The Sun. — London, England, 1835-03-17 00:00:00

PRICES OF STOCKS THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK. Bank Stock - 3per Cent. Iled. - 3 per Cent. Cons. 34 per Cent. South Sea Sleek - Ditto lied. -n, - New *4 per Cent Assented —' 3 per Cent. Annuities, 1151— -- 4 per Cent. f Dissented — Exch. Bills, .£l,OOO 39 40 33 pm. Bank LongAnnuitiestoexpire Ditto 500 39 40 58 pm. Jan. 3, 1860 — Ditto Small 39 40 L 8 pm. Oct. 10, 1559 —, Ditto Commercial pm. Jan. 5, WA, lan. 5, man — Bank Stock for Opening April 5, IkBo — India Stock for Account 26 0;4 Jan. 5, 1870 — Consols for Account I)2 041 , 4 PRICES OF FOREIGN FUNDS THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK Peruvian Bonds Austrian Bends Belgian Bonds lO3 Ditto Account Brazilian Bonds 56441 Ditto Account — Portuguese Bonds 92% Ditto Account 87 381 i Buenos Ayres Bonds 3OS4 Ditto Account 3l Cbillian Bonds Ditto Account 45 Cllumbian Bonds Ditto Account Ditto New Bonds 9N li Ditto Account 9341i % Prussian Bonds — Ditto Ponds,l6•2 - 2. — Russian Bonds, 18'2 , Ditto Account Ditto Account Columbian Bonds, 1924...29% 3SY s Ditto Acme at 9% Sy s Danish Bonds Ditto Metallic — Spanish bonds 6 4! 4 4414% Ditto Account 64 54708% _... Ditto Bonds, 1523 Ditto Ace.°l,nt . .......... Ditto Account Greek Bonds Ditto Bonds, 1925 ...... Ditto Account Mexican Bonds, 5 per cent. . Ditto Account Ditto, a per cent. Ditt" Account ..... Neapolitan French, 5 per cent. —f. —c 4 per cent -r -c. i)cr cent —f. —c. Eichange f. —c. Dutch, 2!4 per cent. Ditto Account 56% Ditto, 5 per cent 10 3 14% Ditto Account lO3%<<, PRICES OF SHARES THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK. Paid. Per Share Brazilian Imperial Mining Co. (issued at 5/. pm.) 2.1 43L4 5 4 ('andouga Mining Company 3 6 ii 7 MAILS. Arrived. Due. Arrived. - Due. Arrived. Due. 0 America.......... 0 1 France 0 0 Lisbon 0 9 Brazi: 9 0 Guern. &Jersey 0 0 Malta 0 Buenos Ayres... 0 0 Hamburg 1 0 Mexico 0 II Carthagena--- 0 0 Holland .......... 0 0 Ostend 0 1 Dublin 0 i 0 Jamaica 9 0 Sweden 1 0 Flanders 0 I 0 Leeward islands (1 1 Waterford 0 HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE TO-MORROW. M0rning.—.....29 minutes after 4. I Evening 49 minutes after 4 THEATRE ROYAL, DRURY-LANE. THIS EVENING will be performed THE ROAD TO RUIN. Old Dornton, Mr. W. Farren ; Harry Dornton, Mr. Vining; Gold. finch, -Mr. Harley; Sulky, Mr. Bartley; Silky, Mr. Webster; Mil ford, Mr. Brindal. Widow Warren, Mrs. Glover; Sophia, Miss Taylor; Jenny, Mrs Humby. To conclude with TEKELI. THEATRE ROYAL, COVENT-GARDEN. THIS EVENING will be performed Auber's Opera of LESTOCQ ; OR, THE FETE OF THE HERMITAGE. Lestocq, Mr. H. Phillips; Count Goloffkin, Mr. Gieubelei; Dimitri, Mr. Wilson. The Princess Elizabeth, Miss Shirrelr. To conclude with BLACK EY'D SUSAN. William, Mr. T. P. Cooke; Blue Peter, Mr. Templeton, Black Ey'd Susan, Miss Taylor. The publication of Tn SUN NEWSPAPER commenced this day at 15 ntinutes past 3 o'clock. LONDON. TUESDAY EVENING, MARCH 17, 1835. The conduct of the Marquis of LONDONDERRY, in resigning the embassy to St. Petersburg, is no more than we had expected from him ; for though we had long known him to be indiscreet and impetuous, yet we always gave him credit for the redeeming qualities of frankness and generosity. His behaviour on the present occasion proves that we have not been mistaken in our estimate of him. The embassy was his, to all intents and purposes. He did not court the appointment ; it was offered him, without the slightest solicitation on his part, by the Duke of WELLINGTON, and he might justly have insisted on retaining it ; but had he done so, he would have compromised his friends in the Cabinet ; and this his high sense of honour would not allow him to do. He has accordingly sacrificed his own interests to their's, and thereby shown, not only that lit pos sesses a disinterestedness very uncommon among statesmen, and therefore the more highly to be prized ; but that he has the good sense also to defer re spectfully to public opinion. The Noble MAR QUIS'S speech last night on the subject of his resigna tion, though here and there it evinced a soreness, which by the way, was perfectly natural under the circum stances, yet, on the whole, was marked by much propriety of feeling. We cannot extend the same praise to the Duke of WELLINGTON'S. He put the question on its highest Tory footing, forgetting that times and circumstances are materially altered, since he swayed the helm in the year 1830. Then, with a sub servient House of Commons, which spoke only the sentiments of a Tory Aristocracy, he was justi fied in declaring that "it was impossible that the House of Commons could agree to a vote questioning such an appointment ;" but now, he should know better than to make such a declaration. It is now neither more nor less than an idle bravado. Why was Reform called for, except that by its means the peo ple might be enabled to exercise a wholesome influ ence over Ministerial appointments ? Men are not put into high official situations to gratify private feel ings of friendship, but to advance the interests of their country. In the case before us the Marquis of LON DONDERRY was appointed to the Russian Embassy, because he was personally liked and respected by the Duke of WELLINGTON. The question of his fitness for the office does not appear to fiave been once inquired into. His Grace thought well of him. That was enough. And so it would have been under the old Tory Regime. But Parliament is fastidious now-a-days, and will do its best to put a ve t o on a ll Ministerial appointments—be they Whig, or be they Tory---but such as bid fair to benefit the people. The Marquis of LONDONDERRY'S was not one of these. He was hampered by his opi nions. His prejudices stood in the way of his utility. Hence he was very properly declared unfit to serve his country in the quality of Ambassador. His conduct affbrds a