The Sun. — London, England, 1848-01-15 00:00:00

eases, removed into this court, in order that they might be quashel—Application granted. COMMON PLEAS.-(THIS DAY.) bEN NETT I% PENINSULAR AND ORIENTAL STEAM PACKET COMPANY. This case was tried before the Lard Chief Justice at Guildhall during the last sittings, when the plaintiff recovered 2001. from the Peninsular end Oriental St eam Packet Company for rtfusing to allow him to proc ee d b y one o f their - vt-ssels to Gibraltar. The reason given by the dt fendants for refusing a passage to Captain Bennett was that he was the recognized agent of Don Miguel, and that it being his i n t ent i on to land at Oporto, which at that time Was in a st a t e of blockade, his appearance there might lid to political disturbances, and perhaps affect the state of our re l at i ons w i t h t h at coun try. In sum thing up, the Learned Judge expressed an opu ! ion that the company had no more right to inquire into the political nature of a passenger's journey than a railway company had who conveyed a passenger from one, part of the ki ng d om t o ano th e r. ATTORISLY• GENERAL now moved fora rule nisi to enter the verdict for the defendants on the third plea, or f or a new tr i a l. H e move d upon two points,—first, that they were not carriers of pas• aengers with a common carriers' duty, and secondly, if they were so, the common carriers' duty did nut extend to th e conveyance o f persons t o f o r e ign parts. `l he COURT granted a rule. WORSHIP-STREET. —(THIS DAY.) Richard Spraggs was brought before Mr. Combe (who sat fur M. Ilammill) for fir.al examination, charged with stealing a portmanteau, the property of Mr. Copema n , o f N orw i c h . The prisoner, a few evenings since, was perceived by one cf the porters of the Eastern Counties Rail way, Shorediteh, loitering about the platform, and on the arriv a l o f t h e N orw i c h tra i l at h a lf-past seven o'clock h e was o b served to be loo ki ng anx i ou sly into the first and second class carriages, and presently to dart into on e o f th e l atter. A moment only elapsed, and his h ea d ( t h e ot h er part o f hi s p erso n being . evi dently extended upon the flooring inside the carriage) was seen moving up an d d o wn the line of carriages, as if to ascertain if the .4 course was clear," and, being satisfied, he shot out from his place of concealment with the portmanteau in question, and was hastening along the platform. when he was pounced upon by lienvaley, the porter Who had been watching him, and who conveyed him before the superintendent. At this moment the office 712 s telegraphed from March, a distance of ninety miles, with the information . that a gentleman's port manteau, with the address upon it, on a brass label, " Thomas P. Copeman, Norwich," had been stolen. This exactly corresponded with the portmanteau in the prisoner's possession. Mr. Copeman now attended and identified the port manteau and its contents as his property. He added that he had left his portmanteau in the hurry of get ting out of the carriage at March underneath the seat be occupied. The prisoner said nothing in his defence, and was fully committed to Newgate for trial. COURT CIRCULAR. The Queen and Prince Albert walked yesterday , morning in Claremont Gaulerts. Lord John Russell arrived at Claremont yesterday forenoon, from his residence in Richmond Park. His Royal Highness P r i nce Albert enjoyed the nort of sh oo ti ng yes t er d ay morn i ng . Hi s R o y a l -Highness was accompanied by Lord John Russell, and was attended by the Earl of Morton and Mr. G. E. Anson. The royal children took their accustomed airings yesterday in Claremont Park. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester 'visited her Royal Highness the _Princess Sophia on Thursday, at her residence at Kensington. Mr. Wickham, Chairman of the Stamps and Taxes, and Mr. Pressly, Secretary to the Board, had an in terview with the Chancellor of the Exchequer yester daytat his official residence in Downing-street. Mr. Bonham had an iterview with Earl Grey yes terday at the Colonial-office. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England had a general meeting on Thursday, at their office in httehall- place. THE NEWMARKET HANDICAP TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. would much wish to call your attention, and that of the public your readers, to the New market H an di cap, which, being the f i rst o f t h e y ea r, assume s a more than common importance. It strikes me that it contains, not only some, but many of the greatest absurdities ever united in a handicap. And here I may observe that handicapping for large stakes is, in my opi n i on, one of the most i mportant t rus t s which can b e conf i ded to a man. I t i s entrusting him to a certain extent with the distribution of thou Bands of pou n d s o f public money ; and a negligence or wilful impropriety in the discharge of such a duty is error of no ordinary importance. May I ask what can be the reason of placing the third best horse of the past year at the head of this handicap, with 9st. Sting, whose performance for th e C am b r id ges hi re th e y ear b e f ore w as consider ably better, was weighted for this event at 8-t. 61b., and beaten. Again, why should this third-rate horse give the best animal of the preceding year slbs and the year ? Rat-trap also is weighted at Bst. Glb., (his last performances having shown him better than Burgundy), and Vesta at Bst. 21b., thereby present ing to the Irish p u bli c t h e novel proposition that Vesta is equal to Burgundy. With these few 01 the absurdities, I conclude, yours, Kildare, Jan. 12, 1848. JUSTITIA. SPORTING INTELLIGENCE. INTELLIGENCE EXTRA. THE ROYAL LEAMINGTON AND SOUTHAM' STEEPLECHASES. Entries for the Grand Open Steeplechase Stakes of 25 soya. each, &c. Lord Strathmore's St. Leger—Lord Strathmore's Chatham—Lord Strathmore's Navvorth—Hcn. D. Ward's Cavendish—Captain's Barnett's Boxkeeper—Captain A.ll.'yne's The Nigger—Mr. J. S. Moseley's Jerry—Mr. L. Little's Chandler—Mr. C. C. Brooke's Engle—Mr. E. Nunn's Evergreen—Mr. Arbuthnot na Alexander—Mr. R. Clifton's Miss Fop— Mr. J. Eltnore's tiozeley—Mr. P. R. Gordon na Salute--Mr. I3uchansn's Matchless— Mr. A. Frederick's Gayled—Mr. Wilson na Culver thorpe—Mr. Tilbury na Chronometer—Mr. J. Ander son's Db.count— Mr. J. Andersen's Profligate—Mr. Morris's Tamworth-11r. Holman's Edward the First— Mr. T. Westley's Gayhurst—Mr. J. C Madock's Pro ceed—Mr. J. C. Madock's Rep, ater—Mr. Lambert's St. Ruth —Mr. Bam's Sir Arthur—Mr. Johnstone's Spec tator. Forfeits to be declared on the 19th inst. HUNTING APPOINTMENTS. The Worcestershire lids., Mon., Menkwood Gret n; Wed., Grafton Wood; Fri., Bishop's Wood-10i. Mr. Giles's hds., Mon.. the Kennel; Wed., Newent Wog d; Fri , ll,thel Pit Turnpike-10i. The Upton harrs., Tues„ Brookend, near Kemsey. The Wheatland lids., Mon., Oldbury; Wed., Morville; Fri., Spoonbill-10i, The B. V. H., Alton Iver (roe deer); Sat., Bishops Caundle Bill-10 . Mr. Drax's hds:, Tues.. Holnest Kennel. Mr. Dean's harrs., Tues., Red Lion, Membury-10. The Brighton harrs., Mon., Patcham; Wed., Race- Course; Fri., Dyke-14 The Brookside harrs , Mon., Newmarket Hill; Thurs., Telscombe Tye-10}. The Crawley and Horsham hds., Mon., Turner's Mill; Wed., Ruaper Village; Fri., Handcross Village. The East Essex lids., Tues., Stoke College; Sat., Not ley Gate. The Monmouthshire hds., Mon , Graig Finger-post; Fri., Dingeston Bridge. The Hopton harrs,, Mon., Oulton; Thurs., Thurlton. Mr. 11.rlock's lids., Tues., Ceurthay-11. Mr. A. Smith's hds., Mon., Clatford Oakcuts; Tues., Oare Hill; Wed., Wherwell Wood ; Thurs , Chute Lodge; Fri., Amesbury; Sat., Roche Court-11. The Cotteamore hds., Mon., Witchley Warren; Tues., Loddington; Thurs., Greethain Inn; Fri., Knoss:rig ton-101,.. Earl Pitzwillism's hds., Mon., Eton Furze; Wed., By thorn Tull-bar; Fri., Caster IlanglAnds-10. PRINCESS'S THRATRE.—On Tuesday evening the Performances at this theatre were by the especial desire of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who were pre sent with their family, and a large party of fashion shies. Madame Anna Thillon sung and acted with her fascinating grace. The grand Pantomime followed, and seemed to please the illustrious visit ors amazingly— more particularly the Clown of Flexmore, which is cer tainly the best or the day. His graceful imitations of the far. famed Taglioni, Fanny Ellsler, and Cerito were applauded to the echo. Miss Fawcett and Bologna were admirable as the Columbine and Harlequin. Sylvani, the Spate , contortioned himselt in a wond..rtul manner; and Paulo, the Pantaloon, ph yeti excellently up to his coadjutor Flexmore. We never witnessed a more crowded and elegant audience. 131215.11NGUANI AND OXFORD RAILWAY.—BIR• MINGRAX, FP.IDAY NIGHT.—The adjourned special reld general t"eting., of the shareholders of this railway was Yesterday at Dee's Royal llotel, in this town. P. H. mun tz ' E'q, in the chair.