The Sun. — London, England, 1848-12-26 00:00:00

NATIONAL MERCANTILE AS. SURANCE SOCIETIES. The annual dinner of the members aria friends of these very improved and successful Life and Fire Assurance Societies took place on Saturday evening, at the London Tavern. The annual meeting vas held at the office of the society, in the Poultry, in the early par. of the day, Robert Wilcoxon, Esq., in the chair. The.following report was read and adopted : " Gentlemen,—The directors have great pleasure in submitting to the proprietors a statement of the receipts and disbursements of the society during the year ended September 30th, 1848, which is appended hereto, with a certificate of the ac curacy thereof signed by the auditors of the society. "In reference to the progress of the society the directors are enabled to report that, notwithstanding the depressed state of the country during the last three years, the society has progressed most favour ably as regards its increase of business, and, also, in its increase of assets, and in regard to the average amount of claims by deaths. " From the statement annexed it will be seen that the average annual amount assured in the three years ended December 1845, was 94,4161., and in the three year ended. December 1848 166,8081. Showing an average annual increase of 72,3921., or an increase of 77 per cent. " During the same period it will be found that the increase in the assets of the society have increased to the extent of 80 per cent. a. d. " The average annual amount paid to the executors of deceased mem bers, during the three years ended December, 1845, was 4,090 18 1 " And during the three years ended December, 1848 " Showing an annual decrease in the amount paid in respect to claims of 1,308 18 9 " The total - amount paid in respect to !sliding from the commencement of the Society up to the end of 1848, a period of ten years, is.. 23,587. 9 1 "Or an average annual amount 0f... 2,358 14 11 "In the former reports the directors have :only stated the amount paid in respect of claims, after de ducting therefrom the amount received by the society in respect to lapsed policies, but in the present state. went the actual amount of claims alone is given, and nearly the whole of this amount has been paid by Means of the premiums received upon lapsed policies. "The great consideration for the policy holders is not so much the amount as the character of the busi ness transacted by an office, and the directors have the satisfaction of thinking that few if any offices can congratulate themselves upon so fortunate a selection of lives,. as . . is evidenced by the small amount of claims, that have fallen due and been punctually paid by this society in each case without litigation. "In the report for the year ended December 10, 1845, the directors stated that they had the satisfac tion to believe that the society would, by the pur chase of the premises consisting of the long range of buildings in Charlotte-row,, not only have made an excellent investment of money, but would he enabled to occupy most commanding pre mises at a very small annual rent. In reference to this expression of their opinion, the directors are now enabled to report that they are realising 5 per cent. upon the investment money, and occupy the present valuable and commanding premises rent free. " The directors have, in conclusion, only to make their annual appeal to the members to use their in dividual effurts in behalf of the society, and also to re mind them that the next dividend will bedeclared in 1851. and that the amount of the bonus will neces sarily be more or less, according to the progress of the society during the interval." About eighty gentlemen sat down to dinner, which was presided over by Mr. Wilcoxon, who was supported on his right by the respected member for Maldon, David Waddington, Esq., and on his left by William Nicholson, Esq., the eminent distiller. Among those Ilesent we observed Willi am L awson , E sq , G eorge oore, Esq., James Peek, Esq., Giles Redmayne, Esq. ; John Mair, Esq ; C. J. Jones, Esq. ; George Stockdale, Esq, &c., &c. Due justice having been done to the dinner, which was provided in the best style of the London Tavern, and which, with the wines, gave general satisfaction, The Ch AiRmAN gave in succession the usual loyal and constitutional toasts, which met with warm re sponses from the company. The CHAIRMAN then rose and said—Gentlemen, it is now my pleasing duty to propose a toast which I am sure will receive from you every demonstration of satisfaction. It is one which I give as you may conceive with great delight, and the gathering together of so many friends of the institu tion round this festive board fully evinces the great interest you all take in its welfare. I will give you without further preface "Prosperity to the National Mercantile Life Assurance Society."—(Prolonged cheering.) Before I enter particularly into the subject will you allow me to make two or three passing observations. In the first place I would just remind you that individually, commercially, and nation nally, we have of late been called upon to pass through a season of extraordinary difficulty and trial.— (Hear, hear.) We have witnessed on every side the wreck of fortunes—of property to a most awful extent. Our trade, manufactures, and industry have been para lysed, and our labourers, artizans, and mechanics have wanted the bare necessaries of existence. Riches have taken themselves wings and flown away, and we have been reduced to a state of necessity, indeed. But in the state of things to which I have al luded let us turn our eyes elsewhere. The condition of the countries which constitute Europe has been infinitely worse than the state of our own. In them, indeed, there have been " wars and rumours of wars." - The people have engaged in strife, and trade and industry have been all but paralysed. In them anarchy, revolution, and bloodshed have marked their onward course, and the " hand of brother has been lifted up against brother ;" but in our birth-place, England, we have been fortunately exempted from beholding those horrors which have been witnessed elsewhere.—(Hear, hear.) It is true that wicked and designing men have been found, and such men will ever be found, even in the freeest coun tries, doing their utmost to stir up the worst passions of the very lowest classes—to stir up misguided mul titudes, to trample upon our laws, to rob us of our birthright, our invaluable privileges, our unequalled constitution, but their puny attempts have been frustrated, their evil designs have been subverted; for the right hand of an all- wise Almighty Provi dence was outstretched for our pretection in the hour of our trial—(Cheers)—and I do think that we are much indebted to that Protestant faith, which as a nation we profess, for having been enabled to suppress, yet at -the same time mercifully, the vain attempts that have been made to stir up discord in the land. —(Hear, hear.) Gentlemen, if these things, which I have stated so imperfectly, be really matters of fact, and 'I do not think any one will deny that they have taken place—that we have passed through a period of great danger, and undergone much suffer ing—those who pause to contemplate the events-that have of late taken place must be of opinion that each and every one of us must have suffered in our degree, and that public bodies, as well as individual commu nities, life assurance societies not excepted, must have participated in that which has been so common to all.—(Hear, hear.) Many of you have had an opportunity; of being, present to -day at the annual general meeting of proprietors. You had there laid before you a full, frank, and faithful report from your board of directors, together with a balance sheet of our financial condition, prepared by our actuary, and certified as to its correctness by your au ditors, showing the present condition of this prosper ous company.—(Loud cheers.) Ido not think this is either the time or the place to enter into an array of figures, or to enter into anything like a detail upon a subject like that of assurance ; but I am called upon, as the chairman of the company, broadly to tell you that, notwithstanding the un equalled pressure of the times, we have not only maintained our position, but we have made a cons derable advance.—(Loud cheers.) We have issued a very large number—a very large number, indeed— of additional polices, whilst our losses have been com paratively small, and we have, at the same time added, as you may readily conceive, very largely to the amount of our annual reserve.—(llear.) Gentle men, I only wish that life assurance was better un derstood, fur I am certain it would then be far more highly appreciated. I wish the whole community was more deeply impressed with its immense import ance, for it is really lamentable when we look around and see how much misery is caused by neglecting to assure, and how few there are who participate in the many benefits which it is calculated to bestow, out of the vast number who, reckless of their own interest, - and the future condition of those near and dear to them, seem not alive to the duty which devolves upon all men, but more particu larly upon those who have others dependent upon them, to assure their lives.