The Sun. — London, England, 1870-04-01 00:00:00

rußLic BUSINESS, • Continued efforts are being made on behalf of the Ballot. A memorial to Mr. Gladstone, urging him to deal with this question during the present session has already gained the signatures of one hundred mem bers of the House of Commons, including one or two Conservatives. And yet it seems scarcely possible that secret voting can receive attention whilst the licensing system remains neglected, and even the Education Bill is in danger. The fact is, that what with excess at work and long purposeless speeches, it is becomino•'necessary to t r y morning sittings in order to get through the business. The 7'eleyraph strongly recommends this course. We are starting April with the Land Bill almost untouched in Committee whilst the Committee on the Education Bill, is avowedly postponed to the far future. The House must really take the matter up, if it means to do any work • and, if it cannot stop the inc essan t fl ow o f fruitless talk on things in general, it must have recourse to morning sittings." This extra labour will doubtless be a severe task upon members; but really the work DIUs . be done. POLITICS IN LONGFORD. The Longford election petition promises to be chiefly an inquiry into the extent and nature of spiritual influence in Irish counties. The petition alleges bribery, treating, and mob i n ti m id at i on; but the great weight ofMr. Martin's case is directed against the Catholic clergy. The priests are said to have engaged in a regular crusade on behalf of Mr. Greville-Nugent. They put it to their flocks, says Mr. Butt, as a question of siding with religion or its enemies. Knowing that it would be illegal for a voter to receive payment for travelling to the poll on his own car, one of the clerical gentlemen, on behalf of Mr.- Greville-Nugent, went the length of ordering the electors to exchange cars with each other, so that they might be paid, not for travelling on their own cars, but for lending them for the use of others. In short, if all that the petition says be true, it seems that the regular course of things in Longford is for the clergy to agree upon a representa tive) for whom the laity vote as a matter of course. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. Sir George Jenkinson may effect more by a hill he has brought in to provide a court of appeal for persons convicted of capital offences than he is likely to• do by demanding ex planations from the Home Secretary in ques tions which seem to have irritated the latter gentleman. The new bill de2lares it is expedient to give to persons receiving sentence- of death an appeal against error in fact,. as well as in law. It enacts, therefore, that persons under sentence of death Shall be entitled to an appeal to a court consisting of not fewer than three of the Judges of the Superior Court s o f common l aw, who' will sit at Westminster on the issue of :it summons from the Home Secretary. No "appeal, however, will be granted without a certificate from the judge who tried the case, stating that in his opinion, such appeal. is 'necessary and proper. In order to be justified. in granting this certificate, the judge must be satisfied_ in his mind that some facts were not brought forward at the trial, which might have obtained an acquittal on the ground of in sanity; or else some facts must have come to light after the trial tending to exculpate the pri soner. Thus it will be seen that, if the bill passes, and transfers the Home Secretary's prerogative to a Court of Appeal, it is evident that many prisoners will not be able to avail themselves of the privilege, and the power will virtually lie with the judge who tried the case. THE BURIAL BILL. The bill cf Sir Morton Peto to permit burials with out any service, or with any desired form of service whatever, has been amended by a select committee, and is now published in its new form. A clause enacts that so far as regards permission to use any burial service other than that of the Church of England, the Act will not extend to the consecrated part of any public Cemetery containing both consecrated and unconsecrated ground. The Nonconformist, in an article on th e su bj ect, asks : "Is there anywhere a man, not wholly per verted by professional assumptions, who can really. feel himself aggrieved because his neighbour, whose religious creed more or less differs from his own, claims such spiritual ministrations as will most com fort him in committing the remains of his loved ones to a grave in the parish churchyard ?" CONVICTIONS UNDER THE GAME LAWS. Official returns have been published of the number of convictions in 1869 under the Game Laws and under the Act for the Prevention of Poaching. The following six counties in England skew the greatest number :—Lancaster, 547 ; Stafford, 400 ; Somerset, 380; Durham, 370; Chester, 368; Southampton, 322. The six lowest are Rutland, 19; Westmore land, 03 ; Huntingdon, 04; S urrey, 90; Dellis 121; Cumberand, 103. Th e W e l s h count i es stand as follow: —Glamorgan, 119 ;Denbigh, 117; Flint, 71; Pembroke, 42; Carmarthen, 41; Carnarvon, 37; Radnor, 34. The total number of con v i c ti ons in England and Wales is as follows :—Trespassing in the day time in pursuit of game, 8,894; night poaching and destroying game, 621 ; illegally selling or buying game, 41; Poaching Act (1862), 806; on indictment, being out armed, taking game, and assaulting gamekeepers, 83. Grand total, 10,345. POSTAL t ‘ nEFonm.” The change in the postal regulations touching news papers has awakened a great outburst of indignation. Hitherto four ounces of newspaper matter could be sent abroad for one rate; now each newspaper, whe ther less than four ounces or not, will be charged for separately-. The eomplaints of the hardship involved by this change are very numerous. One writer obseri,Aqhat even putting the 'increased cost out of sight, the mere trouble of having to weigh each newspaper every time (for they vary considerably in thickness of paper, extra sheets, supplements, &c.), would constitute a serious objection to the new regulation. A firm owning a newspaper which is largely sent,to the colonies affirm that they must now pay an additional 8175 a month on its Australian issue alone, without the means of recompensing t hem selves one penny. DIPLOMATISTS' SORROWS. Information was lately sought from her Majesty's representatives abroad touching the increased cost of living in foreign' cities, The result was a dismal narrative of grief. Everywhere the cost of support ing life had increased, and was likely to increase. It was not probable that statements on this topic would err on the side of too little colouring, and it seems that the gloomy_ narrative of - the diplomatist who described the state of things at Buenos Ayres has given rise to much stricture. Ile declared that £l,OOO a-year was barely sufficient