The Sun. — London, England, 1866-03-22 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE. EVESHAM AND REDDITCH. The half-yearly general meeting was held yester day at the offices, Great George-street, Westminster; Mr. Wagstaff in the chair. The report stated the works were now progressing very favourably, and it was expected that 10 miles of the line, from Evesham to Alcester, would be opened by the end of May, and the remaining length in about a year and a half from that date. It was stated that the whole of the capital had been sub scribed, and one-half paid up. The report was adopted, and a resolution passed authorising the directors to borrow on mortgage a sum not exceed ing £49,600. Mr. Brassey, jun., was re elected a director, and Mr. Ballard in the place of Mr. Boni ford, and Mr. G. Bird a nd Mr. S. Green, auditors. The special meeting was postponed to the 30th of April, the agreement with the Midland Railway Company not being ready. SCINDE. The report of the directors states that thAraffic on the line had recently considerabi y improved. During one week in December the receipts reached I £2,806, being lar g el y rea li s ed in An in excess of the highest amount y previous week since the opening of the line. Large quantities of cotton had been con veyed over the line during the months of October, November, and December, averaging 408,0001 b per week. The capabilities of Scinde for the growth of cotton waa very great, and it was estimated that 3,500,00 0 acres of land in the province were avail able for that purpose. It was stated by the acting agent of the railway that in the Hydrabad Collec torate alone the quantity of cotton awaiting export amounted to about 3,000 tons. The total traffic receipts on the railway from the 13th of May, 1861, to the 31st December, 1865, amounted to £67,790 for passengers, and to /290,953 for goods, &c. ; total, £358,743. The total traffic receipts in the year 1862 amounted to £62,837, in 1863 to £100,463, in 1864 to £94,544, and in 1865 to £81,539. During the half-year ending the 30th June, 1865, the gross receipts amounted to £38,825, and for the half-year ending the 31st December last to £42,714. The average receipts per mile of railway during the entire year amounted to £l4 18s, Bd. per week, and the receipts per train mile were ss.- lid. The number of passengers carried during .the year was 111,180, as against 100,724 in the pre vious year, and the traffic was conducted without accident. At Joongshaie and other stations im proved accommodation had been provided for the comfort of passengers. With regard to the survey of the Indus Valley line, the staff were at present employed in rendering the result cf their operations on the left bank permanently available. The re venue accounts for the half-years ending the 31st of December, 1864, and the 30th of June, had not yet received the final approval of the Government. The sum of £1,999,339 had been received on capital account, and £1,747,629 expended. The interest paid to proprietors amounted in the aggregate to £530,965. The receipts of the Indus steam flotilla since the first steamer commenced running in 1862 amounted to £264,362, the working expenses to £186,613, and the net receipts to £77,748. The net receipts were subject to a deduction of 77 per cent. per annum on the estimated cost of the work ing fleet for the formation of insurance and depre ciation funds. The steamers and barges now being built for the company by Messrs. Laird, Napier, and Samuda would shortly be despatched to India. The expenditure on capital account in the construc tion of the company's fleet had been £439,069. PUNJAB. The report of the directors states that the traffic receipts had considerably increased. During the half-year ending December 31 last the average weekly receipts amounted to £1,446, or about £3OO per week more than was realised during the portion of the preceding half-year, in which the line was open throughout. The receipts per train mile were about 4s. Bd. The traffic receipts for the half-year ending December 31, 1864, on 45 miles open, amounted to £8,730 ; ending June 30, 1865, on 123 miles, to £16,521 ; and ending December 31 last, on 253 miles, to £37,605. Since the close of the year a great increase of traffic had taken place. The receipts at three stations alone, Umritsur, La hore, and Raiwind had in the month of January ex ceeded £5,800, and the goods traffic at those and at some of the smaller stations had increased to such an extent as to rendei it necessary to double the ' ordinary train service and to run special trains. The capital account showed that £2,063,647 had been expended. DELHI (UMRITSUR TO DELHI). The directors' report states that the works were now so far advanced that there was every probabi lity that the first section of the line from Delhi or Ghazeeabad, the point of junction with the East Indian Railway, to Meerut, a distance of about 30 miles, would be ready for traffic before the end of the present year, and that a further portion from Meerut to Moozuffernuggur, 30 miles, would be completed by May 1, 1867, in time for the summer traffic to the hills. The district traversed by those two sections, extending 60 miles, was thickly peopled, the soil being rich and highly cultivated. From Moozuffernuggur to Sharunpore, a distance of 35 miles, the line would be ready for traffic in May, 1868, and thence to Loodianah, a further length of 120 miles, in May, 1869, or upwards of two-thirds of the entire distance from Delhi to Umritsur. It was believed that the line from Umritsur as far as the river Beas, a distance of 27 miles, would be completed about the close of this year. The capital account showed that £1,048,247 had been received and £328,223 expended. RAILWAY BILLS. In group 6, House of Commons, yesterday, the , following bills were heard :—The Central Cornwall, , which was proceeded with and adjourned ; the , Teign Valley, to raise £150,000 by shares and £50,000 by loan, to make a railway of seven miles 36 chains in length, from Doddiscombsleigh to Exe ter, to lay down narrow gauge rails, was adjourned; . the preamble of the Kingsbridge, to raise £200,000 by shares and £66,000 by loan, to make two rail ways of three miles 30 chains and two miles 16 chains in length respectively, from West Alvington to Lod dieswell, was proved. In group 9 the preamble of the London and North Western (new lines) was proved ; the Macclesfield, Knutsford, and Warring ton was proceeded with and adjourned. In the case of the Wrexham, Mold, and Connah's Quay (new lines), to raise £25,000 by shares and £83,000 by loan, to make six railways 17 miles in length, the preamble was not proved. In the case of the Aberdare Valley and Caerphilly Junction the referees thought that the works were efficient for th e objects proposed. In the Cannock Chase Extension, the referees were of opinion that the engineering details were efficient and the estimate sufficient. In the case of the Midland (Ashby and Nuneaton) Bill the referees were of opinion that there was no objection in an engineering point of view to the work s Wolverhampton With respect to the the Aretervecerhampton (Hednesford i : o were of opinion that E C x an te n n o s c i k on l ) ii3agil3, (Branches, d e was sufficient. the estimate for the work s the Works Bill the In the case of the Midland referees were of opinion that were effi cient for the object proposed. In th e cas e of s io t s) le , Caledonian (G reenock and Gourock Extensions) Bill the referees were of opinion that th e works were effi c i en t and the estimate sufficient for the works proposed. In the Referees' Co urt A, the Huddersfield and Halifax Bill, to raise £300,000 in shares arid £lOO,OOO by loan, to make two railways of six miles 12 chains and 33 chains respectively, from Hudde rsfield to Halifax ; also to em over the London and North Western and the Midland Compa nie s to subscribe the each £lOO,OOO and guarantee te holders of shares in the Huddersfield and Hali fax Railway a fixed 5 per cent. preference dividend, was adjourned. The South Eastern and London, Chatham, and Dover (London, Lewes, and Brighton) Bill was also adjourned. The Presteign, Clun, and Bishop's Castle Bill to raise £275,000 in shares and £92,000 by loan, to make four railways 24 miles in length, was adjourned. In Court B the Bristol and Exeter (additional powers) Bill was passed. The Kings- bridge Bill was to be reported. The