striking contrast to that pursued by Sir RO BERT PEEL, under nearly similar circumstances. The former, when he found that the sense of the House of Commons was against him, had the grace to defer to its opinion, and resign his appointment. The latter, though the sense of that same House has been twice shown to be unfavourable to him, still sticks to office, just as if he were in full pos session of a commanding majority of votes. He will not take a hint, be it ever so broad. Though he is Minister only so long as Lord STANLEY pleases to wag his tail in his favour, yet he still talks and acts, as though it were impossible for any opposition to dis lodge him from the Treasury Bench. We wish he would follow the discreet example of the Marquis of LONDONDERRY, and thereby add one more to the many benefits he has conferred on his country. This evening (Tuesday) Alderman WOOD is to introduce his Bill for the better Regulation of Cabrio lets, Omnibuses, and other Stage Carriages, and— curiously enough— ,, of the Drivers and attendants thereof" as well. The Hon. Member is not remark able for the invariable success of his efforts as a maker of laws, but we hope his plans have been so well di gested upon the present occasion, in separating the nuisance from the convenience attendant upon these conveyances, that his present undertaking may turn out more fortunately than some of the past have done. The loss occasioned to shop-keepers in the line of streets through which the Cabriolets and Omnibuses ply for hire—the imminent peril to passengers—the offensive disturbance created by the cads, in their loud and incessant cries during the twelve most important business hours of the day—and the obstruction caused by the excessive number of these carriages—are all well known evils which counterbalance by an hundred fold any convenience which the metropolitan public can derive from the existing system. Passengers are too happy to escape the risk of street-crossing, to waste much time in looking at the commodities exposed in shop windows, and, indeed, the pavement is at all times too much crowded to permit their doing so if they would ; so that the shopkeeper can now depend little on the chance custom which once constituted his most profitable business. We once counted no less than nine ponderous Omnibuses in close and unbroken suc cession between the Mansion-house and Bow Church, each as near to the curbstone as the wheels could be brought, and crawling along at a snail's own pace the while ; it surely cannot be contended that the public re quire this redundancy of convenience—the empty state of most of them, in fact, refutes the assumption—why, therefore, should the shop-keeper be compelled to suffer a ruinous loss for the benefit of no party. We trust that whatever may be the nature of the details of Al derman WOOD'S proposed Bill, the House will " adopt the principle." The cheapness of travelling has been adduced in support of the convenience of these machines to the public, particularly as instanced by the ride from Whitechapel to Kensington—one end of London to the other—for a mere sixpence. A most mistaken notion prevails on this point. If the driver get a fare at the former place he proceeds at a most lingering pace until the vehicle is full, or nearly so, which in most instances seldom occurs save in wet weather : but if at a cer tain point in the mid-distance, after having taken up and dropped down two or three stray fares, it happens that none remain, he pulls his horses round, and " tries back again for better luck," and this, perhaps, half-a dozen times, or so long as his jaded cattle will allow him. Now, we suggest a hint to the worthy Alderman on this part of the subject, which, if adopted, would tend very much to abate a portion of the nuisance : in no instance permit a Cab or Omnibus, plying for hire, to be turned round in the street it has entered between the point of starting and its ultimate destination. By this means, the one continuous current of vehicles so produced, would accomplish an easy and speedy vent for the discharge of the over-crowded carriage-ways. Another means, also, of ridding the streets of this kind of repletion, would be to enforce that every such vehicle should proceed, neither at a walking nor a galloping pace, but at a trot, (except, of course, when taking up or putting down passengers, or when prevented by the ordinary obstructions which occasionally take place in street roads,) which will at once prevent dangerous racing, unnecessary stoppages, and injurious delays. The effect of this scheme is aptly illustrated by the state of the street roads during a shower of rain, when every vehicle is brought into full activity. Another suggestion, and we have done. For Mercy's sake, let a step be put to that most useless, offensive, and deafening nuisance—the Cads' cries ; they but make the confusion more distracting, and interrupt the quiet of business conversation, both in doors and out of doors, without being of the slightest advantage to either the public or the proprietors ; an announcement board in front and behind these carriages were quite sufficient for the interest of both. For the convenience these conveyances afford to any one person once in a week, loss and annoyance are oc casioned to a hundred others every hour of that time. It is quite time, therefore, that Parliament should inter fere by some Legislative protection; and be the origi nyor of it whom he may, we trust the House will consider less the author than the public, whose safety and profit are endangered. The Paris papers of Sunday have been received. They contain the report of a long and interesting de bate in the Chamber of Deputies, on Saturday, on the late Ministerial changes and resignations. The Minis ters were hard pressed by the leaders of the Opposi tion, particularly by MM. MANGUIN and SouzET, who gave them no quarter. The Ministerial defence was a