The Sun. — London, England, 1841-01-14 00:00:00

OIt_NING__,EDITION Priht Royal spirit into submission, they were dislo)al. While the recurrence of a long-remettil;ered and deeply deplored catastrophe was possible, they were disposed to disloyalty. Was there a dinner-party at the Palace, they talked of Royal orgies. Was the weapon of as sassination levelled, they were infinitely facetious upon " pistol practice in the Park." Were able and honest men, not of their professed doctrine, put into office, they alluded to the forced abdication of the second James. And now who so loyal as they ? Truly the raacient city of Canterbury must be hard bested for faithful subjects of Queen Victoria, if Mr. Smythe and his supporters are to pass muster under those colours. Mr. Smythe couples most abundant abuse of the Government with a declaration that Sir Robert Peel and Lord Stanley vote more frequently with Ministers than would his opponent, Mr. Wilson ; and h intends to follow Sir Robert Peel and Lord Stanley. And moreover, he abuses the Septennial Act as a Whig measur e , " a blue Act ;" yet he will resist its repeal. After such precious specimens of logic and consistency, it is hopeless for him to offer himself as the champion of tr.e intelligence of the country against Mr. O'Connell or any other oppugner. The meeting that could tole rate and applaud him, is sunk below all defence. In his return, the stultification of Canterbury would he far more palpable than its cathedral. These exhibitions are very humbling to our national character. We could almost find in our hearts to petition the Carlton C:ub not to make our cauntry the laughing-stock and con tempt of Europe. We would say to them, try the isioney power to its full extent, bribe to your hearts' satisfaction, av a il yourse l ves o f every technicality that the most rascally lawyers can turn to account in the lierversion of the Reform Act, uprear your Constitu tion on the pedestal of the beer barrel, intimidate and coerce every poor dependent creature whose occupation brings him within your gripe—but kayo some tender ness for the intellectual reputation of a people which has bad " the start of the majestic world." Do not ri c ht your battles with shallow and brazen quacks. Voserve some decorum in your choice of champions, and if you really be as sure of beating us as you pre tend, allow us to fall with decency, and make not your own triumph a dishonour to the English mind. We fear the petition would be in vain. The exigencies of the party require it to be inexorable. Our only hope is, that intellect and honesty are not extinct in Canter bury. Mr. Sinythe, like our Contemporary the Stan dard, objects to the Ballot, because " no scheme which wit or human ingenuity can devise will ensure the ob ject of secresy." If the Tories believe this, why are we not agreed upon its adoption ? They can well af ford the experiment which afters are desirous of try ing. Their corruption and coercion may still proceed if the Ballot can give no secrecy ; and what would they have more ? Their insight into the vanity of all pre cautions against their own nefarious devices ought to tider them tolerant of die deluded believers in the pusaility of secret and independent voting. Either their objection is dishonest, or they are the most unreason able, churlish, and intolerant faction upon the face of the earth. But the very strenuousness of their hostility evinces their dread that protection would be realized. And in the protection of honest opinion they rightly forebode their own discomfiture. (From the Times ) The character of this country is essentially Conserva tive. '['here are always, indeed, mobs to be collected by rogues, enthusiasts, or bigots, sometimes idle mobs, nod sometimes, we grieve to say, hungry mobs, all quite ready to vote that everything they suffer from is every body's fault but their own ; and at indefinite periods once perhaps is ten or a dozen years, there arises some general or panic excitement, which hurries along with it. a considerable portion of the more respect able classes. But, except for these partial and casual ex cesies, the English are a sober-minded people, willing to be guided by their natural leaders, and exceed ingly indifferent to theories of government. Of po litical liberty, indeed, they are very jealous ; but tee) , care little for political power. In their pocket and in their religion they must not be harassed ; eon it here any hardship or other abuse is exhibited, especially if its pressure be on the weak, they will lisva it redressed ; but their interposition seldom s .eks to go much further : for they have pretty generally the good sense to perceive that few of us pos sess lawn - 1360n or leisure sufficient to qualify us for the incessant toil of politics : and that the best course with respect to our political counsellors, as with respect to our legal or our medical ones, is to choose our men with earn, and, having chosen them, to leave our case in their bands, :arid upon their responsibility. That is the constitutional principle of our government, and that is q v ; general inclination of our people. They are Con servative, not because they prefer ose set of partisans to aii arier, but because their tendencies are to fixedness rat h e r th in to change, and to recognized gradations of power and rank, rather than to an uneasy straining after impracticable equality. The Whigs, from the begin ning, have miscalculated the whole matter, and in no one particular more grossly than in that of their isinni clisal Corporation Bill. They might have learned a les 'sort from the working of their own Reform Act, but they ware too dull to take it. The general election in January. 0:135, being the second under the Reform Act, lessf almost doubled the number of the Conservatives in the Ilouse of Commons. To men at all capable of being warned, that sudden increase from 150 to near 300 might well have been a warning. It might have taught them that the popular feeling which had en rib!ed them to carry the Reform Act was not a rest less itching for progressive and endless innovation, but A single determination on the part of the people to compel the redress of what they regarded as an in- tolerable abuse of their Representative Constitution. Although the first election—that of 18:32—had brought upwards of 500 Whigs and Radicals into Parliament, the next, in 18:35, diminishing that aggre gate force by about 150, left the Whigs at the mercy of Mr. O'Connell. Yet the Whigs conld not discern is this any symptom of a Conservative tendency on the part of the nation at large ; or, if they did, they were so infatuated by their own selfishness as to fancy that they could neutralize the mind of the British people by a bit of Whig legislation—by a new elec tioneering job. If the drawing of the great lottery, isain they, has not been quite so profitable as we caleu• hated, we will have a .4 little go" in aid of it ; and so ttisey resolved upon passing the measure now known by the name of the Municipal Corporation Act. By that enactment they promised themselves that they should gain an accession 01 from 57 to 59 scats, and extinguish ielie Conservatives for ever in a flood tide of popular en aiistisiasin which was never to have an ebb. Oa the 4th ssi' January, 18:36, very shortly after the first general to.'o election under the new Act, we stated our reasons for b e 'ieving that, favourable as the election had been to the VsThigs, they would neither gain their expected accession of seats in Parliament, nor long continue to retain their :nfleence even io the elections of corpora tors. We observed, that as all the Parliamentary no aninations appertaining to the corporation system had already been killed outright by the Reform Bill, there ;were none of them left for the working of the Corpora tion Act to strangle. We showed that the disgust with esiai.ell the jobbing and roughriding of the Radical town eentsaillors could not fail to inspire the burgesses niust bring back the popular feeling in the towns to the res peesatee t which, with few exceptions, is the Conserve eive) class of inhabitants ; and that, in three or four y e ,iri, the municipal electors would fleetly restore their confidence to a municipal administration of which pro perty end character should be the guarantees. Those were out predictions in 1836. In 1837, that part of them which related to the Parliamentary elections was verified by a largo increase, instead of any diminution, iin the number of the Conservatives returned to the reiouse of Commons, and in 1840 the remainder of our teestitaipations becalme realized by the overthrow of the :ar t ' s .4 and Radical.candidetes at almost every town elec. t w at time Tweed to the Tamar. From these facts, time these 1 . oes suivocal and sustained manifestations of the # , both in the Parliamentary and in the public op 4 aitgir e , a t ctja aa, it is possible to draw only one municipal a that ~ the tend the ha couelusioo, namely, people ; is opposed bitual teridenc - f perpetua l ) ..of the kanglish change and to the eo the project; o domination of etelgar adventurers. Mob autho- Vily is hated most when it comes nearest and in this view, the :Municipal Reform Act will really Lace been a substantial larnent to the country. As long .ea the election of democratieal preten ders was only into ithe Hou se o f C om m on s the percept ion of the evil was :lost ie its distance and generality, no particular consti •tueney havin g an y o pp or t un ity to see it in its immediate working. But when the Municipal Act let a herd of longry Liberals into the domestic administration of the to s .os,the householders soon became awake to the true chat acter of these gentry. Their insolence, their ignor ance, .their covetousness, their corruption, al( those quali ties which signalize the beggar set on horseback arid speed h i m to t h,. proverbial termination of his journey, were