The Sun. — London, England, 1852-12-14 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENIN G, DE CEMBER 14, 1852. :led by th e r i g ht h on . gen tl eman . I defy, hoWever, it 11 ° 11 . member for the University of Oxford to either on th e groun d he has taken of a solemn k i rgagement, or even on the ground of a legal , i ftii equitable right, in any of its consequences. t o . l t be so, we shall be asked, how do you deal with L '.4 h - ,,,,PaYers—upon what principle? You are taxing him Lil ii . manner as you tax others whose estate is un- Na 4Kon. You may tax the English or the Irish . • el', and if the nature of their estate is the same, .LiPLe is equitable But what does this question eI- ,„, - `ai into ? If you . are justified in making a dffer kMust put the fundholder in one class or in 1 4 ,,,, -- luell with precarious incomes, or men with fit t raas• No one, however, will say that he is in ~ 6 'ms—he must be therefore placed in the class % 4-41° rues and consequently you must tax him, with el empti ' ) 5,., I ons, and no more, accorded to this class (hear, 1. am sorry to have troubled the house at 1 4 on this point (loud cheers.) When, however, e faith was said to be broken with the public : „., 4 Was but right to look at the whole question , ki ''''ttY question, but fairly and honestly, with the B ftertaining whether we are dealing fairly with ' 'old er or not (cheers.) I think, sir, for the reasons adduced, I might ask a verdict of the house in kJ` inY rigt hon. friend's roposition (cheers) ki . I , j gone through the whole p of the proposals sub m,o v ,the house by my right hon. friend, and I have io -4 l z e to the house for the time I have detained ' tu, ee rs.) I have stated the principles on which my O; friend has proceeded—the objects my right hon. ,' in view, and I challenge the right honourable '',. 11 or any of his followers to show that these p '"? unsound, or that those objects are other than k e to th e country (Cheers.) And, sir, though Ido iiii 4 , 4 ° right on. member for Halifax in his lace, I lit; 'take leav h e to add, that p , notwithstanding the tone , g e Z„lultituted superiority—(loud cheers)—that right Ri,„"enran assumed the other night, I defy him or any fiend to prove that the proposition of my right • the Chancellor of the Exchequer are propositions to tLto shake or to impair the credit of the country, Nish sb the good name of the British community. ( 4 1 ' The right hon. gentleman told my right hon. iL ll th a t occas i on that he ought not to be ashamed to o ir example of Mr. Pitt , s government, or the govern the Earl of Liverpool, but to take book his budget fiend it b e f ore Ch ris tmas. (Laughter.) If my right toted had any need to amend his budget, he need not i h iPeodents so far back. (Cheers and laughter.) He -'' a precedent in the instance of the late govern kit nghter)—who inthe course of one year had amend budget three or four times, the Chancellor of the ' * being no other than the right hon. member for (Loud cheers and laughter.) Sir, my right hon. kt 4 4 ,11 have no necessity, as I believe, to alter his bud s_ _t in an y material point; and I think you will the miscalculations referred to by the right hon. for ' Halifax were those of the right hon. member Aland not of my right hon. friend. (Cheers.) I think „,. 'in, d that though the measure of my right hon. Vrge and comprehensive—so large and compe te, indeed, that the right hon. member for Halifax 04 -41 . to divide it into two budgets — one for 1853 4 ri 4 ' 4, for 1854. (L au ghter and cheers.) I think you 4 :lti,, t , sir, that my right hon. friend has proved to the 44, 1 °, 1 1 of the house that he can do in one year what ,„1 1 0n. member for Halifax could not do in three (Cheers.) I must ask—l would not have gone into except for the disparaging tone of the right L 4 Man's remarks—l must ask, wherefore are these :tek l3oll my right hon. friend? (Cheers.) What is 1~t,,,1 1 why he is to be thus assailed—(cheers) — on every Voh he has made in his two financial statements ? ku i Re has made two in one year, both of which -" with the approbation of the house, I would fain h i , the country lam certain. (Hear.) I s it be- Rhi- gentlemen are jealous of his success? (Hear.) t 7Pse he has struggled hard and long with geni us, Mti t i,"' Power, until he has attained the highest point or it an honourable ambition can aspire—the leader krba's Rouse of Commons ? (Hear.) Is it because he 7' ill person in his past career and in his present?— ' Tentature ingenio, contendere habilitate, , ~,kroctes atque dies, prestante labore Il l i zliti ad summas, emergere opes." 1/ % .4.1101 1. friend has attained that position. Who 1 . 1 01. 4 .",,_` to him? (cheers.) I shall not speak disparag ,4,„ me right hon. member for Halifax ; his power and 1 i k " are admitted. But without disparaging him, I \,,, i that the budget of my right hon. friend will bear Ni ti B ° ll with any of those which that right hon. gen - Ai has laid before this house (cheers). The best judges I,o)tintry have declared that by his budget my right 1 end has laced himself on a level with the boldest t p 4 111 °R . L of „Prudent financiers of this country (cheers, and I %t ° 1 1"). They will tell you, at any rate, in the ki„, eulPorium of commerce on the face of the globe, t Plans have reflected on him, in the judgment of ..q,,Pable of forming a just opinion, the highest degree i'1114, 4 ' (cheers and oh). They will also tell yon that he (k kii ik !wed by his propositions the common fallacy that s hr, genius cannot be a man of business (cheers). ‘t h:' whatever may be the results of his policy—what -114, - '1 be the fate of the government—whatever may L •li e ffect of the ill-assorted alliance that I see before 1 44, 4 pd cheers)—l firmly believe that the voice of the tki, Will say my right hon. friend has earned for him 71Mtation as extensive as the empire—(langhter and ',t o r-ler which he has so greatly legislated-4 th e e nht er i + l / 4 Z4 l i i tl Cheers)—and e o Ps ) , Th e a n nt l, gratitude aite r permanentnrefiectaiang honestcountry. 24 c ,„' ``‘-'IILBURN repudiated any feelings of self-consti- Periority, or of jealousy ; but he rose to oppose the ,1 14( i b eeause it was opposed to those principles on which N A administered the public finances and on which V a.. Over acted when in opposition—principles which he '4,1i,,,, bound up with the best interests of the country, 5' 4131 ,, which he was not prepared to depart, in defer "' 11 ' sr to the eloquence of his right hon. and learned 1. 41 1 '4 1 . i 4° , 1 to the talents of the right hon. gentleman. (Hear.) ,Itiltig,,it, hon. gentleman had told them that the object of 4 1 i gget was, first, to maintain and prudently to extend '1: 1 4(1 ° or unrestricted competition ; in the second place, Iktt with the distressed interests in such a manner that, ai d r ing relief, they should not contravene the general y j es which had been affirmed by the house ; and , ',11, 4 , to apply equa l t axa ti on t o e very class of the 'llklk ll itY. The right hon. gentleman had then proceeded i t of' the large reductions in the excise duties which )t, N Posed to effect. The Government of Sir R. Peel had 4 4 ' te, j 4 on such a basis, that by a skilful management of a) b I ,Pts and expenditure of the country, they had a L'ke ~4 " .,anee available out of which they could afford to k‘Re e ' ° 'luetions. (Cheers.) They did not in the first in .;i,,, creat e a deficiency, and then call upon the house to ; 4 '111 1 , 14 , 14 ge reductions of taxation. (Hear, hear.) This °road distinction between the course pursued by ~, „ ,,., se nt Government and that of which he was a mem iN7.ii4 right hon friend talked of the acclamations with IN the budget ha . d been received in the city; but, if, heats 1 4 'w° years had elapsed, instead of a surplus iN ti3 : B a deficiency to be supplied, by loans and other iNeate sources, it was very doubtful whether the same ' Rit e , would continue. (Hear, hear.) This question Ae , far higher considerations than whether they ‘,41,4 they a cer t a i n c lass by the remission of duties ` t i k 4310 3' now paid, or whether they should enter o ontroversy about the consumers or the brewers the larger portion of the benefit ; it involved ,7°llity of the financial system. (Loud cheers.) t , , t, ltOestio n was, whether the finances were in that , 14 11t 14 which they could afford to part with two-and 't',il 4 1 111 ( 1 1110 ns of productive duty which might press in a I N , egree upon the general consumer, but which was r it k l, th e ' °PPressive of all taxes and the removal of which oof least called for. And they were doing this at the 4reating a deficiency. We had been latterly em , In removing evils that had arisen from our former ` r4 k bail li ,ce, and in adding to the defences of our country, ''''N during the view of hostile operations, but to place our 't'''lit,,,,l4i-ng peace, in the position in which every great 44 t W, o ,light to stand. But, had the government forgot ): g l . t ,Lnere were any element of safety for the country, Vtl i , l nld on which its defence more surely rested than t .„"R> '4l it was the unembarrassed state of its finances ? If CIN.