to procure the necessaries .of life. An ex-resident say& that such an estimate is very erroneous. It is possible, this authority affirms, ,t 9 live at Buenos Ayres on £250 a-year and keep a horse ! " Hotel charges for board and - lodging vary from 1,000 to 1,500 dollars, paper currency, per - month, i.e., from £8 to £l2 ster ling. In England I get inferior entertainment at an hotel for 15s. per diem. I have instanced hotel life as being the most expensive, but if we take into consideration that the price of butcher's meat is not more than 2d. per pound, it can easily be shown that a private establishment can be maintained at a moderate rate, even allowing for high rents and high wages." LAW REFOR3L Lord Westbury delivered the inaugural address at the anniversary meeting of the Juridical Society. Among other things, his lordship said, as the Society was well aware, a commission had been issued two or three years ago for the purpose of inquiring into the expediency of preparing a digest of the law. That commission reported that it was a thing practicable, a thing most expe dient, and calculated to be most useful to the community. Unfortunately, they accompanied that statement with others which had a backward tendency, and the matter remained now, to his great regret, in a position in whi c h t h e whole work had yet to be begun and performed. Ile was glad, however, to be able to add that he had heard the Chancellor of the Exchequer not long ago state that he thought no public money could b 3 better expendel than in the production of a digest of the law, and he trusted the work might, with these encouraging words to look to, in time b e acco mplished. So tax as the conditi on of our law was concerned, we stood completely alone in the civilised world. Then was not a nation 'in Europe that had not made in that respect greater progress. And why was it, he would ask, that with all our knowledge and the treasures of our experience for 300 years embodied in reports, we coted not extract the gold out of the dust, cast away, all the dirt by which it was encompassed, and embody it in a code which would remain to our credit, with out having the trouble to delve and dig •for it in QOM masses of rubbish w hi c h were callod repqtd. ROYALTY AT A MIDDLE-CLASS SCHOOL. The Prince and the Princess ofWales have visited the Middle-class Schools in the City-road, London. The intention of the visitors was to see the schools in their everyday working order. They w ere accompan i e d by the Right. H on . G. Goschen, M.P., Dean Stanley, and others. Sir W. Tite z the treasurer, ex plained the position and object of this important educational movement. The buildinc , in the City road was erected at a cost of £40,000, with the object of fitting the sons of clerks and other persons of the middle classes in London and its suburbs, for industrial and commercial work, by an education of a practical character. Fifty thousand pounds were soon subscribed towards the work, and the pupils now pay merely a fee of one guinea a quarter. Latin and Greek are not taught, and therefore greater completeness in the other subjects may be attained. The subjects taught are English, reading, writing, arithmetic, algebra, geo metry, history, geography, French, drawing, physical science, music, physiology, book-keeping, and botany. The pupils can buy a good dinner every day on the spot for sixpence a head, and the system of the whole concern really seems to be most advan tageous to the great class of clerks and others who labour under the unavoidable grievance of large families and small fixed incomes. A. similar school is proposed to be established for girls. THE PRINCE OP WALES AND MASONRY. His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales took the chair at the seventy-second anniversary festival of the Royal Masonic Institution. In proposing " Success to the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys," the Prince said all freely admitted that Freemasons felt a deep interest on the subject of education, which had largely occupied the public mind. As they were aware, the institute was founded in 1798, when six boys were admitted, educated, and provided for near home. In 1810, when the jubilee was celebrated, the number was increased to 150. In subsequent years, when the Duke of Sussex became patron, the number was largely increased. In 1852 the Queen became its patron, and in 1857 an institution was founded in Wood Green, which was rebuilt and opened in 1805. At the present time there were 110 in the building and there would be accommodation for 135 if the institution were out of debt. His Royal Highness said the boys were instructed in French, mathematics, Latin, and drawing, and that at the last half-yearly local examination nineteen boys were sent, of whom two received honours, and eleven, certificates. During the evening hid Royal Highness announced a donation of £lOO from the Queen. LORD SHAFTESBURY ON PENNY LITERATURE. In an address at the annual meeting of the East London Sunday S c h oo l U n i on, the Earl of Shaftes bury touched on the subject of penny literature. The noble Earl observed that there was no danger so portentous, because so insinuating, as the vile, the pernicious, the pestilential, the deadly character of the penny literature of the day. In the present day a sheet could be produced for a penny, the compOsi tion of which was distinguished by scholarship, and .which was admirably illustrated with attractive engravings. These were circulated among the people by thousands and tens of thousands, and the appetite for them appeared to be almost unap peasable. Young and old were induced to read them, and were all unconscious of the mischief until the poison had entered their minds. These productions, he saidi were cunningly written so as to defy the operation of the law in their suppression. In fact no legislation, in his opinion,would avail to counteract this pernicious literature. It could be effected only by the influence of a deep, solemn, holy public opinion—bv imbuing the children with a sense of what was right, according to the teaching of the Gospel; so that they might be guided to a judgment between the two classes of literature, and that their own tastes and feelings might lead them to repel and reject those pestilential productions. DANCING SALOONS. . The Liverpool Magistrates lately appointed a com mittee to frame a clause of local legislation to sup press the assemblage of women of ill-fame in dancwg saloons in that town. This committee has now sent in its report, in which it states that there is no present opportunity of incorporating such a clause in a local bill ; but having considered the law available, and the decisions bearing on the sufgeet, it draws the attention of the head constable to the statutes for the punishment of such offences generally, but particularly to the 