then seen an d felt, and ere long resented, by the indignant householder& of the towns. From what they viewed , with their own eyes, they formed their judgment of what was less immediately obvious ; and they came to the conclusion that the class of people of whom the tc wns had got these specimens, were no very desirable re preventatives for the cation. Thus the operation of a e , Municipal Reform has weterially aided the resto re don of the popular mind " to Its swan' and pristine lit elth ;" and the expe rience of Liberia) power will be fer . nit •ny a year the safe g uarantee of Conservative prin., nip les. rt is not, indeed, to be taken for granted that «weal , burgess who has voted for a Conservative Town .cou, eilior will also, if he happen to be a . Parliamen tary e t,setor, r ecor d his vote for a Conservati ve Member. The ties of private connexion And the respect for pri vate eharaieter may not infrequeutic influence a Liberal, as he calla himself, to vote for COOfer v ativ e Town- Councillors. He excuses himself to his brother Radi cals by pleading that the town elections are not political but local affair v, and that his duty is to do the best for the town. Eats though for these reasons you must beware of calcu 'Lein upon the universal assistance of your corporate co asetituents in your Parliamentary elec tions, yet this ga sat and .clearanteantage you derive from you municipal 1 victories, itilat alley Amato a n opi nion of, moral s treng t h of the ,Con s e r v atives , a nd allog,/tik e o is Is to to in a disunited, undisciplined, and uncreditable state. This appearance of affairs not only encourages your friends and .disheartens your enemies, but operates in a very practical way upon your canvassing -book, by bringing the waverers to your side. The Conservatives, therefore, bid fair to meet the next general election (and it probably will not be a very distant one), with all the appliances that can secure success—with good majorities solemnly pledged in their favour—with the popular opinion, not only of the Parliamentary electors, but of the burgesses, loud in their cause—and with all the contingent advantages appurtenant to the party which possesses the supe rioray both of the numbers and of the ground. ( From the Morning Advertiser.) That we are ( ! fficial/y, if we may use the expression, the special organ of the Licensed Victuallers, whether in the metropolis or in the provinces, is a fact which we have no wish to conceal, although we are aware that it militates to a certain extent, against the force of our arguments when any claim on their part comes under our consideration, or any case of oppression de. mantis our attention. A weaker advocate, less skilled in the duties which they owe to the public, and the rights which they are entitled to enjoy in common with their fellow-subjects, would be more successful in the cause of justice, because less suspected of partiality or prejudice ; still there is no reason why we should not lift up our humble voice in vindication of the rights and privileges of men who, in later times, have been the sport of legislation, and the victims of magisterial as well as Parliamentary caprice. Placed, with regard to other classes of society, in a position which enables them to exercise great influence upon the minds and morals of the communities among which they may happen to reside—possessing, as they do, a large stake in the welfare of the country, and characterised by uni form sentiments of loyalty and obedience to the laws of their country, it would be prima facie inferred that un der such circumstances the Licensed Victuallers would have formed special objects of protection and encourage ment with any sane Government under which they lived ; hut what is the case? For the last twelve years they have been the objects of persecution, and the victims of legalized plunder—encroachment upon their trade has followed upon encroachment—enactment upon enact ment—imposition upon imposition—tax upon tax—and oppression upon oppression, until not only has the trade been ruined in all its best and most useful features, by which it was wont to be recognized, but the Licensed Victualler is not even now master, as every Englishman by law is, of his own house. If our readers think that we are guilty of exaggeration in making this statement, let them remember how many cases of infraction of the law have been attempted to be established against the trade, simply because the sounds of a piano or some other musical instrument were heard within their do miciles ; and, above all, let them look into the case mentioned in our paper of Monday, and decided at Union Hall police-office, in which, if the report he correct, no Licensed Victualler shall in future allow his private friends to enjoy his society and their own after the legal hour of the night, on pain of being fined, either for disorderly conduct or the non-observance of legitimate hours. In the last case, as well as in the former, the police were the instruments, and the inter ested instruments. Two of them swore that they heard " several persons singing' Hurrah for the Road,' " but without adducing any instance of riot,disorder, or absence of respectability on the part of the vocalists ; and three of the very persons who were thus innocently amusing themselves in a friend's house and at a friend's expense, in a jovial song, swore with equal clearness, and assu redly without any interest or prejudice, that " the per sons in the house were all relatives of the defendant." Under such circumstances, but more especially under the doubt expressed by the presiding Magistrate, of the actual intentions of the Legislature as to the ap plication of the Act to beer-sellers or to Licensed Vic tuallers, the clear course to be pursued was to have dismissed the case ; but no : the Magist rate gave more credit to the evidence of the police interested in a con viction than to the evidence of three disinterested per sons, and finally fined the defendant in the sum of 40s. for having dared to entertain a few friends in his house We entertain every respect for Mr. Traill, the Magistrate who presided in the above case, as an upright judge ; but if the instance referred to be properly re ported, there never was a grosser departure from the principles of law and justice. The law says nothing upon the subject, and justice and common sense declare that the Legislature never could have contemplated such an infringement of the rights of private individuals, as that of preventing them from enjoying the society of their friends and relatives at any time and at any hour that they might deem proper. To imagine such to have been its intention would be to suppose that it hod re solved to make Pariahs of publicans, and outcasts from society of all who desired to furnish it with comfort or convenience. (From the Globe.) We have been glad to see our weekly Contemporaries lately showing some tendency to assign a foremost place to questions of practical and fiscal economy. We no ticed last week the Spectator's useful abridgment of the Report on Import Duties ; and the Examiner has had one er two able articles on a branch of the same subject —the Reports of the Select Committees of both Houses on the Petition of the East India Company. We do not mind the slight infusion of bitters in either Con temporary. The best friends of the Government must be most desirous that subjects of this kind should be forced on them by the utmost possible " pressure front with out." The Penny Postage was in this manner pressed upon official adoption. No measure has added more justly to the popularity of the present Government. Yet no Government could well have been expected to effect such a change, without the previous sanction of a strongly announced public opinion. There is another reason why official strongholds must be stormed with big blue books, and the contents of those books, used as ma teriel for incessant assaults on them on these subjects— and this is, that the thoughts and attention of men in office are too much divided betwixt mere official routine and mere petty warfare. They have little time or energy left for any thing else. The sole remedy for what is otherwise rernedfless in this land of faction, is, that the public should inform itself on its own material and substantial interests ; and they will soon make parties and Ministers wage their offen sive and defensive warfare on that field. A popu lar Chamber of Legislature (whatever the elective franchise) can never lag far behind an informed and awakened public. If Parliament waste time in the mere contests of faction, the fault must partly be in the public, amongst whom factions can find auditors. The moment the demand for other topics is manifest, the supply will follow. Symptoms of this are already visible, and oddly enough—some of them in Me Lords. The Lords' Committee on the India Petition have made a Report, ascribed to Lord Ellenborough, which puts forth just and enlightened views on Colonial policy— " That no partialfavour should grant to one cclony any advantage over another, either in colonial ports or in those of United Kingdom ; still less that Parlia ment should partially secure for the produce and manu factures of the United Kingdom any advantage in any colonial port over the competing produce and manufac tures of its own dependencies." This is a new and notable start of hereditary wisdom ; though of course it will find no favour in the eyes of the Standard. (From the Standard.) The excellent speech of the Hon. Mr. Smythe, at Canterbury, has plainly told—the Morning Chronicle makes it the subject of an angry article this morning. Our Contemporary commences its criticism by an attack upon the city of Canterbury, which we suppose will be appreciated by the voters of that ancient city at the ensu ing election, and proceeds to fall foul of the Conservative party and the Conservative