contents of the third floor had ignited, but the firemen left on duty on . the premises from the previous alarm soon extinguished the latter. The property destroyed is insured in the Sun Fire-office. SERIOUS ACCIDENT BY FlRE.—Yesterday a fire broke. out at 10, Wellington-street, Pimlico, by which three young persons were seriously injured. The sufferers were William Street, aged 17, and his sisters, aged re spectively four and s i x . Th e i r parents had a:few days before received some fancy fowls, for which the young man was preparing a coop, the roof of which be pro posed to cover with gas tar. Yesterday he was heating a quantity of this material over the kitchen fire, when the liquid became ignited and blazed up with great fury. In order to prevent, if possible, the premises from taking fire, the lad laid hold of the vessel containing the tar, and was in the act of carrying it into the yard, when the inflamed liquid ran over the children and over the lad, setting the three in flames, and also igniting the furni ture in the basement and stairs. Had it not been for the prompt attendance of the neighbours the whole building must have been levelled with the ground, and several other persons seriously if not fat a ll y i njured. When the fire had been extinguished the three sufferers were found quite blackened with the flames, and with the flesh burned off here and there in patches, AUSTRALIAN MINING COMPANY. of t' Yesterday an ext raor di nary genera l meeting t.on a, shareholders of this company was h e ld at the r esult l' Tavern, to receive th e di rector ' s re port on the 0 Captain : Hitchins's insp ec ti on o f t h e comproY'' P r Pe • in Australia, and to take upon it all advisable mu - • Mr. R. F. Davis in the chair, d that The SECRETARY read th e report, w hi c h state i i the general meeting held in July last the directors , pledged the mse l ves th a t w h en in receipt of the replier:, Captain H i t c hi ns ( a gen tl eman sent spec i a lly t° t , p lony to repo r t u p on th e con diti on of the co mPanY iln s i perty) they would con vene . an extraordinary I-Ilecooi shareholders to impart to them the result.. In CO its with that pledge the present meeting was called. gards the past management of the company's PI business had b een carr i e d on i n a most ex travlT'l l „ injudicious manner, but measures have been taken, all unnecesssary outlay. The Tunkillo • had not been properly tried, but their e xistedd:, grounds to an ti c i pa t e f rom i t a mos t Pr l return so soon as th e l a b our mar k e t should • more efficient.. The directors were in treal e the leasing of other • mines which they CO ns A l a as profitable investments. Mr. Hitchins ha' nor t, surveyed the estates 'of the company, and IT , them as excellently suited for dairy farms. Sin--, departure from - Australia a new state of thing s ,,„ arisen, for gold had been found so near the come , property as to induce the expectation that i t e 1 3 .5 there. It already h a d the effect of checking the l'''', tion of the , miners from the company's works to th e t t - , fields of Sydney and Melbourne, and several of ter had agreed with the company's manager (Mr. P rs , • upon' the conclusiOn of their engagement as , c h ° ,r; miners, to commence a search for gold. Should " .-- o l successful, and- find the gold mixed , . as in•Calife . with quartz rock, the company, from having std machinery at Tunkillo; a • 16-inch steam - eng ine ' is crushing machine, with a l arge store o f imPlenie/ th store • at Adelaide— mac hi nery w hi c h cou ld net, iti v l present state of th e mar k e t, b e o b ta i ned w ithout a 0 , outlay—would be in a positio n more f a vourabl e i o that of . any ,other i n th e co l ony. T he report elreatori with the statement, th a t i n th e op ini on o f the u" T b the time had now come t o i ncorporate the c ompa n y Royal charter. ~ hr otl3ei The Chairman st a t e d th a t t o hi mse lf a nd pori directors it was m os t satisfactory, to present ' a r i'dicl like that which had just ,been read, differing as hid to P from the unfav oura bl e ones w hi c h h i therto they -felt submit to the proprietors, and that they furtilerld the tisfaction in .h the reflection that si nce th e y had ;ilbirst , pnour .of having •th e c h arge o f t h e comparlY B p n fatlY ey had presented no repor t w hi ch had not b een l ost borne' out ', by after e ven t s . Th ey h ad taken t'-aitiire• active ' measures :to ' stop all unneces sar y exPen ,ctir' They had' stated that they would sen d o ut al l ne - r ;y, and intelligent gentleman to inspect their p rer toge" await his repork• and then call the shareholderS„ttel ther. The result was now before them. He re ,, Cir . that the copper-works were suspended, from '''' - ,,0, cumstances they had heard mentioned, but he ally' assure them that their property had been 331 . 