The Sun. — London, England, 1848-02-15 00:00:00

- - 7 ------ ....... and the defendant, who in his person had brought 1 back the idea of the ages of chivalry, with the ex- ception that, instead of his riding upon a large horse, cased, like himself, in sheet iron, he tra velled about more comfortably in a steam-boat, but still he had the same object ; it was the universal redress of grievances, the succour of the COURT OF EXCHEQUER, Feb. 14. oppressed, and the destruction of the tyrannical. But (Trial at Bar, before Mr. Baron PARKE, Mr. if they could i n maeine the case of any buccaneer who B aron ALDERSON, Mr. Baron ROLFE, and Mr. had gone to the coast of Africa for the purpose of Baron PLATT.) plunder he could not conceive of any different kind of BURON V. DENMAN. 0 pleadinos which he would put upon the record This important case was at length brought before than the present defendant had done. From the the Court. The Att orne y -General, th e So l icitor - imperial height to which he had been raised he had been General, Mr. Godson, Q.C., Mr. Cockburn, Q.C., and made to plunge into all the muddy sea of the Mr. Willes, appea red on the pa r t o f the Crown , who quirks and quibbles of a special p leader. was the real defendant in the case. Mr. M. D. His advisers seem determined to construct the plead- Hill, Q.C., Mr. Martin, Q.C., and Mr. Robinson, ings in such a manner as that, per fa a s t et nefas, they any expense. for the plaintiff. The defendant, the Hon. Captain should be able to snatch a ver d ict The Learned Counsel Denman, took his seat by the side of the Attorney-I n the first he el then proceeded to call attention to the various pleas of the defendant. General. had pleaded "not guilty," wher eas it was for that Mr. ROBINSON having opened the pleadings, Mr. M. D. lima rose to address the jury, very act that he had been raised to the post of and said that he did so deeply impressed with . captain in the navy. The next plea stated that the importance of the point at issue. For half ) lie was no t ]awfully possessed of the goods a century some of the ablest men of this and sla. by the defendant by command of Kingves in question. A third that they were country had been earnest and fervent in filling the captured Siachi, which was a Spanish name for King Jack, minds of their countrymen and the world with a given to that personage by the sailors, and that this hatred of negro slavery. It was not possible that Siachi, King of the Gallinas, was at war with the they who had been born since this system had been defendant, who was a trader and merchant in that agitated in the manner he had described should not c ountry. Another plea set forth that it was not done come to this inquiry with their minds preo ccu p ied at the command of Siachi, but by command of her upon the question. When . they recollected that d. such Majesty Queen Victoria. Further pleas set forth men as Pitt, Fox, Wilberforce, Sheridan, later that a certain treaty with Spain made the slave treaty times Brougham, and last, though and in illegal, and that the plaintiff, being a Spanish sub- Denman, had exhausted the powers had their n great ject, would obtain no redress in Spain • that Gallinas minds upon this subject—who ha brought to w,.as Siachi t_he rule of an absolute monarch, ' the aforesaid its consideration and its advocacy, eloquence =ha and lastly, that the country of the Gallinas of every kind, arguments the most forcible, ° was . a . lawless country. The whole defence appeared and statements so clear from time to time of the most to be in the style rendered in a great authority, viz., Lludibras : eloquence, facts, then the most . thrilling or persuasive . eloquence, and when we consider that all which was "I would not give with Hudibras uttered in Parliament upo n the sub j ect was re-echoed A straw to know the case from pulpit to pulpit throughout the land, and pro- Without the admirable skill duced upon the stage, that it had occupied the To turn and manage it at will, minds of both sexes at the great public meet- To steer and tack and veer the cause, ings which had teen held from time to time, and Against the weather gauge of laws, when some of them recollected that lips which And ring the changes on the case, were tlesn silent in death had spoken to them, in Clear as the nose upon the face." their early days of infancy and childhood, The facts of the case were as follows :—On the of the sufferings of the negro, and the horrors of the 19th of November, 1840, Captain Denman found him slave trade, and the wickedness of slavery itself, how self in the command of three vessels off Gallinas, on could - he hope that he was addressing a jury at that the western coast of Africa, called the Wanderer of 16 moment which was enabled to give a cool and impar- guns, the Saracen and Rollo of 10 guns. Upon that tial judgment upon the question ? But he trusted that day Captain Denman ordered the boats to be manned. they would do their best, and that was all he asked Upon their landing at the place, he found the slaves of them ; they would stand upon the law; they were flying from the place. The defendant entered the there not to indulge any pleasurable emotions, but to stores, took possession of great quantities of the things; carry into action strict, and it might be stern the gunpowder was immersed in the river, the casks justice. The plaintiff came before them a foreigner, of spirits were started into the sand, and defendant, unprotected, with every honest prejudice against him; with his own hands, discharged two rockets, which but he came before them is the full confidence of set fire to the buildings upon the other side of the British justice to lay his case before them, and to river, and they were burned to the ground; some of demand from that justice that ,it should be decided the goods were given away to the people, as bribes, according to law. It was necessary that he should to bring back the slaves, who, being collected, were call their attention to the stat e of the-law as regarded taken on board the vessels, and from that time the this case. At the present moment if any English- i :habitants of Gallinas had seen no more of them. man in any part of the world engaged in the slave- The Learned Counsel went on to say that trade, or became the owner of slaves, he became he thought some short interval should have been amenable to the law of England, and any person being a allowed to intervene before this country should have foreigner who might carry on the slave-trade in any part raised itself from the position of a criminal to that of the English dominions, which extend to all regions of a judge—from the dock, to the bench. It would of the earth, would become amenable to the law of have been far better for this country to have acted in England, but a foreigner holding slaves in any the spirit of Milton, who said "that it was the pre country not belonging to her Majesty, in no part of rogotive of England to teach the nations how to the British possessions, these slaves being on the land live," and to have allowed the same means to operate and nut upon the sea, had no responsibility upon him, in other countries as had been successful in this, viz., and had no right to be interfered with by any person, reason, arguments, and religion. They would then whether such person held command under her have done no injury. It was now admitted that Majesty or not; whether private or public no matter, the efforts of the country to suppress the slave such interference was contrary to law. For many trade bad been productive of the greatest evils ; centuries this country had been the greatest slave it had multipiied the numbers and increased dealer in the world; it had forced more human the horrors of the middle passage, and the slave beings into the horrors of the " middle passage," might now well say, "Your hostility was dreadful to it has caused more slaves to be overwrought to death us, your hostility covered us with evils which we had upon their landing in America and the West Indies imagined could not be augmented, but we did not than all the other nations upon earth put together. know the miseries of your friendship." The mor- For two centuries and a half from the time of Eliza• tality in the "middle passage" alone had increased beth they would find that all the exertions, all the from 9to 25 per cent. under the system now adopted Acts of Parliament, were devoted to the subject of to put down the traffic in slaves. " Oh," exclaimed fostering, enlarging, and protecting the traffic in Madame Roland when she ascended the scaffold, "oh, slaves. A great deal had been said latterly about the liberty, what crimes have not been comin'tted in thy Treaty of Utrecht, but one of the articles of that name !" The negro might say, " Oh, philanthropy, treaty they were silent upon in which it was solemnly how much of evil have we not endured in thy name!" stipulated between England and Spain, guaranteed This country, said the Learned Counel, stood before by the other Powers to the treaty, that this country the other nations of the world either as