Wantage and Great Western Bill, to raise £25,000 by shares, and £8,300 by loan, to make a railway of two miles 25 chains in length, and a junction, was passed. The East Glocestershire Bill was also passed. The Lon don, Worcestershire, And South Wales Bill, to make two deviations of three miles 14 chains, and one mile 43 chains in length respectively, was passed. Naval and Military Intelligence. The large vacant dock at Chatham in which the I ironclad frigate Bellerophon was completed and equ ipped for sea is now being prepared for the re ception of the keel of the improved frigate Hercules, which is to be laid down and completed in the same dock. The heavy wooden caisson, which, like all other caissons of that material, is a constant source of expense, has undergone some necessary repairs in one of the vacant docks, in readiness for its being floated into its proper position as soon as the piling works at the dock entrance are complete. Although some delay has arisen in commencing the Hercules, yet the time thus gaiited has been turned to good account in the preparation of the large quantities of angle ani plate iron required in her construction. A number of the armour plates for the Hercules have also arrived from the contractors, Messrs. John Brown and Co., the Atlas Works, Sheffield, the two firms under contract with the Admialaity for manu facturing the armour for the new frigate. Her Majesty's screw gun vessel Sylvia, 4, was on Tuesday launched from her building slip in Woolwich dockyard. The Sylvia has been on the stocks since 1859, when she was set up in frame, and, like many ether ships then in progress, she was or dered to remain unfinished, and was set aside to give wayto the improved system introduced by Mr. Reed. She is now intended to be prepared for Bur -1 veying purposes, and is constructed on designs similar to those of the Nassau, launched last month at Pembroke yard. Her principal dimensions are as follows:—Length between perpendiculars, 185 ft. ; length of keel for tonnage, 165 ft. 71 in. ; breadth, extreme, 28ft. 4in.; breadth for tonnage, 28ft. lin. ; breadth moulded, 27ft. 6in. ; depth in hold, 14f t. ; burden in tons, old measurment, 694 66-94ths. The ceremony of christening the Sylvia was performed by Miss Monteith, a neice of the superintendent of the yard, Commodore Hugh Dunlop. The launch was witnessed by the numerous naval and military officers residing in the garrison and neighbourhood and their families and a large assemblage of visi tors, who were admitted without restriction. The launch took place at 4 o'clock precisely, after which the work of the yard totally ceased for the day, as usual at former launches. On Tuesday the depot of the 54th Regiment, which has been stationed at Colchester for more than eight years, left that camp for Gosport to await the arrival of the regiment from India. It is ex pected that the 11th Hussars will arrive at Col chester in the course of next week. The Royal ap proval has been given to the inclusion of the military stations of Norwich and Ipswich in the Colchester division ; the whole will be termed the Eastern dis trict. Col. M'Causland, Commandant of Royal Engineers, and the whole of the officers on leave from the Ist of January have rejoined their respec tive corps at‘ Colchester. Capt. A. J. Sykes, Ist Battalion 4th (King's Own) Regiment, has been ordered to proceed from Chatham to Bombay, to join the service companies ; Capt. J. Hawley, of the same regiment, has received orders to join the depot of his corps at Chatham garrison. The Gresham, East Indiaman, has been taken up by the Government for the conveyance of troops to China and Japan, and in accordance with orders received yesterday at Chatham garrison will embark at Gravesend on Saturday 37 non-commissioned officers and men of the 2d battalion of the 9th Regiment, together with one barrack-sergeant and wife, for Japan. The following officers will also embark in the Gresham, viz. --Capt. G.II. French and Ensign C. H. Shepherd, 2d battalion, 9th Regiment ; and Capt. A. N. Adams, 2d battalion, 20th Regiment. IRELAND. DUBLIN, March 21. Fenianism has done much evil and cost a great deal, but it has also elicited some good. It has fixed the more earnest attention of Parliament on the con dition of Ireland, and drawn closer and rendered more cordial and confiding the relations between the Irish gentry and the Executive. For some years there had been something very like disaffection in a large por tion of this class, and the way in which they ex pressed their feelings towards those who represented the Sovereign in this country was by no means calcu lated to induce the masses of the people to respect the authority of Government. We hear nothing of that kind now. On the contrary, warm expressions of approval and promises of co-operation are com ing in to the Lord-Lieutenant from all parts of the country. Yesterday the Lord-Lieutenant received deputa tions from two grand juries, one from Down, in the north, and the other from Kilkenny, in the south. The former consisted of Mr. J. Cleland, High She riff, Major Forde, M.P., D.L., Major Percival Maxwell, D.L., Major Nugent, D.L., and Mr. John Mulholland, D.L. His Excellency, accompanied by Mr. Edmond R. Woaehouse, private secretary, and the Hon. Captain Dormer and Mr. Campbell, aides de-camp in waiting, received the deputation in the Throne-room at the Castle. Mr. Cleland read an address, which stated that the grand jury desired to express their thanks for the firmness and rigour with which Lord Wodehouse has met and is repress ing " the treasonable conspiracy which, casting off all social and religious restraints, has threatened the property and the peace of this portion of her Majesty's dominions." They rejoice that he has obtained from the Legislature powers which, exer cised with energy and judgment, promise to prove equal to the protection of all classes of her Ma jesty's subjects in Ireland. From the well-known loyalty of their county, they have been spared the alarm and disturbance that have been felt else where ; but they express their determination to support the Executive in all measures that may be required to maintain the integrity of the kingdom, to preserve the peace of the country, to protect its institutions, and to uphold that supremacy of the law without which there can be neither prosperity nor progress. His Excellency read the following reply : " Mr. High Sheriff and Gentlemen,—As representative of our most gracious Queon, I sincerely thank you for your loyal address. The announcement of your determi nation, in common with similar influential bodies of gentle men, to support the Executive and maintain the supre macy of the law, cannot fail to strengthen the hands of those who are incrusted by her Majesty with the adminis tration of the country. It is a source of great satisfaction to me that you approve the course which has been taken by the Government to repress the treasonable conspiracy which has threatened to disturb the tranquillity of this portion of her Majesty's dominions. You may rely on my sparing no effort to afford protection and security to all classes of her Majesty's subjects." The deputation from Kilkenny consisted of Col. W. F. Tighe, D.L., J.P. ; the High Sheriff, Sir James Langrishe, D.L., J.P. ; Sir John Blunden, D.L., J.P. ; Sir •H. Marsh, D.L., J.P. ; and Mr. John de Montmorency, J.P. In their address they said : "Believing that an expression of grateful support ema nating from public bodies, who may be supposed to repre sent much of the prosperity and intelligence of the country, will be considered acceptable to your Excellency, and may tend to strengthen the hands of the Executive, we wish to record our approving sense of your official conduct under \ the circumstances of the present insane and criminal con aPtracY, which is creating much personal uneasiness, scaring az capital, and para l ys i ng tho best energ i es of the country. the cnonsPtittclirly first exhausted th e ex tr e m e r esou r ces of utfonal law ' your Excellency was compelled to apply to Parliament for an exceptional measure, and by the by carefully vigorous execution of the powers dangerous c) th m e r e y b os y uy c ma o rp n et fi o., d r e l a d , a t i nn o gd y t o bh u ye , Watching your demand for additional troops, fears and reassuring the loy a lt y of all well-disposed'y sub jects ; and we trust that a conti nuance