—(Cheers.) They are mere passive spectators of its incalculable advantages. The existence of ,that husband, or that father, who has the prudence to assure his life, whilst health and strength are vouchsafed to him— who has discharged that duty which is due to those nearest and dearest to his heart's affections, is relieved of a great portion of his cares, but more especially is such an act a source of the utmost con solation to him in the period of mental or bodily suffering; had he deferred his intention until then, or until some future day, he might not be able to accom plish it.—(Hear.) I look to you, gentlemen, to spread a knowledge of the great importance of life assurance among your friends. I appeal to my friends - the commercial travellers, whom I have been in the of meeting from time to time, and wha have done and can do so much 'for us, to aid'us in the future in the same excellent spirit as that which has animated them during the past.—(Hear, hear.) I PR P SUN, look to your untiring exertions, your indefatigable zeal, to help us onward, and to second the earnest desire of your directors to make this one of the largest life assurance societies in this great City—(Loud cheers)—and thus enable us to be the happy instru ments of relieving the father, the mother, the widow, the orphan child perhaps from sinking into a state of utter destitution and want. It is in your power to aid us to a vast extent, and I look to you to do so to the best of your ability, to forward the aim and object which I believe we all have in view—the increased prosperity of this institution.—(Cheers.) I give you " Prosperity to the National Mercantile Life Assur ance Society." The toast was drunk with the utmost enthusiasm. Mr. Turner, the vocalist, here favoured the com pany with a song, from which we extract the follow ing verse introduced with respect to the company : " Here's success to this worthy company ; May it ever thrive,,and prosperous be : And may the lives that they assure Be happy as long as they endure. 11 nd he that will this toast deny, `Down among the dead men let him lie.'" —(Applause and laughter.) Mr.D.WAnniNGTon, M.P., proposed the next toast. Not only was the subject on which he presented him self before them a difficult one to touch upon, but when touched, one got rid of it with alacrity— " Fire." He wished to: give them " Prosperity to the National Mercantile Fire Association"—a sentiment which was received with the loudest demonstrations of applause. He hoped with their aid that it would go on and prosper, and that a similar gathering would take place every year to celebrate its progress, and that of its twin sister, the life department. — (Cheers.) Such anniversaries did not occur too often when they took place " but once a par." — (Hear, hear.) He hoped, however, during the intervals that ensued that they would not forget that the success of the department to which he referred depended much upon the exertions of the commercial travellers of the country.—(Hear.) It was an institution of which any man need be proud ; and he felt, therefore, that the members, in electing him their chairman, had conferred a great honour upon him.—(Prolonged cheering.) Really they seemed so enthusiastic in favour of the institu tion that it was unnecessary for him to say anything to induce them to labour in its behalf. Under such auspices it was sure to prosper. He wished merely to tell them when they went forth to night to do all in their power to promote the prosperity of the National Mercantile Fire Assurance. He was sure after the eloquent appeal of the Chairman, that the life department would receive as heretofore the benefit of their generous aid. As the one had been ably advocated and patronised throughout the length and breadth of the land, he believed that the other would receive support in the same degree, because it was founded upon those true commercial principles which would command the countenance and assist ance of all men ; it destroyed the monopoly which the old offices had so long enjoyed; their monopolising spirit would be destroyed by moderate premiums, yet amply sufficient, as proved by facts, to cover the risks. They had, therefore, a strong argu ment to wield in its behalf, and if they advocated it well, as he knew they would, it could not fail to sue ceed.—(Cheers.) Although be was not formerly an admirer of the principles of free trade, yet he was strongly in favour of the application of the principle to fire insurance. —(Cheers.) He consigned this bantling to their care, in the hope that they would foster it ; if they did so he was sure they would have many festive anniversaries of this day to congratulate it upon having arrived at a prime and happy man hood.—(Loud cheers.) The toast was drunk in a bumper. Mr. WADDINGTON again rose and said, it was now about six months ago since he had the honour and gratification of presiding over a meeting at Wausted. He there saw the children educated in the Commer cial Travellers' School, whose healthy and happy appearance gave evidence of their bounty and phi lanthropy. He witnessed there, with the greatest delight, the fruits of the unwearied exertions of the commercial travellers themselves, who out of their hard earnings had contributed so generously towards that noble institution; but that gratification was much enhanced by the fact that he had formerly belonged to the great body of commercial travellers.—(Cheers.) The foundation of that school was, in his opinion, mainly owing to the exertions of Mr. Cuffiey ; but had it not been taken up by one of our most pros perous citizens, one who had himself risen from the shopboard, and who, in this great city, was second to none—he alluded to the treasurer, George Moore, Esq.---(Loud cheers)—it never could have prospered as it had done. These exertions were ably seconded by Mr. Nicholson, who was venerated in years as he was in character. It bad also, he might state, been supported by every member of the board of the Societies whose anniversary they had assembled to celebrate. Perhaps it had not been taken up by the city of London as it deserved, but the lack of that ...pport had been in a great measure compensated by the Mummy c ir N The fact that the number of children admitted ietorihe school would be increased by 10 at the next election, making the entire number 60, evinced the zeal of the commercial travellers as a body in favour of the splendid establishment they bad erected. The National Mercantile Life contributed 1001. a year, which evinced the interest that com pany felt in the welfare of the institution. He hoped they would take the first opportunity that presented itself to them, of visiting the school, when they would have their hearts thrilled, as his was, at the delightful sight he beheld—and come forward at the anniversary to-morrow, and say, " Long may such an institution prosper." He begged to give them—" Prosperity to the Commercial Travellers' School," with which he begged to couple the names of Mr. Cuffiey and of Mr. Moore.—(Loud cheers.) Mr. CUFYLET, who was very much cheered, re turned thanks. Whilst he modestly took credit for having aided to the best of his ability to institute the school, he wished those present to understand that their thanks were equally due to Messrs. Moore, Carter, Stockdale, Walsh, and Jones, without whom it never would have existed.—(Cheers.) Their thanks were especially due to Mr. Moore, who, in truth, ought to be termed the father of the whole school. They meant to bore the commercial travel lers until every one subscribed, and there was not an orphan to provide for.—(Hear, hear.) Both the National Mercantile and the school were equally deserving of their support. Not only had the school provided for the children of commercial travellers, who had toiled far away from their homes, but it had provided for the children of the heads of houses, and it had therefore a strong claim upon them.—(Loud cheers.) He trusted they would all join them at the anniversary to-morrow, and not forget in the course of their ensuing labours that it would not have existed but for the aid the National Mercantile had afforded it.—(Loud cheers.) Mr. GEORGE Moose thanked them very cor dially for the honour they had conferred upon him. He assured them he was prepared to excel all he had done in the future, if his health was spared, on behalf of the school.—(Cheers.) He hoped, however, the present meeting would not in terfere in the slightest degree, as he was sure it would not, with the anniversary of the school. He had his eye upon them all, and if they were not all present at it he should bold them responsible.— (Cheers and laughter.) His friend Mr. Giles Red mayne had done more than any other man for the school.—(Hear, hear.) He it was that went through the City with his partner: soliciting aid in its behalf.—(Hear, hear, and cheers.) They had, however, assembled to-night to congratulate each other on the wonderful success of the National Mercantile Life Assurance Society.—(Hear, hear.) The board, of which he was an ,unworthy member, felt the liveliest interest in the welfare of the school. He never in his life consented to connect his name with any undertaking with more pleasure than when he put down his name as one of the directors of the National Mercantile Fire Assurance Society. Pre vious to the fire in his establishment in Aldermanbury he and his partner paid 4s. per cent. for the assurance of their premises; but that rate was subsequently in creased to lls.per cent., so that they had to pay 0461. a year.