—Mr. Colmore said no doubt the shareholders were aware that the Lord Chanceilor had stated that he should take the appeal ac!ainst the decision of the Vice. Chant:ellor some day next Week, and under these circumstances it was not desirable that any resolutions should be moved at this meeti. g. It would be much better to await the decision of the Lord Chan cellor, and therefore he begged to move that this meet ing be adjourned to Friday, the 28th instant. Mr. Beal seconded the motion. The chairman said it was his sin cere desire that some decision should be given one way or the other, in order that an end might be put to the present unseemly dispute which was proving so disas trous to railway property generally. He trusted that before the shareholders should meet again the Lord Chancellor's decision would be given, by which these diaPutes would be terminated. The resonation for the wijournment Wee then pus l and vas esrrie4 Patanisaously, THE CHRISTAIAS BOOKS. of Sicily—an aspiration which he has thus expressed —" 0 Fate ! give us a dozen years more life, and a lift in our faculties, immense ; and let us try still if even our own verses cannot do something with it." A dozen years, forsooth ! let him count upon them, in his hopeful spirit, as a certainty, and he may yet wed his name to immortal song in connexion with the fame of the Sicilian Robin A dozen years, for sooth ! Three years, Leigh Hunt, and you may give us a golden epic worthy of living for aye, side by side with Colin Clout. Richard Doyle has surpassed his reputation in his exquisite sketches of Polyphe mus and the Syrens ; he has risen from the gro tesque vulgarities of caricature to the fantastic ele gancies of dreamland. In the " Midsummer Eve "of Mrs. S. C. Hall, we have a fairy tale suited in every thing but its title to the festive evenings of Christ mas. As it was published in periodical chapters in the Art- Union Journal we took occasion to commend its merits, both as a literary production and as the vehicle of a multitude of inimitable illustrations. Our impression as to its excellence is only confirmed now that the entire volume is completed, and the scat tered chapters and dispersed embellishments grouped together. Mrs. S. C. Hall has written things over which we are not ashamed to confess our tears have fallen not unplentifully ; but she has never before composed a work in which her powers both of senti ment andimagination were more sustained than they are in " Midsummer Eve," and never before hare her ima ginings been so profusely and gracefully sprinkled with artistic decorations. Her inspiration has been drawn, we conceive, partly from the " Dream" of Shakspere, partly from the " Plea" of Hood, and principally troth the poetic legends of that Ireland whose wit and passion she has already so repeatedly pourtrayed. With something of the exaggerated ideality which was perceivable in his " Musical and Pictorial Almanack," Mr. F. W. N. Bayley has endeavoured to commemorate in a becoming mariner the triumphs of the Jenny Lind season at her M ajesty's Theatre, by enditing a poem which he has called the " Wake of Ecstacy." By a prior title, and a more comprehen sible one too, to those who are unread in his verses, he has christened the book " The Souvenir of the Season." Lavishly emblazoned with gold on the back, the volume is illustrated by several fanciful litho graphic engravings from the pencil of Kenny Mea dows; and the title-page is a copy (by J. Barrett) from the only photographic likeness of the songstress taken in England. Mr. Bayley is stark staring mad about the Swenish Nightingale, and that will cer tainly be considered no valid disqualification to him as a versifier by the many thousands of her Majesty's lieges who have also qualified themselves for Bedlam by listening to the voice of Mademoiselle Lind. The work is the effusion of honest enthusiasm, and as such must be considered, and may be remembered. air. William Makepiece Thackeray, or as he delights to call himself, Mr. Michael Angelo litinarsh, in other words Yellowplush, in other words Fitz boodle, in other words the snob and the fat contributor of Punch—has penned a little pink glazed book, and embellished it with engravings sketched by his own pencil, and coloured by his own paint brush, and designated it on the title-page, on the cover, in the puff preliminaries, and in the advertisements " Our Street. Last winter we remember " laughing consumedly" over " Mrs. Perkins's Ball "—which was good. We re collect also praising it as it deserved. This winter we have " yawned consumedly " over " Our Street" —which is execrable. Every sentence is a spasmodic effort at fun. The author grins at you perpetually from his pages, but his grins are as forced and heartless as the grins produced by galvanism. He has evidently undertaken his task with the deliberate determination to be droll—if he could. The result is ' literally, dreadful. Mr. Titmarsh instead of being "fast," as is his wont, has, all at once become awfully slow. What he, perhaps, fondly imagined, while writing, to be very smart indeed, is nothing more than so much twaddle. His pictures are the least deplorable parts of his book; some of them are conceived in a spirit of true facetiousness : ex. gr. the portraits of the gentlemen of " Our Street," the outline of the man in possession, and the daguerreotype of the lady whom nobody knew. One of the most extraordinary phenomena of literature that has ever come under our observation is most certainly " The Emigrants of Ahadarra," by William Carleton. The marvel of it has originated in the enterprise of the publishers of the " Parlour Library." They here present to their subscribers an original fiction from one of the most remarkable, and certainly one of the most celebrated, writers of the age—the great novelist of Ireland—William Carleton —for one shilling ! The type is good, the paper is good, the form of publication is neatness itself, and the story is told with energetic vigour, with a force indeed not unworthy of its distinguished author. The narrative goes to the very bottom of the evils of Ire land, and lets one more into the secret of its mal administration than a whole waggon load of blue books. It tells more of the sorrows of Erin than a dozen orations in Conciliation Hall, and tells it, moreover, with ranch of Irish humour, and with a still greater amount of Irish passion. " The Emi grants of Ahadarra" is a work not only entitled to consideration from its unprecedented cheapness, but from the circumstance of its being the latest compo sition of William Carleton. Another illustration has been afforded of the beauties, the originalities, the drolleries, and the virtues inherent in the country life of England in " The Hall and the Hamlet." - It is a work which could alone have been written by the author of " Rural Life in England," and is calculated to redound more to the credit of Mr. Howitt than even his " Ilomes and Haunts." It is a genuine book —a book which breathes of the green lanes, and de picts our agricultural population as they are in the park and the homestead, in the hall and the hamlet. Several portions of it have already appeared in print, but the majority of the tales and sketches are here first published. They are some of them quaint enough, and even at times fantastic enough, both in conception and in the manner in which they are nar rated; but in the generality they are eminently natural, and afford a fair notion of the incidents and personages which may be encountered by a sojourner in the more secluded parishes of our inner shires. Sometimes the individuals portrayed are homely even to the ludicrous—instance " The Country Manty- Mekker"—and sometimes again they are graceful beyond measure—instance " The Fortunes of Alice Law." Occasionally, too, William Howitt runs riot in the ridiculous, as in " Sampson Ilooks and his man Joe Ling," but there is always truth at the bottom of his descriptions. Truthfulness, indeed, is the pre vailing characteristic of Mr. Howitt's present com position, and he has evidently regarded his subject throughout with an indescribable relish. We can thoroughly appreciate his aspiration, that with our im provement in the organization of society we may not destroy those peculiarities which impart such a re markable interest to the yeomen and farm labourers of merry England. Perhaps the most elegant of the various Christmas Books for 1847-8 (after Leigh Hunt's, always after Leigh Hunt's,) is the new edition of " Poems and Tales by Lord Byron," illus trated with many very exquisite line engravings by the celebrated (and justly celebrated) engraver E. Finden. " Zuleika" alone, as the frontispiece, would be sufficient to render any book entitled to admiration ; it is a representation of the Zatleika of Lord Byron, the countenance, like that of Kate Kearney, who lived by the banks of Killarney, is " bewitching l y simple." Some of the landscapes are delicious, and the little vignettes to the " Giaour" are admirable as embellishments to that string of poetic pearls. As a single instance of the success with which Mr. Finden