the foulest should have the monopoly of supplying the Spanish hypocrites or as lunatics. We are raising hundreds colonies with slaves to an enormous amount. It was of thousands and millions to prevent slavery, and this country which also forced upon the United States when our prevention was found to be no cure, then the making of slavery a part of their institutions, which we paid those very persons whom we have been was now the object of detestation by the enlightened chasing across the Atlantic fur the produce of the people of this country. By the labours of great and blood of those very negroes. Such was British good men—the gigantic labours Ist Clarkson and friendship to the slaves ! A Learned Chancellor, Wilberforce—a great change had been wrought in who was now dead, had said in his advice to the system before the end of the last century. his son, "Go and see with how litle wisdom The great question of the slave trade, its lawfulness, the world is governed." If that person were and its consonance with the Christian religion—these now to rise from the dead he would say, matters were brought before the country and before "Go and see with what mighty folly the world is the Parliament, and slowly and silently they have governed "—men taxing their overlaboured poor to made their way. Twenty years, twenty-five years raise hundreds of millions to expend on treaties to had elapsed before the seed brought forth its fruit, abolish the slave trade, and then bringing a power into and then when in the year 1807 this traffic was sup- the field to uphold iat trade, which, without any pressed by Act of Parliament, such was the tenderness disrespect to the power of the defendant, was tenfold for vested rights, that two years were given to them to greater than any naval or military power could exert, continue the traffic, in order that no portion of viz., the power of trade, a power which Napoleon the capital engaged in the traffic should be lust. But, could not crush with all his Milan and Berlin decrees ; although so slow and careful with regard to British and this country was now carrying on the two op interests in the reformation of their errors, they had posing systems at one and the same time. Against the mot but a few years done so before they turned whole nation a writ de lunatico enquirendo ought to be round and erected themselves into the great friends issued for persevering in such insane and preposterous of the negro, whom for two centuries and a half they conduct. Such was the nature of the case into which had been persecuting; and they took upon themselves the jury had to inquire ;he trusted that they would to coerce minor and independent states into treaties for perform that duty in such a manner as the case de the purpose of enabling them not only to prevent the served, and that their decision would be one of the most slave trade among their own people but in other coun- memorable acts of their life, one which upon reflec tries. In the year 1817 a treaty was entered into be- tion would produce, though accompanied with pre tween this country and Spain,afterwards rectified and sent pain, solid and permanent satisfaction. extended by a treaty of 1835. The first of these Mariano Dinaz, a Spaniard, in the employ of the treaties was recited in the 58th of George 111. c. 36, plaintiff, was then examined through the medium of and the last in 6th Will. IV. c. 6, in the year 1836. an interpreter. His evidence went entirely to corro- As the defendant relied to some extent in the pleadings borate the statement of facts made in the opening upon those various treaties he would not now trouble speech of the Leaned Counsel. the jury by going into the question of law upon them. Upon his cross-examination by the ATTORNEY- Those sections, however, gave power only with regard GENERAL, he stated that King Siachi was in the to vessels afloat with goods or slaves upon them, and habit of purchasing goods from the plaintiff, which he authorised that the goods or slaves so captured should paid for partly in slaves and partly in money. He be carried to some convenient port to be adjudicated did not know how many slaves plaintiff had embarked upon for the purpose of securing an impartial inquiry. at the Gallinas during the six years lie had lived with With respect to the legality of the slave trade, him. He had embarked but a few. The value of a Lord Stowell had said, " that the slave trade was slave was about fifty dollars. The plaintiff had 300 not against the law of nations." The trade was slaves in his baracoons just previous to the descent not illegal, except it was made so by Act upon them by the defendant. Sonic of them were of Parliament in the British possessions or prisoners of war ; about twenty or twenty-five of by some law of Spain for Spanish subjects. and so them were in chains. Among those slaves forth, by each country legislating for itself. Sup- there were no British subjects. He knew pose, for instance, that the defendant in this case, a woman called Tri Norman, she was not on brought up from his childhocd with a proper feeling the premises. She did not know either John Fraser of hostility to the practice of polygamy as prat- or John Parker. Ghindama was the capital of the tised by the Turks, should have taken upon himself, Gallinas. The island upon which the plaintiff's if stationed in the Levant, to take away some premises were belongs to King Siachi. He knew of the slave wives of some great Turkish pacha, his Majesty King Siachi. He was a very old man, No doubt such a proceeding w o uld at the time have and confined to his bed through sickness. He been a f ar more pleasant occupation than giving knew his eldest son, Prince Manna. He knew passage to about 800 negroes ; and the voyage from the Raja's family; they were chiefs, they were that country to Circassia or Georgia, from whence descended from an En g lish mulatto, they were now they came, might not have been perhaps without its quite black. There was a woman named Tri Nor agreeable moments, but no British commander ever man, in prison at Dombocorrohj when Capt. Denman thought of doing so, nor would he be able to stand for came there. W itness was not there at the time. She one momenti n an English court ofjustice if the Turkish was not at Buron's. H e saw Prince Manna and the pacha should bring an action to recover the value of chiefs go to Captain Denman at Dumbocorroh. his "'es ; or suppose, to come nearer the present Captain Denman took possession of the factorie s be case, som e p erson had left the door of the harem open, fore he saw Prince Manna and the chiefs, and the wives of th e pacha were seen flying in all He saw Captain Denman fire a rocket from directions upo n tII e approach of the commander; that Dombocorroh to Coomasarie on the 21st. then the gall" t l s zdarxiral s hould, u p o n landing, find He did not see Prince Manna standing beside the various take the chamberspipes, untenanted, and should him at the time. He saw two or three chiefs. He Dom and the grand rots thea the handsome salvers, saw Captain Denman before he came came to of the Turkish ladi e s, bocoroch at Sandhamanarrah; there were some black and offer them to th people as a bribe, to prisoners of war in that village, who were in chains bring back the wives to proceeding be justified is any liarem—could such:a and between boards placed across the chest and back. could the circumstance British f court of justice, They were taken in the war between Sandhama orthe Turk being a narrah and the Gallinas. Prince Manna and the foreigner prevent his recoveringOr, e ample l damages for Chiefs took possession of the goods ; they were gone to China and robbed some of edefendant had given to him, he thought, by Captain Denman the templesof their made the . Witness had charge of the goods of Buron at De gods, or gone to the sculptor who the gods and jairoh ; he was not there the whole time. Captain cleared his store-room of his stock of deities. Denman was at Dombocorroh ; he went from there There wa s no sin more awfully denounced to Tindoh. • He did not go to any of the stores which had in Scripture, and no crime . brought down while Captain signal visitations f r om Denman had possession of them. He more frequent or more idolatry, villages with the negroes. He saw Divine hand, than the sin of and yet strong Captain Denman set fire as they should feel the horror of idolatry, was ther e -- not put away such thoughts Chiccorab; there was no factory there ; goods a single man who would . the Chinese Were kept there for :the purpose of trade ; and buying e between Chinese 1 - - when called upon to do justice ilendin ?In the palm-oil, Toil, ivory, gold-dust, and money for slaves. as complaining, and the English as o principle g had 9 the Year 1840 a ship, called the Alexander, laden late opium case, too, of China the same f t with ivory, had ens- She dyewood, and palm-oil, left the Gallinas. been recognised, and the assertion o i betweenloo was' an American vessel of 150 tons; she had bled them to stow away in their cofferspipes of oil, which she brought from Bshe two Boron; two