most miserable attempt to justify the past con duct of the Cabinet. M. THIERS, who twice ad dressed the Chamber in the course of the sitting, de clared that, seeing the numerical force by which he was opposed, he entertained a " scruple " (of conscience) as to the fact of the majority being with him, and therefore felt himself constrained, from conscientious motives, to advise his Royal Master to change his Ministers. Afterwards, however, he dis covered that he had been too precipitate in suffering his mind to be alarmed, and finding that he might, without any hazard to his soul, believe the majority to be with his party, he had explained the error into which he had fallen to the KING, and, as a matter of course, was permitted to resume his portfolio. This, in point of fact, is the substance of TRIERS' defence of the Cabinet, and a more hollow or insignificant one was never offered to the Representatives of a free people. What ! was a conscientious scruple, a whim of M. THIERS; of such importance in the opinion of the KING, as to justify the delay of all legislative busi ness for an ind efinite period—the dispatching of couriers to London an d the foot of the Pyrenees in depth of winter—and -the fermenting of a dangerous excitement from the centre to the remotest extremity of France? This statemt mit must be either true or false. If true, in what a ridiculous position does it not place the KING and his resp ansible advisers I Was there in reality no per son with su 3icient courage to interrogate M. THIERS on the precise :grounds on which his scruple had arisen ? Was there :no person to devise a scheme by which his conscientiot is doubt might have resolved itself into a reality, with .out having recourse to a dissolution of the Cabinet ? Was there no Ministerial understrapper to try the tert per of the Chamber, and ascertain the strength of the Opposition, by making a motion, em bracing th( s - views of the Cabinet on the amnesty, and other impc ataut questions likely to lead to a dissolution ? But it is r seedless to multiply questions on this head. The KIN G,, with all his faults, is not destitute of great abiitit ies. He is not the person to be de terred by scruples ;" and even if he were, his know ledge of M. THIERS would be quite deficient to incline him to doub t the religious nature of any proceeding from suck a quarter. In fact, the explanation of M. TRIERS, if accepted, would place a fool's head on regal sh milders, and this we must protest against, as far as regards the reigning Sovereign of France. The fact is, that the KING is personally disgusted with the pre sent Cabinet ; he would get rid of the whole gn 3up if he could ; but after two ef forts, h e is now convinced that he cannot find t c ol i g to act the Ministerial farce on the same easy te r . ms. In the cou rse of the debate a curious fact was eli cited, which no doubt will have its proper weight with the nation. M. TRIERS admitted that in order to induce MM. SOULT or GERARD to join the Cabinet, the KING had ceded a general amnesty to which the late Cabinet consented ; but that those Noblemen having declined to take office even on these terms, the amnesty would not now be granted! Can there be any thing more atrocious than this? Are the lives of some hundreds of brave, but misguided, men, to be thus sported with ? Will France, after all she has suffered, permit a King to compliment a Minister with the lives of his people ? Or will any man say, who ever heard of the sacred name of justice, that after this offer on the part of the King, it would be less than a judicial slaughter to condemn the prisoners of April to undergo capital punishment ? It is quite clear that if the King could compliment a Minister with a general amnesty, the trial of the prisoners is neither an act of moral nor political necessity, and consequently must be criminal in the highest degree. As the debate was adjourned until Monday, not withstanding the cries of the Ministerial partizans for passing to the order of the day, we shall await its con clusion before expressing more fully our opinions upon it. As there is no motion before the Chamber, the result will be no criterion by which to judge of the exact strength of political parties. General SEBASTIANI left Paris at eleven o'clock on Saturday for London. On Sunday the Duke de BROGLIE was waited upon by several influential members of the Legislative Cham bers and the corps diplomatique, and congratulated on his appointment to the Presidency of the Council. German papers have been received, which state that a number of important improvements chiefly commercial, have been made in the city of Leghorn. The import duties have been abolished, and the trade, in conse quence, has greatly increased. The following is a most important announcement :—" A new source of wealth to this country is the discovery within these fifteen years of quantities of Borace (Sal Borace) an article which formerly was to be had from India only. The use which has been made of this acid in dyeing for some years past, caused the price to rise to thrice what it formerly was, while the expense of manufactur ing it has been greatly reduced by employing, instead of wood or charcoal, the action of volcanic heat, which may be done at a short distance from the pits, which are near Dolterra." We have been requested to state that a meeting of a Society of Exiled Poles, resident in London, under the name of " The Polish Society of Mutual Instruc tion," will be held at the Mechanics' Institution, Holborn, on the 19th instant. The meeting, of course, will be public ; and it is the earnest wish of every member of the Society that it may be respectably and numerously attended. The ob jects of the " Polish Society of Mutual Instruc tion" are chiefly the education of each other, and the communication of a knowledge of the languages of France, Spain, Germany and Poland, to the children of English