of the same firm ness and vigilance may dispel the delusions of the seditious, and in time restore the confidence and tranquillity of Ire land. We have only to add our determination that no effort shall be wanting on our parts in aiding the ends of justice, and in maintaining the dignity of the Throne." Lord Wodehouse read a reply similar to the fore- going. It seems that Mrs. Stephens had no notion of THE SON, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING- 1 , MARCH 22, , 1866. going to America after all. The Cork Reporter states that the lady Head Centre of Ireland, who was reported to be on her way to America, came up to Cork on Sunday night by the 9 o'clock train to proceed to Dublin by the night mail. This change of destination will revive speculation as to the where abouts of the real Head Centre. Perhaps her obj ect was a diversion which would leave some part of the coast clear for her husband to escape to France. Yesterday morning the police arrested, at 3, Lower Bridge-street, as suspected Fenians, having no oc cupation and plenty of money, the following per sons :—Henry Cleary, labourer, from Holyhead ; John Flanagan, labourer, from England ; James Kearney, drover, from Liverpool ; and Thomas Flanagan, from England, no occupation. They were conveyed to Richmond Bridewell. In the County Carlow, Edward Noland, a farmer, has been arrested for harbouring the Fenian leader Morris; and two young men named Dawson and Bryan for using treasonable language in a publichouse. John Cunningham, charged with administering a Fenian oath to two private soldiers of the 58th Regi ment in Belfast, was acquitted by direction of Judge Fitzgerald, the case for the prosecution utterly breaking down ; but the prisoner was no sooner discharged from custody on this verdict than he was arrested under the provisions of the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act. The sentence of the general court-martial held on Gunner and Driver J. Flood, G Battery, 9th Brigade, Royal Artillery, for complicity with the Fenian conspiracy, has been promulgated. The Court sen tenced the prisoner to be marked with the letters " 8.C." (bad character), to be drummed out of the service, and to be imprisoned for a period of two years. On being drummed out the prisoner cheered loudly for the Fenian Brotherhood and for the Irish republic. He was then escorted to Richmond Bride well, where he is to undergo his imprisonment. SPORTING INTELLIGENCE. NORTHAMPTON AND PYTCHLEY HUNT RACES. WEDNESDAY. The second day of this meeting was far more enjoyable than its predecessor, for although there was a slight fall of snow in the early part of the morning the sun shone bril liantly by half-past 12, the time appointed for the firstrace. The programme was a very heavy one, no less than nine events being set for decision, and when this list contained such races as the Spencer Plate, the Althorp Park Stakes, St. Liz Handicap, and Northamptonshire Cup Stakes, it is needless to say an abundance of more than ordinary inte resting sport was witnessed during the afternoon. The attendance of the general public was greater than on the opening day, but the ring was not so largely patronised ; however the day's racing was quite as important as Tues day, notwithstanding the prestige gained by the North amptonshire Stakes. Racing commenced with the Racing Stakes, the Spencer Plate being set for 1.40, and by that time 22 of the 31. animals left iu were duly saddled and cantered down to the winning post. As is usually the case with this short spin, much time is wasted, and a deal of patience is required to effect an even start, and owing to the fractiousness of some of the animals, more than half an hour elapsed before they were despatched to one of the best starts ever witnessed. Vespasian, with Jemmy Grimshaw in the saddle, was conspicious from the start, and, when called upon nothing could live with him, and he won easily by a length and a half. The prestige of the Dan ebury stable produced a tremendously hot favourite in William Pitt as little as 5 to 1 being freely taken at one time ; but he was never formidable at any part of the race. The winner was backed by the followers of Mr. Chaplin, and they all landed good stakes, the general public also throwing in for the good thing The " rose jacket" followed up this great event by the success of Problem over Sister to Hippolyta, after one of the finest finishes possible to witness; and it was generally admitted that the victory was gained by the magnificent riding of Jemmy Grimshaw, who finished with remarkable patience and brilliancy. The Althorp Park Stakes, with 16 runners, was won by The Rake, one of the most compact and best-looking youngsters in the race. The remainder of the racing is sufficiently described be low, and beyond remarking that Raglan won the St. Liz Handicap very easily, wo can dismiss the subject without any further comment. We cannot take leave of North ampton without testifying to the great neglect of the London and North-Western Railway Company in not making adequate arrangements for the increased traffic, which they must be aware of, and the fact that on each night the trains were two hours behind time in reaching London fully justifies the loud complaints of the racing public. The following is a return of the running : The Racing Stakes of 20 sovs each, h ft, with 50 added, for 3-yr-olds; colts Bst 10Ib, fillies Bst 61b; penalties and allowances. One mile. 6 subs. Duke of Beaufort's Mr. Pitt, 9st 31b (Cannon) 1 Mr. W.~Morris's Ambition, Bst 101 b (Oustance 2 Marquis of Hastings's King Hal, 9st 31b (T. Challoner 3 Count F. de Lagrange's Equivoque, Bst llb (H. Covey 4 Betting-4 to lon Mr Pitt. Ambition made play for a short distance, whence she gave place to King Hal, who carried on the running with the favourite in attendance till half way in the straight, where Mr. Pitt went to the front and wont cleverly by two lengths; King Hal finished three lengthi in rear of Ambition. The Lamport Handicap Plate of 50 sovs, added to a sweep-. stakes of 5 sovs each, 2 ft; winners after the publication of the weights extra; the winner to be sold for 50 sovs.- Five furlongs. Marquis of Hastings's Professor Anderson, 3 yrs, 7st 81b (Carroll) 1 Mr Hodgman's Vexatious, 3 yrs, 7st (Heartfield) 2 Mr J. Nightingall's Medicis, 4 yrs, 7st 121 b ...(Elphick) 3 Mr Saxon's Bay Dayrell, 3 yrs, 7st 61b (Clement) 4 Betting-2 to lon Professor Anderson, and 7to 2 agst Vexatious. The latter was the first away, but in a few strides was joined by the favourite, who kept close com pany to the distance, when he shot to the front, and won easily by three quarters of a length; bad third. The win- nor ;vasbought in for 160 guineas. The Earl Spencer's Plate of 100 sous, added to a handicap sweepstakes of 15 sous each, 5 ft if declared; winners after the publication of the weights, extra. Five fur longs. 52 subs, 18 of whom paid 5 sous each. Mr 11. Chaplin's Vespasian, 3 yrs, 7st 41b ...(Grimshaw) 1 Mr Lincoln's Zisca, 4 yrs, 7st 41b (Kenyon) 2 Lord Uxbridge's Goldylocks, 5 yrs, 7st 81b (Parry) 3 The following also ran :—Thallassius, Peon, Crythoia, The Beadle, Reindeer, Arbutus, Ethelred, Cedric, Salliet, Qui Vive, Jezabel, Ozone, Black Duchess, Arabia, Caustic, William Pitt, Isis, Sylph, and Attache. Betting-3 to 1 agst Vespasian, 7to 1 each agst Attache and William Pitt, 10 to 1 agst Qui Vivo, 100 to 8 agst Ozone, 15 to 1 each agst Cedric and Beadle, 100 to 6 each agst Arbutus and Peon, 20 to 1 each agst Ethelred, Cry theia, and Sylph, 25 to 1 each agst Goldylocks and Thal lassills, 30 to 1 agst Reindeer, 100 to 3 each agst Salliet and Arabia, and 40 to 1 each agst Zisca and Jezabel. Over half an hour's delay occurred at the post in consequence of the fractiousness of several of the competitors, the most refractory of whom (in the numerous breaks away) wore Arbutus, Thalla,sius, and Goldylocks. The flag at length fell to a beautiful start, the lot getting away in compact order. Goldylocks, on the left, was the first to show, while Reinder, The Beadle, Vespasian, and Zisca were conspicu ous in the fore as the lot proceeded over the crest of the hill. The most prominent of the next division being Ozone, Ethelred, William Pitt, Qui Vive, Cedric, and Cry theia. The first noteworthy change was the retirement of Reindeer, who suddenly disappeared from the front, leav ing Goldylocks, Zisca, Vespasian, and The Beadle in