and three millions of Chinese silver. The brought a cargo of rice d • an other things. When 't- Captain Chinese Government had passed some laws prohibiDenman was at the stores there were at Mr log the use of opium in that country ; but in the over Buron's about 200 chains and manacles kept for the . . zeal of some Chinese Captain Denman, if there were slaves who were suspected of running away. such a gallant officer in the command of his Imperial Re-examined by Mr. M. D. Brother of the Sun and Moon came beyond the M powder, about 50 barrels, , taken from Mr. Buron, coast line, and seized certainvessels ' opium. was thrown into the river by Captain Denman on the This country bad said . that they had nothing containing - • 19th of November. On the 22d to do with the he saw the spirits regulations of the Chinese in their started into the sand at a place called C - own country - they h adtaken into their amassora, , the law hands, they hadcarried on by Gallinas seized' the opium,come out of their own country, and brought out. The war farthing of he value of they must therefore pay every interior had lasted for eight or nine years before the This was precisely u t e e of the article seized by them. arrival of Captain Denman. The war was between case. He said, I the case with the plaintiff in this King Siachi and a "gentleman" within the clomi discussion of moral or not enter with you into the nions of his Majesty; it was not a rebellion, but " a amenable to ypur laws. religiouslam questions. lam not dispute" between a gentleman and King Siachi. The faith. You have no control not ov a member of your people of the country took charge of the prisoners of 2, is p..ve,) , v,,,, ~ , c.,mo ~,t0 over me but such as war taken in this war by the King Siachi. He re. , . 1 , t , , , ,7 ,‘,-., a t.,,',1„„,3:115i„rir'"."7).' wh ; "lil'ern '' rtl tl''. s''ir' ' E;7'. TNI,. *I ~n, th e Theopta 9 (~,,iiirwe" T n h- ' ''' ' ' 1 juu6l,lcLit ii, too 4.,:,.. of :Aludet:- , - .: ' I 1 C''‘e° tile - -Tnln( to t-e ' . •1 . whia, but the -sort ,:-. V., 21... - .1,i- , ....,.:.: iict j i ported in the 3 Barn. and Ald. 4. • , e- tin ,p. 353 , fully bore of the . -- . •7 out that view of the case. In the e goods present case a trial P d of the country back with them. at bar bad been demanded on the part of the Crown,e ro Marano examined by Mr. Robinson, a na tive of s • ' Pun, also examined through the medium of LAW INTELLIGENCE. HOUSE OF LORDS, Feb. 14. SQITIRES V. WHILtTEN. The LOBD CffAxctimou, at he conclusion of the arguments, gave judgment, dismissing the appeal with costs. an interpreter—He was at the Gallinas, in the ' employ of a person of the name of Xumenes in the capacity of clerk. He knew Mr.. Buron, also his factory and store-houses at the Gallmas. He was in a large way of business there. He saw Buron's store-houses shortly before the 19th of November, when they were full of every sort of things. Upon the 19th he saw some men land from three vessels of war. Captain Denman was with them. He was then in Dombocorroh. He saw them, after they landed, place sentries upon the gates of the es tablishment and store-rooms of Mr. Buron. Captain Denman then went on to Camassra, He saw the goods of Mr. Buron in the hands of the natives for the first time on the 22nd of November. Captain Denman's men gave the goods to the natives. He did not see Captain Denman give, nor was he present when he told his men to give the things to the natives. He saw some rockets fired. He was not on the spot. He saw Captain Denman there and many natives. He could not tell who fired them ; he was too far off to see. Captain Denman was near the spot. The rockets went to Camassra, where it set fire to some magazines or stores filled with merchandize belonging to Mr. Buron. The buildings were all burnt down, and the goods they contained which were not carried away were burned and de stroyed. The magazines were destroyed either on the 22d, 23d, or 24th of November. At. the conclusion of this witness's examination, the case was adjourned till to-morrow. ELECTION COMMITTEES. GREAT YARMOUTH. The Committee re-assembled at the usual hour yester day morning; Mr. Seymer in the chair. Mr. ANDREWS, Q.C., addressed the Committee at great length on behalf of the sitting Members. The room was then cleared, and the Committee having remained in consultation together for some time, strangers were re-admitted, when, The CHAIRMAN announced that the Committee had come to the following resolution:—That the Hon. Arthur Lennox, commonly called Lord Arthur Lennox, is not duly elected a burgess to serve in the present Parliament for the borough of Great Yarmouth That Octavius Edward Coope, Esq., is not duly elected a burgess to serve in Parliament for the borough of Great Yarmouth. That the last election of the said borough is a void election. That the Hon. Arthur Lennox, commonly called Lord Arthur Lennox, and Octavius Edward Coape, Esq., were, through their agents, guilty of bribery at the last election for the borough of Great Yarmouth. That several cases of bribery were proved before the Committee. That these acts of bribery were committed with the know ledge and consent of the said Lord Arthur Lennox and Octavius Edward Coupe, E.g. The Committee are of opinion from the evidence given before that gross, systematic, and extensive bribery prevailed at the last and at the previous election for the borough of Yarmouth amongst the freemen of the bo rough, and they consider it their duty to express to the House their unanimous opinion that the freemen of the borough of Great Yarmouth should be disfranchised, and that no new writ should be issued for the said borough until legislative measures have been taken for the purpose of such disfranaisemant. The Committee then broke up. LONDON, BRIGHTON, and SOUTH COAST RAILWAY COMPANY. The adjourned meeting of this company was held yesterday morning,at eleven o'clock, in . the large'room of the London Tavern. Owing to the statement made at the meeting on Friday, that a vast number of per sons had gained access to the room who were not shareholders, the most stringent regulations were instituted and put in force at the door, and lest any person refused admission should become re fractory, a policeman was stationed at the door to keep order, and if necessary to remove any disorderlies to the nearest station-house. Every person, even those connested with the press, were obliged to sign their names, the reporters being strictly enjoined to give the name of the paper fur which they attended. A staff of clerks were therefore employed during the morning. Before half-past ten about 200 persons had taken their seats, and when the reporters came, full half .an hour before the hour for which the meeting was announced, they found nearly all the seats usually reserved for the press occupied by shareholders, and it was only with great difficulty and solicitation that those represent ing the principal papers were enabled to obtain just sufficient room to pursue their avocations with in convenience. The inconvenience to which all were put was wholly inexcusable, inasmuch as a represen tation was made to the secretary on Saturday to reserve accommodation for the press. At eleven o'clock the directors entered and took their seats. They were received with cheers. At this time not more than three hundred persons were in the room. The gallery contained but one tenant, showing that the room used on Friday could have contained all entitled to be present; it is impos sible, therefore, to avoid the inference that a very considerable number of persons Wink present who were not shareholders, and who created the unseemly disturbance which led to the adjournment of the meeting until to-day. Mr. Grenfell, M.P., occupied the chair. Mr. BUCKTON having read the report and accounts, which we gave in The Sun of Friday, The CHAIRMAN proceeded to address the meeting. He said, in consequence of what passed at the meeting on Friday, it was not his intention to detain them at any length, as he concluded from what then took place that some strong grounds of opposition were to be raised against the directors, and he and his brother di rectors therefore courted the utmost inquiry, as he and they were most anxious that no one should leave the room without being fully informed of the exact posi tion of their affairs. Without saying more at present he would conclude by moving . that the report be re ceived and adopted, which having been seconded, Mr. WISHAW rose and said, he had a motion to propose, which he believed would meet the wishes of all the shareholders, the majority of whom were dis satisfied with the management of the directors. Their shares were depreciated, their weekly expenses were still high, their capital remained at its enormously high rate, and at the last meeting he apprehended that the dividend would be small indeed. Their amount of expenses were enormous, as they increased from 31 in 1844, and now 48. The locomotive expenses were alsao enormous; the cost of coke in 1844 was 10,0001.