has delineated the imaginings of the illustrious poet, we nsay point to his engraving of Conrad rescifieg Gulnare from the flaming harem of Seide. The work is altogether produced with all the decorations of art and with all the refinements of a fastidious taste. There are, besides the volumes already mentioned, several little books and brochures cif a less pre tentious character, but which do not merit any the less a particular allusion. Of these Punch's Comic Almanach is anything but the least deserving of commetv3ation. It is brimfull of the oddest conceit:. both of pen and pencil, and the cartoon-sketches by Leech, and the marginal vagaries by Doyle, ought to drive cholic and the megrims from our shores, if they don't dissipate the miseries of influenza or the horrors of Asiatic cholera. The publication is a very broadside of jokes—written and pictorial. We would particularise Mr. Leech's picture of the Snob at the Opera, and Mr. Doyle's outline of Punch exploring Vesuvius (like a second Empedocles), as the very acme of the laughable. Nor is the facetious wholly pre dominant this season; the sentimental has its place, as shown by the " Lays for the Thoughtful and the Solitary," by Mrs. Charles Tinsley. They are issued somewhat in the same form as that whichhas been ren dered popular by the Voices from the Crowd and the Mountain, by Dr. Charles Mackay. Most of the lays are musical, as pieces of versification, and all of them inculcate a generous and, at times, a noble and lofty moral. We welcome the authoress as another labourer in the cause of popular advancement—a cause which may be as widely promulgated, and as materially assisted, by the song of the poet as by the speech of the orator or by the declamations of the press. Divers other effusions demand our considera tion,c. that on cllliltuohhsreieao:nwn hasde winter t h hb s a t e l t a but these must be reserved for another oppor ll tunity e inof nfailtur which i o: n e ns beenui tn m s ewr additionshot eu prolific rr oywli hurrying to p to r i v t its conclusion, Christmas as several of its predecessors, it has produced less that demands reprehension, and more that is emi nently commendable. A JAR OF HONEY PR .111 MOMVT HYBLA. By _Leigh Hunt. IinDSU tiMiq? EVE. By Mrs. S.C. Mall. THE SOUVEAIR OF THE SEASON. By F. W. N. Guyley. OUR STREET. By M. A. Titnzarsh. THE EMIGRANTS OF AHADARRA. By W. CArleton. THE HALL AND THE HAMLET. 2 Yob. By U. It ow lit. TALES AND POEMS. By Lord Byron. PLINCII'S COMIC ALMANAC for 1848. LAYS Foie THE SOLITARY By Mrs. C. Tinsley. Formerly Christmas and the New Year were wel comed by very different tokens of joy than pleasant volumes. Our forefathers, on the arrival of these seasons of festivity, gave signs of hilarity immeasur ably more boisterous if not nearly so beautiful. The contrasts, indeed, which are afforded by our popular amusements are more valuable than a superficial ob server could at first have imagined—they evidence, in a remnrkeble degree, the progress of civilization ; they display at once the physical enervation and moral advancement of the populace ; they proclaim the great and beneficent fact, that scholarship has ex tended frren the cloister and the attic to the workshop and the fireside. Almost every man who has leisure enough to enjoy himself, now-a-days, can find inex haustible sources of entertainment in his library — it matters not whether that library consists of half-a dozen well-thumbed volumes, or of some thousands of books in calf-skin and morocco; it scarcely matters, indeed, whether it be comprised in a Shakspere, a " Crusoe," a Jeremy Taylor, a Richardson, and a " Pilgrim's Progress, or contains all the treasures of all the literatures of all the countrie in all the world. A men who has Defoe at his elbow, or Swift on his teaboard, can dispense with the mummeries and pagentries of our ancestors. He is independent of her /tlejesty's ser vants, the stage players ; he can snap his fingers at the Lord of Misrule and the Master of Merry Dis ports ; he can give the cold shoulder to the " waits" and the "carols ;" he can eat his plum porridge with out a sigh for the boar's head and the roast peacock. Give us a Cervantes or a Dickens, and we will spend a blither evening than any of those pudding-headed squires who, of old, could'nt get on at all in the way of fun without a roaring company, without gongs, and bugles, and practical jokes, and bumpers of spiced bi.shop that (according to the old courtier of the Queen's) " would make a cat squeak and a man dumb." Nor are we by any means singular in this preference ; the multitude have the same partialities. People toil so perpetually in these days of industry and enterprize, that quietude is pleasanter than ex - citement, and,with the increase of labour there is a development of intelligence which excites a taste for the mare intellectual kinds of recreation. This, we take it, is the whole secret of the decline of thea trical amusements. Toil is so general and uninter !flitting. that the toilers yearn towards nightfall for the ease of home instead of longing for the hubbub of publicity; they would rather don the slippers than the crush- hat, and would prefer a warm spot on the hearth-rug for their feet, to a cold one in the pit of the " Princess's." There is nothing surprising in this predilection when we remember that our generation is not merely an active but a thoughtful generation. With a larger amount of enterprise than our prede cessors, we have also a more catholic taste for litera ture. Of late years the result of this diffusion of literary pursuits has been singularly manifested. Works, which would formerly have been produced in a manner too costly and bulky to meet the popular re quirements, have been published at a moderate price ; and in deteched portions. Hence have arisen our periodical novelists. Hence also have arisen those annual story-books which have from time to time (and especially during the winter of 1846-7) covered our library tables with volumes in all the colours of the rainbow—red, yellow, purple, blue, green, violet, orange—and all embroidered with golden devices ap propriate to Christmas. Of both those kinds of pe riodical publications Charles Dickens has been the originator. The green cover of "Pickwick" called forth the pink of " Lorrequer," the emerald of" Mal vern" the saffron of "Vanity Fair," the primrose of " Tadpole"—cum cceteris paribus. In the same way the crimson binding of the immortal " Carol" proved to be the progenitor of a voluminous company of his toriettes similarly clad in cloth and similarly bedizened with gilding. The cessation of the Christmas series of Mr. Dickens, or rather the interruption of it for twelve months, is, singularly enough, simultaneous with a diminution in the number of little books for merly issued. by his imitators. Besides a story by Mrs Gore, another by Charles Rowcroft, a third by G. P. R. James, and a fourth by Thomas Miller, there is not one of any note whatever. Like the influenza, the epidemic seems to be on the de cline ; and, in lieu of the frivolous fictions which last winter disgraced the publishers, we have now before us one or two works of a very superior, and more than merely entertaiting character. Fore most among these is unquestionably the right daint3 hook of an old favourite—" The Jar of Honey from Mount Hybla," by Leigh Hunt. Foremost of all it is for its delicate embellishments, for the exquisite nicety of its binding, and for the toothsome and saccharine suavity of its title-page. Even in these respects alone it would be the book ()faze season, but it is in a particular manner entitled to precedence, by reason of its wit—a wit culled like honey-drops from the flowers of Attica; its classicality (if the word is allowable)—a classicality which breathes rather of the academic groves and of the lemon-walks of Syra cuse than of the di lectus and the book-shelf; its poetry (which is choice even to a punctilio) ; its good humour (which is scholarly), and its enthusiasm (which is fastidious). Had Leigh Hunt never pro duced " The Feast of the Poets" he would in this one book have demonstrated his ca pacity to supply . a banquet of asphodels and hippocrene. One circumstance must be remembered, namely, that the book is a reprint from Ainsworth's Magazine—but a reprint so mellowed by supervision, and so enhanced by the decorations of another art, that it is in a measure preferable to an original. The very binding (from a design by Owen Jones) is a thing to be conned : it is of a luscious honey , colour, trellissed with green leaves and knotted branches; the centre is a mesh of golden blossoms ; a humble bee is crawling up the back, drowsy and drunk with sweet ness, just as one has seen it a hundred times in that season when, as Tennyson sings— " Heavily hangs the broad sunflower Over its grave i the earth so chilly; Heavily hangs the hollyhock, Heavily hangs the tiger-lily." In the middle of the cover, too, is the identical blue jar of Sicilian honey which attracted Leigh Hunt's notice