° wilfully and wantonly create a deficiency, and ,1 k Z N e 4 Po, n the service of the year with a confident expec .4lat at its close they must necessarily involve them- N.1 1 .. 1 debt, they raised up an obstacle to adequate defence t t , \4l 4: t,„, .7 .o w iil h d ic o h ve n rc o o mil me la t ry he p y re infli para c t t i e o d ns a a b n l d ow no u am po o n un t t h o st f 1 11)4 1:edit which had previously enabledus to withstand a °zit hostile demonstrations. (Hear.) The budget 444 5 4 , 1 don the assumption of a surplus of 400,000/. at ,„''4ll' ; ,,of the next financial year. With a surplus so " 4 ", .Was natural and reasonable to look at the items k llit W hi ch it was derived ; and though individually there t h ,Nir small differences a opinion as to the valuation4in i'li ti , t, , so small, the amount of difference made the whole 1,1 4 4 1 i 0i t i L ?Ti between having a deficiency or a surplus at the ,4 10 1- ,te year. The right hon. gentleman did not ex li(s443'' he estimated the loss on the malt duty at one 6,, He stated that he should have to spay a million ~kk ) l e 'Jacks. Surely the house had a right to expect i q :planation on that point ; in default of that they ti ,,! l 3"' form their own opinions. He had had some ex lOW ~..' as to estimates of drawbacks, and he never yet k l k o t ., 4 instance of a Chancellor of the Exchequer flßErtlM lit NI, e d uction of duty and a drawback on the stocks in 4 1 4 41 here it did not turn out that his estimate was fai t. 144' great degree by the event. (Hear, hear.) iik 4 , l , that occur to the right hon. gentleman which had k ' t 'va k ‘ k i i _ to others, this would be an element of loss which 4: l lli,;''''Posisible to calculate. In the same way, there was N 4.,„_ difference made by the tea duties, about 50,0001. k!to . eh - Tod that 400,000/. was to be received from the re- V.'44," of loans ; the sum was in reality but 360,000/. ; ),`"ti,'' a loss of 40,0001. more. Taking into calculation 4 1 1141_ 11 e projected alteration of the income tax there CReti ' 4 ° be a loss of 150,000/., and that the expense of 4,7t1°4 would be greatly augmented, it was probable t 1 1 ,4 1, tl i '°° o /. or 200,0001. more would have to be deducted r ts .,%%:_snrplus. If that were so, was it not quite clear lki i `!fi ti , Pght hon. gentleman, having in liis possession a td N t Phis of one and a-half millions, proposed deliberately c k k tkTlY to subject the country, at the end of the next bN 4 7, 4 Year, t o a d e fi c i enc y w hi c h it was impossible to t`,llit be beforehand ; for it was impossible to foresee what t at s thp, the effect a accidents and adverse seasons. He ti: ki,`,l 4 ight hon. gentleman credit for courage of a cer- I), , 0 the cou n t r y i n or de r to c k , „, ; The Government of Sir Robert Peel had not ioßes„jai,e to spend the money w h en th e y had it not in at tr ß Z i t : (Cheers.) They had not the courage to risk k, ~R f,,, gratify any claim k Intl remission of taxation, when they knew that it Ooli elld i n injury i send to the public credit, and perhaps 14.,._ gentl of confidence. Surely the right honour -Ip, th e °Man could not view with very tranquil feel the'n the rospect before him, comparing it with 1842, o r a t i j had been a succession of deficiencies, and i iili „gial credit was only recovered by a great saws th e "..C . , should be reduced to the same state again, 14,5" wi t , right hon. gentleman was prevented from making l 'ile il ° I th u e t-he, small surplus he had. He did not corn 4,,lleabli o r9..tictiorl of the tea duties ; that came within BA t ,,, , 7.! e i e.. . the existing rplus,. and it might give ,- i i ,.7ert e : I !'r!loYment to the shipping interest and a 10coiTee the poor. It might, as in the case of sugar 4 4 4 'ns 8 4 0 4 (4:dace the revenue that would be sacrificed tlisrte , in !tarloe. But the repeal of the malt tax stood ) 401,, e zt , t of different footing. Barley lands had suffered RI% th e , anY in this country ; and yet the Government 1 ,, 4 % ail fht it necessary to relieve their cultivators klt, 11 " 1 be he Way in which it was proposed to be done , Ist__ no relief at "o Cttio e t i_ all. (Hear.) He had hoard with great es t e refi nat the Government proposed to allow sugar loa k il t i t ied o lle e : l 3rta tu. bond ; he presumed -- that it would be h et th, in classes of sugar. This would cause a tlui, b,ll, revenu e ; why was not . a. statement given of the Sk,lll, he ? Whatever injury class interests might 1- t s t'L ° was certain they would suffer from nothing tti 4411 fro N o ,. m what affected the national credit. Then ,I. . ‘," relief Nvls f ' `qth.q . litry _ n , .. ound in the growing prosperity of ) ..„ 4 cl. he was no friend to those interests who, What was due to the national credit, sought to gain support by professedly relieving the burdens on certain classes. (Hear, hear.) The Chancellor of the Exchequer, in 1819, addressing a meeting of agriculturalists, had ad vocated the formation of a sinking fund, in order to raise national credit, and had declared that it was not by the reduction of this or that tax that imperilled agriculture was to be relieved. (Hear, hear.) The right hon. gentle man had referred in terms of approbation to the effect of the measures which he (Mr. Goulburn) had assisted in carrying out ; and he had hoped that he would act on the principle of those measures ; but from the way in which he snatched at the small surplus of a million and a half, as a means of reducing certain taxes, he feared that he was pursuing a course which would have the very opposite effect to what he professed to desire—the raising of the national credit. (Hear, hear.) It would have been much better to have reserved the surplus for a time. He objected to a surplus being sacrificed instantly. (Hear, hear.) He knew that political economists represented a house tax as a fair and legitimate direct tax to which the community ought to be subject, and it might be, under circumstances which required it, a correct tax if properly distributed and modi fied. He objected, it was true, to the house tax of the right hon. gentleman the member for Halifax, because he believed it to be defective in the principle on which he thought a house tax ought to be placed ; and he likewise objected to the present proposal of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, because, aithough it obviated some of the defects which be longed to the house tax of the hon. gentleman the member for Halifax, it contained others which were essentially fatal to its continuance. The right hon. gentleman said that his proposition was precisely similar in principle to that proposed by his late right hon. friend Sir R. Peel. He (Mr. Goulburn) entirely denied the accuracy of that representation, for his late right hon‘friend only intro duced direct taxation when indirect taxation had been carried to the full extent, and was found to be unpro ductive. (Hear, hear.) The Budget of the right ho nourable gentleman was likely to acc umulate dpficiencies in future years, and so far from bein g a completion of the system propounded by Sir R. Peel, it had merely the tem porary object in view of giving partial relief, and was not at all likely to be generally beneficial. The right hon. gentleman said that the house tax recommended itself, be cause it was only a substitute for the window tax. But he recollected the time when no tax excited so much oppo sition as the house tax ; and in the years 1832-3-4 this house was inundated with petitions complaining of its ex istence. (Hear, hear.) The right hon. gentleman must therefore be prepared, if he doubled the house tax for the sake of repealing the malt tax, for a repetition of that agitation which ended in the removal of the former house tax, and would ensure the repeal of the present one at no distant date, if the right hon. gentleman succeeded in im posing it. (Hear, hear.) His right hon. friend said that the Government had remedied the inequalities in the pre sent income tax by removing exemptions and making a dis tinction between permanent and precarious incomes. The right hon. gentleman must look with a very paternal feel ing indeed on the proposition of the Government if he ex pected that it would remedy those particular grievances which were made the subject of complaint by various parties who were opposed to the c ontinuance of the tax. (Hear, hear.) The right hon. gentleman said that he re moved an exemption by extending the income tax to Ire land. He (Mr. Goulburn) should rather say that by ex tending the income tax to Ireland as he had done, he added to the number of exemptions. (Hear.) Nothing which passed in 1842 could justify the right hon. gentleman in extending the income tax to Ir eland. The prinuiple of the income tax of 1842 was that persons residing in Eng land should pay income tax on the ir property, though that property existed in Ireland or any foreign ry. count Ireland reland herself was exempted from the tax on the ground that other burdens were imposed on her which were con sidered as an equivalent for the imposition of the income tax in England. When his right hon. friend told him that he was at liberty to select funded property for the purpose of