3 '4 ily improved by, the discovery of gold in its nelk-de°e hood. That discovery was not yet completelY , fori loped, on account o f th e sever i ty o f • the winterti.slol by reason of the heavy f a ll o f ra i n i n ' S out h Af t f a ct it was impossible to sink pits there, • so that ili are operations we re as ye t confined , to the pit With respect to the machinery, its . p urc h a se had beenit -0 censured as extra vagan t, but by a.wonde r ful el' 3 1101 was become a most v a l ua bl e possess i on, for w ith it "oe would be 'able to crush 15 'tons of ore per dieln' s lid .had received, specimens of copp er ore id ent i ca l in ci n ' t big with that "of the Eurra-Burra Mine; but in stating e s he did not wish to lead them to think that theYlbe going to work' their • coppe r m i nes — suc h cou ld •P- lies until labourers became more plentiful; at present/ ''or a day labourer received 15s. `or; it. per diem, it wa g j o g p.ossible. _With 'respeCt t o , .th e propriety of' r edo° ifi the shares frorn 201.- to some other 'amount, ' loll his opinion, a question to be considered in coal:l e- fi t $ with the disposition of the Government to' g r 3- e re charter to the company.. So soon as the directer4 r ter made aware of, the exact terms on ,which„ the e ' l l i el would be granted, they wou ld t a k e w h atever steps - could to crratify the shareholders. (C heers.) cod Mr. ANDERTON inquired into the state o f the co pany's finances. t of The CHAIRMAN st a t e d th a t t h ere was no Want money, and that there e x i s t e d a most friendly corinTior in the directors on the part of the holders of the notes out. A a nd Mr. ANDERT ON , ex p ress i ng hi mse l f highly pleased d, gratified, mov e d th a t th e report b e received, ad°P printed and circulated, - O . so M. ASHWELL seconded the motion, and in del- 14 1- 0 o dwelt much upon th e a d vantages of the loeau l fo r and capabilities of the River Murray as a channe l commerc3. tbe Mr. BRANDT entered , into some details showing increased value of the land at Adelaide. ~ s iron, A SHAREHADEt -underitOod from Captain ja itc-hi ro . report that of good quality ex ist e d upon their . Y5l. perty; and seeing that it had risen in th e mar k e t frc''', if per ton to nearly double that sum, h e w i s hed to ktr 9 " the company would work it. ,1 bi The CHAIRMAN stat e d th a t i ron was b est worke-os private erfterprise, and therefore he would not arrvlsef, n sg company to do so ; b u t h e f e l t assured that'as s o ,:c i ti they could get l a b ourers, i n di viduals would be it)-- ready to lease the property for them. ' ' 't' ° Mr. ANDERTO N suggeste d t h e propriety of iinl3°-112° Chinese -Coolies. • ao' • The CHAIR MAN exp l a i ne d that under existing alcr3-r-ers meats all monies f or th e purpose of providing lah°, o , - • I had to be sent t o thi s country, but that the 01°1 legislatures wou ld soon act i n the manner s uggeste d by Mr. Anderton. ~ • Distinct votes of thanks were then' i passed to Cap Hutchins, Mr. Forster, and Mr. R. Devonp t, a ' 33- 4 1f ber of the Coloni a l L eg i s l a t ure, who haseiert m edhl iii , - e most actively to f orwar d th e i nterests of the company y A SHAREHOLDER h ere s t a t e d, t h at a million o f rug f a was-, at present hoarded at Sydney and Melbouittbo the purchase of l an d at Ad e l a i de, so that the lan d of company Was hlely to be a most profitable -property t$ The proCeeding s t erm i na t e d w i th the usual conelln-11 ,to the chairman - and directors. -" , THE CANADA COMPANY. The half-yearly gen era l meet i ng of the Cana d a r Dr pany took place yesterday, at the offices of the conles; St Helen's-place ; Mr. Charles Franks, governor, chair. tifi The CHAIRMAN s t a t e d th a t th e o bj ect of the Mee r g was to declare a dividend. At that period o f the T - 1;3 it was impossible that their annual accounts coe b :,,te• made up ; but he would g i ve th e propr i etors a s'a-lit ment of their a ff a i rs up t o t h e 10th of the Pre-01 month. The land s so ld an d l eased up to the 1(41 " at DeCember, 1852, were as follows :—Sold 22,430 a cre , an average of 14s. 2d. p er acre ; leased 55,356 acre s ' a• on average of 19s. 2d. Total, 77,786 acres, at all ~3 6 t 1 1 rage of 17s. 9d. The receipts in Canada up to the '•,,g ofPecember, 1852, were 51,9461. 9s. 3d. The follovild was a comparative statement oflands leased and conve rt o into freehold from Ist January t o 30th November., in 185'2 there were 17,082 acres, a moun ti ng to 11 , 4971•,j h a 1351 there were 10,517 acres, amounting to 7,161. o i e increase in acres was 6,565, and in money, 4,33.6/. ht leases expiring in 1853 were, acres, 50,083, with a 'f a il of pre-emption valuing at 25,607. The balance enr ol , hand now was 8,408 ; an d th ere was, moreover, s)°nvro. due upon loans. Th e chairman congratulated the P c , prietors upon the p ros p erous condition of the cong ) a il d e ci and announced t o th em th a t t h e d i rectors had secures the services of M r . R o bi nson as their agent in the PI•or of Mr. Jones, who retired. Mr. Robinson had beel l o a 20 years a member of the Legislative Assembly, and a most desirable acquisition to the company. t' A 'dividend of 6 per cent. upon the half-year arae l i , e o ing to' 321. 