as it stood in the window of Messrs. Fortnum and Mason, in Piccadilly, and from the mere sight of which arose all those bewitching associations which afterwards resolved themselves into the present volume. We look upon the jar, and think, with the author, of the blue sea and the blue heavens of Italy; we hold it in the sun, and fancy that " a spot of in sufferable radiance comes in the middle of its cheek, like a very laugh of light." We look at it again, and we think also of the copper pot of the fisherman in the "Arabian Nights' Entertainments," that ves sel which was sealed with the seal of the great Solomon, and which Leigh Hunt himself has spoken of as containing the "highly concentrated essence of Jinn." Of the delicate thoughts contained in this jar, what can be more delicate, and, being delicate, what can be more truthful, and, being truthful, what can be more refined than the one comprised in those five words (page 25), "Flowers cannot help being beau tiful P" Of quaint phrases what can be quainter than that one where he speaks of Polyphemus (page 5) "in his fiercer days, before he had sown his wild rocks ?" Or than that one where he alludes to the trick of Dionysius in hanging a sword by a single hair over the head of Damocles, during a luxurious banquet, and calls it (the trick) "a practical epigram of the very finest point ?" And of quiet humour what can be more humorous than the remark with which he concludes his account of the huge toy-ship con structed by Hiero the Second ?—a ship so vast in di mensions that it contained " gardens, a wrestling ground, rooms full of pictures and statues, floors with subjects from Homer, painted in mosaic, and eight fortified towers"—by exclaiming "We should like to know what Tom Bowling would have said to it." Those who have not perused the papers as they ap peared fro:n time to time in Ainsworth's Magazine, will find what delectable bits are culled from the classics by merely dipping into Chapter IV., where there is the narrative of the prize-fight between Pol lwuixthanadllAmthYe c u d s a , i from n tine s t s h e o o f r ke v i n a a i p l oo le o h r e ° C c r h i e t u s t s e , r g fi i e v l e d n , and imbued, nevertheless, with all the relish of Ben digo or the Tipton Slasher. Let them but dip so far into the " Jar of Honey from Mount Hybla," and we warrant them they will be over their knuckles and up to their wrists in its " duicitudes " before fifteen minutes have expired. If Mr. Hunt has else where embalmed flies in amber, he has caught many " winged thoughts " ( better thin g s, e ven , than your June flies, with their opel-coloured pinions and their gold green armour) ill his honey. , His " Jar of Honey " is to prose wh at Boccaccio "Pot of Basil" is to poetry. Whoever runs may read what is written in his pages, and may become very learned in Greek over his salad, and profoundly versed in Italian over his chocolate. All countries arid all generations afford him meats (sweet-meats) for his literary confections. Scotland and Attica, Italy and Warwickshire, Syra cuse and Stratford, Allan Ramsay and Tasso, Spenser and Mo.echus, Virgil and Marlowe—all add their offerings ' • they are the flowers from which he has extracted the very sugary quintessence of poesy, or rather they are the bees which have supplied his hive.. Before ee e part with our author, we would especially, distinctly, emphatically, earnestly, imploringly conjure him to fulfil his aspirations as to the composition of ptem in celebration of bis dear favourite King Robert • Sot , s Issuei.. .... 26,876,770 £211,576,770 Dated the 13th day of January. `ASTI:TES T. IANICIWO Proprietors' capital . • 14,553. 000 '"t • •• • • • 3,684, 629 Public depos:ts (in eluding Exchequer, Commissioners of National Debt, Say ings-banks, and Di- 8 vidend accounts) • • 3,414,00 Other deposits • • • ... 10,558,286 Seven day and othBr bills .• • •• .. 846,364 £3.5,356,2 3 7 Dated tha 15th day of January. One day last week more than seven hundred ships, laden with coals, and bound for London or other southern ports, were lying at anchor in the Humber, opposite Cleethorpes, where they were waiting for a fair wine.— Lincoln Mercury. TILE SUN. 'LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, JANUARY 15, 1848. INSURANCE COMPANIES. 1 ' nivoleml Amount ( Name of Company. per - of Paid. Pricy : Annum. Share. 1 ----------- - •C s. d. .£ a. d. i Albion ••••••• • • • • • - 31. 10s 500 0 0 50 0 0 75 1 Alliance Brit. and For. 6 per cent. 100 0 0 111 0 0 17 Vitt. Marine. •• •• • • 61. per cent, 100 0 0 50 0 59 Was . 13s.6d.prsh. 50 0 0 5 6 8 - Britisti Commercial .. Is. per share 50 0 0 5 u 0 6t4 Clericl,Med.&Gen.Life 51. per cent. 100 0 0 10 0 0 20 1 X, 31. 100 0 0 10 0 0 - 138. E i: n u r g , . , p & e S a,, c o i t l i L e a w . . ..: ..: 5 5. per per cent. cent. tiagle .. • .... ..... .... Gs. 90 0 0 50 0 11 50 0 0 5 8 0 6 4 5 20 0 0 0 0 0 1121 eidlp26. L 2 ad Family Endowmr t Soc. 4/. & be. 4 0 0 4 0 0 ' - F_ eemasons' ... •.•• •• 51. per cent. 20 0 0 3 0 0 1 - thobe • . ..... ........ 61. per cent. Stock. - 1 120 titiardian ..... ....... 51. per cent. 100 0 0 36 10 0 40. a tinperial Fire •••• •• • • 12 per cent. 500 0 0 50 0 0 214 imperial Life •••• • • •• 12s. 100 0 0 10 0 0 14N, Indemnity Marine • ... 11. eh. & be. 100 0 0 513 1 - Law Fire .... -.. - IGO 0 0 210 0 3 Law I ife -- - Legal and General Life - 50 0 0 20 0 - I,,raltit Fire •••• • • • • 101. 25 0012 10 0 13% London Ship •.••• • • • 10s. 25 0 0 12 10 0 13% Marine - 100 0 0 15 0 0 - Med. Invlid& Gen. Life 4 1. per et. 50 0 0 20 0 2% National Leas. Fund • • Si. per cent. 20 0 0 210 0 - National Life •• • • - Palladium Lila ...... 37 Pelican • • • • • • • • • • • • • • - - 165 l'imeuix - - 'lotector Life.. • • ... St. per cent. 20 0 0 1 0 0 - rovident Life •..• • .. 11. ss. 100 0 0 10 0 0 - Rock Life •••••• • • • • • • 0 010 0 4% Royal Exchange .• • ... Si. per cent. Stock. - - 'en Fire • • ••.• • • • • . . 61. 108. - - - !Atte Life .• • • • • • .• • IL 6s. - - - Universal Life.... • ... 10 1 }(1. pr cnt. 100 0 0 810 0 - Viaorie Lile •••• ••••• - - 4 0 0 -- GAS-W(18T AND COME COMPANIES. Dividend , Amount Name of Company. per I o f Paid. I Price Annum. I Share. ---- X. s. d. Z. s. d. U. ;40 0 0 18 0 0 17 1 a, Ditto Provincial •• • • 11. Bs. 20 0 0 19 $ 0 23y , ., Bristol • • •••••• • • • • • 101. per cent. 20 0 0 - - Brighton .. - 19 City of London .. •• • • 101. 100 0 0 100 0 0 290 Continental Consolidat. 925. pr share 5l 0 0 19 5 0 54 Ditto, New • • Equitable.. •• • • .....• 15s. pr share 50 0 0 50 0 0 38 Imperial . • Independent London• • .... ••• • - - Ditto •••• • • • • - Phcenix .••••• • • • - -5/. percent. 50 0 0 45 0 0 35 Retailer •••• • •• United General 44L pr cent. 50 0 0 50 0 0 17 W es tminster Chartered 31, 50 0 0 - 55% xd Ditto, New .. I • IMISICEX.I.ANEOUS. Dividend Amount Name of Company. per Paid. Price Annum. Share. - ------- ---- - ---- -- -----"-- £. s. d. , X. s. d. Australian Aerlculturl - 100 00,30 0 0 - Anglo-Mexican Mint., 11. 4s. 10 00 1 10 0 0 - - 2 10 0 -- I Ditto, HAI 'Shares.. -- Canada ... ••• • - .... 6 1 . per cent. 100 0 0 32 10 0 - • Uppr Canada Bonds 51. per cent. .- . - -- - City Bonds.. •• • • .... 3141. pr cent. - 1 . ' Comp. Cpprlders Eng. Si. per cent. 100 0 0 '7O 0 0 - • Gen. Meyers. & Invest. sp. c.& ha, 21 100 0 0 ' 100 0 0 100 Equitable Reversionry 4W. pr cent. 100 0 0 95 0 0 90 _ Gea. Steam Navigation 11.8 s. 15 00i14 0 0 n - London Institution .• • - - 1 Peainslr & Orient.Stm. 21 . per cent. 50 0 0 50 0 0 58 .. ✓ Reversionary Int. Soc. 31. pr cent. 100 0 0 100 0 0 9. Royal Mail Steam •• .. 314 1 . pr cent. - ,GO 0 0 8 e South Australian ..• - 61. per cent. 25 0 0 25 0 0 - If Van Dieman's Land. - 100 0 0 23 0 0 4 ~ Universal Salvage •• • • - 25 0 0 50 0 - BANK OF ENGLAND• (From last night's Gazette.) AA Aocount, pursuant to the Act 7th ant Bth of Victoria, cap. =for the Week ending on Saturday, the Bth day of January, 1848. Issus DKPANTMENT. X. Government debt • • 11,615,100 Other securities •• • • 2,9e4,900 Gold coin and bullion 10,476,623 1,400,147 Sil v er bullion • • • • • • 1 X 95,876,770 3f • MARSILA.LL. Chief Cashier. 