press, deviating rather widely from the truth in reference to the latter. The misreported speech of Mr. Bradshaw supplies the pretext for both in vectives. Now, with reference to that speech, Mr. Brad shaw has distinctly disavowed it, and this is generally considered enough among gentlemen when even the most delicate point of honour is concerned ; but Mr. Bradshaw has not merely disavowed the speech, and denied that he ever entertained the sentiments which it has been interpreted as ascribing to him—he has ex pressed regret that any language of his could bear such misinterpretation ; and it is to be remembered that this disavowal, this denial, and this expression of regret, were not in any way extorted, or even solicited from the Honourable Member for Canterbury, but came from him as his own spontaneous act. This would be something more than enough among gentle men ; however, the Morning Chronicle writes for those who are not gentlemen. Be it so ; our Contem porary at least writes in England, and therefore writes for just and honourable men, Now, will any just and honourable man so far trust to the hearsay of a reporter—who may have been mistaken, and who has acknowledged, we believe, that he was mistaken— against the testimony of a gentleman of unimpeached honour and veracity, who certainly must know better what he said than the reporter of his speech, and against the testimony of all the other hearers ? There might be more difficulty in following the general rule of evi dence, it the words imputed to the speaker were so clear and unequivocal, and so criminal in substance, as to leave no c h o i ce b e tween the convictio o n r o t n he th o e ti o ie o r e side , that thethat they reporter v r e r w e a a s p g o u k t h y a ofs l w e i P lf G u r l te in d i l areppesentation. u S s u c e r b , e l d i o t w o e A v r r . , is u r n a o d t o te l w c : a take of the p a e ke awa y y s seoemc improprietye erroneously f - s f style and manner, and there was nothing in it which any gnglisliman ought to be ashamed or afraid to say, under the like circurotpces. ( From the Courity.) What are the public to think of the disgusting by• pocrisy with which ignorance was feigned of the actual position of Frost and his companions, and of the mode in which th e y h a d b een d ea l t w i t h b y th e Governor ? It is clearly a shabby a tt em pt t o fi x the responsibility of this promotion and p rem i um f or cr i me u p on that office! in case of need, a n d accor di ng l y we s h a ll b e am used in Parliament, when the case is brought forward, with a long yarn about the doctor's certificate of good con duct on the voyage out, which led Sir John Franklin, in the innocence of his heart, to conceive the convicts worthy of a better fate, and to patronize them accord ingly, when all the while Sir John was acting only upon a foregone conclusion, and in pursuance of abso lute, however private, orders from his superiors at home. I It is unhappily the besetting si❑ of Lord John Rus sell's character, as of the acts of his Administration, that between the straightforward and the tortuous course he is too often seen to elect the latter, and to prefer rather to accomplish ends by the little arts of cunning and stratagem than by the fearless frankness of a statesman who has weighed causes and conse quences, and is prepared manfully to justify and accept the responsibility for what he has conscientiously re solved upon, whatever the risk of censure or the odium contingent. We are not disposed to enact the part so common and congenial with the office and habits of the Vs Attorney-General, that is, to argue in aggrava vation of the punishment of Frost and his unhappy as sociates ; but neither are we insensible of tile perilous affront to loyalty, justice, and public morals, when crime, and that of the deepest die in every shade known to the Constitution, is not alone permitted to es cape its condign penalty, in one part of the empire out raged, but in another part exalted with honorary if tint lucrative marks of distinction above classes of crime and criminals around of much more pardonable and lower degrees of enormity. For it cannot be forgotten that the crimes of which Frost and his co-mates stand attainted were, not high treason alone, but treason and murder. On their heads lie ail the blood shed at Newport, besides the sin of levying war against the Sovereign and compassing the overthrow of the institu tions of their country. MONEY MARKET and CITY NEWS. (TUESDAY EVENING.) CHRONICLE.—The President's Message was the chief subject of attention this morning, but the interest in it was not sustained. It is, in fact, looked upon as a dying eulogy, by Mr. Van Buren, on his owe official existence, founded on his having carried on the affairs of the Union, since the year 1337, in the midst of much commercial dis tress and suspension of specie payments, without having had recourse to a national debt or a national bank. The Sub-Treasury 13111, of course, forms the principal subject 1 of self-praise ; and, as he leaves the public Treasury with only jBOO 000 in its coffers against 4,000,000 of Treasury Bills in circulation, he very gravely assures Congress that " an overflowing Treasury, however it may be regarded as an evidence of public prosperity, is seldom conducive to the permanent welfare of the people." This is similar to the well-fed, purse proud parsons in this country telling us that no rich man can enter the king dom of Heaven ; which may be all very true, but few people, nevertheless, seem to prefer poverty when they have an opportunity of filling their pockets ; in the same way, we suspect, this doctrine of Mr. Van Buren will find few admirers amongst the citizens of the United States. An empty treasury always brings along with it vague no tions that means must be adopted to supply the deficiency, and certain disagreeable associations of new taxes force themselves upon the people's mind under such circum stances, which by no means add to the comfort of their fireside contemplations. Measures hays been adopted very promptly indeed by Mr. Clay to show that he has no beliet in the blessings of the sub-treasury scheme and empty coffers, for he has already given notice in the Senate of his intention to introduce a bill for its immediate repeal. Mr. Van Buren, however, meets all such hostile demon strations towards his official policy as the emanations of po litical excitement, which have misled the people for a time, but which will not long maintain their decep tive influence. After briefly retracing the chief measures of his Government, from which he maintains that much benefit has been conferred upon the people of America, he consoles himself with the expectation that they must, is the long run, receive the reward due to merit; that they " will receive the final sanction of a people whose un biassed and fairly elicited judgment upon public affairs is never ultimately wrong." Mr. Van Buren assumes, as the ground of his enmity to the establishment of a national bank, that it has been " repudiated by the framers of the constitution as incompatible with the rights of the States and the liberties of the people." There is a party in the United States who sue opposed to a national bank, upon the ground that the power to establish it was not conferred upon the Federal Government by the Constitution ; and it is acknowledged that every power not abso• lutely conveyed by that instrument to the gene ral Government was reserved by the States and the people. But the Harrison party, we believe, take a different view of the question, because, by the constitution, " the right to coin money, and to regulate the value thereof" is specially conveyed to the Federal Go vernment ; and they construe this to be a couveyance of the power necessary to use the proper instrument for re. gulating the money which they are authorised to coin. They sty, for instance, that if power be given to the Go vernment to maintain a navy, it necessarily confer, the right to.build ships ; and so the right to coin money neces sarily conveys the right to construct the machine, and use the means requisite to give it circulation and vitality. They recognise no difference between the right to coin money and to issue paper currency ; specie, and convertible paper issued as its representative, they look upon as one and the same thing, and that the greater power conferred necessarily includes the less. The Van Buren party apply a much narrower meaning to the words used, and deny that, in the strict and literal sense, they are sufficient to carry out the right of founding a national bank of issue. Mr. Van Buren states also that the framers of the Constitution held thelsame opinions. Some of them, perhaps, may have done so ; but others, and, we should say, the majority of them, did not ; for many of them, we hear, took part in the debates which preceded, and supported the former charter granted to the Bank of the United States, under which it existed for years as a national in stitution. Parliamentary precedent, we suppose, has not much weight in the United States, otherwise Mr. Van Bu ren would not have made a statement in his speech so dia metrically opposed to it. We cordially agree with Mr. Van Buren in his denunciation of a large public debt as being the cause of increased expenditure, and of leading to a system of oppressive taxation. His sentiments on that head will find general acceptation among the people of this country, who must appreciate the truth of them but too strongly and too well from the test of dire experience. We cannot, however, perceive how an empty treasury is to be the best safeguard against such evils, or that an overflowing one would be likely to accele rate their occurrence. If Mr. Van Buren be correct in taking merit for having devised a system of financial go vernment " not subject to be again overthrown by the suspension of banks, or the explosions of a bloated credit system," we should fully agree with him in believing that the overthrow of his administration was the result of tern. porary error on the part of the people, from which they would ultimately recover; but we should rather apprehend that his system, if persevered in, would produce an oppo site result ; that it would starve the public treasury, and leave the monetary system of the country without any efficient governing influence or regulating control, to be again visited with convulsions, the victim of new contractions and expansions, the tricks of empyrica, fresh panics, and wide-spread distress. The Americans have now a splendid field before them—a noble opportunity of regaining their national credit. We trust they will use it firmly and prudently, taking care to avoid the dangi rous mistake of again rushing into gigantic schemes of specu lation, over trading, and internal improvements. The ac counts received seem to place the resumption of specie payments this month beyond all doubt ; and that is a great step gained towards a return to a better system. No change is reported in business matters since the last ar rivul. Exchange on London was 81 to 9 prem. United States Bank Shares. 