—it was last year 19,5431. This was at the rate of bid. a mile, but on an adjacent line it cost nu more than 4d., and the working ex penses of other lines averaged from 35 to 42 per cent. He blamed the directors for gradually increas ing the capital of the company to an enormous rate. It was 8,092,0001., in 1845, 4,922,0001., in 1846, and in 1847 it was 6,760,3831.—(Hear, hear)—and yet there was a deficiency of 78,7411. in the capital account. He also blamed them for entering into the arrangements they had with the Portsmouth Company, for the purpose of carrying a third line into Portsmouth, which must compete with the South-Western and their own line. He blamed them also for entering into an arrangement with the South Eastern, by which they would lose 12,000/. a year, and obtain but a few acres of land in return. He found that the mismanagement of the directors was in all men's mouths; and when this was the case, he could not help saying that there must be something in the management radically wrong. —(Cheers.) The incompetency of the directors was generally spoken of and complained of. Stations had been shut up with out any sufficient reason, and meetings bad been held at various parts of the line, at which complaints were made that the line did not give all the accommodation the parties had a right to expect. Persons hdd also been dismissed from the company without sufficient cause. With a view to the promotion of the interests of the company, he begged to move, as an amend ment, that so much of the report as related to the dividend be adopted, and that a committee of share holders be appointed to inquire into the financial affairs of the company, and report thereon.—(Cheers.) Mr. FLOOD seconded the motion, and, after advert ing to the past dividends that had been paid, com plained that if the expenses were so high the rates ought to have been increased. The CHAIRMAN interrupted the Hon. Proprietor, and stated that their fares were at their maximum— (Hear). The Legislature had put its hands into their pockets and those of the shareholders of other lines, and, for the information of all, he might state that the time was not far distant when railways might have occasion to make common cause against this restric tion.—(Hear.) Mr. FLOOD proceeded to say that if this were so the directors should have abandoned the branches.— (Hear.) He was utterly at a loss to understand how the working expenses could present so anomalous a result as they did; in 1843 they were 261 per cent., in 1844 23, 1845 24, 1846 29, whilst now they were 40: they were 40 per cent., aN ith a capital of a quarter of a million, whilst they were but 26, with a capital of 100,0001.—(Hear.) The Hon. Proprietor went on to explain the exact nature of the mortgage deeds; which led to some explanations between himself and Mr. PARSONS, at the protracted nature of the details of which ...the meeting manifested much impatience. 1- • The CHAIRMAN said, all these things were .. ar e matters of detail, which could not be answered vt. out the expenditure of much time. They cou4be better investigated by a committee ; and on the kart of the directors and himself he had to state, that ey should not object to the proposed committee, which announcement was received with loud cheers. Mr. LEVY congratulated the directors on the tone and temper of the meeting. The great complaints received against the directors were the purchasing of the Brighton, and Chichester and Brighton, at 12 premium, when no one would have given 5 discount, and that theylvo, put a good 'led of money into their pockets by these arrang,etnents.—(Laughter.) Mc , flit say this; o'%ers said it, and he merely repeated it.—(Hear.) He did not wish to abuse the directors because they were directors, be- cause if they turned them out, they might get worse, II: some THE SUN 4 .SON DON, TITFADAT EVEN EISIG FEBRUARY 15, 184 S who would perhaps take some new and objectionable course.—(Hear.) Looting at the castigation—par ticularly from the Atmospheric (Croydon)—they had received from the lines he had mentioned, he thought 20s. was not so bad. Let them not be dis mayed.—(A voice, You don't say anything about the Croydon.") He liked to be challenged ; he, like Mr. Wishaers, was a great advocate of an amalgamation with that line; he had always opposed the Epsom branch; but he might take that oppor tunity of saying, that all the branches of which he had spoken at past meetings had turned out as he had predicted. Looking at the ccmmercial embar rassments of the past year, and to the great expense they had been put to, he thought they should take the 20s. without a murmur.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. MAKINS said he had received a note from the Chairman sometime ago, stating that the dividend this half-year would be 7i per cent. ; and that on this promise he kept his shares. When they want down, and when he remonstrated with the Chairman, he replied that he had expected 73- per cent., adding that he had been as much disap pointed as he had at not being able to pay more. He complained that he had only been able to obtain access to the r egister of shares, by a favour and in confidence, and in order that access might at all times be obtained to it, he begged to move that holders of 25 shares and upwards should have access to the registers seven days before and seven days after each meeting at ss. for every hour he required it. Mr. Cesh seconded the proposition. The CH AIRMAN said he had been almost forced into the direction; lie took office much against his will ; and he believed that during the whole time he had been connected: with the company he had never done anything that an honest man could blush at.— (hear.) Surely he could not be now held responsible for an opinion given twelve months ago.—(Hear, hear.) If he had disposed of some of his shares, he had not done so for stock-jobbing purposes. Surely he could not be blamed for that—(Hear, hear) but he might say that the deputy-chairman held more shares than he did at any former time (and that gentleman, he might say, devoted his life to the service of the company). They all held within 10,000 of the number of shares held by them last year. Great injury might result from giving too great access to their books. For instance the greater number of forgeries on the Bank of Eng land had been perpetrated by parties getting access to their books; :for a person by getting a view of one share got a clue to all those held by the same person. Mr. SONSTER reminded the meeting that they were obliged to run their trains whether full or empty, and that the expenses incidental to the opening of all new lines were enormous. He was firmly of opinion that the time was not far distant when they would pay seven per cent. again. —(Hear, and No, no.) On an average of the entire line opened the weekly expenses were 5781. less last year than in 1845 • and if they multiplied that by the miles opened in 1845, they would, at the same rate, have an increase of 300,000/. in the next year.—(Hear.) Mr. COHEN complained that the fares had been re• duced from 25 to 50 per cent. In giving increased public advantage they had injured themselves. He moved for a return of the, names of the parties who held shares in the Brighton and Chichester line be fore it was purchased, and those to whom they were transferred. They bought up the shares at 11. or 21. premium, and sold them at 2.5/. premium. It was rented by the Brighton at 4 per cent. for ten years, and he asked, therefore, why they bought it at 6/. ? He blamed them for their connexion with the Portsmouth and Croydon, after it had wasted half its capital, and for which they got the miserable line to Epsom ; the cost of plants during the last half-year was 162,0001., or one-half more than any former year. The fares had been generally reduced, and if they went on the same way they would have no dividend. There was a loss of 3501. for light gold, giving encouragement for its being offered to the company. There was one thing he wished to have inquired into, namely, the giving of information by the company to the Stock Exchange with respect to the dividend. He knew the parties. —(.` Name, name.") He should be ready to give the names to the committee. The shares had been raised to 315., when they could not expect a higher dividend than 32s.—(Hear.) When the real amount was known the shares were poured into the market. The information must have come from head-quarters. —(Hear.) He hoped the directors would inquire into the matter, and rather dismiss the whole office than allow any such persons to remain in it. He was at a loss to know how the directors could adopt new lines when Parliament had fixed their maximum fares so low that they could not pay 81. per cent. The CHAIRMAN said Mr. Cohen should give the names of the parties to whOM he referred. Mr. CoHEN declined to do so, except to the com mittee. He did not charge the directors with the " bearing" of the shares; he could not well do that; if they did buy at 315., they did it through third parties. Directors were too cunning now-a-days to do these things openly. He considered that their interests would not be cared for until they removed the present directors.