251st section of the Local Police Act of 1842, which, in the committee's opinion, provides a remedy applicable in many instances for the suppression of the evils complained of. THE RELIGIOUS DIFFICULTY. Two letters appear in the Times on the subject a the religious difficulty in the Education Bill. On' is from a "Hertfordshire Incumbent," ant the other from a "Shropshire Rector." The forme, thinks that the amendment advocated by Lord Rus• sell and Mr. Vernon Harcourt, though it may coin• mend itself on the first blush of the matter, cannot bear examination. The letters assume, says the writer, that proselytism can only proceed from mem. bers of the Established Church. The experience of the last few years does not confirm this idea. The ether writer says that Mr. Vernon Harcourt has truthfully described the probable ellect of making the national schoolroom the battle-ground between rival sects, but the remedy propo&rsi, he considers to be little, if at all, removed from pure secularism. That remedy is con• tained in the words :—"No religious instruction shall be given, or religious observance practised, other than the reading of the Scriptures." THE ATIIANASIAN CREED. The Rev. C. W. Sandford, chaplain to the Arch bishop of Canterbury, has been desired by the Primate to make an intimation to the public through the Times. The Archbishop has received a p e titi on, addressed to himself and the Archbishop of York on the sub qhc e t of petitionthe C is re e s t i l o.ned commonly byl 5 1,150 laymen and called a e"Athan clergy. It sets forth that the petitioners understand their Graces to have invited a more general expression of opinion on the subject of a recent petition for "relief" (so called) to certain clergymen in the use of the Athanasian Creed. Their opinion is that "either to use the creed less frequently in the Church Service than at present - , or to render its use in any cad° optional, or to omit the mis-termed damnatory clauses, would be fraught with danger to the best interests of the Church." Any of thse expedients would be a grave injury, they say, to the maintenance of the dormatic principle in the Church of England in its relation to the most central truths of faith. THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, APRIL 1, 1870 THE VOLT.TNTEEE REVIEW. The arrangements for the volunteer review at Brighton, on Easter Monday, are pretty nearly complete. Volunteers' tickets will be issued from the Ist to the 15th of April. The fares will be -Ist class, for officers, 38.; covered carriages, for rank and file, is. 6d. The fares for officers' and troopers' horses from London, or any country station to Brighton and back, will be Ios. a head; adjutants' horses (one to each battalion) will be conveyed gratis. SIR SAMUEL BAKint's PROGRESS. The expedition of which Sir Samuel Baker is the leader is of great interest and importance. A letter has been received by the daughter of the explorer, Mrs, Edith Marshall. It is dated Khartoum, 7th of February, and in it Sir Samuel says that he and Lady Baker were on that day about to ascend the Nile to Gonda koro, the whole party being in good health and spirits, and expecting to reach that place about the 3rd of March. It is gratifying to learn that the steamers prepared by Mr. Samuda had safely crossed the Great Desert under the able guidance of Mr. Edwin }lig ginbottom, and were already on the route to the Albert Nyanza. PRINCE PIERRE BONAPARTE. - -------- It is stated that Prince Pierre Bonaparte isaboat to take up his residence at Brussels. This is rather a curious place of exile, supposing that the retire ment is in consequence of the Emperor's orders. Brussels has long been the favourite abode of Irre concilables, and indeed shares with London the honour of harbouring men whose hostility to the Second Empire has made France too hot to hold thorn. Rochefort resided at Brussels, so did some of the Hugo family, and Gustave Plourens first made bis way thither after the famous escapade on the night of Rochefort's arrest. True, many of these gentlemen have returned to France, since the late amnesty, but the Belgian capital still contains abundance of game for the Prince's revolvers, and plenty of men who may not improbably seek to revenge Victor Noir. In short, the Prince might as well remain at Paris. VOTES FOR NEGROES. Many months ago, Congres s p asse d an amendment to the constitution, conferring the right of suffrage upon all American citizens, without distinction of race or colour. It was needful that two-thirds of the individual_ States should ratify this mead:Rout before it could be finally engrafted upon the constitution. The process went on slowly during the summer and winter, and is at len g th comp l e t e , I'he requisite numb er of States have given in their adhesion, the President has issued a proclamation, and negro suffrage is now the law of the land. The same privilege extends to all other coloured races. THE BRITISH EQUITABLE ASSURANCE COMPANY. The annual general meeting of this company was held on Friday, at the offices, Queen-street, Cheap side ; Mr. J. Smither, in the chair. The report, which showed a considerable and con tinued increase in the business of the company having been read, The managing director (Mr. W. S. DOVER) en tered at length into the position of the company since its formation. In the course of his remarks he said the company had an accumulated fund of £210,000 ; it had a revenue, including interest on investments, approaching £100,000; numbered above 16,000 policyholders, and had a trained agency staff accustomed to work in intimate relationship to the policyholder connections, producing a continual source of new business. Although the company had fairly renumerated those whose probity, industry, and perseverance had aided it to obtain such success, it had never deviated from the legitimate scope and operation of a life office ; its business had been con= fined to life assurance alone. It had eschewed the half-credit system and " foreign business," and had never amalg kmated with any other life assur ance company, or purchased its business, but every individual life had been carefully examined by the medical officers of the company, and cauti ously deliberated over by the board prior to acceptance ; and this great mass of picked English lives had experienced a mortality so low throughout the duration of the company that less than two thirds the tabular provision had covered all death claims— an indication that the expectation of life of this select body must be taken to be some years longer than that of a similar body of average lives. Nor had this business been fettered by an unsound loan system, The company had selected those in vestments, such as freehold and leaseho!d property, mortgages, investments in the public funds, and on life interests and reversions, which form a legitimate form of