—(Hear, hear.) Now the rates of this office were from 2s. 6d. to 95., according to the risk in curred. This was a vast modification, and since the office stood aloof from those which charged monstrous rates, it deserved the generous support of every com mercial house. Such had been his interest and sym pathy in the undertaking that he had sent out 6,500 letters on behalf of the society, signed by himself and the other members of his firm; he had received re plies from a great many influential houses, thanking the directors for the formation of the so ciety. They complained of the highitariff and exor bitant charges of some of the old offices, and of their sticking together in order the better to take advan tage of the public. The moderation of the charges of his office must commend it to thousands. If an office can assure at rates varying from 2s. 6d. to 9s. for what was formerly charged 4s. and now 11s., the latter class of offices must be either shocking bad men of business, and ought not to be trusted with such affairs, or they are taking a most shameful advantage of the public. There could not be such a difference in business as between 2s. 6d. and 11s. — (Hear.) If this office can assure at trifling charges compared with other offices, it, as he had said, would confer a great benefit upon the country at large, and an ample guarantee of its high character and good faith was to be found in the high character of the men who constituted the board of direction.—(Hear, hear.) He could not give the office all the attention he could wish, but his sympathies were most warm towards both departments.—(Hear.) Mr. W. NICHOLSON proposed health.. of.-the. Chairman, whose business habits and high character he warmly eulogised. With respect to the board of directors, he would only wake this statement—that they all possessed the most true habits of business he had ever met with. Instead of entering at their meet ings into the politics of the day, the chairman's hammer went down, they set to business, transacted it, and went away.—(Hear, hear.) His zeal in both life and fire departments was unequalled, and, his experience of the world and geiieral urbanity enabled him to confer upon each the most essential service.— (Hear, hear.) He knew of none who could promote the prosperity of these institutions more than the great body of commercial travellers to whom he had the honour to belong for 40 years.—(Hear, hear.) The toast was warmly responded to. The CHAIRMAN briefly returned thanks. He had been connected with the life department since its formation, and he assured them that its progress had far surpassed his expectations. He appealed to them to co-operate with the board, in order that the inter ests of both proprietors and policy-holders might be promoted to a still greater extent than heretofore. Mr. ROBERTS proposed the health of the deputy chairman (Mr. Waddington) and the directors of the life department—a body of gentlemen who were richly entitled to their confidence and gratitude. He wished to couple with that toast that of the health of the Chairman, the Deputy- Chairman, and Directors of the Fire department.—(Cheers.) Mr. WADDINGTON briefly responded. His first appearance in that tavern was in connexion with the National Mercantile Life Assurance Society. The chairman on that occasion put him forward as a suckling; and he thought that, therefore, they might take him as a child of their own.—(Hear, hear, and laughter.) He hoped they would second the exer tions the directors might put forward with willing hands and hearts. The CHAIRMAN wished to propose the health of their very meritorious Actuary and Secretary, Mr. Jenkin Jones.—(Loud cheers.) He did not wish to pronounce any panygeric upon his merits, but this he wished honestly and faithfully to declare, that the directors found him a most useful, most efficient, and a most valuable secretary.—(Cheers.) He' had now been connected with the office for very many years, and hi possessed the unbounded confidence of the board of directors.—(Hear.) As a utan of business, as an accountant, as a mathematician, and as a secretary be was unequalled. , -=(Cheers.) Mr. JENEIN donee said, they would readily under stand that the success of the National Mercantile was most deeply interesting to him. Whether the advan tages which it professed to afford were realised or not was to him, they would as readily understand, a question of all and everything.—(Hear.) That those advantages had been realised and participated in to the extent they had was to him a source of unmingled satisfaction. Quite apart altogether from selfish con siderations, he did feel a deep and paramount interest in the association.—(Hear.) Some allusion had been made to the vicissitudes which the office, like other establishments, had undergone since its commence ment, but for having been able to surmount all the difficulties and dangers which they bad had to en counter the directors and himself were much indebted to the kind exertions of many in that room. He must confess that some were averse to the holding of the annual dinner, of which he was the main instigator, for he had ever urged upon the directory the celebration of the anniversary of the establishment of the office. Some thought that the holding of the dinner at this period of the year would prove inimical to the anniversary of the school. Now he entertained an entirely different opinion ; it would serve it. Of this, however, they might rest assured, that since the school had grown out of the National Mercantile, the directors would not only do nothing which might seem likely to prove inimical to it, but would oppose everything that might partake of such a cha racter.—(Hear, hear.) The Chairman had alluded to the embarrassments of the last three years. Now he had much pleasure in stating that, notwithstanding the difficulties of the times and the general suffering that bad fallen to the lot of public bodies as well as to private individuals, the National Mercantile bad been enabled not only to keep its ground, but to prosper and progress to an extraordinary degree.— (Hear.) He found that during the years 1843, 1844, and 184.5 the effected assurances amounted to 283,2491. 95.,. which yielded an average premium of 94,4161. 9s. They would recollect that in those years people had no occasion to complain of the state of the money-market, for the people had so much money they did not know what to do with it, so they threw it away.—(Laughter.) But the years 1846, 1847, and 1848 were years in which money was scarce, when people found great difficulty in meeting calls ; nevertheless, the amount assured in those years was 500,4251., or an average annual sum of 166,8081., being an averaaja increase of 73,0001. a year. During the first three years he had mentioned be found they had paid to the executors of deceased members 12,2721., or an average sum of 4,0901 18s. ld. In a society which had existed so snany years, and which held policies to so large an. amount, they must be aware that they must have to Meet-590 or Intvr ^ l "*^v • ,hot tileV hilfl ic been p artic ula rly fortu nate, since, instead or hey Been Called upon to pay the greatest amount they bad estimated they bad paid the lowest—(Hear, hear)—for whereas, in the first three years they bad got 4,0901.185. ld. as the average for each year, in the second three years they had paid but 2,7811. 19s. 4d., being an average decrease instead of an increase of 1,310/.—(Hear.) The total amount paid for claims since the commencement of the society is only 23,5861. At the same time their assets had been inceased 80 per cent. It was unnecessary for him to dilate upon the utility and necessity of life assurance. The first thing a man should do was to assure his life, and thereby benefit his family. They might depend upon it if life as surance was more practised, there would be much less distress in the land. The neglect of making a future provision, which could be done at so small an outlay, caused the most bitter distress, and often produced crime—for the punishment of which they would have to pay less if men were more provident with respect to those that belong to them.—(Cheers.) With regard to the Fire•office, he would only observe that it was under a distinct board, and the liabilities were separate from the Life, and that he felt confident of its success if it were supported with the same spirit as the Life. He thanked them most cordially for the kind manner in which his health had been proposed and responded to. Several toasts followed, that of Mr. Redmayne, Mr. Nicholson, Mr. M'Culloch, and the auditors , and the company did not separate until a late hour. Mr. Higgs was the toastmaster. THE LONDON SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF YOUNG FEMALES. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. Sin,—ln your paper of Saturday last a report is given of the sentence pronounced by Mr. Sergeant Adams, at the Middlesex sessions, upon a man named Murray, who had previously pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with being the keeper of three houses of ill-fame, in different parts of London. But slight allusion is made to the prosecutors in this case. It should be known, however, in justice to the prosecutors, that Murray, who was the keeper of nearly 50 improper houses in town and country, and who kept his carriage and servants at Northfleet, was indicted by the committee of the London Society for the Protection of Young Females, who have thus suc ceeded, at an enormous expense and trouble, in sup pressing the practices and closing the houses of this base brothel keeper, whose illness, there is in reason to believe, is in a great measure pretended. I may just add that every effort was made by Murray's friends to compromise the prosecution. The committee, however, had but one duty to per form, and they were determined (as they ever have been and mean ever to be) to put a stop to the infa mous career of the man Murray and his wife, which they have so successfully accomplished. I am, Sir, your obedient sorvant, J. B. TALBOT, Secretary. 17, Ironmonger-lane, Gresham-street, Dec. 25, 1841 DEATH OF THOMAS WENTWORTH, BEAUMONT, ESQ.—The melancholy; intelligence reached this town yesterday of the untimely death in Hampshire, on Wednesday last, of Thomas Wentworth Beaumont, Esq., of Bretton Hall, Yorkshire, and Bywell Hall, Northum berland. Mr. Beaumont, by means of his vast posses sions in land and minerals, took his rank amongst the most wealthy commoners of England, and was, in all respects, a man of mark and consideration. He repre sented this county in Parliament for several years, and was engaged in more than one electioneering contest, the character and circumstances of which will not be readily forgotten by the present generation. The lamented deceased was a man of high spirit and intelli gence, of great frankness of manners, and of a munifi cence and generosity of disposition which always won the respect and admiration of opponents as well as friends. Mr. Beaumont is succeeced in his estates by his son, Mr. Blackett Beaumont, who is nearly of or, and, we believe, an undergraduate of St. John's College, Cambridge.—Newcastle Journal. SAM SLICK'S NEW WORK.—" THE OLD JUDGE; on, LIFE IN A COLONY."—The pictures that have hitherto been given of colonial life have often been com plained of as not being sufficiently trustworthy, but this cannot be said of the new work just published under the title of "The Old Judge," written by the most success ful delineator of trans-Atlantic character—the author of " Sam Slick, the Clockmaker "—for it is the result of fifty years' residence among a people whose pecularities are so vividly pourtrayed. To the English reader the writer's personal sketches cannot fail to afford abundant entertainment. They lay open, as it were, a new world to his observation, and therefore there can be very little doubt that the "Old Judge" will become as general a favourite as his popular predecessor " The Clockmaker." A PIG IN A POCK.--A large cod was lately cut up ' in the market of the White Fishing Company here, when, strange to relate, a young pig was found in his stomach. k sucking pig is considered a very dainty dish, *but this° is the first time we have heard of one being served up for a monster of the deep.—.Montrose Standard. 9 TUESDAY EVENING, The THEATRES (THIS EVENING). Christmas! the most busy time in the, whole year for the manager of a theatre, has again arrived, and again have the many places of public amusement put forth bills of unusual attraction. At Drury.lane, Franconi's troup commence a second season. The Haymarket puts forth a burlesque entitled Camaralzam,an and Badoura ; or the Peri who loved the Prince, in which Mr. and Mrs. Keeley appear. The Lyceum enters the lists with one of those splendid fairy extravaganzas for which this theatre is so famed, entitled The King of the Peacocks, the principal characters by Miss K. Fitzwilliam, Miss Howard, Miss J. Coleman, Miss Marshall, Madame Vestris, Messrs. Harley, Hall, J. Reeve, and Selby. At the St. James's Theatre, the Dumbolton Serena ders and Robert Houdin will perform on the alternate nights during the holidays. The Adelphi rests its claim to support upon Mr. C. Dickens's Christmas work, The Haunted Man; or the Ghost's Bargain. .. At the Princess's, a pantomime entitled Bluff King Hal; or Harlequin and the Charmed Arrow, Flex more appearing as Clown. The Olympic production is entitled William the Conqueror; or Harlequin King Harold and the Sack of the Saxons , in which the American pantornimists make their first bow to brother John Bull. Clown, Mr. Barnes; Pantaloon, Herr Cole; Harlequin, Mr. Chapino ; Columbine, Madlle. Valdee. The pantomime at Sadler's Wells is entitled liar /N-11in and the World turned Upside Down. Harle quin, Mr. C. Fenton ; Clown, Mr. C. Stilt ; Panta loon, Mr. J. Johnson; and Sprite, Mr. H. Stilt; Columbine, Miss E. Horne. At the MarYlebone, a pantomime, entitled One o' Clock ; or Harlequin Hardykanute, the Knight and the Wooden Demon. Clown, Mr. Jefferini ; Panta loon, Mr. Morris Harlequin, Mr. Moreland ; Sprite, Mr. Bowen ; Cdumbine, Miss Sarah Healy. At Astley's Amphitheatre a new equestrian Christ mas pantomime, entitled Bold Robin Hood; or the Pretty White Horse and Enchanted Princess of Sher wood Forest, in which the celebrated. Arabs will ap pear. Harlequin, Mr. Harvey ; Columbine, Mrs. Harvey; Clown, Mr. Roches; Pantaloon, Mr. Priorson. At the Surrey we are to have a pantomime, enti tled Harlequin Lord Loved ; or tha Lady Nancy Bell, in which Mr. T. Matthews will appear as clown. At the Victoria the pantomime is entitled The Land of Light; or Harlequin Gas. Clown, Mr. Bucke. At the Strand, " Soirees Mysterieuses," Magic, De monoly, and Witchcraft, by Professor J. H. Ander son (the Great Wizard of the North). At the Standard, The Model Pantomime of 1548 ; or Harlequin King Copperzose. Clown, Mr. T. Barry, Harlequin, Mr. Cormack . At the City of London, the pantomime is entitled Love, War and Peace ;or Harlequin Chat. Clown, Mr. Huline. Besides the above there are concerts, lectures, and other amusements for the holiday makers whose name is legion. THEATRE ROYAL DRURY-LANE. CIRQUE NATIONAL DE PARIS. This evening will commence the second season of this highly celebrated troop, whose fame was so completely established last season. The company will open with great eclat and afford endless amuse ment for the holiday people of our vast metropolis. We must not forget to state that M. Dejean, the able and respected proprietor of this establishment, fought with his regiment against the insurgents at Paris on the memorable days of June last, and received three wounds, and it was not until he was totally disabled, after receiving his third wound, that this brave soldier left his post during that severe contest for the desti nies of his country. He received two musket balls in his thigh and one in the groin; but, we are happy to say, that he is now re-established in his health. M. Dejean ranks high in the estimation of his coun trymen, and we feel assured that he will be equally respected in England, if for nothing else than his endeavours to afford us amusement, and for his enter prise in crossing our Channel with so numerous and highly respectable an establishment as the Cirque de Pari,s. In addition to all the distinguished favourites of last season, the proprietor has fresh claims upon public patronage, for he has engaged numerous novel artistes. The equestrian department is under the superintendence of M. Adolphe Franconi, whose family have been for so many years distinguished for their skill. The band is under the able conductor ship of M. Hamet, whose skill and taste merits our best acknowledgments. Morning performances will also take place during the holidays. Y 3: : LONDON, BANV.ARD'S PANORAMA OP MR MISSISSIPPI. The monster panorama—the three mile and a half painting—now exhibiting at the Egyptian Hall, seems to be a great attraction to the holiday folks. There are two exhibitions daily, which are crowded. ~atnc of the grandest scenery in the world. The xn.etator in front performs the voyage of the Mississippi _ „ source. The young people seem highly delighted with the exhibition. ROYAL POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION. The Christmas bill of fare of the Royal Polytech nic is excellent. Dr. Bachhoffner on - the electric light, Dr. Ryan, on chemistry, and a new series of dis solving views in Mexico, cannot fail to attract crowds every day. MADAME TUSSAUD'S. The indefatigable Madame Tussaud has lost no time in adding Prince Louis Napoleon to her collec tion of notabilities. The likeness is life-like, and the Prince seems to be the observed of all observers. BURFORD'S PANORAMA. The panoramas of Vienna and Paris are crowded every day, and the new panorama of Pompeii bids fair to rival them in popularity. As works of art these panoramas are beautiful exceedingly. COURT CIRCULAR. WINDSOR, MONDAY. Her Majesty and his Royal Highness took their accustomed early walk this morning; and the Prince of Wales and the Royal Children walked in the Home Park. The Queen and Prince, and the Ladies and Gen tlemen of the Royal Household attended Divine ser vice, at eleven o'clock, in the private chapel in the Castle. The Hon. and Rev. C. L. Courtenay per formed the service, and a d m i n i stere d th e Holy Sacrament. The Royal dinner party this day is expected to in clude her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent and her Ladies in Waiting, Viscount Canning, the Baron Stockmar, Mr. and the Hon. Mrs. Anson, Colonel and