parents who are too poor to send their offspring to schools where these languages are regularly taugbal, Considering the many disad vantages under which the brave, but unfortunate Poles have had to labour, we cannot but admire the success which already begins to attend their praise worthy efforts. Their school for the gratuitous in struction of English children is, we have learned, already established in Archer-street, Haymarket ; and 58 pupils are at present receiving instruction. The teachers receive no compensation whatever for their attendance ; and what is still more philanthropic on the part of the Society, books are provided with which the children are furnished during the hours of attendance. We confess we have been greatly moved by these kind and considerate exertions on the part of the Polish refugees. They are a most triumphant refutation of the calumnies put forth. by the minions of Russia, to the effect that they are indifferent' to labour, and to the necessity of con tributing to the best of their ability to their own sup port. We trust that a Society formed on such an ex cellent basis, and with such praiseworthy objects in view, will not want all that support, from high and influential quarters, to which it is so Well entitled. Among the members of the British legis lature, we have no doubt but that there are some who will be happy to have an opportunity afforded them of aiding the Poles in a task in all respects so worthy of them. For our own part, we feel the greatest plea sure in having to announce exertions so highly meri torious ; and we trust that the meeting fixed for the 19th instant, at which the proceedings of the Society are to be made public, will not pass over without call ing forth an expression of those feelings with which Englishmen must regard such spirited exertions on the part of the illustrious exiles. The Navy Estimates were proceeded with last night. A discrepancy will be found explained which had ap peared between the announcement of Ministers, that a reduction of 332,0001. had been made in those esti mates, and the statement of Lord ASHLEY on Friday night, in which the reduction was mentioned as only amounting to 232,0001. It seems that this difference arose from an advance of 100,0001. which had been inadvertently included in the estimates of last year, and had thus increased their amount by that sum, but that, as we stated on Saturday last, the actual reduc tion of the naval expenditure in the present esti mates is 232,0001., and not 332,000/., as com pared with those of last year. Mr. HUNIE, as usual, closely contested every inch of debatable ground. He asked why new officers were constantly entering the army and navy, while there were so many on half-pay most anxious and desirous of being put on active service ? And we believe that he was not far wrong when he added, that it cuuld only be done to provide for the junior branches of the aristocracy. The Hon. Member proceeded to complain of the want of information in the estimates, respecting the number of officers on half and full pay, the promotions, and under what circumstances they have taken place, and other de tails of a similar nature, which were necessary to enable the House to judge, whether the system pursued by the Government was an economical and effective one. Mr. HUME contended that the Estimates would never be properly scrutinized by the House of Commons, until the system was adopted of referring them to a Select Committee, and he accordingly made a motion to that effect. We entirely concur in this opinion, which was supported by Sir HENRY PARNELL, than whom no man understands better the practical details of finan cial arrangements, Dr. BOWRING, and other members. The argument used by Sir R. PEEL, that it would be transferring the Government from the Exe cutive to the House of Commons, touched the very chord which we should have struck in contending for the appointment of a Committee. It was to give Parliament an effective control over the expen diture and government of the country, that the Reform Bill was passed ; but of what use is it to return real representatives to Parliament, if they are not to have an opportunity of fully investigating the public expendi ture, and of closely watching the manner in which the Executive carry on the Government? This constant vigilance and watchful superintendence will not, we know, suit the admirers of the good old system, and we may expect to find them, like Sir ROBERT, en deavouring to interpose the " Prerogative" between the Repiesentatives of the people and the Executive ; but the time is now past for such arguments. The Reform Bill, fortunately, has become the law of the land, and, assuredly, the nation will not submit to be deprived of its chief fruit and intent. England, as was remarked by Sir H. PARNELL, is the only Re presentative Government in which the details of any measure, and especially of financial arrangements, are discussed and settled otherwise than in a Committee. It is only there where full information can be obtained, by the attendance of the official persons who are alone capable of furnishing it, each in his own department. Let him who doubts the propriety of referring the details of financial arrange ments to a Committee, attend but a single sitting of the House of Commons when the Estimates are brought forward. There he will see the money of the country voted away by millions in a very thin House, and per haps at one or two o'clock in the morning, amidst the yawning or sleeping of half the Members present, and the evident anxiety of most of the rest to get rid of the horrid subject with the utmost expedition. But for the questions and scrutiny of Mr. HUME, and a few other Members, the present system of agreeing to the estimates, and voting the supplies, would be a mere matter of form. The truth is, that in no country are the practical details of the business of Parliament