investment for life assurance companies. Above all, special care Lad been taken that not one penny had been improperly paid, nor was any of the publis'ie.l staff of the com pany indebted to it a single farthing, while many companies, decrepid with the weight of a century, were dying out from the very 'want of sustenance, the British Equitable became stronger and snore vigorous year by year. It had, in fact, almost doubled every three years, and out of £210,000 accumulated, £84,000 had been laid by in the last three years alone. If further confirmatioa of this system were wanted, the events of the p st year would suffice. While other companies had be?sa over flowed with applications to surrender, this com pany, giving full surrender values, I aid away a sum proportionately less to the premium income of the company than in the preceding year, and when other companies had their new business greatly re duced, they did as much new business as usual, and of a better quality even than in former years. After having referred to the Life Assurance Bill which had been introduced in the House of Commons by Mr. Stephen Cave, which measure, he observed, would fall widely short of the purposes for which it was intended, conclu led by congratulating the share holders on the 1 osition the British Equitable had attained, and expressed his willingness to furni h any information that might be required. The CHAIRMAN, in moving the formal resolution for the reception and adoption of the report,.said that he thought the last year had been one of severe trial and difficulty. The of 1 business of the company ; lad been maintai ne d a l mos t i ntact, t h ough the cit.- cua,stances of the times were such as might hale led them to anticipate a large number of sumnders. The new business, too, had beer equal to that of previous years—somewhat in excess, in fact. The death claims, wh'.ch had been singularly small in the dist fifteen years of the company, had been some what larger last year, but still within the limit as signed by the tables. It was anticipated that this year a smaller number would happen, so that be tween the two years a pleasing balance might be struck. The accumulated fund stood at £210,000, 'laving been increased this year by nearly £30,000 was securely and safely invested, and could, needed, be readily convert id into cash. The MANAGER, in replying to the questions put to him, said the reserve of £210,000 was a solid and actual amount, and was as safe as if it were in the cash-box in sovereigns. It consisted of balance at bankers, Delhi, and Great Indian Railway Stock, New Three per Cents , and mortgages on freehtld and leasehold properties, and balance in agents' hands (which item had been greatly reduced since the date of the report), an I a few other small items. No money had been advanced on personal security. The average rate of ii,t,3rest was £5 3s. They had 50 per cent. in band of the premiums received. 'Thirty-three per cent, had been declared ample by all authorities on the subject, and allowing for the profits, 40 per cent. wa3 quite sufficient. They had £7los. per cent. in hand for every £lOO of contin gent liability, without calculating uncalled capital and value, the future premiums. It should be recol lected that but 114 out of 1,000 policies issued be came death claims. £7 10s. was, with the future prem ums, ample to meet double the contingent lia bility, according to all -ctuarial experience. If they took the uncalled capital into account, they had £l4 or £l5 in band beside 3 the value of the future pre miums ; and it must be borne in mind the total pre miums received bad not exceeded 15 per cent., and, of course, death claims, bonuses, surrenders, and expenses, including those of establishing the com pany, bad had to be paid, so that it was doubtful whether any company was in a more prosperous position, seeing the quality and quantity of the business, and the charge per cent. of premiums in hand and stocks invested. The report was then adopted unanimously, and the proceedings terminated with a vote of thanks to the directors, the manager, and the other officersof the company: no Mines Regulation Bill was discussed at a meeting of the miners of Wigan and neighbourhood, held yesterday. There was a general expression of dissatisfac tion with the bill as it stands, and a number of amend ments, suggested by the miners' agents, were approved of, and ordered to be submitted to the consideration of the Government. Du BARRY'S Delicious Health-restoring Revalents Ara bica Food, which contains three times the nourishment of he best meat, saves fifty times its cost in other remedies, restores perfect digestion, strong nerves, sound lungs, healthy liver, re freshing sleep, functional regularity, and energy to the more enfeebled, removing speedily and effectually indigestion (dye popsia), habitual constipation, diarrhoea, haemorrhoids, liver complaints, flatulency, nervousness, biliousness, fevers, sort throats, catarrhs, colds, influenza, noises in the head and ears, rheumatism, gout, impurities, eruptions, hysteria, neuralgia, irritability, sleeplessness, acidity, palpitation, heartburn, head ache, debility, dropsy, cramps, spasms, nausea, and sickness, sinking fits, coughs, asthma, bronchitis, incipient cent iun,lion, scrofula, tightness of the chest, pains at the pit of the stotr7,eh, between the shoulders, &c. We quote a few out of 0 8,000 cries —The Pope's health restored by Du Barry's Food, Cure No F 8,413 Rome, July 21. 1866. -The health of the Holy Father is excellent, especially since, abandoning all other remedies, he has confined himself entirely to Du Barry's Revab nta Arabica Food, of which he consumes a plateful at every meal. It has nrodeced a surprisingly beneficial effect on his health, and his Holiness cannot praise this excellent food too highly."—From the "Gazette du Midi," July 25. Cure No. 9,832: of fifty years' inieseribable agony from dyspepsia, nervousness, asthma, cough, constipation, flatulency. sp,smi, sickness at the stomach and vomiting. Maria Jolly. Wortham, Ling, near LIFE , . Norfolk. Cure N o. 47,111: Miss Elizabeth Jacobs, of :razing Vicarage, Waltham Cross, Herts, of extreme nervousness, indigestion, gatherings, low spirits, and nervous fancies. Important Caution —:teware of the many unsavoury and more than sloppy imita tiong to which without authority, Baron Liebig's name is most audaciously ettaned In tins, at is lid; 1 lb 28 Pd; 2 lb 4s 6d; 5 lb 118; 12 lb 225; 24 lbs 41s.