the Hon. Mrs. Phipps, the Hon. and Rev. C. L. Courtenay, Mr. Glover, an d: Dr. Meyer. REMARKABLE INCIDENTS CON NECTD WITH THE LIFE OF THE LATE CHARLES THE TENTH, KING OF THE FRENCH. We understand that there is now in London an English officer of high rank in the British army, who is stated to have been an eye-witness to some most re markable passages in the life of the above monarch, and which falling to the lot of one individual to see, may be considered as most remarkable. The officer in question, whom we then have under stood to have been an officer in the Royal Regiment of Artillery, was stationed at Edinburgh Castle about the year 1797 or 1798, at the time when Charles the Tenth was then under the title of the Count d'Ar tois, in the Royal Sanctuary of Holyrood House, and was frequently with the Count s and on terms of the greatest intimacy with the latter. After a series of years the Count was called upon to fill the throne of his ancestors in France, at the time the above officer happened to be in that country, and who saw the monarch crowned at Rheims, and afterwards saw him enter Paris in triumph and installed in the Palace of the Tuilleries. At the period of the Revolution of July, 1830, the above officer happened to be in Paris, and was a wit ness to the events of that eventful time, while Charl e s the Tenth was at the Palace of St. Cleud, and from which he was driven by a body of men, we believe under the orders of General TIP], w h o f orce d the monarch to fly to the port of Cher bourg, where he embarked for England, and soon afterwards found an asylum in his former residence of Holyrood House. By a singular coincidence of events, the officer alluded. to happened to be in Edinburgh at the same time, and visited the ex-King of the French, and in the same identical rooms of the palace where he had seen the monarch a period of nearly half a century before as the Count d'Artois. It is a fact not generally known, that the people of Paris on getting the better of the royal troops, never reflected for one moment what flag or colours they were to adopt, but oae of the insurgents, or whatever they may be called, mounting to the top of the turret of the Tuilleries, where the white flag of the Bourbons was flying in order to tear it down, found in the corner of the forest a bundle of rags, as he conceived, tied up in a string, and which on open ing, he found to be a tricoloured flag, which was no doubt left there in the time of the Emperor Napoleon, and which the insurgent thought he might as well hoist up in the place of the white flag he had torn down. Ile did so, and the city of Paris saw with amazement the flag of the Republic floating on the summit of the palace of the Bourbons as if by en chantment, and Louis Philippe saw himself installed , as Lieutenant-General of the Kingdom and then as Citizen-King of the French, under the Republican, or, more properly speaking, the Imperial flag, which Nvas thus so singularly adopted, and which remains to "t'hi's hour the flag of revolutionary France. The last shot fired by the troops of Charles the Tenth, on quitting the city of Paris to follow the DECEMBER 26, 1848. fortunes of the dethroned Monarch, was from a brass gun, a twelve-pounder, and which struck one of the columns of the right hand side of the entrance to the Tuilleries from the garden, and the shot was picked up and said to have been preserved by the citizens, and recorded as the parting gift of Charles the Tenth to his subf,ects, FIRES IN THE METROPOLIS. Yesterday, between the hours of one and two, a fire that did considerable damage broke out in the premises belonging to Mr. S. C. Chapman, a plumber, painter, and glazier, known as Seymour House, No. 38, Sey mour-street, Euston• square. It was discovered by the police-constable on the beat, and an instant alarm was raised. In a very brief period the engines of the parish, North• Western Railway Company, London Brigade, and West of England Fire-offices arrived, and there being an abundant supply of water, the two first-named engines were set to work, but not knowing the exact seat of the fire, the branches from the machines were placed through the upper windows, which was the means of severely injuring the upper portion of the house and its contents, whilst the fire was raging below. At length, however, the water was scattered in the right quarter, and the Nimes were speedily extin guished, but not until every article in the front warehouse was much burned. The owners of the premises were from home at the time of the outbreak, having left about ten minutes previously.— Whilst the firemen were engaged at this 6re, information was conveyed to them that another had broken out in the parcels office of the North-Western Railway, in Whittenley-street. Various engines having been dis patched to the spot, the fireman found that some sul phur had become ignited, and fired the partition in the offices, but the damage done was inconsiderable, al though the alarm was very great.—About half-past eleven o'clock yesterday morning a fire, which, had it not been opportunely discovered, might hav e been at tended with serious consequences, broke outin the first floor of the premises belonging to Messrs. Newton and Co., the advertising agents, in Warwick-square, Newgate-street. It was caused through making a large fire in the drawing-room store, which set the timbers under the hearth in flames. The firemen, by ripping up the hearth and bond timbers, succeeded in getting the fire out,—About the same hour a fire broke out in High-street, Poplar, to which the fire-engines were called. but owing to the timely aid afforded, the damage done was confined to the destruction of some furniture, &e.—At a late hour on Christmas-eve a fire occurred at No. 6, St. Martin's court, Ludgate-hill, in the occupation of Mr. Wise, fish monger. It was caused from a defect in the flue of the next house, which set the landing stairs on the second floor in flames; the firemen were unable to get the fire extinguished until the flooring, joists, and part of the stairs, and the landing and ceiling below were cut away. —About half-past eight, A,N., a distressing accident happened by fire at 15, Clare-court, Drury-lane, which it is feared will terminate fatally. A girl, sixteen years of age, named Fanny Turner, by some means not clearly ascertained set her dress in flames, and in order to ob tain assistance she ran from the first floor into the shop with the fire raging round her. As speedily as possible the fire was got out, but not until the poor girl was frightfully burned. She was removed to King's College Hospital without hopes of recovery. Last night, shortly before eight o'clock, a fire, attended with a serious destruction of property, broke out upon the premises belonging to lir. Plummer, a coal sealer and timber merchant, situate at 100, Great Dover-road, Southwark. The premises, which were four stories high, extended backwards a considerable distance, the back portion being filled with piles of timber. The dis covery was made and alarm given by Sergeant Hay of the M division. The flames soon shot through the various windows, and extended almost over the road in one immense body; at the same time they ascended so high that the metropolis was completely illuminated. So strong was the reflection, that multitudes of spec tators lined the various bridges to witness the progress of the flames. Wi t h a ll poss ibl e expedi tion the engines of the London Brigade, with Mr. Superintendent Braidwood and Mr. Henderson arrived as well as the West of England engine. At that period the whole of the timber in the open yard, as well as the front premises, were enveloped' in one broad sheet of flame, and the noise occasioned by the combus tion of the wood was like the discharge of sundry fire arms. Fortunately there was an immediate and an abundant supply of water, furnished by the Lambeth Company, from which the several engines were set to work, but, in spite of the most strenuous exertions, the fire continued to spread, and it was not extinguished until the whole of Mr. Pluturner's extensive premises were gutted, the bare walls only remaining. Besides which the adjoining premises of Mr. Penny, trimming seller, aro extensively damaged, the roof being burnt off. The loss is considerable, and at present it is unknown whether the Isufferers were insured. Owing to the ab sence of all parties connected with the premises of Mr. Plummer, fears were at one time entertained that the inmates had been burnt to death, but, from the exami nation made by the firemen, there is every reason to believe that no one was in the place when the disaster commenced. THE LATE MYSTERIOUS SUICIDE OF A DRUGGIST'S ASSISTANT. (From the Chemical Times.) It is surely a most unusual contingency, that at this time, and in this metropolis, the task should devolve upon us, alone, of commenting upon, nay, of even announcing to the public ear, the occurrence of a case of self-poisoning under cir - _ • •. C?. r an. araltiO of no little suspicion. Notwithstanding the prevalence of the crime of poisoning in England for several years—the public has not yet been so accustomed to these matters that a case of self-murder, occurring in the west of Lon don, should, under the ordinary working of circum stances, furnish no matter for comment in the daily journals of the metropolitan