com mand ; the latter, however, gave way at the distance, and half way up Vespasian with Zisca at his side quitted Goldylocks; the former, however, immediately Grimshaw called upon hire, drew right away from Mr Lincoln's mare, and won easily by a length and a half ; Goldylocks being defeated a similar distance for second place. Ethelred was fourtivlose up ; William Pitt, Caustic, and Salliet finishing in a body next in the order named ; the other, at intervals being brought up by Attache, Peon, Thallassius, and Ozone. A Sweepstakes of 20 sovs each, 5 ft, for two-year-olds; colts, Bst 7b ; fillies, Bst 31b ; certain allowances. About half a mile. 16 subs. Mr. Chaplin's Problem, Bst 31b . J. Grimshaw) 1 Baron Rothschild's Sister to Hippolyta, Bst 31b (J. Daley) 2 Lord Falmouth's Reigning Beauty, Bst 31b (T. French) 3 Mr. Crawley's Tom Thumb (allowed 31b) ( Js 41b (J. Adams) 4 Betting—Even on Sister to Hippolyta, 5 to 1 agst Pro blem. The race throughout was confined to the pair, who ran side by side to the commencement of the stand en closure, where Sister to Hippolyta got slightly the best of it ; but Grimshaw, riding with great patience, got up in the last few strides and won, after a slashing finish, by a head ; Reigning Beauty a bad third. The Sulby Handicap 10 sovs each, 3 ft, with 50 added, for horses of all ages ; the winner to be sold for 150 sovs. One mile and a quarter. 15 subs, six of whom paid 3 sous each. Mr. J. Nightingall's Belzoni, 3 yrs, 6st 41b (H. Clark) 1 Lord - Westmorland's Echo, 5 yrs, Bst 61b (Morris 2 Mr R. Ten Broeck's Scheldt, 4 y rs, Bst 21b (Payne 3 Loaf Sugar and Polk% also ran. Betting-7 to 4 agst Scheldt, 100 to 30 agst Echo, 4 to 1 agst Belzoni, and 5 to 1 agst Loaf Sugar. The latter jumped off in front, and in a few strides took a clear lead, which he held until making the turn into the straight, where he was passed by Echo and Belzoni, which pair finished a good race home, the latter, hard held till oppo site the enclosure, winning cleverly by a neck; Scheldt, who dropped away half a mile from home, came again in the last 100 yards, and finished three parts of a length from Echo; Polka was last. The Althorp Park Stakes of 10 sovs each, with 50 added, for 2-yr-olds ; colts, Bst 101 b ; fillies, Bst 61b ; any winner before starting 51b extra. T.Y.C., about half a mile. 45 subs. Mr. Pryor's The Rake, Bst 101 b (Loates) 1 Lord Stamford's C e lli na , Bst 61b • (J. Grunshaw) 2 Mr. R. Ten Broeck's Fitzroy, Bst 101 b Capt. Machell's Knight of the Garter, Bst 101b(Ctc P st a a y n n cel Lady Mary colt, Charade, Gas, Jeanie Deans, Amanda colt, Venom, Ariel, Marken nan, Phantom Sail, Land Tax, Miss Elizabeth, and Vedeke colt also ran. Betting-2 to 1 agst Knight of the Garter, 3to 1 agst Marksman, 6 to 1 agst Jeanie Deans, 10 to 1 agst The Rake, 100 to 7 each agi rt The Buccaneer colt and Fitzroy, 20 to 1 each agst Charade, Cellina, and Land Tax, 33 to 1 agst Phantom Sail, and 50 to 1 each agst Venom and Miss Elizabeth. After a trifling delay the lot were despatched on equitable terms, and. proceeded up the hill in a compact body. Cellina, Jeanie Deans, The Rake, and Knight of the Garter composed the vanguard, closely followed by Marksman and the Lady Mary colt leading the ruck. In the centre of the course being Phantom, Ariel, Fitzroy, and the Amanda colt. Cellina carried on the running to the distance, where The R Ike drew up to her, and Custance was compelled to call , an Knight of the Garter to keep pace with the pair. T hey, however, maintained their ad vantage, and The Rake, easily shaking off Cellina's chal lenge opposite the stand, won very cleverly by three quarters of a length. Knight of the Garter and Fitzroy, who ran a dead heat for third place, finished a length in the rear of Lord Stamford's filly. Close up with the dead heaters were Marksman, the Lady Mary colt, and Jeanie Deans. Ariel and Land Tax headed the others, who finished in straggling order. Selling Plato of 5 sovs each, with 25 added, for 2-year-olds and upwards ; weight for age, with selling allowances. Five furlongs. Mr. T. Hughes' Mary Ann, 2 yrs, sst 121b(£30) (Murray) 1 Mr. W. D. Gardener's Volunteer, 5 yrs, 9st 41b (no) (T. French) 2 Lord Westmoreland's Merry Sunshine c, 2 yrs, sst 121 b (£3O) Mr. J. Wood's Soapstone, 6 yrs, 9st 411);(£30) (Clement) 4 Mr. T. Jennings's Crossbow, 4 yrs, Bst 91b (.£3O) (H. Grimshaw) 5 Mr Hodgman's Newminster filly, 2 yrs, sst 91b (car. sst 10i13) (X3O). ........................................ :.(Stone) 6 Mr. Beadman's Cockchafer, 2 yrs, sst 91b (£3O) (Peppier) 7 Betting-5 to 2 each agst Crossbow and the Tadmore colt, and sto 1 agst the Mary Ann colt. The latter jumped off with a clear lead, was not headed, and won easily by two lengths ; three lengths between the second and third ; a moderate fourth. The winner was bought in for 100 guineas. MOLLY CAREW is scratched for her Northampton en gagements. The Brewer has injured his hind leg, which "puts his pipe out" for early engagements. South Wold Hunt Steeplechases are announced to come off at Louth, on Thursday, April 12. Manchester steeplechases, flat, and hurdle races will take place on Thursday, April 28. There are four events, which close on Thursday next. LORD FALMOUTH'S Celenima has arrived at W. Boyce's, Newmarket, to be trained. ALBRIGHTON HUNT STEEPLECHASES are postponed until April 6. OAKLEY HUNT STEEPLECHASES aro fixed for Friday, April 6. AYLESBURY ARISTOCRATIC STEEPLECHASES commence this day, and extend over Thursday. G. HOLMAN—This steeplechase jockey has been engaged by Baron de Hdrissem to ride in France for the present season. ROYAL ARTILLERY STEEPLECHASES.—This meeting Will be held near Woolwich to-morrow (Thursday). The pro gramme comprises five events. GRAPESHOT and the Kitty Shoby gelding were announced on Monday afternoon, at Tattersall's, as having been scratched for the Northamptonshire Stakes. We have -to announce the death of Mr. Lionel Helbert, a gentleman highly connected with the Jewish families in the City, and very popular in racing circles. Mr. J. Turner has named the three-yr-old filly by El lington out of Clotilde, winner of the Handicap Plate at Warwick on Tuesday, Flora. Newcastle and Gateshead Harriers Hunt Steeplechases are fixed for Wednesday, March 28, over about three and a half miles of hunting country within ten miles of Newcastle, and the entries for which close on Saturday next. The Oakley Hunt Steeplechases are fixed for Friday, April 6, at Bedford. The entries for the Handicap Steeple chase are to be made to-day (Tuesday), and the re maining events close on or before the 3d of next month, to Mr. H. W. Wilson, at the Lion Hotel, Bedford. POSTPONEMENT OF THE UNITED BORDER HUNT STEEPLE CHASES.— Owing to the day of humiliation for the rinder pest having been appointed to be held on the 29th inst., the fixture of the above meeting, the committee have been compelled to change the day to Thursday, April 12. The entries, however, for the different races will close, as previously advertised, on Thursday next, the 22d inst. . . SOIITHDOWN HUNT STEEPLECHASES. —This meeting takes places on April 4, at Ringmer, near Lewes, under the Na tional Steeplechase rules. The entries for the Sussex Open Steeplechase and the Southdown Plate handicaps close this day (Wednesday, the 2lstinst). We understand that the fences have been altered since last year, there being now no double ditches. EDINBURGH SPRING MP:MI:W.—This meeting, in con nection with the Lothians' Racing Club, takes place over the Musselbur i gh course on Saturday next. The Hunt Cup and the Selling Stakes close and name to the clerk of the course only, on Thursday. From the facilities so liberally afforded by the North British Railway Company, we may safely anticipate this northern gathering will be a great success. EALING STEEPLECHASES.