— A Iso 1) U BARlty's ItEVALENTA ItABICA CHOCOLATE PoWDEit is packed in tin canisters: for 1! cups at 2s, for 24 cups at 3s 6d, for 48 cups at Cs, for 288 cups at 30s, for 876 cups at 55s —being about one penny per cup. The 30s and Ms tins are•sent free of carriage in England on receipt of Post Office Order. BARRY Du BARIty and Co., N0..77, Regent-street London; and all Grocers and Chemists. PROTECTOR . ENDOWMENT LOAN AND ANNUITY COMPANY. • The annual general meeting of this company was held yesterday afternoon, at the offices of the com pany, 34, King-street, Cheapside. Mr. Thornthwaite, in the absence of Mr. Alfred Smee, chairman of the board of directors, presided. The report of the directors, which was read by the Secretary, Mr. INl'Morran, was as follows : " The directors submit to the general meeting a report of the proceedings of the company during the Bast year, together with a statement of income and expenditure. Five hundre I and eleven p• oposals were made for advances of money, for the aegrega' e sum of £110,657 ; of these, 258 were granted, amounting to the su m o f £53,919 13s. 10d., for terms varying from one to five years. During the preceding financial year the sum advanced amounted to £52,103 13s. 4d., so that the business transacted last year exceeded the former by £1,816. The past year hasbeen specially remarkable for a great depres sion of trade and absence of legitimate enterprise, and this inactivity is always found to be unfavourable for applications for loans from the Protector Company. A. rise of business, although small, under these cir stances must be regarded as a favourable indication of the progress of the company. The directors would again call the attention of the shareholders to the value of their deposit department, whereby sums of money are received at five per cent. interest. This department is particularly valuable to trustees and others waiting investment for their money. The directors retiring by rotation are Alfred Smee, Fsq., F.R.S., and Edward Solly, Esq., F.R.S., and the board recommend that their names constitute the list for re-election. The company's auditors, G. H. Ladbury, Esq., and H. C. T. Beadnell, Esq., also retire, and will offer themselves for re-election. The directors recommend that the interest on shareholders' stock be at the rate, for the current year, of 10 per cent. per annum on the called-up capital of £1 per share." The CHAIRMAN, in moving the reception and adoption of the report, said he regretted very much the absence of their chairman, Mr. Smee, and had it not been for unforeseen causes he would have been present. That gentleman had been absent from England for a short time, and was on his return home ; but when in Florence he received intelligence that a friend was dangerously ill, and E 0 urgent was the case that Mr.. Smee had to return to Naples, and thus he was prevented being present with them that day. Their chairman, however, was now on his way to England, and his arrival might be looked for in a very short time. The unavoidable absence of Mr. Smee was the cause of his presiding over the meeting that day, and in fulfilling the duty t hat devolved upon him he had to move the adoption of the report ihey had just heard read. That document was so cliar and concise, and contained such dry facts, that it left him very little to say, as the very nature of the company was of a dry, commercial nature, and, that being so, it required that its progress should be re corded by. dry figures. (Hear, hear.) He must, however, congratulate the shareholders that the re port for the past year did not differ from that of its predecessors, as it showed that the company con tinued to advance, which was a most unmistakable proof of its usefulness, stability, and profit. (Hear, hear.) The directors put down the item of expenses as much as was commensurate with energy and ad vancement, and as a sign that their exertions had been successful they had recommended the very handsome dividend of 10 per cent. on the called-up capital of the company be raid to the share holders. (Hear, hear.) Mr. WILLIAms said it gave him the greatest plea sure to second the motion of the chairman. The adoption of the report was then put to the meeting, and carried unanimously. Mr. TOLEMAN moved the re-election of the retiring director, , , Mr. Alfred Smee and Mr. Edward Solly. Mr. lIANDCOCIC seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously. The retiring au litors, Mr. G. IL Ladbury and Mr. C. T. Beadnell, having also been unanimously re-elected, and the resolution paved for the payment of the dividend announced by the ch irman, Mr. C. TYLER moved a vote of thanks to the direc tors and secretary, remarking that it was highly gratifying to the shareholders to see how well all matters connected wit►h the society were managed. The CILAIRMAN having returned thanks for the directors, Mr. 111 , MoRnAN said he was exceedingly obliged for the compliment, and he sincerely hoped they might do as well in the future as they bad done in the past. The proceedings then terminated. CONFESSION OF MURDER. A confession of murder has been made by a man at Sutton Bridge, named Trueffit, in which himself and a woman are implicated. It appears that a woman named Maria Burridge, who has been a widow for eight years, and is in the prime of life, had been on terms of intimacy with the self-accused murderer, who has been a singer in the Wesleyan Chapel, where Mrs. Burridge played the harmonium. There had been hints of undue fami liarity existing between them, but it was set down generally as mere village scandal. It now appears from the statement of Truefitt that for the past seven years he has been in the habit of visiting Mrs. Burridge late at night, but that recently a carter named Richardson had been the favoured visitor in his stead, and to him, it was said, she was shortly to be married. On Thursday night, about eleven o'clock, Truefitt went to the house, but could get no recognition of his knock, from which he imagined that Richardson was in the house. He then entered but found no one there but Mrs. Burridge, and for this act she summoned him before the magistrates, who fined him for the offence. This he resented, and at once stated that Burridge had had three children, which had been murdered and buried. Burridge, on hearing this disclo sure, coolly replied, " How can you say so? You know it's false." Trueffit asserted that his state ment was true, and that he himself had buried the first of the babies in his father's garden about four or five years ago, and offered, if the police would go with them, to shew them the exact spot. On going to the garden and digging, a child's skull and other remains were taken up. Trueffett states that the woman gave him this child over the fence, and promised, if he would bury it, she would never have any other man but him. He also admitted that the child was alive when she gave it to him, and that when he was burying it it began to cry, when he stamped upon it. The other two children, he states, Burridge put away himself, but he does not know where. A strict search for these bodies is now being made. The woman is the widow of a man named Wil• ham Burridge, who committed suicide by hanging himself with his waist strap about eight years ago. ACTION FOR TnEsrAss.