subjecting it to the tax, he clearly violated the contract with the public creditor. By imposing a separate tax on that species of property, he violated the public faith as much as by the most arbitrary invasion upon it. (Hear.) The right hon. gentleman said that he made a dis tinction between permanent and precarious incomes. But he did indeed place funded property in the situation of pre carious property, for if the right hon. gentleman could by putting his own construction on the contract with the public creditor tax funded property one-third more than other property, what was to prevent a less moderate Chancellor of the Exchequer from taxing it to a greater extent? What was the penny now might become the shil ling, and what was the shilling might become the pound, when the country was:weaker or the Minister more wicked. As it stood before him, the proposition of the Government involved the whole question in inextricable difficulties. (Hear, hear.) The boon which the right hon. gentleman gave the farmers was no boon at all, for at the present time if the profits of the farmer did not amount to half his rent, he had the power of going at the end of the year before the commissioners, and getting it reduced or altogether re mitted, if he satisfied them that he made nothing. Then with regard to the clergy, if the right hon. gentleman gave the benefit of the lower assessment to the clergyman with 1001. a-year, because his income was precarious, he had no right to stop at 1001., because the income of the clergyman with 1501. was equally precarious. (Hear, hear.) He ob jected to the Budget of the right hon. gentleman because it was likely to produce a deficiency in the revenue—a sys tem which it was his ambition toput an end to, and the evils of which were too much forgotten. (Hear, hear.) On this ground he viewed with alarm the proposition of the Government. He believed the right hon. gentleman was debarring himself from those legitimate advantages which in the present state of the revenue of the country he might fairly look forward to. He believed they were lessening the power and resources of the country in case an occasion should arise for calling them into greater vigour and action. He believed the proposal of the Government would gra dually weakenthe public confidence in the faith of the nation by expending in the year more than they received. (Hear.) Having regard to the several changes proposed—the altera tion in the property and income tax, the increase of the house tax, and the reduction of the malt tax—with the con sequences involved in them, he would conclude by implor ing the house to avoid a measure which, by impairing the public credit of the country, would damage our best in terests, and ultimately be equally injurious to the mann factnrer and the agriculturist. (Cheers.) Viscount JOCELYN moved the adjournment of the debate. (Cries of "Go on," and "Adjourn.") The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER hoped the committee would remember the time of year and the day of the month—(" Hear, hear," from the Ministerialists)— and would come to an agreement to conclude the debate on the following day. It would, he was sure, be very con venient to hon. members present if there were a general understanding to that effect. (Hear, hear.) Lord J. RUSSELL did not think it possible, when so many members were absent, to come to any understanding. (" Hear, hear," from the Opposition.) He would be very happy to find that there was a disposition on the part of the house to conclude the debate on the following night ; but, as many members who had not spoken wished to re present the views of their constituents, he thought the matter must be left to their discretion. The debate was then adjourned. The report on the Stamp Duties on Patents for Inven tions' (purchase of indexes of specifications) Bill was re ceived. Lord NAAS obtained leave to bring in a bill to extend the provisions of the Designs Act, 1850, and to give pro tection from piracy to persons exhibiting new inventions in the Exhibition of Works of Industry in Dublin, in the year 1853. The house adjourned at twenty minutes to one o'clock. A LBERT DOCK and RAILWAY, for Steamers, Colliers, and General Commerce. CAPITAL, £500,000, in 55,000 Shares of £lO each. Deposit, £1 Is. per Share. Temporary Offices, 37, Poultry. COMMITTEE OP MANAGEMENT. Sir William Bacon Johnstone, Bart. Sergeant Murphy, M.P., Linco'n's-inn. John Bertram Orde, Esq., Weetwood-hall, Northumberland. Thomas Ross, Esq., St. Andrew's-place, Regent's-park. William Spooner, Esq., Temple. John Huson Smith, Esq , Lombard-street. George Frederick Gregory, Esq . Avenue-road, Regent's-park. George Angell, Esq.. Friday-street. ENGINEER—George Remington. Esq. PARLIAMENTARY AGENTS—Messrs. Dyson, Hall, and Co., Petite ment-street OLIOITORS—Messrs. Sutton, Ommaney, and Prudence, Basinghall street. BANAERS—Commercial Bank of London, Lothisury and Henrietta street, C,,vent-garden : Messrs. Ommaney, Son, and Co., 40, Charing-cross. Beogeas—Johnson, Longden, and Co., 22, Tokenhouse-yard. SEcerrale—Thomas J. Swayne. It is now many years since any extensive improvement or ad dition was made to the dock accommodation for the great and in creasing commerce of the port of London. Nothing has been done since the completion of the St. Katharine Docks in 1828, although the number and tonnage of vessels annually entering the port, not including steamers, have doubled within the last thirty Nears, and the Victoria Uocks are to be constructed on the north side of the river Thames. The Albert Dock will be formed in the Greenwich Marshes, on the south side of the river, immediately opposite Blackwell, having entrances at Bugsby Hole or Reach on the east. and Greenwich , reach on the west; and, including the basins, will contain 62 acres of water. The proposed site being already connected with the North Kent and South-Eastern Railways will give increased accom modation for the shipment and transit of goods and merchandise Thames to the great mass of the population of England south of the white by means of a steam ferry to the north side of the river, at Black wall, goods mar be carried across the river without being re moved from the trucks or wagg ons, and this company will affwd tke necessar landing accommodation for that purpose at Blackwell point. The y entrance basins of the Albert Dock will admit the largest class steamers. Warehouses will be erected adjacent to the Dock, appropriate for all descriptions of goods and merchandise, with commodious sheds for storing and delivering coals. A railway running from the North Kent line, by the side of the Dock, to Blackwell point, where this Company will afford accommodation for a steam ferry for the carriage of passmgers and goo ,s to and from Brunswick pier and Bow creek, will make a complete communication between the Railways on b Alt sides of the River Thames. The Dock will thus be in communication with Railways to all parts of the kingdom. The Albert Dock cannot fail to be highly productive as an invest ment for capital ; its prospects being based on the rapidly-increasing commerce of the Thames, the undertaking cannot fail to be a pro gressively improving property. Arrangements have been , entered into with Thomas Jackson, Esq., of Pimlico, to complete the whole works within the engi neer's estimate. Plays and sections have been deposited, notices given, and all the necessary forms complied with for obtaining the Act in the present Session. Applications for Shares to be addressed in the following form, to Thos. J. Swayne, 37, Poultry; and to the Share-brokers, Messrs. Johnson, Longden, and Co., 22, Tokenhouse-yard. FORM OF APPLICATION FOR SHARES, " Albert Dock." To the Directors of the Company for making a Dock and Railway in Greenwich Marshes. Gentlemen,—l request you will allot me shares of 101. each, in the above Company ; and I hereby undertake to accept the same, or any less number that may be allotted to me, and on demand to pay the Deposit and Calls thereon, and also to execute the Deeds of the Company when prepared, at the time required by ad vertisement in the " Times" newspaper. Is n the such adveevent of my failure to do so within the time fixed for that purpo by rtisement, I agree that the shares allotted to me, with the deposit paid thereon, shall be forfeited to the use of the Company. I aiin, gentlemen, your obedient servant, Name in full •• .••••• .• •• •• Address .............. Profession or Business .. Reference.• .... • ..... • • • THEATRE ROYAL, HA.YMARKET. Farewell Beason of Mr. Benjamin Webster as Lesece and Manager. THIS EVENING Will be performed the popular and highly attractive Comady of MASKS AND FACES; or, Before and Behind tbe Ctutain—by Messrs. Benjamin Webster, Leigh Murray, Stuart, and Parse lie: Mrs. Stirling, Miss Rosa Bennett, Mrs. Leigh Murray , and Miss Fanny Maskell. After which, the Farce of BOX and COX, MARRIED and SETTLED, by Messrs. Buckstone and Keeley. To conclude with the Farce of A CAPITAL MATCH. ROYAL LYCEUM TIIEITRE. Under the Management of Madame Yates. THIS EVENING Will be performed A HOUSE OUT OF WINDOWS. After which (second time), a new Comic Drama, called a PHE MENON IN A SMOCK-FROCK, Chwacters by Messrs. C. Ma thews, F. Matthews, and Horncastle ; Mias Baker and Miss C. Mitchell (her second appearance at this Theatre). To be followed by (14th time) the Farce entitled THOSE DEAR BLACKS. Characters by Messrs. Charles Mathews, Baker, Suter, Butler, and Miss Wyndham. To which will be added the BALLET from the Chain of Events. To conclude with 111 E JENKEN3ES. Sole Agent for the Private Boxes, Mr. W. Allcroft, 15. New B md-street. THEATRE ROYAL ADELPHI. Open for the Season. Proprietor, Mr. B. Webster.