651 to 66. TIME S.—The financial portion of the American. President's message has naturally been referred to with a good deal of interest in the city. Notwithstanding his approaching retirement from office, not the e'.ightest wavering is to be detected in the principles by which his financial policy has been uniformly regulated, and but for that circumstance, our capitalists might have come at once to the conclusion that neither the creation of a national debt, nor the establishment of a national bank, can here after take place in the United States. That the policy of General Harrison, who will succeed to office in March next, is opposed to that of Mr. Van Buren, is well known, more particularly as regards the formation of a national batik ; but it seems to be an opinim pretty currently entertained here, that a few mouths longer may so tend to consolidetas the sub-treasury system, by which the Government is enabled to dispense with a bank altogether, and to reconcile the people to its opera tion, that the Harrison party, with all their predilection for a national bank, will find it difficult to carry it into operation. Mr. Van Buren's account of the siteation in which the Government was placed by the failure of the banks in 1837 is thought by many persons here to de simple, clear, and convincing, and to afford a justification for all the subsequent proceedings of the Treasury. It has fully exposed also the unfairness of some of those attacks upon the Government during the first attempts to act for itself, when some creation of debt was inevitable ; in the course of which attacks the essential fact was usually kept out of sight, that the deposit banks, at the time of the general stoppage, held Government money to the amount of about $23,000,000, which was locked up and became inaccessible by the failure. That the Government ahottld have made its way so well as it has done, under so entire a suspension of its resources, is the real matter of wonder, and very much to its credit. The statements in the jour nals that his return is a false one remains yet to be proved. There are many persons here whose interee is it would suit to see a national debt recommenced in the United States, and, above all, to find the reconstruction of a na tional bank sanctioned by Congress ; but much praise is given to him, nevertheless, for the consistency of bis principles, and his perseverance in them ; nor has the pas sage in the speech been overlooked, in which ho describes the degradation and insult to which every country is sub ject which consents to borrow money from foreigners. Mr. Van Buren, it is observed, touches very lightly on the debts of the separate States, which did not lie within his province, but his remarks on the fatal consequences and degradation of borrowing money abroad apply equally to them, Qf course the subject of the adoption of such state debts by the general Government is not even adverted to, and it appears, in feet, that no party was ever formed in Congress, possessed of the least influence, for the sup port of such a measure, Altogether it may be inferred that the great struggle for the ascendancy: of the banking interest, though notices have been given to bring it early forward, will be suspended until General Harrison comes into power. Mr. Van Buren anticipates at least the possibility of its success, but he predicts at the same time, in that case the return of all that overtrading and excitement by which the country has suffered for the last three years, and from the conse quences of which it is just beginning, in his opinion, to recover. _ _ The report of the Secretary of the Treasury, which has likewise been received, shows in greater detail the financial condition of the United States. The aggregate ordinary receipts for the year 1840 are sat down fit $17,197,763, and those from addition a l sourceg—i.iz. tl 73 receipts of principal and intereit out of what was due from former deposit banks, but not available till January, 1840, the receipts from the fourth bond of the " United States 1 1 1111 SUN, LONDON, TiirTRST)AY, JAVVARY 14, Mil. Batik," and train the issue of Treasury notes instead of 1 others redeemed, arc estimated at $8,790,000, witiei:t together with the available balance in th.t Trearw-y, viz , $2,246,749, trit.ke the total means in 1841) $25,234,512. However, $700,000 of this amount t$ doubtful, as that amount had not been ascertained to be paid from the hanks. The current expendi tures for 1840, exclusive of trusts and the root-otcce, have been $22 489 349, which, with the addition for the funded debt and interest for the cities of the district of Colombia, and the redemption of Treasury notes, is in. creased to $26,643,65 , 5, so that the available balance on the 31st of December, 1840, is computed at $1,590,835. Proceeding to the estimate of the receipts and expendi tures for the present year, he sett down the ordinary morns at $24,160,855 (including the balance above given) which, with the addition of a small sum due from the hssnks, and an issue of Treasury notes under an Act of the 31st of last March, is increased to $24,723,473. The estimated ordinary expenditures for 1841 are $19,250.000, which would leave a balance in the Treasury or $5,473 473, were not certain other payments to be deducted. These are on account of the l'uniled debt, and for the redemption of Treasury notes, amounting in all to $4,649 '2OO, ai,ich reduces the balance to $824.273. POST.—The English funds were lower to-day, Con sols closing 99i tog for money and for the 15th icstal:t, :!x. dividend, which is : I per cent. on the opening value. Exchequer Bills left off at 93. to I Is. prem. ; India Bo ,ds Si. to eis. dis. ; Batik Stock 16.1 i to ti} ; India Stook 245. to 9f. Ms decline in Consols was ascribed to ft somewhat considerable sale of stock made in the course of the morning by the brokers who usually act for the Bank of England, the operation being assumed to be on account of the corporation. _ _ The African Colonizer contains same remarks for the guidance of persons proposing to embark in Sir T. P. p ß ri u or. : :ton's o L n' oaf s i r d e t, n h t e e rp of insalubrity r o ise o id6e n t h ger T ld of fs.i N tahi i edsb . peofotreshe sel ected testimonyf c h e e ted pub as lic the in site of the intended colony. Mr. Laird states, in a narrative drawn up by him on this important sub. ject, that, upon the occasion of his visiting the Niger years since, every precaution that medical skill could suggest was used as a means of averting the mortality experienced by his party at that pe riod. On entering the river double awnings were spread fore and aft ; the sides of the vessel were raised by canvas to a height of eight feet from the main deck ; chloride of lime was daily sprinkled in the forecastle and cabin, as well as upon the decks. White men were never allows d to work except under the awnings, and on no account to sleep exposed to the dew. Every attention was also paid to their diet. The principal predisposing causes of sick ness were, in the opinion of Mr. Laird, the sudden change from the open sea to a narrow winding river, the want of the sea breeze, and the prevalence of the dreadful miasma to which the expedition was exposed from the surrounding swamps. Of the stench of this miasma be says nothing but the actual experience can convey the smallest idea. " In those accursed swamps one is oppressed not only bodily, but mentally, with an indescribable feeling of heaviness, languor, nausea, and disgust, which it requires a considerable effort to shake off." One great cause of sickness was, he thinks, the want of excitement. Much opposition had been looked for on the passage to Eboc. The minds of the crew had been prepared to dare every thing, and overcome every obstacle to their progress, but, with the exception of one trifling skirmish, none was met with. Instead of excitement produced by a sense of den. ger, which would have rendered the men in a measure forgetful of the unhealthiness of the climate, they had be fore them every day, during a tedious, uninteresting, and protracted voyage, only a fist and marshy country. Mr. Laird is desirous of putting his countrymen about to take part in the Niger expedition of Sir Fowell Buxton, in possession of certain practical information before their departure, which may tend, if acted upon, to hold the dreaded malady in check. " I would," he observes, " keep up the excitement of the crew in every possible way, giving them, when in the swampy country, triple the allowance of spirits, teeding them as much as possible on fresh pro visions, emplyine them constantly, and above all thinge having music on board. He considers a European going out to these countries placed in an unnatural position, and that in such climates the only chance of saving him is in stimulating him to the utmost, and preventing him, by ar tificial aids, from sinking into a hopeless state of dejection. The African Colonizer affirms that " there is a fatality in everything touched of late years by Sir Fowell Buxton," and expresses a conviction that the attempt to found a settlement on an island of the Niger, which is announced to be the first object of his expedition, will prove no ex ception to the general abortiveness of his schemes. It is anticipated, moreover, that the cause of African civiliza tion will be retarded by the planting of a colony in Beau_ fort Island, and the promoters of the undertaking are re commended, before exposing the lives of their fellow-crea tures to the vapours of so pestiferous a region, to have every cove and branch of the river explored. The saints are unquestionably taking a heavy responsib'. lity upon themselves in disregarding, as they would seem to do, the fearful warnings of experience in the present in stance. The philanthropy of sending off several cargoes of unsuspecting and thoughtless beings to a distant part of the world, where, in the midst of eternal fogs, they are to be kept alive only by drunkenness and music, is a philan thropy that we cannot understand. HERALD.