=A curious action for trespas; has been tried at the Kingston Assizes. The plaintiff took a lease of a house belonging to the defendant, on the condition that certain repairs were made. • The plaintiff took possession, but declined to complete the lease until the repairs were completed. At the end of the first quarter a distress warrant was issued, which the County Court judge decided was illegaL The question now raised was whether the plaintiff was a tenant of the defendant's or not. The plaintiff contended that as the as for a lease was conditional, and the defendant had not fulfilled the conditions, no tenancy had licen created, and the defendant had com mitted a trespass by putting in the distress. Mr. Justice Keating thought that there had been quite enough litigation, and should t r y t o prevent more. He therefore told the jury that if they considered a tenancy did exist the action could no t b e supported ; if they did not the distress was illegal, and they must give damages for trespass. The jury were of opinion that the plaintiff was tenant to the defendant. With regard to the other nuestion, they assessed the damages at 4:10, if a superior court should decide that the evidence did not establish a legal tenancy. A COMMANDER IN THE NAVY ON • THE " SPREE."—A commander in the Royal Navy, attached to the Naval College at Portsmouth, n ame d J ames Steven Tonkin, has been brought up on a charge of being drunk and disorderly, and assaulting john Main,• night-man, in the presence of Police -constable • Hart. Shortly after twelve one night, according to Main's state ment, while Main was at his work in St. James's street, Portsmouth, defendant came by drunk and assaulted him twice. Hart came up, and although defendant was requested to " move on," he declined, and " pitched into "the constable with his umbrella.—Defendant pleaded that in the first place he was assaulted by Main.—He was convicted in the penalty of ss. and 7s. costs, which he paid, the Magistrates telling him he had got off very POPULAR AND CLASS GOVERNMENT. (From the Anglo-American Times.) Last week we noticed the unceremonious decapi tation by Congress of the surplus U. S. military . officers. This case illustrates in a why worth notic ing the practical working of a people's Government as compared with a class Government, as between the Republic and the British monarchy. Where every man weighs alike in politics the most numerous are the heaviest, an 1, as the every-day working men are the most numerous, such a Government as that of the Union must be mainly influenced from below. What mast interests the masses, what they say and do, will most interest Congress; and be there debated. The same holds true of the press, as iu America all are newspaper readers, and newspapers are there within the means of the poorest citizens. If every purchaser weighs alike, and all purchase, then the working-people must form the Main body ; and no newspaper can afford to pass unnoticed the subjects which chiefly interest the body of its readers. Thus it happens that the Government and the press be come a reflection of the masses in America, showing, as in a glass, their actions, thoughts, and aspira tions ; but in Great Britain it is only by slow stages the multitude gets a footing on the political plat form. Its Government has always been class, vary ing only in the degree of the power exercised by the Sovereign, by the nobles, and by the middle grades, which it has been the habit to call the people, and the effect is seen in every branch of public em ployment. When the British army is discussed in the press or in Parliament, the officers are meant. In society, a British regiment means the men who assemble around the well furnished mess table ; and, although the military have no end of grievances, these are among the privileges of the elect, as it is highly unconstitutional for the non-commissioned to profess any grievance at a!l. No other branch of the national service so truly depicts the sort of go vernment which has ruled for centuries in Englaud, and the writer heard Lord CLYDE say, during the mutiny of the European soldiers which followed the suppression of the Sepoy rising, that had it been an officers' grievance, all Europe would have been made to ring with the injustice. The officers of the Honourable Company gained in every way by their transfer to the Queen, yet no grants, however fiber ral, could satisfy their extortion nor stop their com plaints. On the contrary, the soldiers were transfer red byproclamation from the Company to the Crown, as if they were a flock of sheep, and were sternly re fused the bountythey claimed as re-enlistment money. It was then that they became " ugly," and the VICE ROY had to expend more than ten times the sum the men had asked in sending them home, with the dis agt eeable knowledge, too, that the Government was defeated ; that it had acted illiberally and ungraci ously, as well as foolishly. Retrenchment is now the order of the day, both in America and in - England, where military and naval establishments are in pro gress of reduction ; and a cursory glance at the mode adopted by each, shows the effect of the people and of a class, on the working of a Government. In England they clear out the dockyards, discharg ing hands by the thousand, with little regard to the suffering and starvation caused. The scenes in Deptford, in Woolwich, in Portsmouth, and Ply mouth have been depicted by the Tory papers as a charge against the Government of their op ponents ; but the illustrations only show, that whe ther Liberal or Conservative, how little is the consideration of the authorities for the masses whom the nation employs. At the same time the country is trying to get rid of the surplus officers of the Navy, for it has been found that the Admi ralty has been filling up the lists, promoting officers so as to crowd every grade enormously beyond the requirements of the service, and the Navy men may now be described as people who look at ships from land through teleseopes, but are seldom caught at sea. Mr. CHILDERS desires to reduce this excessive list, and he is at his wits' end how to achieve the object, A very handsome retirement for officers of every grade has been proposed, or a round sum pa'd down ; -still Admirals, post-captains, and corn mande: s rise in rebellion, and make uneasy the pillow whereon the First Lord r e s t s hi s h ea d . I t is not considered improper to turn adrift, without compensation, poor mechanics who for all their lives have been working hard in the dockyards, but when the interests of the officers who have spent their years of service in gazing from the white cliffs of Albion at the passing ships come to be dis cussed, the case is widely different. Just so it is with the Army, for that officer has a crying griev ance who is placed on