so ill understood and conducted as in England, and there is no subject to which the hand of Reform has more need of being applied, or to which it could be applied with more benefit to the public. Our readers will perceive, by an advertisement in another part of The Sun, that a new Office for the Insurance of Life has been established in the Metro polis. This is an event on which we heartily congra tulate the public, for it is one in which the public are deeply interested. To enlarge on the importance of such institutions at this time of day would be almost a superfluous task. Their advantages are too justly appreciated, and too generally acknowledged, to require the aid of the press to recommend them. There is no man so dull as not to be aware of the uncertainty of life, nor so thoughtless and unfeeling as not to look forward with anxious solicitude to the situation in which those who are dear to him shall be placed, when he is called from the scene of his earthly labours. It is, and ever must be, the dearest wish of every man's heart to provide for the future comfort of the objects of his affection. But until offices were established for the insurance of life, this wish, so natural, so strong, and so universal, could be but imperfectly accomplished. These enlightened and beneficent institutions, in opening new sources of enjoyment, and in more widely diffusing the means of happiness, afford a noble instance of the triumph of modern intelligence over the ignorance and the defi ciencies of former times. The affluent can now resort to an obvious and easy remedy, for the disastrous effects of those sudden vicissitudes of fortune from which ex perience proves they are not exempt, and against which they had formerly no protection ; while the man of humbler means or more precarious resources—he whose income is derived either from fixed salary or professional emolument, or is dependent on the contin gencies of commerce—flies to the Life Insurance-office as to a city of refuge—of refuge from the worst enemies of human happiness, those tormenting fears for the future which haunt the imagination and corrode the heart. To those, and they are not a few, who are thus cir cumstanced—whose minds have been harassed, and whose exertions have been paralysed, by the ever-re curring idea that, should the frail thread of life be prematurely cut short, their families would be left ex posed to all the miseries of destitution,—what can afford such tranquillity, such satisfaction, such unalloyed de light, as the consciousness of having, by putting aside periodically, a small pittance, secured a comfortable provision for those who must otherwise have been cast upon the wide world, or reduced to the scarcely less mortifyin g alternative of depending upon the bounty of relatives, doled out as that bounty too often is, with ill concealed reluctance ? The benefit of life insurance to all classes of the community being so manifest, the question is not whether an individual shall avail himself of this mode of providing for his family, but to which of the In surance Offices he shall resort—which of them holds out the greatest advantages, or, in other words, which will give the best return for his money ? This is not a matter of indifference to any one : to the man of limited means it is a point of essential importance; and when we state that, in our opinion, the Metropolitan possesses claims to public patronage superior to those of every other Institution of the same kind, we state the result of a conviction founded, not merely on an exami nation of the prospectus issued by its respectable Di rectors, but also on the most careful personal enquiries. As, however, we neither expect nor wish that our readers should be implicitly guided by our opinion, however carefully formed, we shall proceed to lay be fore them the grounds of our judgment ; and in doing this, we shall first point out the advantages which the Metropolitan possesses in common with other Institu tions, and then those by which it is peculiarly distin guished. It may not perhaps be out of place to premise that in all Insurance Offices the annual payment made by each contributor is regulated by the probability of his living a certain number of years, and that there fore it is of the utmost importance that the data upon which this probability is calculated should be correct. For if the duration of life be assumed as less than it really is, it is evident that an unnecessary burden is imposed upon the insured. In some of the earlier Offices, this radical error has been admitted to such an extent that, out of the excess of the payments above what was necessary for the security of the Insti• tution, a surplus fund, amounting to millions, has ac cumulated. The equitable distribution of this fund is evidently attended with difficulties almost, if not alto gether, insuperable. In some Offices, a portion, and in others the whole of the enormous profit thus gained is absorbed by a Proprietary, those offices being founded upon the plan of a periodical division of profits amongst parties who have an interest separatefrom that of the general body of the insured. We are glad to see that the Metropo litan proceeds upon a much more enlightened and liberal plan. Its fundamental principle is that of mu tual insurance, according to which, the whole of the profits are brought back to the insured. There are, we believe, not more than one or two offices of this description in the Metropolis. A prominent feature of the new Office, and one which cannot fail to attract public attention, is the diminu tion of the premiums after a certain number of years. Although it does not claim this as a distinguishing peculiarity, inasmuch as in adopting this excellent principle, it has followed the example set by the Lon don Life Association ; yet in the practical application of the principle, it has introduced a decided improve ment. In the London