—By the simultaneous arrival of three packet ships dates have been received from New York to the 20th ultimo. There appeared to bo no question of the resumption of specie payments by the Philadelphia Banks at the time fixed in the present month, an event which it was anticipated would exercise a very beneficial influence on the mercantile affairs of the Union for the present year. The most strenuous exertions were neces sary it appears, however, to accomplish the object, ald it 3ertainly does not redound much to the reputation of the yanks, but more especially of the United States Bank, that in order effect the end proposed it has been necessary, as it were, to go a begging :n other parts of the Union for the loan of funds with which to recommence business The following is the list of co ntributors , sad th e amount o f contributions levied in New ork in aid of the resumption of capital stock : Dollars. Bank of Commerce in New York 150,000 Mechanics' Bank ..... 150,000 Bank of the State of New York Manhattan Company 50,000 Union Bank Fulton Bank Leather Manufacturers' Bank 555 000 Brown, Brothers, and Co. ....................... 63,00) Prime, Ward, and King 62,000 George Griswold Nevins, Townsend, and Co. Jahn Ward and Co. 800,000 It will be remembered that other considerable loans were advanced by the Boston and some of the Philadelphia banks in aid of the United States Bank. After the delivery of the President's Message to Con gress the report of ►he Secretary of the Treasury was laid upon the table. It results briefly from this document that the total available entries of revenue and other moneys arising from the issue of Treasury notes amounted, for the year now ended, Dollars. to ................................................. 28,234,512 The expenditure ,643,W6 Leaving balance in the Treasury only of 1,590,856 The total receipts for 1841 were estimated at 24,723,473 The ordinary expenditure........ 19,250,000 Other payments Redemption of Treasury notes... 4.500,000 23,899,200 Leaving balance at the end of the year or 824,273 The account is not very encouraging, more especially considering the large surplus of revenue over expenditure in years antecedent to 1837, bist.withal it exhibits an ex tremely prosperous condition of fiscal affairs by comparison with the late official exhibit in the Royal Gazette here of Whig revenue and expenditure, where it appears that after formally announcing an excess of expenditure over income, to the extent of creating a large actual deficit at the Exchequer, that is an Exchequer in debt to all the extent, the Commissioners for managing the national debt acquaint the publie becoming' gravity that it is not their intention at present to make any more purchases for account of the Sinking Fund. For the first time for niany years, and as Mr. Woodbury the Secretary of the Treasury says, " such a circumstance as the exports at all exceeding the imports is believed to have happened previously only six times since the Constitution was adopted, and then never to an extent beyond 7,916,831 dollars"—the exports of the United States were in advance of the imports for the year. Dollars. The exports were ... ••• ••• !31,571,950 • 104,805,891 Imports Excess of exports on balance ••• ..• 26.766,059 Since the year 1831 the imports were invariably in ad vance of exports, and for the year 1839 stood as follow : Dollars. Imports 157,609,560 Exports 118,359,004 Resolutions had • already been moved by Mr. Clay in the Senate and b y a mem b er o f the other House for repealing or otherwise stultifying the Sub-Treasury Bill, and sanguine expectations were indulged in among the party by whom the election of General Harrison had been carried that a National Bank would era long b e proposed if not carrie d. It seems however hardly prob a bl e t h at so complete a revolution in the Governmental system could be effected , w h ate ver the inclinations of the ru li ng party , seeing that although a complete change in the Executive from the President . d o wnwards of partie s , t h at i s o f the majority and minority , in the Senate and the House of Representatives, cannot be materially affected for some time to come, if perhaps at all. By a vessel from Pernambuco, date not mentionell, ad vices are said to have been received f, om the River Plate to the effect that ni.gotiations had been opened between the French Admiral Mackau and the Government of Buenos Ayres, which it was thought would end in the re establishment of friendly relations and raising the blockade. HOLIDAY S AT_ PUBLIC SCHOOLS.-----Mr. Editor,—Being an old Etonian, 1 sent my son there, who during the l ast twe l ve months has h a d nearly five months' holidays, whi c h 1, i n common w i t h ma ny others, consider a great evil. B e i ng one of a l arge fa m ily, and having his own way to make in the world, his prosperity in life must of course g reat l y d epend on h i s sc h o l as tic acquirements. I am mysicli too mu c h occu pied in my profes sion to attend to him prope r ly. I am, therefore, reduced to the alterna. tive of allowin g hi m to waste his time in idl eness, or incur the great addi t i ona l expense o f a pr i v ate tu:or for hi , n dinlvu his Widays. The v e ry many parents in the 5m.1.0 situation will, therefore, agree with me in saying that addl.. tionalholidays is not the most eligible mode the masters can adopt of showing their loyalty to our Most Gracious Queen. I LAW INTELLIGENCE. COURT OF CHANCERY, JAN. 13. THE ATTORNEY-CENhRAL V. THE FISHMONGERS' COMPANY. The LORD CHANCELLOR gave judgment to-day in this case, which came befure his Lordship some time since, upon two appeals from the decision of the Master of the Rolls. The first information was filed for the purpose of fixing upon all the: property held by the Fishmongers' Company, under the will of Sir Thomas Kneebs t.iorth, the character of charity. Sir Thomas Kneebs.worth gave the property in question to the Company in the first in sauce for the purpose of applying it to charitable pur poses, and in the next to lend certain sums to the mem bers of the Company that might require them, provided ta:ev said certain ayes and pater-nosters for the rest of the testator's soul. The Master of the Rolls decided that in the first instance the property was charity pro pel ty, but in the second that, under the Ist of Edi.eard VI. it was void, and went to the King, as being left for superstitious uses. His lordship, after going at considerable length into the facts of the case, which we gave at the time of the arguments, stated his opinion clearly to bo that the decision of the Court below was correct, and ordered the appeal to be dismissed with coats. The other information was filed for the purpose of hay. iii it declared that certain property in Leadenhall-street Lombard street, which had been held absolutely by the Fishmongers' Company for 400 years, was charity property. The Master of the Rolls on the case coming before him dismissed the information, and the LORD CHANCELLOR to-day, concurring entirely with that deci sion, dismissed the appeal with costs, observing that it was greatly to he regretted that the informations had been filed with so little research having been made, as the rosult of that research would have rendered them totally unne. cesaary. ROLLS' COURT, JAN. 13. The COURT heard motions. WHITTAKER V. HOWE. This was a motion to restrain the defendant from prac ticing or carrying on business as a solicitor in any part of Great Britain. The motion was founded upon an agree ment which had been entered into by the defendant with the plaintiff, but we forbear publishing the circumstances of the case until judgment shall have been delivered by the Court. At the conclusion of the argument, The MASTER Of the ROLLS said he would reserve his judgment until Saturday. VICE CHANCELLOR'S COURT, JAN. 13. His Honour the VICE-CHANCELLOR proceeded with the hearing of the remaining cause petitions. COURT OF Q UEEN'S BENCH, JAN. 13, (Sittings in Banco.) Tun BRISTOL AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY COMPANY V. LOCK. Lord DENMAN gave judgment in this case, which was an action for tho recovery of certain calls on shares, in shish a verdict was had for the plaintiffs. A rule for a sew trial was subsequently obtained, and objection was made to t he t ight to recover by the plaintiffs from the mode of keeping the registry book. That objection had been considered and disposed of in a judgment which had just been pronounced in the Exchequer Chamber, in the case of " The Londo❑ Grand Junction Railway v. Free