—Directress, Madame Celeste. THIS EVENING, The successful new Drama of SLAVE LIFE ; or, Uncle Tom's Cabin—by Messrs. Alfred Wigan , Emery, 0. Smith, and Cullenford Madame Celeste, Miss Woolger, Miss Collins, Miss Harding, Miss Laura Honey, and Mrs. Keeley. After which, the admired Farce of A MODEL OF A WIFE. To conclude with the Comic Opera of GOOD NIGHT, SIGNOR PAN TALON. ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE', OXFORD-STREET. Under the Management of Mr. C. Kean. THIS EVENING Will be performed the new and original Play, in five acts, by West land Marston, Esq., entitled ANNE BLAKE. Principal characters by Messrs. C. Kean, W. Lacy, and Addison ; Mrs. Winstanley, Mrs. Daly, and Mrs. C. Kean. o be followed by (the 100th time) THE CORSICAN BROTHERS. Principal character by Mr. C. Kean. To conclude with THE SPITALFIELDS WEAVER, in which Mr. Wright will appear. ROYAL OLYMPIC THEATRE. Lessee and Manager, Mr. Farren. THIS EVENING Will be produced MY WIFE'S DAUGHTER. After which, GO TO BED, TOM. To be followed by THE LADIES' CLUB. To conclude with WAN - i'ED ONE THOUSAND SPIRITE YOUNG MILLINERS FOR THE GOLD DIGGINGS. Supported D by Messrs. Farren, eompton, Hoskins, G. Cooke, Shelders, Kinloch, and Mesdames 11. Gordon, A, Philips, Lucy Beer, Bartlett, &c. Box-uftice opcn from Eleven till Five, under the superintendence of Mr. Edward Chatterton. ASTLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE.. Proprietor and Manager, Mr. W. Batty. The greateq novelty of the present day is Uncle Tom's Cabin. To be witnessed nightly at this House. On TUESDAY, Dec. 14th, the per ormances will commence with the superior Equestrian Drama of UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. To be followed by unparalleled Equestrian and Dramatic Achieve ments in the Arena, by the most talented Artistes of the age—in cluding M. and Mdlle. Lalonde, and the Brothers Seigrist, from the Cirque Olympie, Paris. To conclude with the highly amusing Farce of THE DEVIL TO PAY. In consequence of the crowded state of the Theatre, Mr. Batty begs to inform his Friends, that Seats cannot be kept after the con clusion of the First Act. Stage Manager. Mr. W. West. Doors open at Half-past Six o'clock; Boz-office open daily from Eleven to Four. had consented to waive all minor differences, and to hold office together. After the delays inciden tal to the formation of a new Administration, a new "financial scheme" should be brought in which should command the assent, not only of the " Leaders" who had been so fortunate as to ob tain office, but also of the various sections whose opinions they were supposed to represent, and the first point to be disposed of would necessarily be the renewal of the Property and Income-tax, and then' an irreparable breach would be created. The impost should be renewed in some form, or a substitute provided before the sth of April next. Notwithstanding the unquestionable prosperity of the country, and the handsome surplus at the dis posal of the financial Minister, 5,500,000 L could not be surrendered without creating a deficiency highly injurious to the national credit. " Any failure of which would," as the Hon. Member for Glasgow declared in his admirable letter to his constituents, " inflict a penalty on every one of Her MAJESTY'S subjects far more grievous than the payment even of our present heavy taxation. It would be ruinous to those who employ others, and it would throw those em ployed out of work." Such a result, then, is especially to be deprecated, and it is with the ut most satisfaction that we express our belief that there could not be found a single member who would risk such a result. It would be exceedingly difficult to provide a satisfactory substitute. There is nothing to which the "facilis descensus" is more applicable than " fiscal subjects." It is exceedingly agreeable to take off almost any im post. Some murmurs may be elicited from those who conceived that their own peculiar burdens might with greater propriety have been rendered less onerous. But n o v e ry energetic or determined opposition will be offered to the re mission ; while any creation of a new, or increase of an existing, tax is received with fierce and un bending hostility. The Legislature, too, has dis tinctly and unequivocally condemned the system of indirect taxation. It is only the "53 " who could entertain a proposition adverse to the sys tem of unrestricted competition to which the po pular branch of the Legislature is firmly pledged. What "direct taxation " could be imposed in lieu of the Property-tax ? Here, then, the difficulty would arise. The Right Hon. Gentlemen, the Members for the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, would resist any modification of the present system ; hold ing that any distinction between schedules C and D would be a breach of national faith to which they could not be parties, no matter what might be the result. Lord JOHN RussELL and Sir CHARLES WOOD, although on totally different grounds, are equally opposed to any new appor tionment of the tax which would recognise any difference between permanent and precarious in come, and they have suffered themselves to incur disgrace and odium, to forfeit the respect and confidence of the great body of the people, and, even eventually, to lose place, power, and patronage, so dear to Whig minds, rather than listen to the voice of public opinion, or sub mit to the popular will. On the other hand, Mr. COBDEN, expressing the views of a numerous and influential body, lauded the Government for its " recognition of the principle—though they did not carry it far enough—of dealing fairly with the Income-tax as regarded trades and professions," and added, " most assuredly that was a proposi tion which ought to have come from a Govern ment representing the Opposition side of the House." It ought most decidedly to have done so ; but how could the Honourable Gentleman hold office in an Administration the principal members, and the majority, of which were opposed to every modification of the im post. Any Ministry formed previous to the final settlement of the great fiscal question could only exist on sufferance, and the country has had too painful experience of such a state of affairs to desire its repetition. The views put forward by Mr. COBDEN were exceedingly sound ; indeed, the Honourable Gen tleman has not appeared to greater advantage since the termination of the Free-trade contro versy—we should rather say the, repeal of the Corn Laws : for much is still to be effected in the cause of Free Trade or " unre stricted competition," or by whatsoever other title it may be designated. His opinions singu larly coincided with those to which we have already given expression. He showed the gross injustice of the proposed increase of the House Tax—that there was levied 21 per cent. on houses against 3 per cent. on land. On Saturday, we pointed out that the proprietor of dwelling-houses would practically pay nearly seven times as much in proportion to his capital, as the man who had invested his capital in green fields ; or, going more closely into the calculation, that the one would have to pay 831. 3s. 4d., while the other escaped for ill. 11s. Bd. Again, the Hon. Gentleman showed the practical inutility of the reduction of the Malt Tax, al though acknomledging the benefits of its total abolition, provii g, as we have strenuously insisted, that " the great grievance consisted in the Excise regulations." While the Honourable Mem ber for Kidderminster showed with great ability that the brewers would reap almost the sole benefit of the contemplated change, and that the only way to secure the benefit to the consum ers was to break up the monopoly, which could only be done by a revision of the licensing system. We need scarcely explain our opinions on this important point, essential to the establishment of a " free trade in beer" and the supply of a sound, wholesome, unadulterated, and economic beverage of the community. Mr. t o i thealsoicyB partowed the gross injustice, as well as the COBDEN of the H o p Duties ; and, as po thirstyiwe have already stated, the propriety of the prin ciple of the distinction between temporary and permanent incomes ; and while he ably exposed the glaring evils of one system of indirect im posts, and declared that the late CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER should four or five years since have dealt with the Tea Duties as the present has done, save that the reductions should come into operation within three years, advocated a large increase in the amount of direct tax ation. How would GOULBURN receive such a proposition from an influential colleague ? How w Wince