press. Yet such a case has occurred, and the journals have been silent, for which silence rumour is not slow to find a cause. The circumstances of the case, we understand, are these :—The principal assistant in the firm of one of the fashionable dispensing druggists of this metropolis had been guilty of irregular enHes into the day boek of his principal :—Entrie which led to the suspicion that a misappropriatio of money had, from time to time, been effected. With the view of determining this question, the assistant was called to account; his answers not being satisfactory, the son of the principal immediately proceeded to the young man's securities, to bring the case before them. TO this mission the principal himself was averse, but the son persisted. On his return the assistant was dead ; he had taken nearly an ounce of hydrocyanic acid ! Thus far we do not challenge any one portion of g s u r l o t u d a sv leaves r e t s n t e n r l% tli n sus p i c o i o u n r , c a h n a d l l e the e s a i d s rei in demeanour o f th e i p r i nc ip a l. H e h a d strong inference. ing a another direction, involving the t . ques ion why the whole matter was veiled in such imperturbable secrecy ? In the absence of the open intelligence to which the public has a right in all cases of serious import like the one before us, we are under the neces sity of publishing a rumour, one which seems, how ever, to come before us in a most consistent shape. It is asserted that the unfortunate suicide in ques tion—a married man, and a father of many children —had been, up to a certain period, in the receipt of a salary usual to gentlemen filling the responsible position of first dispenser in a large metropolitan establishment—a salary of 2501. per annum. At this period, in an evil hour, some difference occurred be tween the principal and himself, which led to his receiving notice to leave. To the assistant, a man with wife and family, this prospect of leaving shadowed forth such scenes of penury and distress that he determined to make a most abject apology rather than subject himself to this fate. The apology was made (so goes the tale) and accepted, but with the cruel stipulation that the future salary should be cut down to 601. ! We trust, for the sake of humanity, this state meut is not true,—that the publicity which we have given to it will lead to such a disclaimer from a responsible source, as shall silence the injurious rumour at once. Whatever be the true explanation of the mystery in which the case has been veiled, the prin cipal of the firm in question will, if the true spirit of our remarks be properly appreciated, owe us a meed of thanks for thus enabling him to correct. a state ment which, far from passing current in a few obscure cliques of his own circle, was :the theme of specula tion—nay, of adverse comment, at the metropolitan head-quarters of pharmacy—the Pharmaceutical So ciety, at their last reunion. True or false, the rumour prompts us to comment on a subject of painful notoriety, involving the misery, we may say the destitution, of thousands of deserving young men—nay, young is a designation far too li mited to embrace the painful fact. Men of all ages, gentlemen always by education, oftener by other claims—from the youth of sixteen, brimful of hope, of energy, of enthusiasm, ;to whom the future is an El Dorado, a bright Atlantis teeming with unreal things—to the quondam principal of an establish ment in earlier days: gentlemen from boyhood al most to the verge of old age, we are sorry to say, may be found occupying the position of druggists or surg eons' assistants ; and what is their pay'? Will the general public credit the monstrous-looking assertion, that such gentlemen—men whose duties involve no less a responsibility than the guardianship of human life—whose position requires the mainte nance of a gentlemanly exterior—whose avocations render this a matter of greater than ordinary expense, receive, in many cases, a paltry stipend of 151. a year ? Yet such is the fact, as thousands of gentle men could at this moment testify. Surely a state of bondage like this is teo crying an injustice to be much longer borne without universal and public re monstrance. This remonstrance, however, should emanate from the assistants themselves ; who, instead of frittering away their indignation by solitary plaints or useless individual wailings, should unite in a body for the purpose of representing to the medical and pharmaceutical professions the systematic and dan gerous injustice to which, as a body, the assistants hare too long been exposed. " Aide toi et Dieu t'aidera " should be their motto. From their own remonstrance alone—powerful, though temperate, de cisive, though not factious, will any amelioration be achieved. It rr NAVAL INTELLIGENCE. It is reported that the battalion of Royal Marines, tinder Lieut. Colonel Willes, now lying off Waterford in the Radamanthus and Albion steam-transports, 400 strong, is shortly to be broken up, and the officers and men are to return to their respective divisions. The Ganges, $4, Captain Henry Smith, C. 8., arrived at Cork on Thursday, at 9 A.m., after a voyage of just seven days, from the Nore. She is now alongside the Crocodile, receiving ship, but she is to moor off Spike Island, at the outer anchorage. The Cambridge, 78, having been completed in her re pairs at Devonport, has been towed to her moorings. It appears that the chief cause of the return of the Amazon, 26, Captain E. N. Troubridge, was that she had several cases of small-pox on board amongst her crew. All the patients ware sent on shore to the Royal Naval Hospital at Shoreham. She also reported some defects, but the Commander-in• Chief, Admiral Sir W. 11. Gage, G.C.H., did not at all conceal his surprise at the Amazon putting back, frightened at such trifles as tbo right arm and left hand of the figure head being washed away, a little of the gammoning of the bowsprit gone, the head of her mizen trysail mast sprung, or a slight defect in the chain pump. A few dockyard artificers were sent off to the Amazon, in Plymouth Sound, on Saturday, and materials for snaking good the slight de fects by the crew of the ship were also sent off, and she sailed again on Saturday evening. .As it came on to blow strong from the S.E. there is no likelihood of having her back again. The Harlequin, 16, Captain Moore, arrived at Gibral tar on the 9th instant from Alicant, and left on the 19th for Lisbon, to relieve the Racer, 12, Lieut. Commander Bacon, order to Bacon. • The Apollo troop ship, Commander Littlohales, com missioned at Deronport, is to hare a complement of 118, as she formerly.had. The Driver, 6, steam•sloop, Commander Johnstone, arrived at Plymouth Sound on Sunday, from Ports mouth, haring sailed down Channel for the relief of the wind-bound, The Netley tender hes returned to Deronport, from Portsmouth. In Hamosze in commission are the San Josef, flag ship of the Port Admiral, Captain Sir Thomas Mait land, C. 8.; Agincourt, flag-ship of the Roar-Admiral Superintendent, Captain W. B. Mends; Caledonia, 120, Captain Carter; Express, 6, packet brig; Sylph, Netley, and Natant), tenders; and Confiance steam-vessel. PROMOTIONS. Mates—George A. Pidcock (1547), and R. Dawkins (1847), to the rank of Lieutenant. APPOINTMENTS. Master's-Attendant—John Macdonald, master (1839). late of her Majesty's steam-yacht, to Portsmouth Dock yard. Mates—C. Fairholme, to the Victory flagship at Portsmouth; E. M. W. Carrington, to the Penelope, Commodore Hotham's ship, on the coast of Africa; J. W, D, M'Donald, to the Excellent gunnery ship at Portsmouth, COURT -MARTIAL—A Court-martial is ordered to sit to-morrow on board her Majesty's ship Victory, in Portsmouth harbour, for the trial of John Crashaw Bailey, Esq., Lieutenant R.N., commanding her Ma jesty's steam-vessel Sharpshooter, for having run that ship on shore on the Brighton coast, on Thursday, the 14th instant. ROYAL MARINES.—Messrs. Ambrose Wolrige and Douse to be second-lieutenants, and appointed to the Chatham division. The following cadets, in the Excel lent, have passed for commissions in the corps:—Mr. T. G. J. Meheux, M. H. Graham, W. T. Savary, George Gill, George Brydges. The following officers, studying in the Naval College, have qualified to join the Marine Artillery Companies I—Lieutenants H. B. Roberts, E. R. Horsey, N. Macnamara, and E. H. Cox. Letters from China mention the deaths of Lieutenant Quin, of the Medusa steam•sloop, and John Beal, Esq., paymaster and purser of her Majesty's ship Cambrian. PoRTSMOUTM, Dxc. 25.