10 s . p er s h are, c l ear o f income tax, was announced, and the meeting terminated. DEAD BODY FOUND IN REGENT'S-PARK.— yesteral r morning the body of a man respecta b ly attired was 0-„o• in the ornamental water, R egen t' s - park, and was ,c;re veyed to the dead-h ouse , M aryle b one Workhousell " it now remains awa iti ng t h e coroner ' s inquest. -Hi s j i ' . e s is apparently about 45 y ears, an d i s f i ve feet six inccl‘ in height. The dress in whi c h h e was f oun d i s a 13.1,',0 Oxonian' coat; bl ac k ves t, an d tweed trousers, and he .7he a plaister on the right ch ee k . A razor was foun d in coat pocket,' but there was nothing found on the bodil i which it could be ascertai ne d w h o t h e decease d POs° was, PROCLAMATION OF OUTLAWRY. At th e Sheri 4 Court yesterday, th e f o ll ow i ng persons ' were called 11,,P' to surrender u n d er p ena lt y of outlawry :—Charles derick : Augustus William Guelph and Charles Cassira e , Reinhold, 'at the'stit of the Quee n ; ;Samuel Lucas J caster;. C. B. Reynolds ; John Edwin Spalding ; Broderick .Hartwell; Edward John Upton, and Sea his wife ; Henry Dundas Campbell ' • Henry H. GO" and Porter B rown Francois Charles Gillies. GREAT LANDSLIP ON THE SOUTH DEVON RAILWAIr• Dec. 29.—A m os t t remen d ous f a ll o f c liff t oo k place 316, ), terday on thi s li ne b e t ween D aw li s h an d Tei gn raou to On the formation :of the line it was found necessary cut' a tunnel through the rocks known as , t The rg rs as son and Clerk." A portion 'of Langstone cliff I c thus cut, off, and its base bei ng underm i ne d v the , action of the water, great fears were ell te r , tained foy its safety. The recent h eavy ra i n an d bil at ricanes increased the danger, a n d men were stat i on ed various, points to give notic e immediately anything oe he curred. The necessity of the a d opt i on of such a °tithe was first experienced on Sund ay, w h en a port i on o f 0 cliff fell down near Holco m b e tunnel. The 8.2 it down train had just left the Dawlish station wh e- it o occurred, but by th e p romptness with which theri l e d on the look-out gave no ti ce of the accident it was steP P h. in time, , or there would have been a fearful crash. ae large body of men was soon obtained, and the line W ro . cleared in ti me f or t h e 12 . 7 up train. Yesterday I'Vlf ing, however, th ere w as a terrific fall of cliff ; at abeut„l, past 1 o'clock several tons of Langstone-cliff fell w " tremendous crash, cover i ng t h e line for some ' dis°:nbe; and renderi ng a ll traffic impossible. The passenger,"ooll all the tr a i ns were obliged to be conveyed from Pa",ecl to Teignmouth, and vice versa, in cabs, omnibuses,f every oth er d escr i pt i on of vehicle which the 01 1 0 07 could obt a i n. The telegraphic wires were also br°oo, and all communication with th e s t a ti ons b e l ow was ,:vere for the time, prevented. Large gangs of me n i ebris• speedily put to work to clear the line of the rs, Mr. Bru ne l, th e eng i neer, w i th several of the di r ect the went to the spot a n d su p er i ntended the removal °, vv . / fallen mass. Fort una t e l y , no li fe was lost, nor ba' °sea heard of a single accident to the person. It is suPPi t ioti that the storm o n S un d ay n i g h t hastened the deT°,.rea! of the cliff, as it visited thi s ne i g hb ourhoo d with ;Ili& severity, stones wei g hi ng h a lf a cwt. each b e i n g e` up into Teignmouth by the force of the waves. I tiE F p • atilt P aris wps re B erioUs resu tci Ilvenienee , business ' 4 e Emperor at the repri . 11 4 Opera.. t half- L— .. Pas flations. Vaudeville using the Le lir, which "was le upon tla ht the lour, the foll • °Wing se veral of ti Paris 27th : Paris and: in ''ornpiegne 'NA upon his been killec qc, I t is annoc e!finecl to s Execße Wier to ti ale from Lc , if k i ne da hr ys oli h t e e beho d. 41 Poror in 1 , p,, of comp 'der the o: e d', beside t',5 1 3a1 of !ects of t ; the zberlain, ,o had a Lll amour N also a ferry coma e pages WE 'gter of th( 'rdes ; an usehold - ; ; an ; a tre e, private : traordinar, the Imper it Was corn.] 'eretary of ' 4 l)llie eabii he Medical in numbe 'hector a )I c l , and a I tere were.l equerries, commas A early tel nth a list o: :Von of H 'lPriVateE .the statu, Iler io f t ta taken: a) O tab t t i l eshy y u : whit a „ r dent wi Prer establi eollBider tighte Pain an ~ourt wi t his deg] esteem.,