man," where it had been held that each of the holders of the scrip certificates had been properly entered as pro prietors and original subscribers before the passing of the Act, although they had not signed the Parliamentary con.. tract. It was also contended that the plaintiffs were de barred from suing the defendant as proprietor, in conse quence of their having declared his shares forfeited ; but the notice of forfeiture does not excuse payment of calls, and is not valid until it has received the sanction of a general meeting of proprietors. The rule for a new trial, there fore, must be discharged. LONDON GRAND JUNCTION RAILWAY C3MPANY V. GRAHAM. The COURT also gave judgment in this case, which turned upon the same objetioris, none of which, fur the reasons just mentioned, would be sufficient to bar the right of recovering. The rulc for a new trial was then:discharged. HAWKINS U. PAXTON. The COURT gave judgment in this case, in which a rule had been obtained to enter a verdict for the plaintiff fur the sum of 931. It was an action upon a bill of exchange, and the defendant pleaded satisfaction, and gave in evi.. di:oce a letter and conversation of the plaintiff, but the Cl , :urt was of opinion that they did not prole the plea. The plaintiff's demand was for money paid to the defend ant subsequently to the date of the letter which specified payment in full of all demands ; but these must ha taken to be demands existing at the time. The rule for entering a verdict for the plaintiff must therefore be made absolute. BAIL COUR7, JAN. 13. (Before Mr. Justice WILLIAMS.) THY SHIP DRYAD IN RE WALLACE AND ANOTHER. lo this case, in which Mr. Jervis yesterday obtained a ruic for a habeas corpus, to bring up the bodies of Patrick Shaw Stewart Wy.llace, and Michael Shaw Stewart Wallace, in order to have the cause of their commitment inquired into, Mr. CLARKSON this morning, on the part of the prose cutor s, said that the case was one of the utmost importance, ar , d that as yet his clients had not been able to obtain office-copies of the affidavits, and therefore that he should wit be able to proceed to-morrow. He, therefore, wished for further time. Mr. Justice WlLLiams said the Learned Counsel had better speak to Mr. Jervis on the subject; his application seemed a reasonable one, and if the Court heard nothing further on the subject the case had better stand for Friday, COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, JAN. 13. Do' LE V. WILCOX. This was an action for assault and false imprisonment, brought by a captain upon half-pay against one of the mes sengers of the Army Pay-oflice, who seized the plaintiff, and gave him into the custody of a policeman, upon a charge of violently assaulting his own wife in the hall of the l'a)-office. The case was tried here in the sittings after last term, and the jury found for the plaintiff, in da mages one farthing on the first plea, of " Not guilty," and for the defendant on the second plea, of justification. Mr. Sergeant CHANNEL!, now obtained a rule to show cause why judgment should not be entered foi the plaintiff, notwithstanding the verdict of justification, which, be con tended, was against evidence. COURT OF EXCHEQUER,Jix. 13. At the sitting of the Court this morning the following new rule of Court was promulgated, being rendered ne cessary, Baron PARKE said, from the extreme difficulty that was found in cases where judgment was moved against the casual ejector :—" Hilary Term, 4th Victoria—lt is ordered that a party entitled to appear to a declaration in ejectment, may appear and plead thereto at any time alter service of such declaration, and before the end of the fourth day after the term it, which the tenant is re quired by the notice to appear, and may proceed to compel toe plaintiff to reply thereto, or may sign judgment of i,on.process, notwithstanding such plaintiff may nut have obtained a rule for a judgment on such service of declara tion, and that a plaintiff who may have omitted to obtain a rule for judgment within the time prescribed by the pre sent rules and practice, shall be entitled on production of such plea, to an order of a Judge for leave to draw up a rule for judgment, as of the time at which such rule for judgment would have been obtained." Signed by all the Judges, HOLFORD V. DUNNETT. Mr. DuNnas showed cause against a rule for entering a verdict for the defendant upon the second issue in this case. Tne action was brought by the plaintiff for a breach of contract, the defendant having been tenant to the plaintiff, and having covenanted to keep and leave the psernises in tenant-like repair. At the trial it was proved, that on the defendant giving up possession of the premises, which were situated near Manchester, the walls were damaged, many fruit-trees cut down, the soil removed, and its place tilled with rubbish, &e. The Jury found for the plaintiff, with 10/. damages. The Learned Gentleman contended 'hat the verdict ought to stand, for it was clear that the plaintiff was entitled to all the damages given him by the Jury, although, perhaps, he might have made an error in pleading. Mr. COWLING followed upon the same side. Without calling upon Mr. Cresiwcll to sustain the rule, the Court said it was clear that the plaintiff could not re cover upon both points. Ile must therefore elect—either reduce the damages, or have a new trial. Mr. DUNftAS elected to have a new trial. Rule absolute. THE SHEFFIELD, ASHTON UNDER-LYNE, AND MANCHESTER RAILWAY COMPANY V. WOODCOCK. This was an action for calls which was tried before Mr. Baron Rolfe at the last Liverpool assizes, when a verdict was found for the plaintiff. A rule was obtained, on the part of the defendant, I.r setting the verdict aside, on the ground that no evidence was given of any resolutions of the Directors fixing the time and place where the calls were to be paid. and that they were made in filluro ; that no evidence was offered that the person signing the notices of the calls was chairman of the Court. Mr. WIOUTHAN now shoed cause against the rule, and contended that, according to the Act constituting the Court, the Directors were not bound to prove any resolu tion for a call ; they had given the proper notice in the newspapers, and in that they had fixed both time and place where the calls were to be paid, and that he contended was enough. As to the other objection, there was a resolution entered into on the 13th March, that a call should be made on the 30th March, to be payable in the following May; he contended that the call was good enough, it having been really made on the 13th, all the words respecting the 30th was mere surplusage. The witice of the call was in effect the call, and that did not appear till April. By the Act that public notice was all that the Directors were obliged to do, and the public and the shareholders were not entitled to know anything of the resolutions of the Directors. Mr. CRESSWELL, for the defendant, contended that the call was perfected by the resolution of the Direc tors, and if so, then they were invalid, because the resolutions making these two calls made no mention of either time or place fur the payment of the money. The second objection applied to only one call, but he appre hended it was fatal so far as that call was concerned. It was resolved on the 13th March that a call should be made on the Mill. Now if the Directors could make any call in flaw°, what was to prevent those who went out by rotation making a call which would bind their successors ? lie obtained his rule upon another ground, to which his Learned Friend had not adverted. He con. tended that the Directors had not been legally elected. Mr. WroirrmaN hoped the Court would hear him upon that new point, for he had clearly understood that it had . oeen overruled when the motion was made. According to the 146th section, the Directors named in the Act of Par liament were to remain in office till others were duly elected, and the calls in question were signed by a full quorum of the Directors so named in the Act. Their powers were legal. Mr. CREESWELL argued that the Act required the Corn pan:: should duly elect Directors at the first general meet ii gof registered proprietors. At the time these gentle- Area were elected there was no sealed registry, and it had bf‘n held that the reOtry was no registry until it was Mr. Dundas, Mr. Crumpton, and Mr. Cowling followed on the samu side. The CovzT WA time to consider their judgment. INSOLVENT DEBTORS' COURT, JAN. 12. IN THE MATTER OF RALPH BF,NSON, /SQ. Ti..e petitioner in this case, who bad been Member of Parliament for Stafford for a number of years, appeared nn his petition, from the Queen's Bench prison, praying to be discharged under the Act. He was opposed by Mr. Nichols on the part of Mr. A'Beckett, solicitor, in Golden square ; Mr. Cooke and Mr. Woodroffe supported the ap plication on the part of Mr. Benson. The insolvency was ascribed by Mr. Beasor on his pro. ceedings to the expenses be had incurred in three con. tested elections, two for Stafford and one for Bridgnorth, to losses on underwriting, law expenses, and other ex penses, which he set forth. The debts in the aggregate were 76.0321. 12a. Bd., of which sum 22,191/. 15s. Id. ware without consideration, leaving the bona fide claims from the year 1920, amounting to 53,840/. 