—1 t appears that some of the worst cases in the Hashemy convict-ship were not re moved to the Menelaus before to-day. A small party of shipwrights, and another of sailmakers, were ordered into the dockyard this morning to fit a temporary awn ing to one of the spare boats for their accommodation, and she has been towed to the Motherbaak since by the Echo steam-tug. Three deaths have taken place among the cholera patients since yesterday. The Bloodhound steam-vessel, Lieutenant-Command ing Robert Phillips, which arrived yesterday from Ire land, came into harbour this morning. She is to be paid off all standing, and will be perfectly prepared for that process as soon as her pay-books, which have been transmitted to the Admiralty, are returned from London. The Doterel, one of the steam mail-boats recently employed at Holyhead, Lieutenant-Commander E. Wylde, arrived to-day on her way to the eastward, to be paid off, and came into harbour to obtain fuel. Wind, south; fresh breams and hazy weather, with rain. PLYMOUTH, Drc. 23. —Her Majesty's ship Penguin, 6, Lieutenant-Commander William Swainson, was towed down harbour to-day by the Confiance steam•tug, and sailed for Falmouth. - At two o'clock this afternoon the general quarterly muster of the officers and artizans of the dockyard took place under the inspection of Admiral-Superintendent Sir John Louis. _ This morning the surgeon of the yard examined the following men preparatory for superannuation, viz., 16 shipwrights, 2 joiners, 3 ropemakers, 1 locksmith, 1 millwright, and 1 labourer. The merchant vessel Olgar, Captain Reay, fifty days from Quebec, with timber from Sunderland, came in to-day. Wind, S.E., blowing strong. GENERAL ORDERS OP THE COMMISSIONERS or EXCISE FOR THE REGULATION OF TUE SERVICE.— The following orders by the Commissioners of Excise were issued on Saturday:—" With the view of ensuring educated men for the surveying branch of the depart ment, it is ordered—That the candidate be required to write well, to understand the first four rules of vulgar and decimal arithmetic, and book-keeping by double entry. That he write fluently and correctly from dic tation, so that his handwriting, spelling, punctuation, and general fitness may thus be subjected to an addi tional test. That the age of the candidate must not exceed 25, nor be less than 19 years, and ho must at the period of his entering the service be unmarried and without family. That the examination may be impar tial and uniform, it shall be conducted by persons of experience ; and the candidates, if more than one, shall go through the examination in each other's presence. Previously to examination, the age and handwriting and qualifications of the candidate shall be reported on by a supervisor. On these being approved, an order shall issue, directing him to attend at the chief office, or on the collector, :at such time and place as shall be appointed. The examin ing committee in London shall consist of two surveying general examiners, the Accountant-General, and one of the secretaries or correspondents, as may from time to time be decided on by the Board. The examining com mittee in the country shall consist of the collector, a supervisor, and the collector's clerk. The candidates shall be required to write a sentence from dictation, and to set down, also from dictation, and work out sums in common arithmetic, in decimals, and in vulgar fractions, and shall be examined in book-keeping. The identical papers so written shall be transmitted to the Board, signed by every ono present at the performance; and annexed to them a report, by the examining committee in London or collector in the country, stating their opinion of the talents and attainments of each can didate. On his performances being approved by the Board he shall be placed under the instructions of an officer selected for this duty ; and after he has surveyed for a period of at least six weeks, and the instructing officer considers him qualified, the supervisor shall survey with and examine the pupil ; and, if deemed competent, he and the officer shall certify the same to the committee or the collector, who, on being satisfied as to the quali fications of the pupil, shall forthwith endorse and trans mit the certificate to the Board. Should ho not be so qualified, or be deficient in any other respect, the collec tor shall direct him to be further instructed, or shall report specially to the Board. One or more officers of intelligence and general good conduct shall be selected, under the sanction of the Board, by the surveying general examiners in London, and by the collectors in the country, for the very important duty of instruatiog pupils, and, if practicable, one such officer shall be in the residence of the collector. Supervisors, on each visit to stations wherein a pupil is under instructions, shall examine his performances, and observe his general conduct, for the purpose of ascertaining his progress, sad giving him any needful assistance, amounting for hie duty in their diaries, and adding their remarks. The surveying general, examiners, and collectors shall also avail themselves of every opportunity of examining the performance of the pupils, so as to make themselves ac quainted with their conduct and proficiency, reporting to the Board as occasion requires.—By order of the Board, George Ballard, Excise-office, London." We have prepared, but are forced by the pressure of advertisements to defer, a report of the meeting, con sisting of numerous most respectable inhabitants of the populous Plymouth neighbourhood, which on Tuesday , last, at the Royal Hotel, adopted unanim ous i n their I earnestness, a resolute protest against the Tractarian superstitition which, under the patronage of Bishop Phillpotts, corrupts the religion of the people, paralyses the efforts of the friends of true edu cat i on, and tends t: make the Church an instrument of üblc instructiondebasin g i and en slaving men, instead of the org an of p which it is in theory design e d t o b e. This in., of great importance; it m us t b e a precursor of meeting ni m o g ve l ! ment for ecclesiastical r e f orm , now for the first time taking its definite aim and attitude, such as England has not seen for centuries —not since the reformation, which incomplete and interrupted as it was by the retrograde influence of the Stuart dynasty, has done but half its work; leaving abuse andthe foul r emnan ts of fraudulent mystical a bsurdities to be cleared away by the daylight of the ninteenth century. We cannot now pursue the subject, but will enter into it next week. The meeting was presided over by Colonel Dunsterville; it was addressed by Mr. J. N. Bennett (who admirably re viewed the recent history of Tractarianism), by Dr. Bellamy, Mr. Little, Mr. Soltau, Mr. Greaves, Mr. El worthy, Admiral Thomas, and others. A memorial to the Archbishop was adopted; and a resolution passed, to the effect that the Tractarian evil " receives encou ragetnvit from the Lord Bishop." The cases of the Rev. tames Shore and the Rev. Mr. Gorham were re ferrlid to; the meeting had a comprehensive scope, and was not confined to any personal or local transactions.— Wartern Times. A SRA..SERPENT ON A SMALL SCALE.—A monster eel was caught on Friday last at Kersock Ferry. It was seen by one of the men swimming slowly in the shallow water at the wooden jetty. A boathook was imme diately procured, -and a lucky blow on the head stunned the monster. It was then transfixed and hauled ashore, when it was found to measure five feet in length and four teen inches round the thickest part.—lnverness Courier. INTERVENTION OF THE RUSSIAN AND TURKISH ARMIES IN THE DANUBIAN PRINCIPALITIES. TO THE EDITOR OF THE MORNING HERALD. Sir,—On the 11th of June last the Wallachians made a revolution—or rather, they modified their fundamental laws, for the revolution was effected entirely by pacific means. The reigning Prince accepted the new constitu tion, and then abdicated. Shortly after, the Turkish plenipotentiary, Soleyman Pacha, recognised, in the name of the Sultan, the new Government; and his ex ample was followedby the representatives of the different European powers residing at Bucharest. Soleyman Pacha likewise recognised the new constitution which the Wallachians had just established, after having sug gested some trifling modifications in it. Subsequently, at a moment when all the functions of the Wallachian Go vernment were being exercised with the greatest regu larity, and when the country was enjoying a state of per fect tranquillity, a Turkish army presented itself before the gates of Bucharest, professing to be actuated by an amicable spirit and to have been sent thither merely to deprive Russia of every pretext for an intervention, and to prevent her from marching troops into Wallachia. Confiding in the word of the Turks, 100,000 of the in habitants went out on the 25th of September. unarmed, in festive garments and with the clergy at their head, to meet and welcome this army. Fuad Effendi, the com mander of this army, then invited - the Wallachians to send a deputation to his camp to receive his instructions. No sooner did the deputation, acting in accordance with this order, present themselves before him, than they were made prisoners (the most eminent among them were afterwards, during a whole month, dragged from prison to prison by order of the Russian commissary, General Duhamel, and have only lately effected their escape), and at the same time Fuad Effendi's army precip • itated itself in a forced march upon Bucharest, trampling down under the hoofs of the cavalry the peaceful inhabitants who had gone out to meet the Turks as friends, tearing down their banners, deb'troying their crosses, bombarding a military barrack it encoun tered on its passage, as well as a whole quarter of the town, shooting down with grape-shot the few Walla °hien soldiers who occupied the barracks, having first induced them to capitulate and to lay down their arms, putting to death the sick, and having reached the town, giving itself up to pillage, massacres, and other horrible deeds, the equal of which might be sought for in vain in the darkest pages of the