Life Association, the term of full payment, that is, the period which must elapse before the diminution of the premium begins, is seven years—in the Metropolitan it is five. Nor is this all —the latter Office divides its year into quarterly pe riods, from any one of which the term of five years' full payment may commence, according as the in surance is made : whereas the former has only one day in the year from which its term of seven years begins ; and any one wishing to insure who applies after this day, must pay for the remainder of the year—perhaps ten or eleven months, or more— before his seven years of probatiou can commence ; so that in some cases the term of full payment may be ex tended to within a day of eight years. The Directors of the new Office undertake, after the five years of probation shall have been completed, to make loans on the security of the policy ; and should an insurer, by reason of absence from home, or of any temporary embarrassment, find it difficult to keep up his annual payment, he may have an advance of money for this purpose, equal to the value of his policy. We come now to the peculiarities of the new Office, or those points in which it differs from every other : Ist. Greater latitude is allowed to those insurers who wish to trave , and fewer restraints imposed upon them. Persons insuring in the Metropolitan are al lowed, during peace, the free and unrestricted range of the whole of Europe, any part of which they may visit as often as they please, or reside in, as it may suit their convenience, without notice given, or leave asked, and without paying a higher premium, or forfeiting their policies should death occur while they are absent . from Great Britain ; and they may also, on the same terms, visit once any part of America north of the River Poto mac—it being fairly assumed that every man is more deeply interested in the preservation of his life than any Office can be, and that for his own and his family's sake, he will not run unnecessary risks. This is a provision so liberal and so advantageous that it ought of itself to give this institution a pre ference over all others. 2d. That which is now invariably ceded in cour tesy—too often painful courtesy—by all offices, is here made a matter of right : namely, that in the event of death by self-destruction, or duelling, the value of the policy—but not of course the amount insured—is given to survivors. 3d. Those who have paid the first five years' pre mium have, besides the usual indulgence of thirty days for making the annual payment, two months more upon payment of a small fine, without furnishing a certificate of health ; so that if by the insurer's own for getfulness, or the fraud or negligence of an agent, the payment during this time has been omitted, the policy is not forfeited, although the health of the party may have become impaired ; and if a certificate of health is produced, there is even a further indulgence of three months granted. 4th. When an insurer becomes tired of his policy, or when the purpose for which his insurance was made has been answered, the new office engages to accept of another life—not older—in substitution, thereby saving him the great sacrifice which is usually made by the sale of it. There is only one other point which we have to notice, and it appears to us to be one of great impor tance—we mean the subject of agency. The perni cious, we had almost said scandalous, practice of pay ing those who can induce other persons to insure their lives, prevails, we believe, in most, if not in all the Insurance Offices. We know that in some instances this abuse is carried to such an extent that the agent receives 5 per Cent. on the premiums of the parties who insure on his recommendation, and that not merely on the first payment, but annually, during the whole continuance of the insurance. 'What, we ask, would be said if the dealer who should pay an agent a per tentage on the outlay of the customers he should bring to the shop ? This is bribery of the worst kind—oand the trader who bribes highest, how ever worthless the article in which he deals may be, gets the most customers. The " Metropolitan" en tirely rejects this practice, so immoral in its tenden cies, and so mischievous in its effects. We have now completed the details which we con sidered it our duty to lay before the public, and which we flatter ourselves will bear us out in the preference we are disposed to give to the Metropolitan Life Assurance Society, over every other Association of the kind with which we are acquainted. 'lf we are accused of having devoted more space to this subject than we usually do to the discussion of such questions, we must plead guilty to the charge ; but we must at the same time reply that our justification is to be found in the lively sensation which the establishment of the Metropolitan has excited among commercial men in the city, and in the importance which the public cannot fail to attach to an additional Life Insurance Institution, especially when founded, as this is, on principles so much more liberal, and so much better adapted, both to the wants and the wishes of the times, than any now in existence. We have only to add, that the machinery of the new Office is excellent. The Directors appear to us to have been very judiciously selected. It has been too much the fashion, in such cases, to look more to the eclat of high-sounding names than to respectability and efficiency. The Directors of the Metropolitan are working men, in the full tide of business, at the head of large establishments, and commanding respect, not only from personal character, but from their great influence and extensive connexions. It gives us much pleasure to see in the Direction several members of the Society of Friends, a body of men of whom it is but justice to say, that while, from conscientious motives, and the soundest christian principle, they abstain from the warfare of blood, they are always the first to buckle on the harness, and the last to quit the field, when the battles of humanity are to be fought and the best interests of social life promoted. The gentleman who has been appointed to the re sponsible and most important office of Superintendant or Actuary, bears a high character for his attainments in those branches of Science which are connected with his official duties, and an intimate acquaintance with which is not only necessary for the satisfactory dis charge of those duties, but highly deli fixable on account of the public confidence which it secures. The Surgeon and the Solicitors are also men of the first eminence in their respective prole; isions. a „ at .., ... __. ~„ - ~-..., . „...2,...... -... ..,......,...,.. • .... _.