17s. 7d. There were no debts owing to Mr. Benson, but he detailed in the schedule his various estates, and the incum brances he had created on them. Among the items stated was one in the year 1820 of 11,0001., as paid for debts contracted on two contested elections, one for Stafford and the other for Bridgnorth. There was another item in 1125 of 5,5001., as having been paid;for the ex penses of a contested election for Stafford. The descrip tion was of \Venlock, in Shropshire, and residences in London during the time he was in Parliament, front 1820 to 1830. His Parliamentary expenses were stated at 550/. a year. He had been in the Queen's Bench Prison since October last. Several creditors had entered oppo sitions, but only one creditor opposed. Mr. Benson stated his belief that the incumbrances on his landed estates exceeded the value of his interest in them, which was for life only. He had resided in France nearly ten years, and returned to this country in July last. He had only one detaining creditor, Mary Ryland, who had been one of his servants, and whom he owed wages between 501. and 60/. He was arrested at her suit in the Strand as he was going into the City. The detaining creditor, Mary Ryland, got judgment by a Judge's order for 501., and he was taken to prison. He had to a num ber et his debts set up in his schedule the statute of limi tation as a bar. The arrest was not a "friendly" pro ceeding, UltiMately the Court declared that ho was entitled to the benefit of the Act. He was discharged accordingly, POLICE INTELLIGENCE. GUILDHALL. John Craft, and Louisa, his daughter, were charged before Mr. Alderman White, the latter with robbing her employer, Mahommet Palouker, and the former with fraudulently misrepresenting her character and re ceiving a portion of the stolen property. The prosecutor (who was dressed in the Eastern cos tume and spoke English very fluently) said that he re sided in Sun -street, Bishopsgate-street. About twelve. months ago the female prisoner applied to him for a situation, stating that as she was just come from the country she could only refer to her father as to charac ter. Upon application to the male prisoner, Ile spoke of her in such high terms that she was engaged, but before she had been three days in the place various surses of money were missed, and the woman having ac knowledged that she took them she was discharged. Immediately alter her departure he found that she had taken two satin veils and a diamond pin, and he never saw her afterwards until he met her in Holborn, when he gave her into custody. Police Constable 276 said that when the female was searched at the station-house she acknowledged having given the pin to her father. Both the prisoners, who Strongly protested their inno cence, were ordered to be brought up again to-morrow. GLASGOW JU,t;TICIARY COURT. TRIAL or TDB " LADY TIIIEF."—On Saturday Jane Petresie, or Harris, was charged with the crime of theft, in so tar as on the night of the 15th or morning of the 16th of October last, within the Commercial Hotel, Glassfurd street, Glasgow, occupied by Mrs. Stewart, she had stolen from the pockets of Thomas Bayne, Esq., commercial traveller from Manchester, seven one pound nott s and five sovereigns; also, from M. Gobert Jacob Mces, of Rotter dam, a Bank of England note of five pounds, and thrce sovereigns, from same hotel; also, oa the 16th of October, fron► the Royal Hotel, George -square (Carrick's), front the pockets of Crean, the police-officer, two bank notes, as also a card-case ; also, from the pockets of Robert Paul, Esq., of the Commercial Bank, Edinburgh, same place, Manager of the Commercial Bank of Scotland, seven pounds—all the above sums having been taken while the owners were asleep in bed. The prisoner, in an audible voice, pleaded not guilty. This trial excited a deep interest in the public mind. The singular circumstances attending the thefts with which the prisoner stood charged—the boldness and dexterity which had characterised their commission—the known superiority of the prisoner in point of education—and, above al!, the msatery which hung over her history, all combined to create a strong felling of curiosity, and to beget an anxious desire to see the prisoner and hear the proceedings on her trial. The Court was accordingly very much crowded, and among the spectators there was a greater proportion of ladies than is usual. On Mrs. Harris making her appearance, the utmost eagerness was manifesied to get a sight of her countenance. She was veiled when she first entered the Court ; but, on her name being called to hear the indictment read over, she lifted the veil from her face. We were exceerimgly struck with the alteration which had taken place upon her from the period of her imprisonment. Before her committmeirt to jail, we had an opportunity of seeing the prisoner, and could not fail to mark, what every person who saw her bad observed, that she had a pair of most attractive, we had almost said bewitching black eyes. On Saturday, how ever, her eyes had undergone a most complete transforma tion. At a distance the white portion of the eye-ball ap peared to be unnaturally prominent; while a nearer in spection showed that she had a decided squint. This sin gular change gave her countenance, as may be supposed, an appearance very different from that which formerly characterised it, and certainly not in the way of improve ment. The impression upon some people in Court was, that the squint was feigned ; but, upon inquiry, we find that it has been observable for above a month ; and that the Surgeon of the gaol has given it as his opinion that in all likelihood, the strange alteration has been caused by some disorder brought on by excessive anxiety of mind. Unless when spoken to ber by her counsel, Mr Maxwell, or by her agent, Mr. A. Young, the prisoner, throughout the whole of the trial, kept her eyes shut, and, though pale, manifested the most perfect composure. She was dressed in a straw hat and veil, and ►lack silk gown and shawl, and altogether her dress might be called becoming, if not elegant. After all the evidence had been adduced, Mr. Maxwell, the prisoner's counsel, addressed the Jury. and Lord Cockburn having summed up, stated his perfect belief of the guilt of the prisoner. The Jury, without retiring from the box, gave in a ver dict, unanimously finding the prisoner guilty of all the charges, with the exception of that relating to the theft from Mr. Mces, which had been departed from by the public prosecutor. The prisoner was then sentenced to eighteen months' imprisonment in the prison of Glasgow. Lord Medwyn, in proposing, and Lord Cockburn, in passing sentence, buth expressed a doubt that they had dealt a too lenient sentence The prisoner was evidently a woman above the rank and condition of the ordinary race of criminals, and, from her superior education, must have well known the aggravated nature of the crimes she had committed. They were not sure but seven years' transportation ought to have been awarded ; but the Court being always inclined to mercy, lied, after consideration, resolved on doing so on the present occasion. The prisoner then left the bar. -- - THE WEATHER. The thaw continued on Tuesday in the metropolis, and the lowest point of temperature at the Zoological Gar dens was 29 degrees at 10 o'clock on Monday night. On Tuesday morning at Hackney, at 8 o'clock, the ther mometer was 33 deg., and at noon 36 deg. Fahrenheit. There was a very slight fail of snow in the night, which merely covered the surface of the ground. The wind blew briskly from the west, and a few points inclining to the north. Walking in the City was very unpleasant on account of the melting snow, which had been but i❑ few places removed. Navigation on the river was much impeded by the masses of floating ice, and the adjacent creeks and rivulets were generally locked up. Employ ment at the docks is quite at a stand still, and many hands have been thrown out of employment. At the Royal Exchange upwards of 100 hands were dismissed On Tuesday, the weather being unfavourable to the ob taining of Thames balLst, as well as in laying the foun dation for the new building. No delay occurred by the mails, coaches, or railroads. KENSINGTON-GARDENS.--Both on Monday and Tues day, notwithstanding the partial thaw, a considerable portion of the ice on the round pond was uncovered with water, and afforded a fair opportunity for skaters, numbers of whom were in attendance. On the long water the number of skaters was on both days very few, owing to the quantity of sodden snow by which the ice was covered. THE SERPENTINE.—During the early party of Mon day there was a considerable accumulation of water on portions of the ice, while the remainder was covered by the additional fall of snow on Sunday night, which was in a sodden state. The attendance on the ice, with the exception of a few boys sliding, was, therefore, not considerable. In the course of the afternoon, however, the Duke of Brunswick and a few other gentlemen ven tured on, but for some time, owing to the absence of the men who, previous to the partial thaw, were in attend ance to sweep the snow away, their efforts to skate were almost useless. Tuesday still fewer persons ven tured on the ice, which appeared in an exceedingly bad state. ST. JAMES'• PARK.—The ice very dangerous and sloppy. The icemen exerted themselves greatly in preventing persons from going thereon. REGENT'S-PARK.—The ice more firm than in the other parks, and the skaters more numerous. The ice is, however, in parts much covered by water and sod den snow. In neither of the parks, since the thaw has com menced, owing to the strenuous exertions of the ice men of the Royal Humane Society, has a single acci dent occurred ; and, to their credit be it said, that since the commencement of the frost only one life has been lost. On the river, above the bridges, there is a great ac cumulation of ice, which, should a renewed frost set in, would in a few hours be sot. ON. THE ill A RKETS-YESTERDAY CORN EXCHANGE. There has been little Corn fresh up since Monday, e l ' cept Irish Oats, of which liberal quantities continue to ar rive. Wip at dull at the prices last quoted. Barley 111 e 1 a heavy sale, and the factors were willing to take r ather less terms for such as is not superfine. Beans and P.O . stationary. Oats hardly maintained their late vase' There has been a stock trade for Flour this week. NEWGATE AND LEADENHALL. All descriptions of Meat was in fair supply, trade 10 ' active, and prices as last quoted. Beef 3a to 41 . 