annals of history. It is true the inhabitants of Bucharest might perhaps easily have routed the 16,000 Turks who committed these outrages, for a single company of the Wallachian fire-brigade (pompiers), which was advancing towards the barracks, finding itself suddenly surrounded by the Turks, and fired upon with grape-shot, without having pre viously been called upon to surrender, defended itself heroically, slew 400 Turks, and captured two pieces of cannon. But in the first place the Wallachians thought that the Turks were their friends, and in the second they abstained from all resistance in order to deprive Russia of every pretext for an intervention. They were unfortunately doubly mistaken. W have just seen what were the proceedings of the Turks, whose movements were, it must be con fessed, directed by the Russian commissary, General Duhamel, who was present in the Turkish camp, while on the morrow of the entry of the Turks into the city of Bucharest, a proclamation of General Luders an nounced the violation of the Wallachian territory by the Russian troops. The latter rivalled the Turks in bar barism; they respected nothing along their passage ; everywhere they arrested the public functionaries, and dragged them after the army bare-footed and loaded with chains; they devastated the fields, carried of whole herds of cattle, took possession of all provisions and other moveables which they found on their way, and then, as if they had been in a conquered country, they sold their booty at public auction in the market places. When they arrived at the principal towns of the departments, they laid hands on the money contained in the Govern ment coffers, in order, they said, to defray the expenses of the army ; but the superior officers pocketed the money, and then levied contributions in kind from the inhabitants. The resources of the country having by these means been entirely exhausted within the space of a few days, the Turkish Government observed to the Russian that the principalities were entirely exhausted; that they were menaced with a general famine, and that the Emperor Nicholas ought to follow the example of the Sultan, and himself defray the expenses of his troops. Hereupon the Czar, in order to have a new hold upon the principalities, immediately opened a credit for them on the Imperial Treasury at St. Petersburgh, and forced them to draw from thence the money required for the support of a foreign and inimical army, which was held in readiness in the country to march upon Ger many, Italy, or Constantinople, as circumstances should require. The Russian and Turkish commissaries, to gether with Constantine Cantacuzene (a man who had been gained by Russia; and who, as a matter of form, was nominated lieutenant of the Prince) were installed in the place of the Government; a pacha was nominated military commandant of the city of Bucharest; all honest men were disarmed or proscribed as persons of suspicious character; an iron yoke was laid on the shoulders of the Wallachians; all their liberties were taken from them, and terror spread its deadening influence throughout the country. One man alone—General Maguero—the com mander of the irregular troops, who had withdrawn to the foot of the mountains with a force of about 20,000 men, was still in arms, and protested against these mon strous proceedings. But he also, by the persuasions of the British Consul-General, who represented to him that the presence of his army paralysed the action of diplo macy, which %%:99 1 4, tfiglef 111 . V fifiß3 ) , l lintilidiN ; beyond the Carpathian Mountains. We have only very cursorily recapitulated the melan choly and terrible events of which Wallachia has been and is still the theatre, for the pen refuses to d well in detail upon the cowardly barbarism of the Turks, and the still more infamous deeds of the Russians, who pushed on the former to commit the excesses perpe trated by them, and afterwards surpassed them in every act of cruelty and injustice. Turkey is already sinking under the weight of her crime ; her sentence was pro nounced on the very day when she presented to the world that hideous spectacle of a barbarism unworthy even of the darkest ages ; from that day forward civili zation must hold the Turks in abhorrence, must repulse them from her domains. Were the Porte to call to an ac count Fuad Effendi, who, whether from cowardice or from treasonable motives, allowed himself to be the instrument of all these cruelties—to award a full and entire amnesty to the Wallachians who have been proscribed because they have been will ing to sacrifice their fortunes, and even their lives, in order to establish more firmly the Ottoman empire, and who had been promised impunity—to exempt the principalities for some years from the pay ment of the annual tribute, in order to leave the country time to recover from the deep wounds inflicted upon it— to recognise and to respect their right of national sove reignty and self-government, and protect them effica ciously against the designs of Russia—even all these tardy. but just measures of reparation would not now, perhaps, suffice to wash out the crimes of the Turkish Government, and to reconquer for it the affection of the two principalities and the esteem of Europe. As for Russia, the hour of justice for her is also nigh at hand, fur crime never remains unpunished. But let us now disengage the question from these me lancholy and sudden changes of fortune, and merely turn our attention to the fact of the intervention of the Turkish and Russian armies in the Danubian principa lities, which is in itself so monstrous, so flagrant a viola tion of the law of nations, as no treaties recognise the right of these powers to take such a step. This inter vention is the more inexplicable, as nothing had oc curred to give the least colouring of a pretext for it. The Wallachians, in modifying their constitution, simply availed themselves of the right of autonomy, which they have repeatedly, on former occasions, exercised in their national assemblies, and which has been ensured to them by their capitulations with the Turks; capitulations recognised, and constantly in voked, by Russia herself. Besides the revolution had been consummated more than three months previous to the intervention ' • perfect tranquillity reigned in th e principalities, and the new Government had already been recognised by Turkey and the other European powers. But we need sot discuss the question of right, for the Russians were fully aware, when they crossed the fron tiers of Moldavia and Wallachia, that they were violat ing a neutral territory, and, as a proof of this, we will only mention their previous endeavours to prevail upon the Bayards to call them in, so that they might obtain a pre T te h x is t a fo tt r em th p e t irin having asi on. failed, they at first timidly c r osse d the Prutb, then retir e d again , r gning themselves during three month s t o allow the_ Wallachian esi revolution to pursue its paci fi c course, and it is only very lately that they have ventured to recommence their endeavours to crush it. Russia did not venture boldly upon this step before she observed, on the one aide, that her mani festoes, her threats, her pressure upon the Divan, not only did not encounter any opposition from the other Cabinets of Earope; but that the foreign ambassadors at Constantinople remained deaf to the cries of the Wallachians and to the representations of the Porte. Sho then conceived, and unfortunately with too much reason, that everything would be permitted to her, and that she would nut be called to an account for our acts of aggression. As for the Turks they have foolishly fallen into the snare which they knew was spread for them, and which they regret not having been able to avoid. They confess that they only intervened in the hope of preventing Russian intervention; they aro even willing to withdraw from the principalities, but the Russians oppose this, as it would force them to do the same. The Divan even openly avows that it would publicly protest against the entry of the Russians into Meldo-Wallachia were it but sure of the support of ono only of the great Powers. The aggression of Russia, however revolting, is not surprising to those who are acquainted with the Russian policy; we should, on the contrary, be more surprised had she, from any scruples as to legality, abstained from taking possession of so important a stategetical position as that afforded by the Danubian principalities. It is the attitude of Great Britain which astonishes ns. For is it not astonishing that, in the face of circumstances of such gravity and such importance, she should have shown so little sympathy for the oppressed, and that, on the other hand, she should have carried her deference for the oppressors to such lengths as to be suspected in the East of being the accomplice of Russia; that, in a question of so much importance, and in which she could be sure in advance of having almost the whole of Europe on her side, she should not have taken the first step; in a word, that she should not have taken up that position at Constantinople which oven the Porte invited her to adopt, and which all the other powers were forced to abandon on account of th e revolutions an d counter-revo lutions which succeeded each other every fortnight in their dominions? A WALLACLUAN. F 3