while the unpalat able propositions d si G ti L o A n n s sT w or re boldly insisted on in a C a binet of which he himself was a member. The thing would be imp ossi b l e . There is, therefore , the greater reasoh why the matter should not be too hastily disposed of, that the CHANCELLOR of the ExcHEQuER may, on ascertai n i ng the true state of public opinion, be enabled to modify the objectionable portion of his financial scheme ; and that the Property and Income-tax may hence forward and for ever be placed o n a satisfactory basis. Everybody fancies his own particular recipe to be the indisputable panacea. It is not surprising; therefore, that proposals should have already been addressed to the Right lion. the CuANCEiLOR of the EXCHEQUER, as to the best course to be pursued under the circumstances, in the carrying out of his grand scheme of artistic and industrial educa tion—in other words, as to the ablest design for the building to be erected on the market gardens lying between Brompton and Kensington.. Certainly there is reason for some anxiety in this particular. After paying in hard cash 300,0001. —namely, 150,0001. by grant from the Legislature, and another sum of 150,0001., being the actual surplus left by the Great Exhibition in the hands of the Royal Commissioners—for the mere site of a new Na tional Gallery, it would be rather too hard to find the metropolis disgraced by the construction of a companion edifice to the one already standing at the back of the unfinished NELSON Testimonial. The time has surely arrived when we may se riously hope to see some less painful display of that absence of anything like taste in architecture by which we English have been hitherto unfortunately distinguished. Lon don cannot afford to throw away yet another chance of embellishment. It has already quite enough to answer for in this way, both east and west of Temple-bar. We can't so easily forget that horrid abode of the Royal Academy, where a few stone mushrooms seem to have sprouted out * How to Secure the Best Design for the New National Gallery : A Letter Addressed to the Right Hon. Benjamin Disraeli. By Spiridione Gambardella. Bvo., pp. 22. Westerton. London, 1852. In the debate originated on the 11th by Mr. JAMES WILSON upon the Sugar Duties, Sir JOHN PAKINOTON very properly repudiated, almost with ridicule, the notion of finality in fiscal and com mercial matters. We thoroughly concur with his sentiment, that " in matters of indisputable prin ciple, or great principles of right or wrong, they might come to a final settlement ; but when they came to deal with matters concerning the comforts of the people, with fiscal arrangements, he said that finality was an absurdity—it would be bind ing the first functions of the Legislature, whose duty it was to consider the demands of the peo ple." Now Sir JOHN is at the present time called upon to consider a fiscal, a treasury demand, a demand of the Colonial Legislature which has the unquestioned charge of the Canadian Treasury, a demand for the alteration of an Imperial Legisla tive act, to which the Canadian Legislature was no party—against which, on the contrary, it has main tained a nearly annual opposition ; yet Sir JOHN lays great stress on his hope that the Imperial Act of 1840, so irritating to the colony, was to be viewed as a final one ! We trust he will wholly throw over board a notion in regard to Canada, which he so utterly scouted in regard to Jamaica ; we hope that he will come after Christmas to the considera tion of the Canada Clergy Reserves question, when Sir WILLIAM MOLESWORTH brings it forward, with the deep conviction, to use his ow n language, that, discarding the finality of any past measure, " one of the first functions and duties of Legislature is to consider the demands of the people." We are rejoiced to see the question in such thoroughly competent hands as those of Sir W. MOLES WORTH, and regarding the subject, as we do, as one of vital importance in regard to the connexion of this country with Canada, we ask for the candid and earnest consideration of the public and the Legislature. When one-seventh of the Crown Lands of Upper and Lower Canada were set apart in 1791 as " Clergy Reserves," for the support of the Protes tant clergy, Lord GRENVILLE inserted a clause in the Act giving the Colonial House of Assembly power to vary or repeal those portions of the Con stitutional Act, as it was called, which related to these reserved lands. The land was then of little value, being almost uninhabited. As population increased, the annoyance of these reserved lands, their interference with roads and general improvement became so great that all parties began to perceive that they must be sold, and delivered from the condition of being a public nuisance, and a bar to the improvement of the colony. The great struggle began in the year 1817, when a Mr. NicaoLL proposed in the Assembly that half the lands should be sold and applied to the purposes of education. From this time till the Rebellion in 1837 (a rebellion which Lord SYDENHAM, who followed Lord DURHAM as Colonial Governor, declared, only two years after, to be caused by this very question of Clergy Reserves), there was almost a continued and bitter struggle on the subject between the Representative Assent blies and the Colonial Governors, backed by their nominative and anti-popular Council. The year before the rebellion, the Council began to be so alarmed for their clerical friends, that they peti tioned Lord GLENELG to have the question settled by the Imperial Parliament. His Lordship replied in truly statesmanlike style, " that •to withdraw from the Canadian to the Imperial Legislature the question respecting the Clergy Reserves, would be an in fringement of that cardinal principle of Colonial Government which forbids Parliamentary inter ference except in submission to an evident and well-established necessity." All this time, it will be observed, the Colonists had been acting, not only on the general and acknowledged principle so well brought forward by Lord GLENELG, but, in this case, on the special clause of Lord GRENVILLE regarding this very question.. After the Rebellion, and the subsequent Union of Upper and Lower Canada, Lord SYDENHAM, the Governor, pro posed and carried a Bill in the Assembly for dividing the proceeds of the lands amongst the various sects, half to the Church of England, and half to such of the other sects as chose to apply for it. This Bill was sent to England, Lord JOHN RUSSELL adopted it ; but the Archbishop of CANTERBURY and the Bishop of LONDON opposed it The Lion's share of the spoil was not enough for these Ecclesiastics. The Act was modified to suit Episcopal taste, only to become, however, a fresh source of disquietude in Canada, from that time to the present. English bishops thought themselves the best legislators for Canada ; doubtless they think so still ; but, we warn both them and Sir Jomf, that, if this conceit be persisted in, the Episcopal party will pretty nearly realise the old fable of : the dog snatching at the shadow of meat in the water, and dropping irrecoverably the piece in his possession. The present demands of the Assembly are very reasonable. They ask that the entire control of these Reserves of which they were tacitly deprived by the Act of 1840, should be restored to them again ; subject only to the condition of full provi sion for life interests. There is not the slightest evidence or probability that they dream of acting unfairly between the various sects. The great majority, indeed, of the population consists of sects, which in England are Dissenters; but that, surely, only strengthens the argument that we ought not to run the hazard of turning Canada into another Ireland, and rendering the creed of the minority largely predominant in endowed wealth. The Colonists have, moreover, the strong ground of appeal, that, since 1840, a statesman hostile to their views has yet acknowledged their full right to act and legislate in accordance with them. The late Colonial Secretary Lord GREY, m reply to colonial representations, distinctly stated in a dispatch, while expressing his regret at their wish to secularise part of the funds in question, that the Government were prepared to recommend a Bill to the Imperial Parliament placing these funds in their power, because the question, whether the arrangement of 1840 should be disturbed, "is one so exclusively affecting the people of Canada that its decision ought not, to be withdrawn from the Provincial Legislature, to which it properly belongs to regulate all mat ters concerning the domestic interest of the pro vince." It can, then, be of no avail for Sir JOHN to resist the vast majority of the Canadians, up held as they are by the authority of two Colonial Secretaries ; the latter, moreover, feeling a very strong reluctance to give up part of a Whig measure, and doing so solely in deference to the only principle which can long retain the goodwill or even the loyalty of our rapidly-growing colonies. At the Cape of Good Hope, and still more in Australia, the determination is becoming stronger every hour, that the Colonial-office shall only watch over the Imperial relations of