—(Loud cheers.) Mr. COLEMAN inquired if 13,000/. had been lent to the Steam- boat Company connected with the company. The CHAIRMAN declined, in reply, to give any answer to the agent of the General Stearn Navigation Company, and who had filed a bill in Chancery against the company. Mr. COLEMAN then said, as some of the new lines had not been opened, the company would lose at the rate of 1,0004 a year in interest so long as they remained unopened. Mr. PARSONS said, as it had been whispered that he had given information to his brother and others with respect to the dividend, he wished to have a letter from his brother read on the subject. The SECRETARY read the letter, which was as fol lows :•••• IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS, Feb. 14. The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the Wool sack shortly after Five o'clock. The Earl of EGLINTON presented petitions from Arbroath and Ayr, praying for an alteration in the currency laws. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE presented certain papers by command of her Majesty. The Bishop of EXETER gave notice that he should, to-morrow, present a petition from certain clergy of the county of Bucks, praying for the repeal of the statute of Henry VIII., subjecting Deans and Chapters to a prcemunire in certain cases. Their Lordships then adjourned. ROUSE OF COMMONS, Feb. 14. The SPEAKER took the Chair at Four o'clock. (Copy) _"22, St. James's-street, Feb : 9. " Dear John,—The following are the facts to which your note refers:—About a fortnight since I learnt at my friend Hutchinson's office that Brighton dividends were offered at the Stock Exchange at 31s. per dividend. Recollecting that at the corresponding period of last year 355. had been declared, and finding at the sumo time the amount of increased receipts, and the additional mileage since opened, I thought there were reasonable data to anticipate an equal dividend for the past half year. " I purchased in consequence four hundred dividends, in conjunction with two friends, who took an equal Aare in the speculation. I retain my interest entire, and shall hence sustain a loss of about seventy guineas. " This circumstance having transpired, most dis creditable inferences have been drawn from it, implying that,l possessed a knowledge of what the dividend would be, and that I had entered into this transaction for the purpose of raising the price, to enable me to make spe culative sales. A most infamous im?utation, and so far from the truth, that with this exception, I have not had one transaction of any kind in Brighton shares during my residence in London, which comprises a period of upwards of two years. " You can make what use you like of this note; I write it solely out of consideration to your position at the Brighton board as a director, otherwise I should not take any notice of the calumny, as I know it would be impossible to discover its author.—&c. (Signed) " GEORGE PARSONS." " J. M. Parsons, Esq." Mr. PARSONS said he would as soon put a pistol to a man's head on the highway as inform any one of the amount of dividend before it was made public. Considerable discussion then ensued, in which Mr. Alderman Wilson complained that the line was in a disgraceful state of dilapidation and want of efficient accommodation. Mr. WILKINSON, the late chairman of die Croydon Company, who defended the general conduct of the directors, and said the managemesit of the line had been cheaper than the North Western and Eastern Counties Railways, but who laid the locomotive mismanagement of the line entirely to the door of Mr. Peter Clarke, who, he said, practised false and extravagant economy, as he had disgusted the servants under his control, and dissatisfied the public, Mr. Cash, and others. The appointment of a committee of seven share holders holding forty shares was carried, and the re port was confirmed, so much as had reference to the dividend, the borrowing of 176,5981., and the con version of the fifteenths into stock. _ _ The meeting was then adjourned until the 30th of March next. The following are the names of the committee : Mr. Wishaw, Mr. P. A. Taylor, M. Cash, Mr. Sterry, Mr. Cornelius Nicholson, Mr. S. L. Griffiths, and Mr. East. A dividend at the rate of 11. per 501. share for the half-year was then formally declared. The motion with respect to the register was declared by the solicitor to be contrary to the Railways Consolidation Acts, and that it would be in the power of any one shareholder who was dissatisfied to obtain an injunc tion ; the motion was therefore withdrawn. A vots of thanks having been passed to the Chair- , man and directors, and suitably acknowledged, the meeting adjourned at half-past three. THE PICTURESQUE AT CAEN.—As I walked along the ramparts, says Professor Donaldson, I looked down upon the roofs and terraces, and gardens of the houses beneath, and my curiosity and wonder were highly ex cited by beautiful and picturesque dwellings that were perceptible here and there. I immediately threaded my way down the narrow streets that led from the castle, and many a carved wooden over-hanging front, many a striking interior rewarded my curiosity, as I passed in and out unobstructed, almost unobserved, in the bustling din of the every-day business carrying on. Here is quite a mine of no ve lty, th a t w ould completely illustrate the domestic manners of the middle ages, opening to us featu'"?s and uu.l3:;:pet.,tc,i (.1 Mr. D. NI NEILL, Lord C. HAMILTON, and two other Hon. Members took the oaths and their seats. SECOND READINGS. :!THYR.-IVe are happy LI) Aate that tlie num ber ei perouns sulking Irvin iailueirha is rafildly ue• creasing. In fact, the cases are rare, and the public health may be said to be greatly improyed.-7-Cambrian. The following Bills were read a second time and ordered to be committed :—Brentford Gas Light Acts Amendment ; Dunbar Customs, Water, and Harbour Dues Amendment ; Edinburgh Police Consolidation and Sanitary Improvement; Helmsdale, Little Ferry, and Lock Robie Harbours; Kettering Small Tene ments Rating; Leicester Cemetery ; Leicestershire Lunatic Asylum; Leith Municipality and Police, Trusts, Markets, Paving, and Sanitary Improve ment ; Liverpool Gas Light Company, add Liverpool New Gas and Coke Company Amalgamation; Londonderry improvement ; Magdalen Hospital Act Amendment ; Manchester General Cemetery ; National Monument of Scotland Amendment ; Os westry Markets and Fairs; Price's Patent Candle Company ; Scottish Provident Institution ; Shrews bury Market ; Stirling Waterworks ; Torquay Market;_Tyne Direct Ferry ;_ Wigan Improvement. INCOME OF THE SE 3: OF CANTERPURY. Lord JOHN RUSSEI .L said, his lion. Friend (Mr. Horsrnan) gave hint notice on Friday that he intended to ask a questi o n with respect to the future income of the I see of Canterbury. In doing so, he sai si that hE was not satisfied with the presee t mode of fixing the in comes of Right Reveren d Prelates, and that he should propose that the income of any future Archbishop should be ;onsidered liable to any alteration which Perna] l2ent might think proper to make with respect to those incomes. The Hon. Gentleman referred to the instance of the see of Durham—he believed he mid„ ht klaVe referred to other instances in which a similar rArrangement pre vailed. In reply to the Hoe .coarable Gentleman he had to state, that lie en' Arely concurred in his opinion that the present r node of fixing the in comes was not satisfactory.—( Hear, hear.) That he thought Parliament might r cake a better arrange ment with regard to the no Kie of payment adopted by the Commissioners, and t . nat lie thought it was per fectly just that the future Archbishop of Canterbury ought to be subject to way, arrangement that might be made. His salary was Led at 15,0001. per annum by the Ecclesiastical CominiF,sioners. it was not proposed to make any alterati,an in that sum. Mr. 11 ORSMA - .N" said that the statement of the Noble Lord was quite satisfact ary to him. HYDE ELECTION COMMITTEE. The SPEAKER informed the House that the Examiner of Recognizrnces had informed him that the sureties; in the case of the petition against the election of XI-de had been found unobjectionable. NE W PALACE AT WESTMINSTER. Sir R. T d. INGLIS wished to make a request to the Hon, Member for Middlesex with respect to his motion on the subject of the new Palace, and to put off Ir:it:Ting it before the House until he (Sir R. Inglis) moved for the appointment of a Committee to inquire into the subject. Nothing whatever would be lost by the adoption of such a course. Mr. B. OSBORNE declined to accede to the pro position of the Right Hon. Baronet. He felt it his duty to bring forward the subject without delay. NEW ZEALAND GOVERNMENT BILL. On the order of the day for going into Committee on this Bill being read, Mr. B. OSBORNE rose, persuant to his motion, to call the attention of tfm House to the progress of the New Palace. He ~ tie fully a ware o f t h e incon venience of the present mode of so doing. It was a course not desirable upon an ordinary occasien.