1548. Government securi ties (including Dead Weight Annuity)" 10,993,353 Othor securities •• • • 111,345,954 Notes •• • ..... ••• • • • 7,315,3 M Gold and silver coin.. 701,591 1 £35,356,287 M. MARSHALL, Chief Cashier. ,1848. the classes in the community who are placed in the greatest risk, who are exposed to the greatest mis chiefs, and for whom the protection afforded by the administration of the law is most needed, would point to that large class in the communty that in their various gradations—from the wealthy occupiers to the person who supports him self by his industry with a small holding and with scanty capital—the farmers of the country who, from. their numbers, must constitute a large portion of its population. I would say that they are the classes possibly in the greatest risk, and in the most need of protection. [His Lordship here referred to the number and nature of the crimes that came before ,he Court in Limerick, and having recapitulated the leading features and circumstances of Ran (Puck's) case and others, proceeded.] If these things are so, am I not right in saying, that these classes of the community are those who most wed the protection of the law, and the co-operation of all for that pur pose. You, and such as you, who reside in dwel lings, and in plAces in which from the characters of your residences, and from your means of summoning around you your servants and dependants, can protect yourselves against such a state of things as this ; and it is a dreadful state of society in which you are obliged to adopt precautions of that sort ; but a farmer residing in a remote district can offer no resistance against murderers assailing him in arms. His protection can only be from the assertion of the supremacy of the law. When, therefore, I say, that the co-operation of all classes in society ought to be given in aid of the law, and for the suppresSion of outrage, I am not I think wrong in swing that there is no class in the community who ought to be more stimulated not merely by a sense of duty, but by a sense of their own personal interest, to lend their co-operation as those who belong to the class of farmers. It is im possible that crime could prevail to such an extent if that co-operation were given. It may be that it is in some instances withheld from the influence of pre- vailing intimidation—it may be that in some instances it is withheld from some lamentable and mistaken sympathies with the perpetrators of these crimes. One of the circumstances which appeared before us in Limerick, which has given me encouragement in hoping that these outrages may be put down by the administration of the law, with the co-operation of all classes in the community, is that instances occurred of the courage—not merely the courage with which some of the assailants were resisted, but the courage with which men came forward to appeal to the laws and prosecut e th e d e f en d ers to conv i ct i on, an d I be lieve it at least will be found by that class of persons themselves that the mischief Was gone too far, that it is necessary a t last that they as we ll as ot h ers s h ou ld combine for its suppression, and that they are taught the salutary lesson, that by appealing to the laws of the land they will save themselves from this species or tyranny, and that their properties, their liberties, their families, themselves, all that society can present for the enjoyment of life, will be secured by giving to the law that co operation which the law demands. It is not merely that such persons are prompted by their own personal interests to adopt this course—their own safety compel it. Some instruction has been given of the danger of connivance at crime. In one case which was tried under this Commission, a man, himself a farmer, apparently of a respectable class, was tempted to harbour a felon when fleeing from justice. No reason, as for as appeared on the trial, existed for believing that he was engaged in the perpetration of the outrage for which that felon was convicted, and for which he is destined to lose his. life ; but there is a provision of the law, that he who, knowing the guilt of a felon, screens that felon rAnd harbours him, is himself guilty of felony, and of the crime of the person whom he harbours—if the crime of murder, he is exposed to the risk of being separated from his family and home for the whole period of his life. The man of whom I speak, William Frewen, was convicted of that crime, and he is now on his way to the place where he will be separated for ever from those whom in this world he holds most dear, because he had not the courage to say No to this felon who, fleeing from justice, sought his protection.l trust that this may in itself operate as a war . t ag to those who maw he called upon or tempted to incur a similar risk ; and if they are asked by any person, however connected with them by any tie, even that of . kindred, whom they know to be guilty of any of these atrocious crimes, they . will answer him by saying, "I cannot incur the risk—l will not commit the crime, lest I may share the fate of William Frewen." [The Learned Judge here read and ex plained Barnes's clause in the late Act for the pre vention of crime in Ireland, w ith respec t t o th e power given of trying accessories even before the principals were amenable.] Gentlemen of the jury, I have thought it my duty to make these general remarks upon the state of crime, upon the features which it exhibits, and to suggest those considerations which appear to me naturally to ai ise from what has ()e -1 curred under our own observation. With the cruses, or the all-ged causes, of this state of things, or with any of their remedies, you and we have nothincl to do. Subjects such as these are not only unfit to be dis cussed, but to be considered by you or, such an occasion. Our duty and our business is to deal with the administration of the law. We, in our respective spheres, are to concur in that administration; and by its vigorous administration, and by its being adminis tered, as it always is, by that mercy which, after all, is but part of its j , ,stice, the result will be the resto ration of peace and tranquillity. [His Lordship next called the attention of the jury to the provisions of the Act before referred to, as to the appearing in and possession of arms, the augmentation of the police force, and the expense of the same. Ilis observations in explanation thereof were in substance the same as those of the Lord Chief Justice in Limerick.] I will not detain you with other matters, which have been fully adverted to in the charge of the Lord Chief Justice in a neighbouring county, and which, most, if not all of you, must be aware of. But the calendar of this county suggests to me one matter which it is necessary I should point your attention to, be cause I find in it that two persons, at least, are charged with the commission of an offence which is not often, although it has been sometimes made the subject of investigation ; the offence to which I allude is the offence of conspiring or of soliciting to murder. Some persons have by some mistake, been under the impression that the provisions of the law with refer ence to this crime are provisions of an antiquated character, and not now in force on the statute book. This is a great mistake. These provisions, it is my duty to apprise you, have been long the law in Ire land. In the year 1829, when the 10th George IV., chap. 34, was passed, repealing a great number of statutes, constituting the criminal code of the country, and consolidating the law, the pro visions of the Act which relates to the offence on which I am commenting were re-enacted. [His Lordship read the clause of the Act relating to the offence.] So that the soliciting is punishable by the law of the country as if the crime of murder itself were committed by the . party. In England the law is not so severe, as the pun ish ment was mitigated by the Ist Vic., cap. 85. It 18 an offence in the investigation of which i n reference to the particular individual charged great cau ti o nand care are required. It i s an offence committed course in secret—it is an o ffence ofa ve most bee a n trocious character, and one in which there hav e recent places himself briefly T he Learned g e C n e h l e al f Baron th e n convictions in duties of grand jur ors with re g ard to the considers inaddressed other ion of bills of indictment. THURSDAY, JAN. 13. Their Lordships took their seats upon the bench this morning, at 12 o'clock. MURDER OF MR. JAMES WATSON.—James Hayes and Patrick Ryan, both little more than thirty years of age, were indicted for having in the month of May, 1847, at Ballycorney, in the county Clare, wilfully and feloniously killed and murdered one James Wat son. The indictment charged that a man named William Ryan actually gave the blow which caused death, but that the prisoners were aiding and as sisting. The Attorney- General, the I Solicitor-General, Messrs. Bennett, Q.C., and Plunkett, Q.C., appeared with Sir Matthew Barrington, Bart., as Crown So licitor on behalf of the prosecution ; and Mr. O'Hea defended the prisoners. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL shortly stated the facts of the case. He said that the deceased, Mr. James Wafson, of Kilcorney, was the agent of a gentle: man of the name of Arthur, and the fact of his being obliged in that capacity to distrain a man of the name of Crowe, was the cause whic h led to his murder. As in almost all the cases of murder which occurred in the country, this dreadful and barbarous murder arose out of a quarrel with reference to land, for when Crowe was diatrained, it would appear that, influenced by feelings of hostility towards e M rs r o . n m W n a a tso a n, he engaged the prisone r and another p William Ryan to commit this erime,..w_ which would be • proved to their perfect satisfaction. Mr. Watson and Crowe lived near one another, and on the day the murder was committed three me . n came from the di rec tion of his house, met Mr. 