the co lonies, that it shall not interfere in their domestic arrangements ; and nothing surely can more entirely belong to that category, than in what way and to what extent they will support some or any of the various de nominations amongst them. It should be borne in mind that perhaps the larger portion of emi grants are of those classes in which dissent chiefly abounds at home, and have been accustomed to support their own worship here ; hence they not only find little difficulty in doing the same as Colonists, but feel it an especial grievance that, where their numbers and power are relatively so much greater, they should still be saddled with the maintenance of a Church from which they dis sent. Our Legislators must remember that a colony is not the mother country ; and what men will bear with patience in a state of society like that at home, becomes intolerable under the re versed conditions of colonial life. Sir JOHN'S mention of the majority in Canada against the Reserves being composed of the Re presentatives of Lower Canada, and that the votes of Upper Canada were nearly equal, we regard as one of the most dangerous arguments which can possibly be made use of. The union of the pro vinces is now rapidly consolidating ; to pit them one against the other is the worst policy a states man can adopt. No one acquainted with the population of Upper Canada doubts for a moment that the great majority of it is strongly in favour of retaining the settlement of the question in the hands of their own Legislature ; but even if half one province, and almost the whole of the other, were of one mind on a measure, this alone were ground sufficient to decline interference on what is no earthly concern of ours on this side the Atlantic. We have, however, no kind of doubt that the Colo nists would do what was best for themselves. It is disgraceful for us in England to pretend to know better than they do what plan will best harmonise with the interests of all parties there. They are not children in understanding, although we naturally call our colonies, as a whole, our offspring. On the contrary, the majority of the Colonists are some of the most energetic of our own population, or the descendants of such ; they love their old fatherland while looked upon by it paternally ; but if crossed and thwarted when of age to manage alone they are very to set up for alone. A much less irritating interference aroused our old American colonies to get rid for ever both of Archbishops of Canter bury and Colonial Secretaries. CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE SOUTH WESTERN RAILWAY. —Mr. Chaplin, for many years chairman of this company, has, it is stated, 'resigned the chairmanship, retaining, however, his seat as a director. SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH TO OSBORNE.—Persons are now employed surveying the distance between Lymington, in Hants, and her Majesty's residence at Osborne, for the purpose of connecting the marine palace of the Queen with London by means of the electric telegraph. OVERFLOW OF THE TlDE.—Yesterday afternoon the tide arose to a very alarming height on the banks of the Thames, completely inundating the lower parts of the water side premises, and rendering the streets adjacent impass able for foot passengers, especially in Rotherhithe and Wapping. The tide rushed up the sewers with great force, and. so suddenly that many of the inmates of the lower kitchens had hardly time to save themselves. The meadows and Lammas-land at Fulham, Putney, and Wandsworth were overflowed , and the steamers had some difficulty in passing under the bridges. THE UNITED STATES STEAIik.R, WASHINGTON, which put back to Southampton last week damaged, left again yesterday for New York. Tilt HOUSE TAX.—In Newport, Isle of Wi g ht, the extension of the house tax to 101 . househol ders will, it is expected, be the means of disfranchising about 200 borough voters. MAKER. SUICIDE OF MR. LESCHALLAS, THE PAPER a ny years —This unfortunate gentleman, who for a great in maker and has carried on an extensive business as wholesale stationer in Budge-row, Watigati;Et:),Cdaityy)', committed self-destruction yesterday m e r e h s c o h u a s ll e by shooting himself through the hemli.u h ° :i ir w : in Sise-lane. During the last nine t a n g e 'l° has laboured under who was about fifty-seven pars a delusion that his business was °gfoing ' to ruin and himself ma tt er s were the reverse, fur to poverty, whereas, in e fact, his affars, r gon into, ex hibited a large capital in reserve i I,fter ecently all claims and liabilities had been cleared. Notwithstanding, his friends (the deceased was a bachelor, u s d had no on p ar t ner s in business) were unable to disabuse the subject. It was stated he had no less n 80,0101. in stock, besides 50,0001. in bills in hand, yet he was co nstantly comp laining, and persisting in approaching insolvency. An inquest was held by Mr. Payne, the coroner, y e sterday, when the above facts were deposed to, and a verdict of " Temporary derangement" was returned. AGRARIAN CRIME.— Six persons, nearly all of them substantial farmers, have been committed for trial by the magistrates of Carrickmacross, charged with a conspiracy to murder a bailiff named Patrick M'Ardle. During the s ial commission at Monaghan last year two men, named ner pec bert and Leonard, were convicted for having been found by the police near Carrickmacross concealed behind a hedge with fireariM. It was supposed at the time that these persons had. been lying in wait to murder the same WArdle, who was expected to pass that wiky on his return to hits home. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. TIIIS DAY —Morning 49 min. after 3 Evening 12 min.a ft . 4 T o -M OR R OW —Morning 34 rain. after 4 I Evening 57 min.aft. 4 THE WEATHER. Sux OFFICE, Dec. 14. THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE. 51—highest since noon yesterday. 45—lowest this morning and during the night. 52—this day, at noon. -- .. BAROMETER, 29'47. WIND, S.W.—Light breeze, and fine sunshiny weather. • . 4.40.,.'.f --- , ct 1 0-Att_ii r N ,-. ..4 60 04 nn, • , ..: LONDON, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1852. Another evening has been spent, and not un profitably, in discussing the provisions of the Budget. Notwithstanding " the time of the year, and the day of the month," we should not object, to many more days being devoted to the same purpose. The questions now before the House and country are of the deepest and most vital importance, not merely to the interests of party, but to the welfare and prosperity of the nation. They should not be finally disposed of until after mature and attentive deliberation, when all the arguments advanced on either side had been fully considered, and due weight attached to each. ' However it may be desirable to treat the financial scheme as " a whole," in debate, the various re solutions must be separated when a division is about to take place. And it will be impossible for Hon. Gentlemen who believe the alterations in the House Duties to be an unwise, unnecessary, and inequitable proposition, to give it their sup port, however highly they may approve of the other principles enunciated by the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER. The debate was, indeed, of the highest import ance. It not only elicited the peculiar views of the different parties, but it indicated the extreme difficulty, we had almost said the impossibility, of uniting so many discordant materials into a consistent Administration in the event of the op position proving successful in ousting the present Cabinet. Whigs, Peelites, and Liberals may con cur in rejecting the Budget. But could they hope for anything like unanimity in preparing and car rying a substitute through Parilament ? Let us suppose that RUSSELL, GLADSTONE, and COBDEN COURT OF CHANCERY. The following orders of the Lord High Chancellor were issued to the public on Saturday : The Right Honourable Edward Burtenshaw, Lord St. Leonards, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, doth hereby, in pursuance of an Act of Parliament, passed in the fifteenth and sixteenth years of the reign of her present Majesty, intituled, " An Act for the Relief of the Suitors of the High Court of Chancery," and in pursuance and execution of all other powers enabling him in that be half, order and direct as follows ; that is to say, Firstly. That the Commissioners of Inland Revenue do prepare stamps impressed upon adhesive paper, of the amounts following, that is to say : Threepence, four pence, eightpence, one shilling and fourpence, one shil ling and sixpence, two shillings and sixpence, and two shillings and eightpence. Secondly. That such stamps shall be affixed by the parties requiring to use the same on the vellum, parch ment, or paper on which the proceeding in respect whereof such stamps may be required is written, printed, or engrossed, or which may be otherwise used in reference to such proceeding. Thirdly. That every officer of the Court of Chancery who shall receive any document to which a stamp shall be so affixed, shall immediately upon the receipt thereof obliterate or deface such stamp, by impressing