„...,.....,.,:,......„ - . rale uv THE SUN, _LONDON, TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 1835. PARLIAMENTARY SUMMARY' In the House of Lords, last night, Lord BRotiGNAM moved for returns relating to the number o f p ublic schools and scholars in the United Kingdom. The Oaths' Abolition Bill went through a Committee. The Marquis of LONDONDERRY then went at some length into the causes of his resignation of the St. Petersburgh Embassy, which gave rise to some obser vations from the Dukes of WELLINGTON and nu"' INGHAM, and the Marquis of LANspowNE. In the House of Commons the Islington Market Bill was read a second time. LordJ. RUSSELL, at the desire of Sir R. PEEL, deferred till to-morrow his motion, that a copy of the Report of the Irish Church Com missioners be laid on the table as soon as it w as pre pared. His Lordship also observed, that he should then fix a day for bringing on his motion resp ecting the Irish Church Establishment. Sir ROBERT P EEL ' in reply to a question from the Marquis of CHA ND°s ' refused to say when he would bring forward h is plan of agricultural relief, but observed that it would form part of his financial statement in April. Sir It VYVYAN gave notice, that on the 30th of March , he should call the attention of the House to the state of Foreign affairs, especially with regard to Turkey; Mr. HUNIE then moved that the estimates be referred to a Committee above stairs, which, after some discus' sion, was lost by a majority of 86. The House the n went into Committee on the Navy Estimates, when several items having been agreed to, for which w e refer our readers to our Parliamentary report, th e House shortly after one o'clock adjourned. THE FUNDS.-(THIS DAY.) CITY, TWELVE O'bL 0 et t h Singapore papers are received at the North and They American Coffee-house to the 21st of November• the say :—" We omitted to notice in our last number ti at is accounts brought by the Pearl from Cochin-China represent, Saigen as being in a complete state of siege by the insalle, . party, which is believed. Sugar was scarce, but rice Plentifal, Accounts from Siam having likewise arrived, per flarstan,; f om which we learn that the Siamese were fitting ou t a is navaCOMMERCIALI force to renew ARKS hos —O tilities with Cochin-China. • e d I.pium has been a little in after this week at 560 dollars in the usual way of cre dit ; a few chests remain in first hands. Cash price of 520 to 5., dollars. MARKETS.—The Bugis people appear to have nea r b y COI pleted their purchases, and above half of their boats hav e ready sailed. CASSIA.—This week's imports from China amount to 1, 4 : 0 boxes ; part is offered for sale at 11 h dollars cash, price at Canton said to be from 9+ dollars. ranc h For these last few days there has not been quite so ,10., activity in our bazaars, though pretty extensive sales of 1' cottons have been made this week. A want of confidence r : s P; pears at present to prevail, in consequence of the Jews P, ing Chinese dealers too hard for payment, and in °in- the stances shutting up their premises, which it would be tie, interest of piece-goods-houses to combine and put an end lee s It was stated in Vienna, that no changes would take r the in the internal affairs of Austria; but we now find, that Archduke Charles is going to take the direction of the tary affairs, and the Archduke Viceroy of Italy is cee l : 7; to assist the Emperor, and the Archduke Francis is g oing Milan as Viceroy. THE FUNDS. °f t he The British Funds, which continued firm most the day, closed rather heavy at 921 for money, and 9g I s : e " t he Account. This was owing to a d em and for money Lot Foreign Market, to settle the Foreign Account. E sc-- Bills, 39 40 ; India Bonds, 21, 22. oa The settling of the Account in the Foreign Market bas u e 64 l, off well, as we do not hear of any failures. Spanir buyers ; Spanish Scrip, Ell prem. ; Portuguese, 9 3 1' the other Foreign Securities scarcely any alterations. HALF- PAST a l ' 4 .' F Extract of a letter from Bathurst, Ri ver Gambia, e bef The French have notified t o th e a u th or ities here that toor have removed the Court from the River St. John's to tir and Port of Portendruk, which is in a state of blockade' a it' Consols are not so good as in the ea r ly part of th e T h ick ing, when they were 9211 1 for the Account, sinc e Ac' they have receded to 92* for money, and 921 1 for th e ket. count, caused by some Money Stock having come to iligrarket Also the news from America had a little effect on th e • by reports of the Americans going a to issue letters tn er l e citt The quotations in the Foreign Market are, Spanis h 641 ; Scrip, 8 to 8-k premium ; Portuguese, 93 1; 86i 7 ; Exchequer Bilis, 38 40 ; India Bonds, 20 22. co. THREE 0' o Consols for the Account, 92* STATE OF PARTIES IN THE OppOSIT,,,, — A curious exhibition took place l as t n i g ht in the "T, l 0 -;e ii lett, Wr(3l. Commons :—Lord John Russell, Sir J. C. HoblioUs e, so ° , Thompson, R. Cutlar Ferguson, M r . Charles "-tty of other members of the late administration, and a large b a tes Whigs, were in the House at th e tim e the Navy Estive the were brought on ' • but, when Mr. Hume proposed to had e b e Estimates referred to a select Committee up stairs, es bad tita done in 1828 by Sir R. Peel, and to di v id e the House too question, there was a run as if to escape something deadiP to gr. get out of the House, rather than to give their suppo rt tha to° Hume ; and it will be seen by the list of the division, oat one of the late Ministers, and scarcely one of the W hie t . oo for it. Was that accidental, or is it the deternilvel c er that party not to support measures of economy, . 