—Thero are 31 horses in the Open, and 60 in the two places, besides 14 in a Hunters Race. There is, we hear, every probability of a third day's sport, as the officers of the 14th Hussars (now sta tioned at Hounslow Barracks) intend giving three stakes ; and the lessees will give a hundred pound plate, and another race for horses the property of officers in any regiment. James Grimshaw has been summarily dismissed from the service of the Marquis of Hastings in consequence of his refusal to ride Prodigal--under circumstances which have already been discussed in these columns. The Marquis of Hastings, at Northampton yesterday, requested John Day to tell "the light4oight" that he was "no longer his (the Marquis's) servant," the imperative tone of the dismissal creating something like a sensation in the crowded weigh ing -room. Grimshaw's salary was £6OO per annum, all travelling expenses, and he was paid additionally £3 for each losing and £5 for each winning mount—a princely engagement, it must be confessed. The Marquis has evi dently been directed in the course he has pursued by the influence of Admiral Rous and that of the leading members of the Jockey Club, before which body Grimshaw is or dered to appear at Newmarket during the Craven week. Whilst we concur in the proceedings taken by the Marquis in vindication of the relations which ought to exist be tween the employer and the employed, wo must protest against the undignified and even malignant spirit in which this lad's thoughtless jhus pas has been treated by certain sporting journals. Sporting Life. COUNTY DUBLIN DRAG Hun.—This affair came off with great éclat at Tuesday, March 13. Forty-seven out of an entry of sixty-six came to the post, and the course was four straight Irish miles, starting just beyond the eighth mile stone on the Ashbourne-road, and finishing at the Fairy House. The conditions were as follows :—First prize, £6O ; second, £2O ; third, £lO ; and £25 for the first horse carry ing 15st; weights, 12st 71b and 15st. The hounds (six couples) were lent by Dr. Dwydir. The following is the result :—Mr. C.Barrington's ch g Charley, 12st 71b (Owner), first; Mr. J. Morrin's b m Ballyhack, 12st 71b (Owner), second ; Capt. Rose's b g Light Heart, 12st 71b (Mr. But ler), third. The first three horses carrying 15st came in thus :—Mr. M. Leonard's bk g Grange, 15st (Owner), first; Mr. M. Duffy's Goodheart, 15st (Owner), second; Mr. G. Waters's The Buffer, 15st (Mr. J. M'Cann), third. AQUATICS. THE UNIVERSITY BOAT RACE. PUTNEY, Wednesday. The rain, hail, and snow this morning, although it deterred persons from visiting Putney, did not have any influence upon the proceedings cf the crews, whom neither wind nor weather prevents taking that amount of exercise and practice which they deem necessary to put them - into proper con dition for the great race of Saturday, anticipated with so much anxiety and interest. The Cantabs breakfasted early, and after a proper interval, walked down to Simmonds' boat-yard, and were soon afloat. They paddled up to Mortlake, rowing very steadily. They started down from there with the tide nearly half spent at a very fine pace in the wet. They were pulling at the beginning 36 strokes per minute, and as they warmed at their work they got to 39 and 40 strokes per minute. Mr. Chambers, who was with them on the towing path, and who has " coached" them throughout encouraged them, as also did some of the equestrian friends of the light blue, and at last the number of strokes reached 42, but that was not in the opening reach between Barnes-bridge where the weather was very fresh and the water rough. They came down in 21 minutes 59 seconds, and did not exhibit any symptoms of distress. They rowed very cleverly, and without so much waste of work in the air. • While they were coming down the Oxonians we re go i n g up to Mortlake, from whence they row e d down with less haste to the Bishop's creek, where they left off, not completing the distance. In th e c ourse they rowed at 36 in the commencement, five strokes with the oars well piled through the water. They ultimately reached 39 and 40 strokes, and the distance was rowed in 20 minutes 8 seconds. The rowing on yesterday was very fine and powerful, with the characteristic full Oxford swing. Betting was 6 to 4 on Oxford. Hchampion of the Thames, and It. Bain, continental Kelley, ch chanipion, have chartered the two fast and commodious steamers, Camelia , and Stork, to ac company the race. The Camelia will be at Putney ready for the race, and the Stork will loavo London J3ridge on Saturday morning at 640 a.m., calling at, all the piers up to Putney. Only a limited number of tickets will be issued for the Camelia at 10s. each. Tickets for the Stork, ss. each. Tickets for both steamers may be obtained at Mr. Kelley's, Putney; the Oxford and Canterbury Halls, and R. Bain's, Lambeth. Gentlemen intending to accompany tho race would do well to patronise these boats, as every attention will be paid to their comfort and convenience. ROYAL' LONDON YACHT CLUB. The sailing programme of this club has just been passed through committee and approved of by it general meeting. __. _ _ Opening Trip, Saturday, May 12.—Yatchts to meet at the Union Yacht Club-house, Gravesend, and sail thence at noon for a cruise, under the orders of the commodore. Dinner at the Union at 6 p.m. First-class Match, Friday, June B.—Prizes: First boat, 70 guineas in plate; second 20 guineasin plate. Course, Erith, round the Noro Light and back. Time for tonnage, 25 to 50 tons, 30sec per ton ; above that, 20sec per ton. Entries close Juno 1, at 10 p.m. Second and Third-class Match, Saturday, July 7. Prizes : Second-class—first prize, 30 guineas in plate ; second, £lO cash. Third-class—first prize, 20 guineas in plate ; second, £3 cash. Course, second-class, from Erith, round the Nore Light and back. Third-class, from Erith to the Chapman and back. Time for tonnage, second-class, half a minute per ton ; third-class, oue minute per ton. En tries close for both classes on July 2, at 10 p.m. Ocean Race, Tuesday, June 5, from the Thames to Har wich.—£2s has been voted by the club, and the rest will bo raised by voluntary :subscriptions. Other particulars to be hereafter settled by the sailing committee. THE UNIVERSITY BILLIARD MATCHES. The University billiard matches will be played at St. James's Hall on Saturday, after the boat raco. The double match will commence at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and the single match at 8 o'clock in the evening. We understand that Messrs. Stokes and Payne, who have represented Ox ford and Cambridge respectively four times, will this year retire. Mr. Watts-Russell, who played last year, and Mr. Rodgers, of Exeter College, will represent Oxford ; and Mr. Wickham, of Magdalen, Cambridge. Mr. Wickham's partner in the double match is not yet decided on. Messrs. Cox and Yeman will again furnish the table, and Oxford Jonathan will, as usual, be marker. GARDENING IN PARIS. • . (From Land and Water.). The municipal nursery is a practical garden of acclimatisation, but it forms no part of the domains of the "Sociaamperial d'Acclitnitation;" it is a se parate and totally independent establishment ; it is not one of the ordinary lions of the city, but blooms like the modest violet in a quiet corner, unseen and undreamt of alike by the vulgar and fashionable crowd. It is snugly placed in the confines of the Bois de Boulogne, adjoining the once royal pro perty of La Muette, which figures joyously, but not always very creditably, in the court annals of the 18th century, and not five minutes' walk from the Passy railway station. The gardens cover a considerable space of ground, and contain 20 or more hot-houses and conservatories, the most im portant of allbeing the forcing-house, which is fur nished with all the best and newest means of pro pagation, and is in all respects admirably arranged ; two or three other houses are devoted to camellias, including a most famous collection which came from Malmaison, the resident of the Empress Josephine, and other flowering plants, some growing in beds, and others *in pots and tubs, for decorative pur poses ; the other conservatories are little occupied during the warm season, but during the winter months are literally crammed with theplants which stand out in the varions public gardens of the city in summer, and are brought home to the nursery during the time when Boreas roams about the earth, and would make said havoc amongst these delicate strangers. Besides the intelligent director, M. Barrilliet-Deschamps, the staff of the garden con sists of an inspector, a chief, and 25 :other gar deners, 15 of whom have charge each of a special section, 40 or 50 pupils, and about 20 boys. This is a large force—but when we know that this gar den sends out about two and a half millions of plants of all sizes per annum, for the decoration of the city and houses, all that can be reserved for future use during the winter, it does not appear in any way too