thereon a seal to be provided for that purpose, but so as not to prevent the amount of the stamp from being ascer tained, and no such document shall be filed or delivered out until the stamp thereon shall be obliterated or de faced as aforesaid. (Signed) ST. LEONARDS, C The Right Honourable Edward Burtenshaw, Lord St. Leonards, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, doth hereby in pursuance of an Act of Partliament, passed in the 15th and 16th years of the reign of her present Majesty, intituled "An Act for the relief of the Suitors of the High Court of Chancery," and in pur suance and execution of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, order and direct as follows : Firstly. When no certificate of the taxation of a bill of costs shall be required; the ad valorum duty, directed by the order of the 25th day of October to be levied by stamps on the Master's certificate, shall nevertheless be due, and shall be payable on the amount of the bill as taxed, or on the amount of such part thereof as may have been taxed ; and the solicitor is in such case to cause the proper stamp (the amount thereof to be fixed by the Master), to he impressed en or annexed to the bill of costs. Secondly. The fees hereunder specified, shall here after be collected, not in money, but by means of stamps denoting the amount of such fees, stamped or affixed at the expense of the parties liable to pay the fees, on or to the vellum, parchment, or paper on which the proceed ings in respect whereof such fees are payable are written or printed, or which may otherwise be used in reference to such proceedings. First, in the Registrar's Office. s. d. For orders made by a judge in chambers, drawn up by the registrar, the like fees as by the order of the 23d October, 1852, are directed to be taken by the chief clerks to the judges for orders, drawn up by such chief clerks. Second, in the Record and Writ Clerks' Office. For amending every record of any bill For amending every office copy thereof Copies of documents left as exhibits, for folio (Signed) ST. LEONARDS, C. ;at 1 THE POLISH BALL AT GUILDHALL TO-MORROW, WED NESDAY.—The committee for conducting this entertain ment have nearly completed all their arrangements, which are on the usual scale of splendour and magnificence. Lord Chief Baron Pollock has kindly consented to transfer his Court for the day of the ball to the Sheriff's Court, thus to afford more accommodation to the numerous company ex pected on the occasion. The floor of the hall will be co vered with cloth manufactured for this purpose, and every comfort provided for the visitors. The concert, which will be held in the concert chamber, under the direction of Mr. Lindsay Sloper, will be supported by Mrs. Endersohn, Miss Ransford, Miss Messent, Miss Cicely Nott, Miss Kate Hickson, Miss Lascelles, Madame Weiss, Mademoiselle Coulon, Mr. Wrightson, Mr. T. Williams, Mr. Weiss, and Mr. 13odda. A great number of o ffi cer from the New Militia will appear in their dazzling uniforms, and the ball will be as brilliant as all its predecessors. of the litter of the old Royal Mews. Neither can we lose a remembrance of the mongrel aspect of that accumulation of rooms called Buckingham Palace, of which it would be difficult to say whether it is of the Gothic, or Tuscan, or Nor man, or Doric, or any other order of architecture. We preserve a dreadfully vivid recollection of the fact that there are two miserable squirts in Tra- falgar-square, called by some insane people foun- tains. Equally distressing is the knowledge that the Lion and the Unicorn are perpetrating all kinds of abominable vagaries in front of the town residence of the SOVEREIGN, in defiance of the laws of heraldry and of the experiences of the zoologist. It cannot be forgotten, unfortunately, that while we can raise up a noble column, we don't know how many feet high, in honour of a small soldier like H. R. H. the Duke of YORK, we can't for the life of us manage, even with the assistance of the charitable contributions of Russia, to complete, after the lapse of forty-seven years, a similar monument to a great sailor like the hero of Trafalgar. Again— the capital of England has a public statue of King GEORGE 111., but not one of ALFRED the GREAT, she has another in memory of King CHARLES 1., but not one of OLIVER CROM WELL,—she has yet a third in homage to King GEORGE IV., but not One Of ARTHUR, Or EDWARD 111., or ETRELBERT. There are the effigies of CANNING, and BANKs, and CARTWRIGHT, but there are not in our streets any at all of either MILTON, or HOGARTH, or DRYDEN, or CHAUCER, or SHAKSPERE. It is not thus in Paris, or, in fact, in almost any of the capitals of the European Continent. Across the channel, in the metropolis of our imperial neighbours, they have dedi cated a fountain to MOLIERE, and a quay to VOLTAIRE, and a street to ROUSSEAU. Be sides which, look at the sites of their public buildings. Instead of hiding an exquisite master piece like St. Stephen's among a cluster of obscure and dingy byeways—instead of having the Guild hall lost at the extremity of a comparatively nar row thoroughfare, they have their Tuileries in the midst of a magnificent garden, with a noble avenue of trees in front, conducting into the gorgeous Place de la Concorde. Beyond this they have the entire length of the Champs Elysee, extending in the direction of Neuilly, as straight as an arrow, crowned by the Arch of the Star, having to the south of the Place de la Concorde the beautiful Chamber of the Le gislature, and to the north the matchless temple of the Madeleine. It is not, however, alone in this particular quarter that Paris is so remarkable for the position of her national edifices. What a noble site is that of St. Sulpice; or of the Bourse, or of the Pantheon, or of the wonderful pile of the Hotel de Ville 1 Everywhere a similar regard for the external aspect of the structure appears to be kept in view by the administrators and the archi tects—everywhere, except in the capital of England. Here we seem to be contented either with some abominably ugly edifice like the National Gallery, or with some masterpiece of art thrust away into a dark corner. The period, we are fain to believe, however, has at length arrived when this atrocious want of taste and system must be supplied ; and this happy change can alone be effected through the beneficent aid of Her MAJESTY'S Government. Precisely of this propitious character is the aid held out in perspective as attainable through the acceptance of the admirable scheme spoken of the other evening in the House of Commons by the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER. An en terprise of this kind was in a manner foreshadowed in that well-known sentence in Her MAJEsTY'S last most gracious Speech from the Throne—" the ad vancement of the Fine Arts will be recognised by you as worthy of the attention of a great and en lightened nation." Hence the undertaking which may be said to have already cost the country the round sum of just 300,0001., merely to obtain space in certain market-gardens, situated between Brompton and Kensington. It would be idle now, unluckily, to question whether or not the site of the intended structure has in everywaybeen well selected. It is too late—the matter has been definitively ar ranged. Fortunately, however, there is ample time left for consideration as to the readiest and surest method of obtaining a good design for the future National Gallery, or, to speak more comprehen sively, for the whole pile of buildings to be dedi cated to the culture of Art, and to the industrial education of the community. A facetious, yet, at the same time, sensible proposal in reference to this problem has been already suggested to the Right Honourable BENJAMIN DISRAELI by one calling himself SPIRIDIONE GAMBAR DELLA.* We mention the circumstance as indica-' cative that the enterprise spoken of has even now awakened some degree of conjecture, and some amount of speculation. Numerous other suggestions, we doubt not, will flow in upon the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—aII advocating the most various and contradictory arrangements. The more, not the merrier perhaps, but really the better in the end, for inquiry will thereby be provoked upon a matter which (from our national ignorance in Art) requires, we fear, from our rulers very considerable investigation. COURT CIRCULAR. OSBORNE, MONDAY. Her Majesty, his Royal Highness Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, and the Princess Alice, attended by the Marchioness of Ely, the Hon. Mary Seymour, the Hon. Colonel Grey, and Colonel Bouverie, attended divine service yesterday morning at the parish church at Whippingham. The Earl of Derby also attended the service. The Rev. Mr. Stracey officiated. Major-General Sir Robert Nickle had an interview with Sir John Pakington yesterday at the Colonial office. The Earl of Derby arrived in town yesterday after noon from a visit to her Majesty at Osborne, Isle of Wight. A deputation from Ryde, Isle of Wight, h a d an inter view yesterday with the General Board of Health ,at their offices, Whitehall, in relation to the Ryde Water works Bill. The deputation, who were