— (Cheers.) His estimate of the proper conduct of a Member of that House was, that he ought not only to be careful in voting the supplies, but that he ought also to exercise a supervisors over the sup plies which he voted. When they called to mind the enormous sums which had been already voted—far above the amount of the original estimate— and when they toe;te into consideration the compare tively slow progress of the building, he thought he should not at least be accused of undue pre sumption, if he called the attention of the House for a short time to the subject.—(Heir, hear.) The Noble Lord at the head of the Woods and Forests had said on a former occasion that they could not exercise any control over the proceedings; he (Mr. Osborne) thought that this was one reason why the House ought to take the matter into their own hands. The aphorism that " What was everybody's business was done by no • body" was never more forcibly seen than in the case of these new Houses of Parliament. The house of Commons voted the supplies, the Treasury issued the money, the Woods and Forests drew the cheques for the contractors, but none of these three bodies seem to have the power to exercise the slightest control over the building. He was not making any attack or charge against Mr. Barry, for he did not think Mr. Barry was much to blame when he said that House was to eager to vote money without taking steps to have a control over its expenditure. He must now crave the indul gence of the House for a few minutes while he went into a few details in connexion with the building. In 1836 there was a joint Committee of both Houses of Parliament appointed to consider Mr. Barry's estimates, and the estimate that gentleman delivered to this Com mittee amounted to 111,0041. Mr. Barry, when he delivered this estimate, voluntarily infermed the Cons mittee that it would take him six years to complete the building. Well, then, !lox stood the matter now ? I\' hy, in 1848, there had been expended upon the works nearly 1,401,0361. odd, while instead of their in habiting the House of Commons they were as far off that point as they were in 1836 ; indeed some people supposed that the new House of Commons was an imaginary creation —a Mrs. Harris sort of building.—(Laughter.) in the year 1839 there was a roving commission of geologists appointed, who went through England and Wales to examine into the different qualities of stone best adapted for the purposes of this building, the expense of which commission amounted to 4,902/. Bs. 11d. Now he wanted to know how it was this charge had been accumulating ever since. In deed he, for one, could not see what necessity there could have been for the appointment of such a commission, for he was informed that the stone which had been employed on the building was anything but adapted to the purposes, or calculated to withstand the attacks of the weather.—(Hear, hear.) In 1841 a Committee was appointed to estimate the expense of ventilating and warming the new House of Commons, when it appeared that Dr. Reid estimated the expense at 86,000/. The Committee sanc tioned the expenditure. But here he must stop to make a remark upon the delay that had taken place, in the progress of the work. It could not be said that Dr. Reid's operations were the cause of it, for, to a question asked by the Noble Lord the present Secretary of the Colonies, who was a mem ber of this Ventilating Committee, Mr. Barry himself stated the ventilating operations would cause no delay in the progress of the works, They would have thought that that expense for warm ing the House and fire-proofing would have concluded the outlay in that respect ; but no such thing. They had already expended upwards of 96,0001. in experiments for warming and ventilating, and they had no security that they would not have another 96,000/. expended upon it. The truth was, that so much money had been expended under what was called the general authority which it was said had been given to the architect and Dr. Reid, that he thought it was high time that the House should know what that general authority was, in order that they might circumscribe it or put an end to it, as they thought fit. He thought also that it was high time that the squabbles that had . been going on between Dr. Reid and Mr. Barry, which had delayed the construction of the whole building for upwards of nine months, should be put a stop to.—(Cries of " Hear.") He was no partisan of either ; but he thought that if those squabbles continued it was the duty of the House to step in and send both those gentlemen to the right about, in order to put an end to it.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") He hoped that affairs had now reached that eliwax that the Noble Lord at the head of the Woods and Forests would interfere, and if he did not, that the House would—(Hear, hear, and cheers)—as he was sure unless the House took steps to show the architect and Dr. Reid what were their true places, they would never get into the new Houses of Par liament.—(Hear, hear.) The House, he had no doubt, would hardly credit his statement, when he said that upwards of 36,000/. had been expended for official residences. In 1842 the Speaker thought it right to call the attention of Lord Lincoln to the ne cessity of providing a new reshience for the first clerk. The estimate furnished was 2,0001., and the house was to be ready in eighteen months. The house was no more ready now than then; so that here had been an outlay of 5001: per annum for seven years, or 3,5001. altoge ther, simply because Mr. Barry chose to consult his own fancies and will. There had been much laudation of the frescoes in the other House; he (Mr. Osborne) was not a man of taste, and would not, therefore, venture an opinion 4h the subject, farther than the saying that, as a Member of the House, be could not vote for the ap pointment of a committee of taste of the gentlemen who lauded the frescoes.—(Hear, hear, and a laugh.) But as to the frescoes, in relation to the progress of the build. ing, be decidedly objected to the proposition advanced by Mr. Barry, that there must be more ventilation and re-arrangements, involving great delay and great ex pense, merely for the purpose of preserving these preci ous frescoes.—(Hear, hear.) What, on this subject said Lord Sudeley—at all events as good a judge of frescoes and of architecture as Mr. Barry? Why, Lord Sudeley, before the Committee of 1844, said that if the new Houses of Parliament were meant as exhibitions of the fine arts, Mr. Barry's _view on the points might be a correct one so far, but that he himself re garded the new Houses of Parliament in a different light, and considered that the fine arts, while adapted in the way of embellishment, were not to supersede every other consideration, or to interfere with arrangements otherwise desirable.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. Barry, how ever, upon all occasions, put forward the orders of the Fine Arts Committee as a reason for this or that altera tion, or addition, or deviation, and the result would be an additional outlay of some 200,0901 for mere whims. —(Hear, hear.) As to what anything would ciostil how ever, this nobody knew, the arch itect least o _a per sons, the Chief Commissioner o f Woods and Forests— tie responsible functionary—e2teepted. il F r. Barry, when asked by one of the Committees what he thought would now be the expense , coolly answered that he had not the slightest idea on the subject—that he could not even guess what would be the ultimate cost.--(Hear.) And as to the Noble Chief Commissioner of Woods and Forests, he declared himself wholly unpre pared to assist Mr. Barry in his indeed, distinctly repudiated any knewled w ~1 C., • - matter whatever--anabnegation which at once suggested a strong doubt as to the utility ot the oak() which he represented.—(Hear, hear.) Yet Lord Duncannon had in the most distinct manner asserted, not merely the right of the Woods and Forest department to control I the architects of any works, but their bounden duty to do so.—(Dear, he <r.) The committee of 1344, in their report, had stated that during the progress of the building of the new Houses, certain deviations and alterations had been made by Mr. Barry without any authority from the Goverment. Yet from that time. to this, no public functionary had called the attention of the House to these alterations and deviations. With respect to the delay that had taken place in completing the new Houses of Parliament, what, let him ask, was the House led to expect in the year 1836 would be the term which the new buildings would require for their entire completion ? The lion. Baronet below him (Sir R. Inglis) would remember in common with himself that six years was the extreme limit of time fixed by Mr. Barry for the House to be in ' the occupation of the Members ; and further, he recols lected that oil the occasion when this statement was made Mr. letrry volunteered the assurance that from the tims that the foundations were laid there would only elapse a period of two years before the Committee rooms would be ready for the reception of Members.