large. But this is but the nucleus of the municipal school of Flora ; it is specially de voted to new, delicate, and half-hardy plants, the municipality having the nurseries for shrubs and trees in the Bois de Boulogne, and a large garden for hardy plants at Vincennes. Under the same administration are the gardeners and labourers em ployed in the various parks and gardens, all of which are under the charge, with respect to decora tive matters, of the Paris gardener already named. The municipal gardening employs more than 500 persons, and a number of light, well-made spring carts and vans for the conveyance of its products to and from the garden ; the horses, being wanted only during a portion of the year, are hired of contractors. The success which the Paris gardener bas at- tained in acclimating or partially acclimating exotic plants has earned for him deserved celebrity, and he was rewarded the other day with the Cross of the Legion of Honour by the Emperor. One of the most remarkable instances of partial acclimatisation is that of the Canna, which, pre vious to 1855, were always cultivated within doors ; the number of varieties now grown in Paris is very considerable, and many of them succeed well: amongst these are the Canna atronigricans, remark able for its beautiful dark red leaves; Canna gigan- tea Desfontaines, a very rare species of colossal - dimensions, not:to be confounded with C. gigantea ; C. Houtletii, a new and very fine plant, with blackish midrib and bearing large carmine coloured flowers ; C. nigricans, with large brownish red leaves, the most successful of all ; C. iridiflora and C. lili flora have not yet been made to succeed out of doors. The same success has attended the planting out of many of the Musa family, which was commenced five or six years since. Specimens eight, ten, or more feet high have decorated the public gardens during the last three years, and one very large, M. paradisiaca, was to be seen the other day in the Parc Monceau, with an immense bunch of fruit half developed. Generally, however, the smaller kinds are to be recommended. The Dracwa are also found to answer admirably, provided they are kept free of stagnant moisture at the roots ; peat mould is generally used, but with the addition of a little compost for the more vigor ous varieties. But of all the collection of plants brought into cultivation, that of the Solanum family is perhaps the largest ; they succeed admirably, and new va rieties are being constantly sent out. Several varieties of Hibiscus have been cultivated to a great extent, and may be seen in all the parks and squares of Paris. Amongst the most beautiful ' are :—Hibiscus giganteus, a fine shrub, bearing a profusion of large flowers, yellow and brown, throughout the summer ; H. lacustris, with white flowers tinged with rose ; H. rosa sinensis, a splendid plant, growing five, six, or more feet high, bearing magnificent red flowers all the summer in the open air, and all the winter afterwards in the hot-house ; H. speciosus roseus, another very beautiful plant, with brilliant rose-coloured flowers, and remaining out of doors all the winter with only a slight pro tection of leaves around its roots. The above will give a fair idea of what the muni cipality of Paris has done in the way of acclimati- cation of flowers and flowering shrubs, and the extent of the operations of the garden in question may be roughly estimated from the fact that it cultivates and diaributes about 900 varieties of Pelargoniums. The Paris gardener is not allowed to sell any of his productions, but a catalogue of disposable plants is printed for private circulation, with very moderate prices affixed, and exchanges are made with gar deners or others who have anything new or useful to give in return. At the present time there are two if not more new parks and several squares and smaller plantations, forming in and about Paris, and the gardener will have enough to do to supply these new customers in addition to those already on his list ; there is no doubt, however, that the supply will be made to meet the demand, for the Paris authorities have shown themselves most active and successful agents of acclimatisation and distribution. The Oaths Bill, which was read a first time in the House of Lords on Tuesday, is set down for the second reading on the 16th of April. The debate on the second reading of the Reform Bill will commence on the 12th, and it is scarcely possible that any division can take place before tho 16th. Thus the two debates will be going on in the two Houses simultaneously, and will be watched by the country with keen and daily growing interest. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. TIMES.—After the first surprise that Lord Russell, the leading exponent of the very comprehensive Reform Bill of 1831, should have brought himself to propose a measure so utterly unlike it in all re spects as that of the present session, the next ques tion asked was how he could possibly have obtained the consent of his colleagues, and expected the sup port of the chiefs of his party. The secrets of his Cabinet we have nothing to do with. But it now appears there was not the least occasion to be sur prised at the acquiescence of the great Whig houses, as no such acquiescence existed. Lord Grosvenor is a name of power and a noun of multitude in the House of Commons ; but it is evident that he has been left quite as free to form an opinion on the bill as ourselves or any other outsiders. This liberty has had the natural result, and his lordship very composedly announces a motion inviting the house to reject this or any other incomplete measure. Lord Grosvenor had scarcely sat down, however, when Sir William Hutt, a Privy Councillor, and lately a member of the Administration, from which on his retirement he accepted the Knighthood of the Bath, rose to give notice of a motion to much the same purport, but rather more clinching. The first motion was that Parliament should be put in possession of the whole Ministerial mind, intention, and plan before it was asked to proceed further on the first instalment. The second was that the said first instalment, even if passed, should be considered waste paper, and continue waste paper, till the enactment of the supplementary measures necessary to make an entire and final reform. Either of these casualties is an event in Parliamentary history and a portent of dire significance. Their concurrence is inexplicable, unless on the supposition that the whole ground is sapped under the bill, and that a universal antipathy is ready to break out at any opening in that outer crust of silence and per plexity maintained by the Liberal party. It is no exaggeration to say that nobody likes the bill, or takes it otherwise than upon trust. The Minister must be accepted as its interpreter, and it is only when his interpretation is found to be erroneous and defective that partisans take the liberty of judging for themselves. But if there ever was any thing to which .the least exercise of private judgment must be fatal, it is the bill before us. While these intimations of a coming storm of discontent are dropping fast around us it so happens that various boroughs are presenting themselves to public notice in a way to explain what would be the operation of the bill. On Tuesday there was a very sharp con test for Tewkesbury. This town, with a decreasing population under 6,000 and a constituency of 325, including five dead men, and some fifteen described as neutral, returns two members. There was a vacancy, and the successful candidate would repre sent 150 men. At 1 o'clock the winning man had polled 142, and his rival was fast gaining ground on him. The sick were brought up in their beds, and " strong inducements" were applied. As it appears by the result there remained only 20 men to be polled, and for three hours these 20 men held the key of the borough of Tewkesbury. As things go, their votes were worth £lOO apiece till 2 o'clock, £2OO till 3 o'clock, while the four that in the last hour turned the scale in favour of the Conservative candidate managed very ill if they did not get £5OO apiece. In this town there are 413 male occupiers at £lO ; and a £7 franchise would add 65. We con clude that the repeal of the ratepaying and com pound householder restrictions would admit some more. The number of working men now on the register is stated to be 84, and, under