half-pay, and speeches in Par liament, pamphlets, articles as.well as letters in the newspapers are circulated over the land. Our American 'readers cannot comprehend the British system of Army purchase, although there is nothing complicated in it, a certain sum being fixed by regulation as the price of each step, beyond which it is illegal to give money. That law is systematically violated with the connivance of the ruling autho rities ; and the officers now demand the surplus back from the Government which they have illegally paid, maintairing that the Government, by its con nivance, sanctioned the illegality. There is no doubt that the officers have a great deal of right on their side ; still it isnmusing, as well as instructive, to contrast the summary way in which the U. S. offi cers are treated by the Washington Government, while the country looks on' approvingly, with the demands which many may think preposterous of the British . officers. The difference is rendered all the more striking by the fact that nearly all of the " decapitated" in America are men who have distin guished themselves iathe .most . trying war of our generation, and to whom the Union ascribes the highest mead of praise. They get a year's salary to settle up their' bills, and, perhaps, to carry them from some distant part to their homes, though their discharge is in violation of the stipulation on which they entered on. their regular army career ; while the reduction to half-pay of the British offi cer is in accordance with the well-known practice of the service. But, what waSthe case when the other day the appropriations were exhausted in some American dockyards, and some thousands .of workmen had to be discharged ? Immediately there was an outcry which resounded in the halls of Con gress, in the offices of the Executive, and in the columns of the press ; and no time was lost in placing at the disposal of the Secretary of the Navy a large sum for the re-employment of the dis charged hands. The difference between the dis charged mechanics in America and the discharged Mechanics in England is this, that in the former country they have not only a far better field for labour, but an abundance of fine land forsettlement, while the English mechanic and his family have little more before them than starvation in the attic of -an alley. This striking contrast in the mode of treatment ought not to be passed Unnoticed ; indeed it is a fine commentary on the remarks of an Eng lish paper as to the influence of the masses in Ame rica on the Government, which asserted that influ ence to be a delusion, that wealth alone ruled, and that its ready tools manipulated the crowd in its inte rest. Even while ANDREW JOHNSON was sitting in the • Presidential Chair, the pretentious leader of popular opinion declared, that poor boys had no bet ter chance of distinction or of rising to high placc s in America than in England, though every American paper contained obituary notices showing that out of four men who died wealthy, powerful, and well known,three had commenced their careers byplough digging, or sweeping out a store. But how ever this may be, the circumstances we have nar rated demonstrate in a striking light what the in fluence is upon a Government of a people, or, of a privileged few, and if a doubt remains on any mind, let him contrast the pay of the British with the American diplomatic service ; of the high State officials of both countries; ef the Judges, &c. &c.. and then compare that, of all the ;very subordinate posts MONETARY REPORTS-YESTERDAY. A quiet feeling has pervaded the Stack Exchange to day for most classes of securities. The inquiry has been limited, nevertheless prices have been without material change. Consols have been firm, and unaltered, at 95g, 9.51 for money and the April account. Reduced and New Three per Cents, 912, 91 1 ex div.; Exchequer Bills, par to 4s. prem. India Five per Cents have been done at 113 1131, and India Bonds at 20s: to 255. prem. • Generally speaking, the market for English railway stocks has been firm, and the movements have been favourable. Metropolitan, however, on a pressure of sales, receded R. On the other hand, Midland has risen f, London and North-Western 3, and Great Western In .Indian railway stocks the business doing has been very moderate, and prices have been without material change. Canadian shares have been steady in value, with a moderate inquiry. Foreign shares have been quiet. The market for foreign bonds has been rather unsettled. Spanish securities have been firm, and per cent, better, and Peruvian 1862 have - risen On the other hand, Egyptians have been flat, and lower. American securities have been steady. The Five-Twenty Bonds have risen k, but Virginian have fallen i. As regards British mining shares, there has been a continuance of the sales of Assheton, at a further fall of In Colonial and Foreign Mines Pacific have been better. Bank shares have been quiet, at about previous quota tions. Telegraph shares have been rather firmer. British Indian Extension have risen ; British Indian Sub marine, -1. Telegraph Construction shares have been steady, and 1 better at 36k, 36k. Hoor er's Telegraph Works have been quoted at 11 to 1 dis. A rumour has been current to-day of a proposed amalgamation of Hooper's Telegraph Works Company with the Land and Sea Construction and (Newall's) National Telegraph Construction Com pany. Miscellaneous securities have teen quiet, and without important change. The Clearing House retura for the :week ended March 30 shews a total of £79,601,000, against .269,164,000 for the corresponding week last year. This being the close of the quarter, there has been a strong demand for money, and three months' paper has not been taken under 3 per cent. The sum 0f225,000 has been sent into the Bank to-day. Another failure is announc3d in the Stock Exchange to day. The Frankfort, from New Orleans, has brought £35,000 in Mexican dollars. Advices from Lisieux announce the failure of one of the principal houses of that town—M. Adolphi Bordeaux, manufacturer. At a meeting of the Bank of Scotland it was shewn that there was an available total of £63,776, out of which a dividend at the rate of 4 per cent. and a bonus of 1 per cent. were declared. At a meeting of the Crdait Fonder of Mauritius a divi dend of 16s. per share was declared. The following are the traffic returns of various railways for the week ending March 27 :—Great Western, £74,449, being an increase of £1,240 when compared with the cor responding week of last year. Great Eastern, £35,756; decrease of £2,116. Great Northern, £39,417; in crease of £252. Caledonian, £39,374 ; increase of £9B; Bristol and Exeter, £7,621, increase of £531; Lan cashire and Yorkshire, £15,861, decrease of £4,239 ; Man chester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire, 2A,595, decrease of £1,633. The corresponding week last year was Good Friday week, when excursion trains are run. MARKETS-YESTERDAY. LONDON PRODUCE MARKET, TIIIIRSDAY.