5, e. ? g , SSl° fess we do not much relish these equivocal appearaneeboring; must watch, we must bring these matters to souse o hjectl the interests of the people are the great and pararnoun not the support of this nor that party. tire t e *sla t n t OMNIBUS REGULATIONS.—The ..-1 1 ,„, 1 4 - should introduce into the Act on which the establis omnibuses is founded a series of regulations especially l o o P w r o d to to that description of vehicles, or any other e l tro poii% " take up and set down within the precincts of the me bieb "'- which regulations ought to be an exact copy of those Wtaioniur " applicable to omnibuses in Paris. In Paris only a ' s he rt le ; ber of omnibuses are allowed to drive from one point ° tropolis to the other. Each must start exactly tel s tree' y after its predecessor, and must be driven through a ll t p e on a l' and boulevards at a regular slow trot. No omnibus. „ n rpv - r account to stop on its way, except it be for the strict of taking up and setting down passengers. Th e s toth e, t is not allowed to call to people, or make any sig ° t hen e l ,. inviting them to come in. No charge high er of stitt a 7, sous, however great the distance from the place bar riw to for the place of stopping (prov4aled is be within theabetecl,A, can be made. These regulations are very rigidly itl r 6 in Paris, so that, although the number of omnibuses _ jog su e' portion, as great as in London, I never heard, d ur v i n g e c nt years that I resided in that city, of any accident he seeoohi, occurred, or any complaint whatever being uttered er edg ed de ; of an omnibus. On the contrary, they are acknew cat overy individual inhabitant of Paris to be in a very ' n elie e be give conducive to the public convenience. It is th e yet t. e , Paris who enforce the regulations above d e scribed' re described to law be so amended as to make it imperative on ce" i b u ses ir tors to ,obtain a license for a certain number of cr aa b e ant" ce start and return at stated times, and let Magistrate,se 0111500 rised to enforce the above regulations, and the wh° . l , w hat vi ol will be abated at once, and nothing will remain h.u,i c. ,..Fr ° prove truly beneficial to a large portion of the pu°' a Correspondent of the Times. t d er • A girl named Tonkin, about thirteen Y ear line, it was killed on Friday last, at the Fowey Consols the s ol o most distressing manner ; she had descended int o her Om for the purpose of procuring some saw-dust, wh en °t hig o p became entangled in the machinery used for w thor iog torn saws, and which was set in motion while she was the dust. One of her legs was, in uence ySOdEst off, the other was broken in two places, and her t he "'- fully mangled that she expired in a few hours after dent occurred. . 0 00 TREMENDOUS GAS EXPLOSION 1,-inhabl,4l , _ STREET.—Yesterday evening, about six o'cloc k, a 1 "... $ of Regent-street were thrown into consternattr itni ne an report, similar to that produced by the firing °loin, ter smashing of ordnance, coupled with loud cries O f " weer smashing of glass, and on rushing to their door6 eds yr the cause it was found to be as follows :—Mr" . t he o° ol tensive bread and biscuit baker, at No. 227 in_owrroail named street, has, in addition to his bakehouse, vault of large dimensions, communicating ..t,lToyer.stt:l4 directly beneath the crossing at the end of lia, u o , anto t he During the last week or ten days Mr. Reed has 1 ( 1 ;f g as i! l on Of and inconvenienced in his business by an escape port' nt 0 lower part of the premises, and imagining that.7 oot i ve , se e ill the pipe running along the said vault was cif,..st nit we message to that effect to the Company, whc it 0 .: 10 0, causing the attendance of some workmen, a w% Bt ien °`. t he length deemed expedient, after a careful ex . 1 11 ::_ otl y of, o , to remove the earth surrounding the main, ct' _ e ,; (0 01d_r t he vault, concluding that the defect in questiourn_ fro :_ er , bably be found there. Accordingly several is e b " our y u ' oot , Equitable pas establishment commenced their a whe of t he day evening, attended by Mr. Carter, the t re brick -werk us plosion, eY a i c t arched e s d e b hs u e i fa l o d trt i ce n er g i of the pickaxes chancing to perforate the AOO , s u i t k n on a s e e n s v i e n a r n s a t d l an fi e t r a s a rt t F lio ot o .snt r _„„ terv i e n e n l i ci Y og o il t l l ifel e 9 ;j : } ll6 p, a n s gca t o ut isi b ee r d e kl dre w a- le the help," from the workmen employed, quic Y found thre gr° l2 • ll b soepupgoesritsensaridreelovflytheesewapayed, adnedstmruaerffuroi.f t.hzeufodoetrles noctleteoto: number of persons to the spot, where they on the v ot poor fellows, in addition to the foreman , 'YHA co vere__ or: blood and bruises, in which deplorable c eon. - oh a apparently in the most excruciating the e. " of •Jo is more severely injured than the rest, 4 one a. _ sustained considerable damage. The bat !;., o f t vie n gY_/ t bs raised up and removed to the house o e f s a t s b u u r t g all of this when the shock took place, was blown upwarr.. oont sta G at , / or into the air, and it is a most miraculouhsec" preini ses none of the passers-by were killed. Reed are but slightly damaged. ag"%ndition tihr.eYegt:r , tut o d ock; the Sittil es of t h e 7 elabe r , kid Sul the lot th, %eon NOT 5e da Lam tv i 44 ) rokt I