'vcatson on the road r idi n g, and murdered himin the most brutal manner, by wounding him on the head by a blow from a gun. it would appear that a man named William Ryan gave the blow, a nd that the p r i soners a s s isted. (The first witness was about being examined at post hour.) 'SEIZING A DEAD BODY FOR DEBT,—Yesterday a woman waited in great distress upon Mr. Mills, the deputy coroner for Middlesex, and begged his advice under the following circumstances :—She said that a female relative of hers had died, and her body had been seized for debt, and when the friends had assembled that day to bury it, the keepers refused to give it up. Mr. Mills directed her to make application to the magis•' trate of the district, or to leave the body with the credi tors, who would gladly get rid of it by themselves de fraying the expense of sepulture. Sir Randolph Routh had an interview yesterday with the Chancellor of the Exchequer. THE REV. MR. TIGHE, TO THE EDI t'01? OF THE SUN. Sin—ln your journal:of this day, under the head of the Irish intelligence, there appears a statement in reference to the county of Sligo of so extraordinary and suspicious a nature, that I feel called upon, in justice to the character of my friend, the Rev. Mr. Tighe, as well as to that of the peaceable inhabitants of that county, to express my firm conviction that it is a tissue of gross and unfounded fabrications from beginning to end. In the first place, the insinuation that the district about Ballaghadareen was disturbed, I know of my own personal knowledge to he unfounded ; and, instead of being in the vicinity of the melancholy murders alludeeto, it is fully 15 miles distant. Then, with respect to the sum of 20,0001., stated to have been expended by Mr. Joseph Holmes "in keeping down the markets," the entire fee, I am aware, of that gen tleman's property would not reach anything like that amount. And, lastly, as to the imputations which have been cast on Mr. Tighe, I have merely to remark that, from my own intimate knowledge of that gentle man, and the estimation in which he is universally held for his humanity and Christian conduct, I have no hesitation in characterizing the entire statement as a foul and malignant aspersion on the rev. gentleman and his flock, whose forbearing demeanour, under the circumstances detailed in the report, fully bears out the opinion I entertain of them.---I hare the honour to remain, your obedient servant, JOHN P. SOMERS. Reform Club, Friday evening. *."' The report is taken from the Dublin Evening Mail. ESCAPE OF GAS IN THE ME TROPOLIS. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. SlF,—The continuous escape of gas in London and its environs is, on an average, twenty-five per cent., particularly in localities where competition exists ; and the ground below the surface of the public streets is strongly impregnated with effluvia arising from leaky mains and defective services. This is one of the greatest drawbacks upon gas-light establishments, operating as a dead loss, yet tainting earth, air, and water with an obnoxious odour. Gas is also known to be dangerously inflammable, particularly in vaults, sewers, and in all confined situations, which requires the greatest care to prevent serious explosions. Water companies, well knowing the impure affinity of gas mains, endeavour to keep them at a regular distance by Act of Parliament, but this does not always prevent impregnation ; and the public, from constantly inhaling carhuretted hydrogen, think little and care less about the matter. These escapes do not always occur through ne glect ; but frequently, in consequence of new and deep sewers, undermining large and heavy mains (which are chained up during the excavation), and the solid foundation being displaced, the mains gra dually sink, and often break, or draw the service pipes in connexion with the public and private le,mps. It is to be hoped that the new Commissioners of Sewers will turn their most serious attention to this complaint, alike injurious to sanitary improvement and to public safety.—l am, Sir, your most obedient servant, J. S. UNDERWOOD, Gas-light Surveyor. RAILWAY ACCIDENTS. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. Siu,—A simple method of effecting an immediate communication with the engine-driver of every pas senger train may be accomplished by having a line or wire over the top of every carriage attached to the train before leaving the station, one end of such line to be attached to a bell affixed to the tender, the other end of the line to be carried to the last carriage of such train to the guard; a bell-pull to be attached to the interior of every intermediate carriage, by which any passenger could instantly give an alarm whenever any danger might arise from the breaking of a wheel or axle. The affixing and adjusting such line or wire could be done by one of the company's servants a few minutes before starting. The above may be a somewhat homely and simple method, but let it be adopted until something more scientific is devised.--I am, Sir, your most obedient servant, ROBERT HEDLEY. Runcorn, Jan. 14, 1848. MEHEMET ALI AND LORD DALHOUSIE. TO THE EVI7'OR OF THE SUN. Sia,—l was much surprised at a particular cir cumstance related in the account given in your journal of the interview between Mehemet Ali and Lord Dalhousie. It appears that Mehemet Ali received the Go vernor- General of India sitting en roi, and the Go. vernor-General pocketed the insult. Indeed, in the account of your correspondent, who was present, the Pacha is styled " his Royal Highness." What effect will it have in India where kings, rulers of ten or twelve millions of people, are always proud to be on a footing of equality in twitters of etiquette with the Governor- General, when it is known that he has submitted to be received as an inferior by the vassal of the Sultan, ruling over, perhaps, a million and a halt of sous ? Besides, our Government has studiously and wisely abstained from favouring, indeed, has directly dis countenanced the regal pretensions of Mehemet Ali, the Pacha of Tunis, and others, while France has carefully fostered them. There can be little doubt that this affair in Egypt was concerted lay French agency, in order to lower the Governor-General and exalt the Paella in the eyes of the Mahomrnedan po pulation of Egypt and thence of India ; and Lord Dalhousie exhibited but a poor specimen of wit in falling into the snare. Matters of etiquette are of very great consequence in the East. But the petty Pacha of Egypt receiving the Governor-General of India en roi is really too good! Oh, Lord Dalhousie, you must be very green. Your obedient servant, ANGLICANUS. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Jan. 14. THE NAVAL AND MILITARY ESTIMATES OF FRANCE FOR THE YEAR 1849. (From the Journal des Debats of Thursday.) Yesterday (the 12th) the bureaux of the Chamber of Deputies commenced their examination of the Budget of 1849. The third and last volume was yesterday distributed to all the Deputies. It includes the budgets of the army and navy. The former (the military budget, or budget de la guerre) presents a decrease of about 1,000,000 f., compared with the year 1848. It amounts to the sum total of 320,703,0841. It is proposed that the effective of the army shall con sistmen, and 80,051 horses, of which force e 8,729 men and 14,900 horses will be employed in of 333,510 Algeria. It is know n th a t th e G o vernment, by the supplementary credits, increases the effective force of the army in Algeria according to the necessities of the service. In preceding years, the army in Algeria amounted to nearly 100,000 men, including the paid native troops. The budget of the navy (marine) figures in these estimates for a sum total of 139,309,608 f., present ing a difference, as compared with the budget of 1848, of more than 2,000,000 f. less. This decrease has been effected in the armaments and the naval crews. It is proposed to reduce the effective of the naval forces by 13 vessels and 1,959 seamen ; and it will in that case consist of 203 vessels, with 27,372 seamen on board. The following is a recapitulation of the vessels in active service at sea—viz., 6 ships of the line, 7 fri gates, 15 corvettes, 16 brig's, 27 light-vessels, 23 the west coast of Afri ca stat i on, w hil s t 12 v es sels will transports, 5; remain n steamers, harbou and 28 different vessels for r cornmissioa (commission de rade), and 18 in port commission (commission de port). The reduction of the effective force will be oarried out at the distant stations. The Mediterranean squa dron, which includes 12 sailing and steam-vessels, and that of the coast of Africa, are not to be re duced. The saving thus effected in the armaments is some what lessened by the almost equivalent credits de manded in augmentation of the budget of 1848 for the works of the d) ke and arsenal of Cherbourg, the improvement and defence of the small harbour of Toulon, and the improvement of Port Vendres. The bureaux will appoint their Cornmiz , sioners in four or five days. Several have al rea d y term i nate d to -d ay the examination of the ensemble of the budget. MAILS iL mail a oAFRICA.