-Sugar has been very flat, and prices have been with difficulty maintained. Refined goods have been scarce, but prices are rather lower. Very little business has been doing in tea. .Common congou to ls. id. per lb. Coffee has sold on former terms. Good to old Colony plantation Ceylon, 775. to 825.; middling, 71s. to 78s. low middling, 655. ad. to GSs. ; pea berry, 80s. to 84s. 6d. LONDON TRADE REPORT, THURSDAY.-Tallow is firmer, 455. 3d. spot ; 445. ad. April to June ; and 455. Gd. last three months. METROPOLI*I7AN CATTLE MARKET, THURSDAY.-In the cattle trade to-day a want of animation has been apparent. The Aupplics of stock have been only moderate, but they have been sufficient for requirements. In prices no change has taken place. As regards beasts, , the receipts from our own grazing districts, as well as front abroad, have been limited,•but some, good serviceable animals have been noticed in the supply. For all kinds the inquiry has been limited ; nevertheless, prices were maintained. The best Scots and crosses have sold at 4s. 104. to ss. per Sibs. Sheep, of which a fair supply has been on sale, have changed hands quietly, at Monday's prices. Lambs have been quiet. - Pigs have sold slowly.' Calves have been dull. Boasts have sold at from 3s. 241. to ss. ; sheep, 3s. to ss. 10d.: lamb, 7s. ad. to Ss. ; calves, 3s. 104. to Cs. Bd. ; and pigs, 4s. Bd. to ss. Bd. per Slbs. to sink the offal. Total supplies-Beasts, 641 ; sheep and lambs ; . 6,655 ; calves, 138 ; and pigs, 10. Foreign -]Beasts, 233; sheep and lambs, 1,390 ; and calves, 118. LONDON WOOL MARKET, THURSDAY.-The market has been without important feature. Both for colonial and English produce the demand has been inactive, but prices have been maintained. BOROUGH AND SPITALFIELDS POTATO MARKET, THIIRSDAY.—These markets have been moderately supplied with potatoes.. The trade has been quiet at about late rates. English straws, 120 s. to 130 s. ; regents, 100 s. to 120 s. ; Scotch regents, 80s. to 100 s. ; rocks, 70s. to 80s. ; and French, 70s. to 755. per ton. WMETROPOLITAN HAY AND STRAW MARKET, THURS.- DAL—The supply has been short,"and the trade has been dull, at our quotations. Prime. meadow hay, 76 5 . ad . t o 84s. ; inferior ditto, Ms. to 70s. ; rowen, .50s. to 655. ; prime clover, 110 s. to 1265. ; inferior ditto, 80s. to 955.; prime second-cut clover, 1003. to 110 s. ; inferior ditto, 80s. to 90s. ; and straw, 265. to 30s, per load. LONDON METAL MARKET,'. THURSDAY.—Scotch pig iron is firm, 555. one month. Tin has been steady, but copper and other metals have sold slowly. LONDON. OIL MARKET. —Linseed has been firm, at 325. sd. epot. Rape is steady. English brown spot, 435. LIVERPOOL COTTON • MARKET, THURSDAY.—The market has been quiet. _ Sales, 10,000 bales, of which 1,000 were for ex part and on speculation. Import of the day, 13,750 bales. LIVERPOOL COPPER MARKET, THURSDAY.—Market quiet. Bars, 651 to 66 ; ores, 13. GLASGOW IIRON MARKET, THURSDAY.—The market has been than. An extensive business has been transacted, at from Ms. 1034. to 555. lid. CORK BUTTER MARKET, THURSDAY.—Ordinary firsts, 1355.; seconds, 130 s. ; thirds, 98s. ; fourths, 765. ; fifths, 565. and sixths, not quoted ; 780 firkins in the market. Mild cured— firsts, 1355. ; seconds, 130 s. ; thirds, 965. ; 30 firkins in the market. - HAVRE COTTON MARKET, MARCH 30.—The market has been quiet, but prices have been regular. Mid Orleans, 136 f. ; Omra loading, 1051. AMSTERDAM, MARCH 30.—Bahca tin, 71i. PARIS CORN MARKET, MARCH 30.—Short supply of wheat. Trade firm, 50 cents higher. Rye steady, 19.75. Barley tirm. Ships are being brought forward - for the next Flying Squadron, but where the crews are to be obtained to man them, says the Globe, is exciting some curiosity, as the receiving ships at the home ports are almost as de nuded of men as the dockyards are of stores. AN ANECDOTE OF LAMAETINE.—A. graceful story is told of Lamartine. One day a penniless man of letters called upon him, and, informing him of his sad situation, requested the loan of a considerable sum of money. Lamartine, who was much moved by the recital, opened a drawer and gave him the amount. He then conducted his unfortunate visitor to the vestibule. The season was autumn, and as Lamartine opened the street door the un fortunate author shivered in his shabby great coat. A sudden idea struck Lamartine, and calling out " Monsieur, you are forgetting your overcoat," he quickly took down a handsome new overcoat which was hanging in the passage, and assisted his needy visitor to put it on with so much dexterity and grace that the poor man, quite overcome, did not know how to refuse a gift which was so delicately offered to him. Was not Lamartine's pardessus as worthy of notice as the celebrated redingote prise of the First Napoleon ? M. HAUSMANN AND THE FINANCES OF PARIS.— The Francais, which is supposed to be the chief organ of the French Cabinet,makes some extraordinary statements respecting the condition in which M. Haussmann has left the Finances of the city of Paris. According to the Francais, the magician who has revolutionised the exterior of Paris preserved a profound mystery as to his proceed inns even towards his collobarateurs. If we are to trust this statement the statistics laid before the recent Council of State prove the financial situation of the city to be worse than M. Haussmann's most bitter enemies imagined, and to aggravate the matter, the members of the Muni cipal Commission, Councillors of State, and Ministers who had to defend the ex-prefect of the Seine in the Chambers, declare that they h ave b een d ece i ve d , and had no idea of true state of things. The rumour is cur rent that the deficit which was supposed to be 300,000,000 francs, will not be less than 600,000,000 francs. BIRTHS. - - BAILEY-On the 25th ult., the wife of Sir Joseph R. Bailey, Bart., M.P., of a daughter. COOPER —On the SOth ult., at Deal, the wife of Captain IL F. Cooper, R.M., of a daughter. • MARRIAGES. CARR —CHAPMAN— On the 30th ult., 'at Waltham Abbey parish church, Thomas, the youngest son of J ames C a rr, Waltham Abb e y, to D'fary, second daughter of Thomas Chapman. KINGSCOTE—RIDLEY -On the 31st ult., at Holy Trinity, Marylebone i Henry Bloomfield Kiugscote, Keg., R.H.A., to Louisa Katherino, eldest daughter of the late Majot- General Charles W. Ridley, C.B, DEATHS. HALE—On the 80th ult.,•at 9, Edith- terrace, S.W., 'William Hale, Esq., C.E., aged 73. TAYLOR —On the 30th ult., at 8, Cauonbury-place N. Arthur Taylor, E.-41., F.S.A., aged 79. , , London: Printed and Published by WILLIAII ANDREWS', of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at. To Sux Office, NO. 112, strand, in the Precinct of tho Savoy, in the County of Middlesex..-.. Friday, April 1, 1870.