attended by Mr. W. Hanger, C.E., their engineer, consisted of Messrs. Marvin, Colenutt, Jolliffe, and Thurlow. The Right Hon. T. Milner Gibson, M.P., and Mr. Barrow, M.P., had an interview with Mr. Secretary Walpole yesterday at the Home-office. Mr. Jackson had an interview yesterday with Sir John Pakington. Dispatches from the Governor of Canada, and also from the Governor of Bermuda, were received yesterd4 at the Colonial-office. PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS. ;From Votes and Proceedings of the House of Commons.; CONTROVERTED ELECTIONS. The SPEAKER acquainted the house that he had re ceived Reports from the Examiner of Recognis ances stating that the recognisance to the election petitions respecting the following places were unobjectionable, viz Cashel. Clare. Knaresborough (3). New Sarum. Surrey (East. Division). Tipperary. Finsbury. Mr. BAINES reported, from the General Committee of Elections, that they had selected the following days for the appointment of the select committees to try the mat ter of the petitions complaining of undue elections and returns for the following places : Tavistock, Bridgnorth, }Monday, February 14. Lancaster, Canterbury, Blackburn, Clitheroe, } Wednesday, February 16. Chatham, Stoke-upon-Trent, Southampton, Monday, February 21. Kidderminster, Frome, Cambridge, }Wednesday, February 23. Waterford County, LOSS OF THE GEELONCI. The above steamer was from Greenock, bound to Gee long, in Australia, in ballast, was sailing out schooner rigged, without steam. Sailed from Greenock the 4th of November, and from Belfast Loch on the 18th. Had favourable weather till the morning of the 23d, when the wind hauled to west, and began to blow very heavy. Twelve o'clock noon, hard gales, with a tremendous sea running. Lost rudder. Midnight of same day vessel lying-to under balance-reefed mizen. A heavy sea broke on board and carried away bulwarks, stanchions, and sweeping everything off deck but the life-boat, washing the chief mate and two of the men from the pumps, bruising them severely and doing much injury to the hull of the steamer, which caused her to make water very fast and put all exertion at defiance. The crew only waited daylight to abandon her with the boat, hoping some vessel might be near. At daylight 24th they de scried a large ship lying to leeward of them, which proved afterwards to be the Swedish man-of-war Naija den, from the North Sea, and bound to Gibraltar. They made her a signal of distress, which she answered, but led them to understand they had lost their life-boat that same morning, but if they could save themselves with their own boat they would wait by them. About eleven a.m., the crew got on board the stranger, where they were received with the greatest kindness and atten tion. The crew were all saved, but lost every stick they had. IS KIR WAN A MURDERER 7 TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. Sir, —Mrs. Kirwan being a good swimmer it is more than probable she bathed in the open sea in preference to shallow water. A feeling of fright at having swam too far out, or cramp, would account for the, screams heard at the time. Being a strong woman she might have effected a land ing, and reached the rock where found, but from cold and over-exertion fallen in the position mentioned by the boatman. Every cut and symptom mentioned by the medical men, might result from the exertion of an exhausted person trying to land. I may mention it as a fact that females sometimes bleed from the breast after too long immersion in the water. I remain, sir, your obedient servant, A FELLOW R. C. S. I. [The above communication has been addressed to us, possibly from a spirit of humanity, evideatly from a feeling of conviction, and, without comment from our selves, we think it but justice that the suggestions of our correspondent should be made public. ED. Sun.] CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.-THIS DA Y. OLD COURT. (Before the Recorder.) STEALING A PROMISSORY NOTE Robert Henderson Robertson, 44, broker, and Robert Hills, 42, his clerk, surrendered to take their trial, hav ing been remanded from last session, on an indictment, charging them with stealing a promissory note, value 3501., the property of John Miles. Mr. Parry said he was about to say, on the part of the prosecutor, who was a highly respectable wool merchant in Yorkshire, and had had a great many money transactions with Robertson, that matters had since come to his knowledge, which induced him to believe that the defendants had no felonious intent, though there could be no doubt that, in forcibly obtain ing possession of the bill, they committed a rash and in discreet act, and were guilty of a civil trespass. Robert son carried on transactions with some large houses in Yorkshire, and especially in the manufacturing districts, and was a person of respectable character. As counsel for the prosecutor, he concurred entirely in the view taken of the case by Mr. Miles, and with the permission of his lordship, he would withdraw from the prosecution. The Recorder confessed that, in reading over the de positions, he thought that there was no probability of a conviction unless the alleged felonious act was proved with a greater degree of certainty. Mr. Clarkson admitted that there had been rashness in the conduct of Robertson, but denied that he had any intention to commit a felony. A verdict of not guilty was then returned with re spect to both the defendants. CUTTING AND WOUNDING. Michael Mullings, labourer, 18, was indicted for felo niously cutting and wounding Timothy Harly, with in tent to do him some grievous bodily harm. Mr. Clarkson appeared for the prosecution, and Mr. Payne for the defence. It appeared from the evidence that Harly and the prisoner were employed as labourers at the Temple off Fortune Farm, Hampstead, and slept together with some other men in a loft over a cow-shed. On the night of the 19th of September they were all drinking in the loft when a quarrel arose, and the prisoner, who had re ceived some provocation from Harley, took up a r eaping hook, and cut him across the back of the neck, from which he bled profusely. The prisoner then ran away, but on meeting a policeman told him what he had done, and gave himself up. Harley the con veyed to the hospital, when it was found that wound was two inches long and an inch and a ha e l if f e d o e t e s p o . f t H h e e had not yet entirely recovered from the injury. sonMerr.. Payne addressed the ju r y The jury found the guilty yisaos toner g on ilt behalf of ati of tti t n h wounding, but not g e pi and u y a the intention of doing grievous bodily harm. ui The Recorder sentenced him to imprisonment for three mo nths, with hard labour. NEW COURT. :N o a o t n i v ie e i r m ild b b i l t r m , 1 . n g T h v i em i s h uhtet 7 e o rih , an p v 4e n a go d n ed a t tthnheoet timeguiltyhtw t (Before the Common Sergeant.) .TaarwA fr , sth e w n ilo t _ The uttering having been clearly proved, the prisoner, b e li - a n 'a d:s h i l n i 1 I h in is g s, possession. who cried much, denied all knowledge of the coins being counterfeit, and accounted for their possession in the following way :—He said that he carried a fruit basket, and that on the day in question a well-dressed young gentleman bought three pennyworthy of oranges of him, in payment for which he thrust a shilling into the pri soner's waistcoat pocket, and walked away without waiting for his change ; and that shortly afterwards another young gentleman, bought two pennyworth of oranges, thrust a second shilling in the prisoner's pocket, and walked away without his change in the same manner as his predecessor. Prisoner was too much surprised at the generosity of his customers to look at their money, and had no suspicion of its being bad until given into custody. As to the two shillings found in his pocket, he could not account for their getting there. The jury found the prisoner guilty, and the Common- Sergeant, who said there cou ld be no doubt of his guilty knowledge, , sentenced h im to 12 calendar months' im prisonment, with hard labour. Eli:a Pearce, upon conviction, was similarly sentenced for a similar o ffence ; as were also John Hu g hes, J ohn Doyle, Sautuelifouston, and William Powell, who pleaded guilty. FIRE Ain Loss OF LlFE.—Yesterday, about eight o'clock in the morning, a fire broke out in a room at No. 9, Pear Tree-court, Clerkenwell. The firs was soon extin guished, but a woman, Mrs. Tackley, who occupied a room on the first floor, 'was unfortunately burned to death. When discovered she presented a most dreadful spectaelo. Without delay she was removed to a neighbouring sur geon's, but life was found extinct. The deceased was -in toxicated at the time of her death, and it is supposed that shr dropped 80m0 tightod Lucifer =tags aea9us the LQd 4otliel► THE WELLINGTON SUN. ON THURSDAY TIIE MR ULTIMO, AN EXTRAORDINARY EDITION OF THE SUN WAS PUBLISHED, CONTAINING A SPLENDID PORTRAIT OF THE LATE DUKE OF WELLINGTON , WITH HIS AUTOGRAPH, AND A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE GRAND NATIONAL FUNERAL, AND IS NOW ON SALE. ORDERS RECEIVED BY ALL NEWS AGENTS, AND AT THE SUN OFFICE, 112, STRAND, LONDON. I 1