— (Hear, hear.) But then there arose a delay and a diffi • culty in laying the foundations of the House, and in the year 1846, when Mr. Barry was asked when the foun dations were laid, he replied that he could not tell, for he kept no diary of the progress of the works. Would any private gentleman act upon such a plan in his own building?—(hear, hear.) In point of fact the architect, and all those who were officially- concerned in the build ings, had been annually subjec'ed to a running fire of questions respecting the opening of the new Houses which they had found it very inconvenient to parry. In 1842 his Het - to:treble Friend on his left (Mr. Hume) received for answer from Lord Lincoln, then at the head of the Woods and Forests, the reply that he had seen Mr. Barry on the very day the question as to when the House would be opened was put, and that he assured the House the buildings would be ready for their reception in 1845. So, again, in the year 1845, the Ilenourable Member for York repeated the same question, and ho was assured, in precisely the same terms as before, that there was no reason why the Houses should net be ready by 1847. Mr. Barry him self, when asked by the Lords' Committee at what period he expected the House of Commons to be ready, answered, that he had not the smallest idea—(A laugh) —anal, lastly, Lord Morpeth had very recently assured Hon. Mentbsrs that the House would be ready, but at what period the Noble Lord had totally omitted to state. So that the House and the country were as much in the dark on this point as ever. There was another point to which he Legsd to draw the attention of the Noble Lord, namely, as to the accounts furnished of the money paid for the new buildings. There was an item of 25,000/. paid to the architect on account of his remuneration for superintending the construction after the original plan. But it was stated in a note that this sum had not been accepted by Mr. Barry as a eayment in full for his services. Now he (Mr. B. Osborne) distinctly assured the Committee that 25,000/. was to be the utmost limit of the remune ration to be received by him, and a letter written by the late Earl of Bessborough was on record, wherein that Noble Lord stated that Mr. Barry had no claim what ever beyond the 25,000/. agreed to be paid on the ap proval of his plan by both Houses of Parliament. In answer to this letter Mr. Barry said that he acceded to the award, although the amount eas below what was customary for architects to receive, and that he did so because he found it was considered by the Government to be a liberal remuneration; and not only did the Board of Commissioners think the payment liberal, but when the sum was specified to Sir Benjamin Stephen son and Mr. Milner, they were also of opinion it was quite sufficient. Having thus laid the various facts con nected with the subject before the House, he could only express his ecknowledgrnet is for the courteous attention with which his statement had been received, and await the information which the Government might think proper to give.—(Cheers.) Lord MORPETII said he must preface the few ob servations which he had to offer to the House by stating that he really thought his Hon. Friend who had just concluded his speech had entirely mistated the answers given the other night by his Noble Friend the First Lord of the Treasury and by himself. In the first place, he thought he might appeal to the House to say whether there was anything like a sneer in the answer which he gave. Then, with respect to the answer given by his Noble Friend, that surely could not be constructed as indicating that the Board of Woods and Forests, or the Treasury could not exercise any control over the ex penditure incurred in erecting the two Houses of Pare dement. All that was said was, when the question was asked whether the Government could guarantee that the cost of the entire work would not exceed 1,400,0001., that the Government certainly could not guarantee that the expense of a work of such prodigious magnitude would not exceed the precise sum of 1,400,0001. His Hon. Friend had been rather severe on his (Lord Morpeth's) department, and had stated, that if it could not control the expenditure now going on, it was useless, and ought to be abolished. Since he had had the honour to hold the office of Chief Com missioner of the Woods and Forests he had made it his particular business to inquire and ascertain in what the duties of that department were understood to consist, both by his predecessors, Lord Besborough, Lord Lin coln, and Lord Canning, and by those gentlemen who permanently retained their seats at the board. All these gentlemen conceived that they acted ministerially, as a subordinate department of the Treasury, and that they had no more power to control the amount of ex penditure incurred than they had to settle the details of the architecture. And, certainly, he thought it very lucky that such was not the case, for if the Woods and Forests were called on to control the expenses of the building, and settle the details of the architecture, they would :probably make but indifferent work of it. He cone dyed that this department was intended to inves tigate accounts, and to see in what way money was applied after its outlay had received the sanction of the Treasury. It had to see that responsible persons were employed, and that proper terms were agreed upon ; it had to examine accounts, to see that the conditions of contracts were faithfully observed, and that the bills were paid. The duties imposed upon the office were very laborious, and he was convinced that they were discharged with great zeal and ability. He might say this in particular of that excellent public servant, Mr. Milne, so long connected with this department. Fur ther, it was certainly the duty of the Woods and Forests to report any deviation from the original design in * public work to the Treasury, for their sanction or disal lowance, and this rule, he believed, had been acted upon , by the department. But when his Hon. Friend threw blame on the department of Woods and Forests, and ud he wished that a Parliamentary Commission had been appointed, he must rereind him that one of the chief sources of expense had been, that this building had been carried on under the special direction and superin tendence of a committee of the two Houses of Parliament, which had sat on the subject, conducted their investiga tionr, and made their reports. He wished to state to the House what, up to the present day, the actual expenditure bad been, and what was the excess of expenditure over the original estimate. Th e or i g i na l es timate furnished by Mr. Barry was 707,0001. The sum advanced for works, including architect's commission, clerks' wages, &c., was 808,0001.; but of this, 378,000/ had been paid for embankments, river wall, warming and ventilating, fire-proof construction, additional resi dences, sewers, decorations, fittings, furniture of the 'House of Lords, and other miscellaneous works, all of whickfortned nu part of the original estimate, leaving a balance of 430,0001., which had been expended on ac count of the original design and estimate. It was fair, therefore, to state, that in the execution of the original design, only 430,000/. had been at present spent. He would not, any more than his Hon. Friend, venture to pronounce any judgment upon the style of that building. That was a matter of bygone times, and as there were many Mt mbers of the House, there might be many minds upon it. The style selected was the highly decorated style, which they knew was a highly expensive one. Neither would he now enter upon a discussion of the propriety of appointing a Committee of Fine Arts. Her Majesty's present Government 'were not responsible for that commission, but he must say that ho did not think the country at large would at all sympa thise with the attempt made by his Hon. Friend to cast discredit upon that opening which had been made for giving encouragement to the rising talent of the coun try.—(Hear, hear.) Of course he, agreed with his Hon. Friend that substantial utility ought not to be postponed to decoration, but bare walls might properly be .covered by pictures, and he could not help thinking that his Hon. Friend had been unduly severe upon the frescoes in the House of Lords. They were not, it was true, perfect, but they were very creditable examples of a new mode of decorative art, and he had no doubt that the most com petent judges would confirm this verdict, which he ven tured, with diffidence, to pronounce. Of course he did not mean to deny that this had been a most expensive building, and had considerably exceeded the sum esti mated as the cost of its completion, but he put it to the House, whether it could fairly have been expected to be otherwise?