the proposed measure, either as £7 householders or as non-rate paying freemen, a good many more working men would come in. But what matters it whether in a place like that there are a hundred working men or two hundred ? The result is simply and solely a pecuniary question ; and the hundred men or so whom Lord Russell proposes to enfranchise would just do neither more nor less than add £l,OOO to the expenditure of the unhappy candidates. If it is hoped that the lower franchise will rescue the borough from Conservative hands, that is a specu lation not worth entering into. The Conservatives will always rise on the Liberal bidders, and they certainly will find the lower class of working men quite as open to "strong inducements" as the higher class of working men, some of whom may possibly have a scruple against selling their votes to the highest bidder. But if Parliament is to touch this borough at all, it must be either to disfranchise it altogether, and throw it into the country, or put it in a group with three or four towns of the same class. Even in that case the whole would be amply represented by one member. Five other towns en joyed an unenviable prominence in our columns yesterday—Nottingham, Great Yarmouth, Totnes, Bridgnorth, and Boston. They present some va riety of circumstances, but in none of them can we discover that a large admission of a lower class would do much good. At the last election for Not tingham it is too clear there was violence as well as bribery. The population has increased since 1831 by about 50 per cent. ; the registered electors by £lO occupation have increased by 100 per cent. The male occupiers at £lO and over are now 4,910 ; be tween £7 and £lO they are 4,018. There are nearly 2,000 freemen, including a good many of the men who would come in at the lower franchise. How does the present state of things work? The borough is divided between Liberal and Conservative, and would probably be divided still under the proposed alteration, but we very much doubt whether the chiefs of either party in the town would like to en large the constituency in the downward direction. Everybody knows that a large body of poor freemen Is invariably a nucleus of corruption infecting the whole constituency. The next town, Yarmouth, has been delivered from the incubus of freemen. They overdid the thing, and were disfranchised some years ago; but money still flies about Yarmouth on the eve of an election : the electors still know where to go for it, or how' they may expect to and £lO or £l5 lying on their tables. There are now 2,080 male occupiers at £lO and over, and 997 between that and £7. But the other relaxations in the bill would add still more. The only conclusion we can come to is that Lord Russell's bill would add seriously to the expenses of the two Conservative members for this rather notorious borough. Then comes Tot nes. Its population is on the decrease, and is now computed at 3,807. It has 382 electors, who return two members. The male occupiers at £lO are 516, and between that and £7 are 38. The bill there fore would not make much difference. The borough is as purely a marketable commodity as fish and vegetables are. A witness swore yesterday that he did not believe there were 50 electors who were not paid at the last election. To add 38 voters of a still lower class would be to add about £3BO to the ex penses of the candidates. There is only one thing to be done with Totnes, unless, indeed, it be coupled with Dartmouth, to return one member between them. Even he, however, would find himself burn ing his candle at both ends. Bridgenorth is a borough much of the same class, and also returns two members. It has 614 electors, of whom 277 are freemen. There are only 410 male occupiers at £lO, and 107 between that and £7. These last will be only some of the abovementioned freemen. The scale of bribery appears to be moderate at Bridg north, but what must be said of a Reform Bill which proposes to prop up such a pillar of the British Con stitution? To be dealt with at all it must share the inevitable fate of Totnes. Boston, again, has free men, and by their aid has 1,021 electors. It has, however, only 874 occupiers at £lO, and only 301 between that and £7. The presumption is that the bill would not make much difference here, and would certainly do nothing to stop the bribery ine vitable in a small port with a small population re turning two members. How such a place should be dealt with is not an easy question, but this bill would do it no good whatever, and only give it another lease of a not very good life. DAILY NEWS.—The public, or at least that con siderable portion of the public who at some time or other are passengers at sea, or are interested in the fate of others in that predicament, will feel in debted to Sir John Pakington for calling the atten tion of the House of Commons to the causes and circumstances of the loss of the London, and the conditions of the inquiry into that calamity, insti tituted, according to the act of Parliament, by the Board of Trade, at the Greenwich Police Court. There are few questions of public interest at this time that more deserve or demand attention than the operation of the Merchant Shipping Acts, as illustrated by the Board of Trade inquiries. Nothing could be more ludicrously and painfully unsatisfactory than the conduct and conclusion of that last sad inquest. Day after day a heap of idle and irrelevant talk, scraps of survivors' gossip, re lieved only by the too ready testimonials of official inspectors to the perfect seaworthiness of the lost ship, was thrown before an impatient and anxious public, and the upshot of all this confused and con tradictory evidence was a report which added abso lutely nothing to the common information, and nothing to the public safety, since it found no fault, and discovered no cause of the disaster, except the proximate and patent one of the flooding of an en gine -room through a broken hatchway. No doubt the inquiry was satisfactory enough to the owners of the ship ; but it was a case in which the interest of the shipowners and the interest of the passenger public were not precisely identical. For the owners of the London it was sufficient that all the inspec tors of every degree had pronounced the ship per fectly constructed, neither overweighted, nor ill ordered, incapable of foundering, except by some incalculable and uncontrollable " visitation." Some evidence, it is true, was offered to the Court, and accepted, of a very different complexion. —tht evidence of a retired shipbuilder, who thought so ill of the seagoing qualities of the London, that 1.. w-.• he would not send his son to sea in her. But there was the evidence of a Board of Trade inspector, of a Lloyd's Inspector, of an Emigration Inspector, all the other way. All these Inspectors were perfectly satisfied with the appearance and state of the ship as she lay in dock, as she left the Thames, and as she sailed from Plymouth. Sir John Pakington, speaking on behalf of the public, is by no means satisfied with these results, and he particularly com plains of counsel, retained by,relatives of the lost, having been prevented from cross-examining the official witnesses whose testimony was emphatically contradicted by the survivors. The President of the Board of Trade, who appropriately fills an office of the necessity of which he has never been able to persuade himself, and who is acquiring a positive celebrity as a master of the art of inaction, derives from the contrast between the fate of the London and the reports of the inspectors upon her seaworthi ness, the consoling assurance that neither these in spections nor these inquiries are worth much, except in relieving shipowners of the sense of responsibility. He justifies the conduct of the inquiry of Mr. Trail' (whose impartiality and whose conscientiousness have never been impugned), and he reminds the house that these Board of Trade inquiries are not in the nature of prosecutions, but that their primary object is to ascertain the cause of the loss of the ship. In the case of the London, as Sir John Pakington observed, there' could be no question of certificates of officers 'because none but a single midshipman survived. Mr. Milner Gibson, however, speaks of the question of certificates as merely an incident of such an inquiry, and he cites instances in which these inquiries have done good, in