--'The first regular the coast COASTof Africa will be made up in the General Po st office on the e ven i ng o f t h e l ast d a y o f this month. This mail, in a ccor d ance w i t h a notice ii to TI ili issued by the postmaster-General a short time since, will be conveyed by one of her Majesty's ships. She will drop a ma i l ba g at Madeira on her way to her desti nation. The pestsge on Madeira letters conveyed-by this ship will be the regular packet postage of Is. lad., and on letters for the west coast of Africa Is. each. The dispatching of m t . tilbags by her Majesty's ships outward bound is becoming very general. The Postmaster- Geeeral is compelled by law to charge the full packet p os t a g e o r, all l e tters conveyed by such means, and when there is no packet postage fixed by Acts of Parliament on letters addressed ik: qny particular foreign country, letters for that c ountry must be conveyed by her Ma jesty's ships free front any postal charge. A case in point has just happened. Mails for the A zorim, Madeira, Cape de Verdes, and Ascension, have just been made up to be enaveyed by her Majesty's ship Bonetta, and as there i-, no legal packet rate to the C a p e d e V er des, the letters for those i slands will be conveyed tree from postage. WINDBO3, DUDA'!" EVENINCL-7 he Royal Family and Court will return to Windsor Castle from Clare. mont on Monday next. The Earl of Morton succeeded the Marquis o f Ormondo as Lord in Waiting on her Majesty on Monday last, when the Court arrivsd at Claremont. btrbi 73bition I IMPROVEMENT OF TOWNS, &c. APPLICATIONS TO PARLIAMENT FOR LOCAL BILLS. NOTICE. I, SAMUEL CLEGG, of Regent-square, London, Civil Engineer, having been appointed by the Commissioners of her Majesty's Woods, Forests, Land Revenues, Works and Buildings, Surveying Offi cer under an Act passed in.the tenth year of the reign of her present Majesty, intituled "An Act for making preliminary inquiries in cer tain cases of applications for Local Acts," in so tar as the said Act relates to an intended application to l'arliament for ai Act in relation to the Brentford Gas Light Acts Amendment, do hereby give notice, that I shall attend on Saturday, the 29th day of January, at the Royal hotel to Brentford, at the hour of Ten o'clock in the Forenoon, for the purpose of making such local examination and survey of the district which such proposed Act will affect, and of making such inquiries relative to the provisions of the said proposed Act, and of investigating such other matters relating thereto as the said Conimissiowers have by their order directed me to make and investigate. And I do hereby require the promoters of the said intended - Work, to appear before me at the time and place aforesaid, aad to produce all such surveys, plans, sections, estimates, documents, and evidences as will be necessary to sup port such intended application ; and I do hereby further give notice, that if any person or persons be desirous of being heard in oppo sition to such intended application, I shall be ready to hear him or them, and to examine any witness s, or any pans, sections, maps, books, or other documents relevant to my said inquiries, which they may think fit to produce before me at the time and place aforesaid. As witness my hand this thirty-first day of Decembet, 1847. SAMUEL CLEGG, Surveying Officer. recover N compensa oOnvo.unghictxtomETT. EXCHEQUER.—(THIS DAY.) (Sittings in Banco.) lG a ß c li tion in damages for a malicious pr o secution. The case This was an was tried in the sittings after last Michaelmas Term, before the Lord Chief Baron, when a 'verdict passed for the defendant. The plaintiff, it appeared, was an auctioneer re siding at Stepney; the defendant was the landlord of certain premises which were let to a person of the name of Edmonds. The tenant, being desirous to dispose of the premises, agreed with one Read to let the same, on certain conditions contained in a memo randum of agreement drawn up between the parties. Some difference arose upon the construction of this agreement, and upon the parties attempting to remove the fixtures and goods from the premises, the de fendant gave the plaintiff and others in custody on a charge of felony. The plaintiff was tried at the Old Bailey on a charge of conspiracy, but was acquitted. Mr. HUMYRRY now moved for a rule nisi to set aside the verdict for the defendant, or for a new trial, on the ground of misdirection of the Learned Baron, he having left it to the jury to decide whether there was any reasonable or probable cause for giving the parties into custody. The COURT decided, upon the construction of the agreement, that they could not disturb the verdict. Rule refused. BRISTOL SUGAR MARKET, JAN. 14.—The trade continues to show a disposition to get into stock, and a stealy business has been done since our last, at full prices.—Bristol lifer eury. LATEST PRICES OF SHARES, IN BANKS, ASSURANCE, AND OTHER COM FAMES' STOCK. Front the Ofifcial List, PUBLISHED ETERY TUEADAT AND FRIDAY EVENING. LONDON. FRIDAY, JANUARY 14. JOINT-STOCK BANICB. Dividend Amount Naive of Company. i per of Paid. Price Annum. Share. £ s. d. I. d. ustralasia ••••••• •• •• 40 0 0 40 0 0 15 3ritsh N orth American 61. per eent. 50 0 0 50 0 0 Ceylon .• ••.. • • 61. ptr cent. 25 0 0 25 0 0 .:ommercial of Loadou 61. per cent. 100 0 0 20 0 0 ••••••.. • •• Isl.percent. 100 0 0 25 0 0 Gloucestershire ••• • • • 151 per cent. lonian •••••••• •• •• •• 61. per cent. 25 0 0 25 0 0 Londii and Westminstr 61. per cant. 100 0 0 20 0 0 24 13 0 0 L•onden Joint-Stock . 61. per cent. 50 0 0 19 0 0 15% Provincialof Ireland Si. per cent. 180 0 0 'Jo 0 0 Ditto, New.• ••••• •• 81. per cent. 10 0 0 10 0 0 National of Ireland . • bl. per cent. 50 0 0 22 10 0 -- Nat. Provncial of Eng. 61. per cent. 100 0 0 35 0 0 36 Ditto, New..• •••• •• 51. per cent. 20 0 0 10 0 0 10% South Australia •••• •• 22 10 0 Union 01 Australia 61. per cent. 25 0 0 25 0 0 2 10 0 UM:,* of London. •• 61. per cent. 50 0 0 10 0 0 Union of Madrid CIAINALS. .--.....--.. Names of ...i th e. oidawil ..,.., N am , of Dividend Companies. A per 1 '''.°" Companies. per Price. Annum. ..., Annum. X £ Ashtn& Oldb 97 51.5 f. pa! 70 Macclesfield . 100 - 15 Barnsley ...• 160 121. I 180 Neath .• •• • • 100 201. 340 Srknk&Abrg 150 51. SO Oxford.. •• • • 100 201. 200 Birmingham 85 41. SU Peak Forest. 78 31. 40 Coventry ..• • 100 251. - Regent's .. • • 33 1/. 48. 10, Dern 1' ••• • • 100 61. 63 Rochdale ..• • \ 85 41. 54 Ells r re&Chs 133 41. SO Somrset Coal 150 \ 71.105. 130 E: e,' ash ••• 100 32g. - Do.LkFdSt 12 61. p. C. - i•irandi unctn l lool Si. 80 Stffrd &Wore 140; 28/. 275 GrandSurreylool - 30 Shrewsbury.. 125' 151. - ~rand Culon l lool 11. 108. 213y'Stourbridge.. 1451 201. 305 .3rantliam ••11501 121. - Severn and/ 1 26 11. Ba. 30 E K ,e enli . t s, & L A l, vii i.p l ,l 3 o 9 ol 783.461. 1 505 d. sU. l‘ l; , e le ta k i st l. 3 1 i , Leicester ..•• 'l4Ol 101. 175 Burning. j OItY 5/. 65 I,,,iestr &Nth 831 41. 36 Warwick& 1 1 1 1 . ...ouvli B orogh 142: 701. 530- Napton.. j - 46 Monmouthah 1001 81. - Worc,tr &? 78 22. 39 Mntgoinrysh 100, 51. - Birrning..) , Id o ltnAiwbryilool 101. - Wilt , & lirksl 67' 11. 11 IRELAND. THE V INE .—The gardener of Henry Carew, Esq., of Ashford House, cut a splendid dish of black Haw burgh grapes on new year's day, 1848, after having su pplied the family with grapes for three months from the vine, which is a most magnificent one. The honest gardener haying had 24 years' practice on vines, is natUally Fad of the fest. DEATH OF ONE OF THE CONSPIRATORS. DUBLIN, JAN. 13.—A letter from Roscommon, of yesterday's date, announces the death that morning from typhus fever of a prisoner named Flanagan, one of the leading conspirators in the murder of the Rev. Mr. Lloyd. It clearly transpired in the inves tigation before the magistrates, that Flanagan held Mr. Lloyd's horse and gig w hile the other assassin was engaged in his bloody occupation. REPRESSION OF CRIME. In consequence of a threatening notice having been served upon Mr. Lloyd, the high sheriff of Tyrone, a meeting of the masters of the several Orange lodges comprising the district of Killyman was held on the Bth inst., when the following very commend able resolution was unanimously adopted : " Whereas we are informed that evil practices, which disgrace other parts of Ireland, and from which our district had been long free, have shown them selves here, and that skulking assassins and incendi aries have dared to come among us, and to disturb the peace of families, by issuing threatening no tices : " Resolved—That we, the Orangemen of Killy man, will exert ourselves strenuously to guard the peace of our district. That for this purpose we solemnly pledge ourselves—first, to use all diligence in discovering strangers remaining in our neighbour hood, as well as vagrants of all descriptions; secondly, that we will keep a strict watch on all who harbcur or encourage such suspicious persons ; and, thirdly, that if the conspiracy which exerts such baneful in fluence in the south and west commence its outrages here, we pledge ourselves most solemnly that to the utmost of our power we will bring to condign punishment all whom we discover to be authors, advisers, or i n any way h av i ng a gu ilty concern i n such diabolical proceedings." IRISH SPECIAL COMMISSION. (From Saunders' News Letter of yesterday.) ENNIS, WEDNESDAY, JAN. 12.