—(Hear, hear.) The original design of a building of such vast magnitude and such vari ous uses could only have embraced the general arrangement and character of the building. Many errors of the architect which must have been originally included in the design—many difficulties which he did not than foresee—could only be considered and cor rected as the architect came to deal with the require ments made upon hint. The modifications required from him had been endless, both from Committees of that House and trotn the heads of departments con nected with the public service. Since the first stone of the Houses of Parliament was laid, the growth of public business had been immense, and required increased ac commodation, which the architect had to provide. He need only instance that splendid corridor which stretched it 4 proud length by the committee rooms of the House of Commons, and which, expensive as it might be, scarcely bore a proportion to the costliness of the transactions there carried on.—(Hear, hear, and laughter.) Then, among other things for which the architect was not prepared, and could not be prepared, were the warming and ventilating arrangements, which were not considered in the original estimate. His Hon. Friend had talked of the great expenses which had been incurred for these arrangements ; but Mr. Barry was not responsible for them, since the House itself had determines that the plans and arrange ments of 1)r. Reid should have full scope for develop ment. lie (Lord Morpeth) had himself announced that it was the intention of the Government that those plans should be applied to the House of Commons, and that announcement was received with an unanimous expres sion of pleasure in the House. With regard to the charge of stone, to which his Hon. Friend had alluded, he believed that much difficulty had been experienced in. ,efeei-et, me:rri‘es of stone for so vast a building, !L.! by 22Seet/.. A ti s t e t se: .l resideness, lie ilgreA 1.1;., ilvu. lo 61101 . ° ing it was a great pity that they were not spared the necessity of paying a large sum for the hire of these GREAT YARMOUTH ELECTION. Mr. K. SEYMER., the Chairman of the Com mittee, brought up the report of this Commit tee, which was to the effect that they had found that gross, systematic, and extensive bribery had taken place at the last election and previous elections, and that further, neither Lord Arthur Lennox nor Mr. Octavius Coope had been duly elected to serve as burgesses in the present Parlia ment; the Committee recommended that no new writ should be issued until steps had been taken to disfranchise the freemen. WEST GLOUCESTERSHIRE ELECTION. The Membeis of this Committee were called to the table. It was found that Mr. Aglionby was absent, which caused much laughter. The Members present were then dismissed for the present. GREAT MARLOW ELECTION. The Members of this Committee were then called to the table, and whilst they were being sworn, Mr. Aglionby entered the House amidst much laughter, and took his place. WEST GLOUCESTERSHIRE ELECTION: The Members of this Committee were called to the table and r>worn. LICENSED VICTU ALLERS AND BEER- SELLERS. Mr. WILLIAMS presented a petition from the beer-sellers; of London, praying to be placed upon an equal footing with the licensed victuallers. NEW WRIT FOR WATERFORD. On the motion of Mr. TUFNELL, a new writ was ordered for the city of Waterford, in the room of Daniel O'Connell, who had accep►ted the office of steward of the Chiltern Hundreds. RAJA OF SATTARA. Mr. LUSHINGTON presented a petition signed by 700 persons in the parish of St. George, Hanover tquare, praying for an inquiry into the case of the late Raja of Sattara. EXCISE LAWS. Mr. DUNCAN presented a petition praying for an alteration in the present Excise laws. MAGISTRATES' CLERKS. Mr. COCKBURN presented a petition from Southampton, praying for an alteration in the present mode of payment to magistrates' clerks by fees. NAVAL AND MILITARY ESTABLISH- IVIENTS. The HON. and LEARNED MEMBER also presented a petition from the same place against any increase in the naval and military establishments of the country. ATTORNEYS' CERTIFICATE DUTY. Dr. BOWLING presented a petition from Bolton, signed by attorneys, in favour of the abolition of the duty on attorneys' annual certificates. PAPER DUTY. Mr. COWAN presented a petition from paper manufacturers, publishers, and others, complaining of the injustice of the existing duty on paper. NATIONAL DEFENCES. Mr. COBDEN presented a petition from Sheffield, signed by 13,900 inhabitants, against any increase in the naval and military estimates of the country ; also several petitions from Bridgewater, Salford, and other places, to the same effect. Mr. M'NEILL presented a petition from the island of lona to the same effect. NAVIGATION LAWS. Sir T. BIRCH presented a petition from Liverpool against any alteration in the navigation laws. Mr. HUME presented a petition from the wine merchants and spirit dealers of Hull complaining of the operation of the Excise Laws. Mr. BANKS presented a petition from the attor neys and solicitors of a place in Dorsetshire, praying for the repeal of the certificate duty. The Honourable Member also presented a petition from the Archdea con and clergy of Dorsetshire, praying for church extension, and a petition praying the House to take step< to prevent priestly denunciations from the altar. NOTICE - OF MOTION. Mr. COLVILE gave notice that on Thursday he should ask for leave to bring in a Bill to empower the owners and occupiers of land to kill hares without a certificate. MR. ANSTEY'S MONSTER MOTION. Mr. ANSTEY said before reappointing his motion he wished to ask the First Minister of the Crown whether he had any objection to give hint a day for the purpose of bringing it on. Lord J. RUSSELL said there were two days in the week devoted to independent motions, and it would be an injustice to other Hon. Members if he were to sacrifice a Government day to the motion of the Hon. Gentleman. Mr. ANSTEY said, under these circumstances, it would be his duty to bring on his motion to-night, when the order of the day for ging into a Committee of Supply should be read. Mr. WOOD gave notice of his intention to move, in Committee, the insertion of a clause in the Roman Catholic Relief Bill. RAJA OF SATTARA. Mr. lIUME postponed his motion which stands for to-morrow with respect to the case of the late Raja of Sattara till to. morrow fortnight. CURRENUY. Mr. HUM] said, seeing the Right Hon. Gentle man in his place (Mr. Ferries) who had a motion on Thursday next with respect to the 'currency, he begged to request of him that he would include in that motion the Act of 184$, which had reference to Scotch banks. Mr. HERR TES had no objection to adopt the suggestion of the Hon. Member for Montrose. MARRIAGE IN INDIA. Mr. C. LEWIS, in answer to a question from Mr. C. Lushington, said that the question with respect to the validity of marriages solemnized in India had been referred to the Commission on the law of mar riage, and that the subject was now under consi• deration. IRISH EMIGRANTS. In reply to Mr. P. SCROPE, Sir G. - GREY stated that the Government had not taken measures to ascertain the number of emigrants who had arrived from Ireland at the various ports of the United Kingdom. Complaints were last year re ceived from Liverpool of the number of emigrants who had found their way there, but though no complaints had been made this year, Mr. Rushton had stated that those who had come over last year continued to suffer to some extent; they had not been able to ascertain the exact amount of mortality occasioned by the late famine, nor of the number of persons who had been evicted in Ireland during the period of the famine, but he should have no ob jection to grant any returns that might be required on the subject. Many persons received notice to quit whose removal was not intended. THE SAILORS' PROCESSION. Mr. RICARDO, adverting to the late procession of sailors to the Home-office to present a memorial, inquired if it had been presented to the Queen, and read resolutions agreed to at a public meeting in Sunderland favour of thtkrepeal of the navigation - laws , stating that Captain Grant and Captain Maynard had no authority to present such a petition; and that they, therefore, repudiated the sentiments it contained. Sir G. GREY said the resolutions were quite new to him. On Tuesday last a placard was sent to him, bearing the name of Sir E. Smith, who had taken an active part in the matter, and setting forth that it was the intention of one thousand men to come down to the Home-office. He wrote to Commander Smith, stating the Government could not encourage large processions in the public streets, and that ihe could not accept it unless it were pre sented n the usual way. He afterwards received a note from Captain Maynard, stating that a deputation on the subject of the navigation laws would wait upon him on the following day ; and in reply, he transmitted a copy of the letter he had sent to Commander Smith. On the following day a de- Putatioii, necoro l i.,,:i2 I 1:37 Honour:ible Member for South Shiehis (Mr. Round) waited upon him. HQ inquired if any persons had congregated in White- Ilan, and found that there were none but the ordinary passengers. He received the memorial, and had had the honour of laying it before her NigestY•