discovering errors of navigation, showing the necessity of new surveys, or of new lights on dan gerous coasts, and so forth. The President of the Board of Trade is officially satisfied with the un satisfactory report of the London inquiry, because of the insufficiency of the evidence it elicited ; but he is happily not quite satisfied with the state of the law in respect to the mode in which these in quiries are conducted, and hopes before long to sug gest some improvements in it. Mr. Henley, who speaks on the subject with the double authority of a sometime President of the Board of Trade and of his own honest good sense, bears witness to the " Universal dissatisfaction" with which the existing law is regarded by all who are concerned in its ope ration, and especially by the owners and masters of the merchant service. A few weeks since we re ported a meeting of the representatives of the ship ping interest, at which resolutions were passed con demning the present system of inquiries by the Board of Trade as contrary to the spisit of Eng lish law, and to the practice .of the naval courts. The grievance appeared to us a just one, and when it was suggested by a contemporary that to place such inquiries in the hands of officers of the mer cantile service would be to deprive the public of their only safeguard, we ventured to believe that a court comprised of competent and qualified com manders of the merchant service, responsible to their owners and to the public, might be trusted to con duct_an open and responsible inquiry into the loss of a ship with -as uncompromising a severity as officers in her Majesty's service engaged in a simi lar duty are wont to exercise. No number of wrecks and casualties (according to Mr. Henley, the proportion is increasing year by year) could change our opinion of the substantial justice Of the demand of the speakers at that meeting, or of the advantage to the public of courts of inquiry into the loss of merchant and pas' senger ships being removed from the present loose and anomalous jurisdiction of the Board of Trade, and made analogous to those of the Royal Navy. But assuredly nothing was farther from our, intention than to facilitate the "white-washing " 01 shipowners or shipmasters. It may be that Air. Henley's impression of the Wreck Returns is some what too gloomy, but it would be difficult to resist his conclusion that the meddling legislation of the last sixteen years has provoked discontent rather than improvement. Any reconsideration of the Merchant Shipping Acts might, perhaps, be judi ciously preceded by an authoritative and compre hensive inquiry into the state of the mercantile marine. Such an inquiry would probably disclose. many grave abuses and deficiencies, and witho . u ! attempting to provide any specific remedy, mig ht contribute at least by their exposure to their self-reform. _ COUNTRY MARKETS. HULL.—TUESDAY. During the week the transactions in wheat have been confined principally to English, foreign being held for re latively higher prices. Barley was decidedly firmer, at a slight advance in price. Linseed was very scarce in ill market, and extreme prices were obtained. Linseed advanced steadily during the week. Linseed cakes als° advanced 5s per ton. English old white wheat, 48s to 545; old red, 42s to 47 5 . Barley, English 37s to 425. Oats,, Russian, 24s to 255 • Beans, new English, 43s to 445. Peas, English blue, 03 to Ils Od ; grinding, 40s to 41s Od per 36 stone. SALISBURY.—T lIESDAY. An increased supply of wheat was offered here this morning. The bulk of it being out of condition traclo ruled heavy, but dry lots made fully last week's prices. For barley rather more inquiry prevailed. Secondary qua lities, being in request for seed and grinding, advanced 15 per qr. Oats, beans, and peas were moderately dealt . at previous figures. The following are tho quotations :—Wheat realised frool 38s to 52s ; barley, 35s to 44s ; oats, 22s to 32s ; beans, 4 9- 5 to 525; and peas, 42s to 50s per qr. Tares, from 63 to 1 , 5 6d per bushel ; Best bread, 13d ; household ditto, 1.211' per 81b loaf. Flour, 34s to 38s per sack. MONMOUTHSHIRE—TUESDAY. The supply at the several markets throughout ib_°t country during the past week was moderate, and for samples of home-grown wheat full money was ob tains ; and a fair business done. For foreign the inquiry W' limited. The following are the average quotations:—Wheat, re 5s 6d to 5s 9d per bushel ; inferior ditto, 5s 3d to 50 . white, 5s 9d to 6s ; malting barley, 32s to 36s per qr ; 2"' ing ditto, 24s to 295; beans, 44s ; white oats, 24s 6 d to black ditto, 23s 6d to 245. LYNN—TUESDAY. At to-day's market the attendance was less than Wilt Dry samples of wheat commanded fully last week's price— damp descriptions ls,per qr. cheaper. Malting barley N i l as dear ; grinding sorts 6d to is per qr higher. Beals an oats firth. bite, New wheat, 46s to 48s •, new red, 42s to 44s ; old w 51s to 52s ; old red, 46s to 48s per 36 stone. Barley 'T,', malting, 37s to 40s ; secondary, 33s to 355. Oats, ne 24s to 26s per 24 stone. Beans, small, 43s to 465. Pe'ls, 36s to 40s per 28 stone. NEWCASTLE—TUESDAY. At our market to-day there was a good supply of wh—,l3o, from the growers, and a large coasting but only a ra°"„sg rate foreign arrival. Trade ruled dull , and where busix ta was done it was at a decline of is per qr on both old f i l. a l t new. Barley had a limited sale, but at full prices. 3',,re was firm. Beans and oats were rather dearer. Pe as Ir ri ;he is lower. Flour was very dull, at 6d per sack decline. average price of British grain for he week has been wheat, 47s 2d; barley, 34s lid; oats, 28s per qr. COAL MARKET. Price per tontiith7ClOseoi the market. d, s. d. 10 - 6 Holywell Main l5 6 South Hartlepool...... , , 0 Hetton Lyons l5 6 Buddle'sWestHartley I `,.'. 0 Caradoc lB 6 Hastings Hartley ...... .1 5 " 9 East Hartlepool Kelloe Ships at market, 28 ; sold, 27. 11,4 tie [ADVERTISEMENT. j— Holloway's Pills.—Winteriy Y.' backs.—Whence fogs spring and whither they retire it not our present purpose to explain ; we desire to poiot. cl• how their ill effects in the human frame can be neutralise A The blood must be freed from superfluous carboy 1.7' ,•ti mephitic taints by some purifying medicine like llolloo:!,7 i pills, which not only thoroughly cleanse the circul:!,ti°tl,s, but adjust in every organ the defects imposed upon wtless that fluid when it has become foul or sluggish• best pills prevent stagnation, congestion, and are the 00, regulators and preservatives against internal inflaran3tittero irritations, and ulcerations; while expelling morbid ratt+joe from the system they cool:by their gently aperi tive ac" and strengthen by their tonic virtues. s treet, grs'S' Births. BENHAM—On the 21st inst., at 20, Wigmore-s Benham, of a daughter. ; att" Fiat . En—On the 20th inst., at Chatham, the wife of Col. Fisher, C. 8., Royal Engineers, of a son. Of the MAnsTow—On the 20th inst., at Chester, the wile s 00' Rev.E. Marston, rector of Holy Trinity Church, of NORGATE—On the 20th inst., at East Derehan3, ICI4 the wife of Charles B. L. Norgate, Esq., of a son. Marriages. e ta vt ' ' CODDINGTON—CAIRNS—On the 21st inst., at St•-g. Church, Pimlico, William Henry, second so n Ba th, to Coddington, Esq., of Oldbridgo, county' 2814atligil Rosanna Matilda, youngest daughter of the late Cairns, Esq , Liverpool. ho d , Rosz—BRADLY— On the 20th inst , at St.Barnab es South Kensington, Edward Ros . e, Esq., of Aln 3B f a te Kensington, to Lydia, youngest daughter of the Bradly, Esq., of Chiswick. Deaths. , 7°l BOWLES—On the 19th inst at the residence of 1110 500 d /1- -7 G. Bowles, 80 West Leighton-road, Kentish-town, Mr. - • -1. , BRAND—On the 20th inst., at the Jamaica Tavelll' .India Docks, Mr. T. Brand, aged 53. g TOl ld ' HEUDERBOURCK—On the 20th inst., at 2 , St . Jameo9' Victoria-park, Mr. T. M. Heuderbourck , aged,t.. Jobs KNIPE—On the 19th inst., at Leamingto n, the Ive" Knipe: SP* LEGG —On the 20th inst., Jo hn Le gg , Esq., Soutban3P aged 71. Oh RICHARDSON —On the 19 th inst., George C. Rich° Esq., of 16, Abbey-place, St. John's-wood. 1 ,,, lad' SPCRGIN—On the 20th inst., at 17, Great Cuta'A r 69. street, Hyde-park, John Spurgin, Esq., M.D, aged ----- London : Printed and Pubached by WILLIAM it-A , ✓-tio of of No. 112, Strand, Panter, at Titz SIIN *. t al ' tl Strand, in the Precinct of the Scv4y. C(3- 21iddlese&—Thuraday, March 22,180'8. I 1