-1 n my letter of yesterday I mentioned that the Chief Baron was just commencing his address to the grand jury at post hour. The following is a substantial report of his Lordship's charge : Sir Lucius O'Brien and gentlemen of the grand jury of the county of Clare,— What you have just heard read by the officer of the Court has announced to you that those to whom the executive authority of this country has been entrusted have deemed it right to anticipate the ordinary visitation of the law at the assizes by issuing this Special Commission for the trial of offenders in certain counties in Ireland, in cluding the county of Clare. Proceedings of this nature have become necessary from time to time. They are rendered necessary either by the multi tude of offences, or by the magnitude and the atro city of the crimes. Such a proceeding is essential, with a view to those objects for which the tribunals of the country are called into their usual operation. It is right and just, if there are men charged with crime, to give such of them as are innocent the opportunity of freeing themselves from unfounded I accusation, and obtaining their restoration to their ordinary pursuits and to the bosoms of their families and their friends. It is essential also, where crime has reared its head, to bring at once in conflict with its perpetrators those powers of the law which are intended for the protection of the whole community, and the exercise of which a portion of the community of which you form a part are called upon to assist by the administration of justice. We have been already engaged in proceedings under this commission. We have had sittings in a county adjoining yours, and I lament to say, that although many days were engaged in the performance of our duties in Limerick, and these duties have not terminated, we shall have to return to that county in order to try other prisoners. It adjoins your county—it forms a part of it—whatever may be the prescriptive boundaries which for public convenience—for the admi nistration of justice; and for other local pur poses, have been struck out—constitutes, in truth, a part of that district—composed of por tions of the same soil, and inhabited by portions of the same population, and I therefore feel bound to refer to some of the matters that appeared before us in the course of that commission, as indicating the state of things which rendered it necessary to engage in these proceedings. Unhappily we have found in Li merick a state of things in which outrage has attained an extent of daring atrocity which calls for the most vigorous administration of the law to suppress and crush it—murders perpetrated—some of them under circumstances of the deepest atrocity, have appeared before us—attacks upon dwellings—sometimes for purposes of intimidation—sometimes for purposes of plunder—sometimes accompanied by severe injuries to the inmates—sometimes followed by the loss of life —all these have appeared before us. Outrage and crimes which have always a tendency to extend their operations have led to the perpetration of atrocities such as these. The means by which these crimes have been committed require some observations and reflections with a view to the state in which society is placed. In many instances—in a great majority of instances, they are perpetrated not by isolated individuals—they are committed by armed bands assembled for the purpose of violating the law. In many instances they are perpetrated not under the cover of night,. but sometimes in the open day, indi eating a species of daring which too often arises from a sense of continued impunity. Such is the nature of the crimes which have been brought under our observation in the course of proceedings in a neighbouring county. I lament to say that there is but too much reason for believing, that outrages similar in character, if not equal in number, have been found to exist in the county to which you belong. It is a consolation, however, to consider that they do not pervade the entire of your county ; but when crime exists upon the confines of one county it seldom fails to come beyond the portals. Whether it be from the contagion of crime itself, or from contiguity of the districts, or from causes similar, spontaneous, and concurrent, existing in adjoining counties, it rarely happens that when a county circumstanced as yours is found affected and disgraced by crime, that the districts adjoining it are not subjected to similar crimes. And so it appears in this instance. The calendar submitted for oar inspection shows a fright ful picture of the state of certain portions of this county. With regard to the crime of wilful murder, there are eight instances of the commission of that crime—in seven of these instances the parties have been made amenable since last assizes. The persons charged with this dreadful crime are numerous, and amount in number to twenty. two. Akin to that crime is one which, according to the law of this country, to which I shall before I close have to call your attention, is punishable with death as well as the crime of murder itself—that is, the crime of conspiring to murder. There are two cases in which this charge is preferred, and there are two individuals, one in each of these, charged with the perpetration of that crime. As regards the other classes o_ crimes—attacking dwelling-houses —robbery of arms—burglary and robbery—shooting at the person—and assault and highway robbery, and other crimes committed through the instrumentality of arms—l find a list which shows but too clearly that at least those portions of Clare which adjoin the county of Limerick, share in the outrage for which, unhappily, that county is remarkable. Gentlemen, it appears unquestionable that many of these out rages have been applied for the direct purpose of controlling those who are in the enjoyment ol pro perty in the exercise offthe right s in relat i on t to them. It property which the law has conferred up on ' undoubtedly does appear that many of these out rages have their orig in in .transactions connected w ith land. If the evil stopped there it would be in itself of magnitude sufficient to call for the applica tion of all the powers of the state to put down a sys tem by which the laws are violated, in order to ac complish purposes which the law condemns ; and this not merely for the protection of the particular class that may be invaded, but for the protection of all classes of the community ; for if the rights of one class can be invaded and outraged with impunity, there is in truth an end of civil government and of social order. A state of things such as that involves in it the dissolution of all social society, and the erection of a sway of anar chy and violence in substitution of the Government and the law. If, then, as I have said, the evil were to stop there, and one class of the community alone at present were invaded by these outrages, it would be the duty of those charged with the adminis tration of the law and the maintenance of the public peace—charged with the responsibility of providing for the safety of all classes—to arrest crime in the extent to which it has first made progress, even for the benefit of those who might afterwards become involved in consequences of more extended disorder. But, gentlemen, the evil does not stop there—it cannot, it never did, and it never will. The spirit which invades one class of the community will extend :to the destruction of the rights and liberties of others. It is the character, the inseparable character of out rage, if unpuni,hed, to become multiplied in the instances of crime—to extend the range of its operations. Yesterday, the landlord, the agent, the bailiff employed in the enforcement of his rights, the process-server in the execution of the process of the law, by which, according law those rights are enforced, may be tile but To-day the farmer, the person in humbler l i fe, vi who is an object of different passions, w ill beco me _ . the victim too. I have referr ed to the proceedings that have come judicially before us in the scene of Tie form an i our labours during the last week. structive illustration of the general truth that I have just now given utterance to; and if now called upon to point out that c l a ss in t he community, that in th e county of Limerick,. wh i ch we have just left—and, per h a p s , the similarity of circumstances in this calendar, though I may extend my observations to the county of Clare--if, I say, I were to point out I