2‘ 1 ,_ Mutton 3s 2d to 4s 2d ; Veal 4s to 5s 4d ; an d Pori' 33 8d to 4s Ind per stone of 81bs. There was but a in!: derate supply of Game and Poultry, but trade was gool' and prices as follows :—Hares 2s 6d to 3s each ; Rabbits 95 to 18s per dozen ; Geese 5s to 7s each ; Grouse 25 d d to 3s ; Partridges is 6d each ; Ducks 2s 6d to 33 6d ; Wild Ducks Is 6d to 2s ; Widgeons 6d to is ; Chickeps Is 6d to 2s each ; Surrey Capons 5s to lOs ; Fowls 5 9 ;° Si per couple ; Pheasants 7 s to .9s per brace ; 1 31 °' ,, Game 3t 6d to 5; each : Snipes I2s per dozen ; Plovers 3s to 6d each ; Teal 6s per dozen ; Larks is per d o zen Live stock for shipping—For old Hens Is 6d to Is 9d cad ], Ducks 24s to 30s per dozen ; Turkeys 2s to 4s 61 eaeb Eggs dull of sale at 6s to Si per 120 tor English, and 53 9 ' to 8a per 120 for French. COLONIAL MARKET. There was little business done by private treaty, an d the public sales were unimportant; prices were, however, firm for most of the leading articles. Thu imports We° small. TEA MARKET. The market was in a very dull state, and prices had still a downward tendency for all descriptions; is 6d was th ° quotation for Company's Congou cash. TALLOW MARKET. There was a fair business transacted in Prime Yell ol CAndle, and prices were firm at 47s on th e sp o t., 8" 47s 3d for delivery in the next two and three months. FRUIT MARKET. The supply being large of both Currants and Raisio 6 prices are on the decline, still a fair business has bee! transacted. Fine Valencia Raisins were worth 393 por cloa COAL MARKET. Ships arrived since last market-day, 3. s. d. r Adair's Leaze's Main l7 6 Tantield Moor, t (- West Hartley ........... 21.1 6 Wylant Walls End Clennell Walls End Killingwertli 3 0 Walls End Riddell's t23 0 Walls End Walker 2 .2 1., W. E. Braddyll'sHatto t '24 It Walls End Hamel!. ...... Walls End Hedley 23 0, ~ 4 Walls End Lambton Walla End Fet.on O4 Walls End Pemberton .......6 f , g Walls End Russell's Hetton 1 1 . walls End Stewart's Walls EtAl Hart Walls End Cossitath %Nails End Seymour Toes `6 g Walls End West Jetton 0 Ga nan. Stone 14 Mithley IRISH M. DUBLIN MARKET NOTE tRKETS. ror the WEEK ending JAN j From To Accra': 918 Wheat,per barrel :a itotle 25 0 3 , 0 31 ~ 6:1 Here .. ........ 16 , .t01e lO 0 12 0 11 7-13 Barley 6 .7 0 13 9. • 94.5 Oats '4 gene...." 11 0 13 0 11 0 • Flour, per cwt. .- 0 0 „ 512 atone . 12 U I.i 6 12 ' Sold to Bakers only. 1.!1,05 Cwt. Flour lO 11 25 0 22° Average Klee of IN heat and Flour 51 Bd. per sack Receipts of Flour, from 15s. od. to "ls Si+l.4 of Do. 1'2,05 • fri from 10s. 0(1. to 121 0 ." 11,35'3 .. . from Od to 25; rmteic uF' attrAn. Quarterr. Loa , . ita:l Quintero ....436d. COlt IN AI ARKETS.—Jan. 9 -, ed Wheat (per '.105t.)25s o.i. m 31,, 6,1.1t,:its per 14st. . 10 6d. toll. Barley (per Itlst.)l3 6 14 6 IFlor-: (per cwt ~ 11 11 '2 4 Oatmeal per cwt.)... ...... ....%s. Ott to 16s Od Meet, 4d. to 70.-I)lutten, 51. to 00 —Veal, 40 to 1 , 0 Pork, 4id. to sd.—Freo6 Boat!, ltd. to Ild per lb. P uck: OF Eurrint. To the Merchants. To the Couta/ First Quality... .......... ......../1)6, ..... ..... .....,~ Second .105 .... ..... . ............ 95 Third Fourth Fifth SS 5 Sixth CLONAIELL MARKETS...Jai. 5) l'er l wt. - -- s. 11. s. d. s d. New Butter st3 otooo U I H.dee , u • d 1 Oatniea l2 0 12 3 Bacon c Rendered Lard 0 52 Per Eat. . ?lour, 5ec0n,....., _ i t tour, 1 . !..rdc...... 0 0 —Household —. t , 42 01--- I' uustrs..... 22 0 ". Per Barrel. 0 3apeseod. D; 0 —0 I Barley ....... 13 , 14 0 D ere 8 4 10 01 CA.ds ........... ..... 0 KILKENNY NIANKEIS. 011. „ Wheat s pyrbarrel)3os. od. s. Mto 371. !beef ; per 1l• 0c Os!. t r ‘ "S ... _—„ 0 Bar!ey '..4.) 0 22 I) Mu , tcr) .......... 0 5 7 4.,:1ts .. 0 14 0 Poth ....... ........ 0 4 I ", f, Flour (per bag) be 0 40 0 Ve5 , ........,..... 0 6 , 1 , , Butter(perewt.) 90 0 44 , 0 i•re.sti limier .... 0 U :, 10 Bacon l'igs 35 0 3)) 0 v.alt Ditto O. Coals 1 0 1 2 P o t a to e s ;per at.) 4., ti " 0111 LD MURDER AND MUTILATIONe" ...I) ; Tuesday an inquest was held befo r e M r . W. C arte r, at King's Arms, Roupell-street, Lamb e th, on t h e bo dy 0 ; child (the sex of which could not be as c e rta i ne d, in °l n, quence of the horrible way in which it had been m utilat i c o . found on Waterloo-bridge, on the afternoon of FridaY. h is The particulars relating to which, and th e way in wh ic d o, was mutilated , appeared in The Sun of the following a Evidence h eying been given as to the the body by a captain in the Prussian servlf., that he ° Pi he said, on his examination yesterday, led to look over the balustrade in consequence Y, findinff, c o, seeing a short stout woman, enveloped in II clu id came out from one of the recesses in h, llr , r ial marmot-, aid go off the bridge towards the tol-e ico on the Surrey side. He had not told this to the P 4 ° , 1 0 01 but had kept it to himself until he should give Isis eviThei before this Court. Mr. Havers, surgeon, who exa M Jl the child, said, on comparing the various parts of the b e t fil which was divid e d i n t o e i g h t , h e s h ou ld t hi n k the , c ,, r lof had beer. born about thr ee d a y s , b u t ow i ng t o an in' ta ts portion of the body b e ing mi ss i ng h e was u n a ble t° positively whe they it was born alive or not. The nib' had evidentl y been stretched to fullest extent befofe cion s head was detached from the body, whi c h had been o b, with a large knife, and before or i m m e diat e ly after d e 1 0 . The body had not been used for anatomical purposes. t bs Spector Fiel d said he received an anonymous letter on o 0 previous evening, but he thought its purport should w ne: 00 l , the present occasion be made public. Verdict, " murder against some person or persons unknown." OP DREADFUL DE ATHS BY BURNING•I ai , Teo sday morning an i nques t was h e ld b e f ore M r . Wak' - ' O O M. P., at the Angel Tavern. High-street, St. Giles view of the body of Mary Burke, a fine little girl, 94 0 f five years, who was burned to death under the folloslej circumstances :—Mary Burke, mother of deceased, s i n i/ 0 0f Gat her husband was a labourer. They were in 'ger/ , E ,efr circumstances, and resided at No. 4, George-g t ;; l r Seven-dials. On Wednesday morning last, in c° , quence of the frost, wit ness h a d occas i on to g o enhrt fetch some water, when she left the deceased, with AO st daughter, two years old, in the room, telling tben i n ia the same time not to go near the fire. On her rettlf. ; „0 it a few minutes she found deceased enve l o p e d in '''' os and likewise the bedstead and counte r p a ne burn' The bedstead stood near the door, towards whichA had no doubt, deceased ran on her clothes elt 1 ";04 fire. The flames were then extinguished, and dece ll osi being* wrapped in a blanket, was conveyed to it o St Giles's workhouse infirmary, where it lingered greatest agony till Thursday morning, when she Ot t o , On subsequently questioning the youngest child, 00 given to understand from her that deceased was stars. et in front cf the fire reaching something eff the mantell: t be iv hen her clothes being drawn by the draft toweru; o oft grate ignited. Verdict, " Accidental death."—A 9 „ j e- d tts inquest was held before the same Coroner, at the P - t he London Hospital, Gower. street, Bedford-square, (3 0 1 b body of a fi ne li tt l e b oy , age d t h ree years , w h os e u - o r occurred precisely under similar circumstances. A ?,,fr. diet of " Accidental death" having been reco rded', t he Wakley s a id t h at i t was rea ll y aston i s hi ng to t hi n k 0' red number of inquests he held on children who were bi l ii r e to death, arid which more frequently occurred in the 'd lies of p oor p eop l e . H e s h ou ld strong l y a d v i se t h e ect°"ooo, of all m an t e l- p i eces f rom t h e h a bi tat i ons of such persdree for the accid en t s genera ll y h appene d t h roug h the ebi'hiclo seeing on and trying to reach therefrom something vi attracted their attention. LITERARY NOVELTIES.—The new yeatTbe opened with great promise for the literary world. a nd publishers seem to be bestirring themselves vigoronslP new productions in various classes of literature, by guished authors, are immediately forthcoming. Mr., ./ burn alone announces in hi s li s t t h e following senr°.9o, The Life of Petrarch, by Th o m as C a mpb e ll, Esq.„ Clifford, a novel, by the author of " Tremaine. r te. "De Vere." The Pic-Nic Papers, edited by C, }1• 0 1 , Dickens, Esq. ,( Hoz. ) The Book without a Name, 14 ol Charles and Lady Morgan. The Life and Letts E g o s Madame de Sevigee, by M rs . G ore. Th e M one yed I ce tv a novel, by Horace Smith, Esq. Excursions in On rt., trail Provinces of Franc e , e di te d b y M rs. Trollopa. Acceunt of the Spas of England, by Dr. Granville:, lidlastly, lastly, the Lif e an d R ema i ns o f t h e l amented L. P' by her literary executor, Laman Blanchard, Esq. M.4RRIED. • in til l tal Ow the 9th inst., a t B arnstap l e, J . Bl ax l an d , CaP Ate ,0 47th Regiment in the Madras Army, to Ann Pyke, ( 11 " 4 ' the late 'l'. Salmon, Esq., of Barnstaple. I S., trot 4'41( (Corn in 1' LIN the d 4 bou zhd t at a StOC Fc Pic Ipgs, ]IJ of ),A and the Ate, I Do, MORNING 11 4 1 " ) IT SPOONS, FORKS, &c., superior to Silver farms ; rability, equal in a p pearance . T a bl e S poons or Forks, liclol Dessert, 10s. ; T ea Sp oons , his. per dozen; Table Candle s 8 inches high, 7s. per pair; the particular metal of toj these articles are made is so like silver, that it sac only It ufs°' from it by the sta m p ; every attictitinatle in silver s Isa lj tured in this material by.-- .. et, RIPPON and_DURTON, Wells-street, Oxforil-str . Who, to prevent imposition, confine the sale slit to Oleo s Catalogues of prices gratis. • BIRTHS. 136111 On Monday, the 11th inst., at hi s res id ence , Lower, 9 ford-street, Stenehouse, the lady of Rear. Admiral VW . " a daughter. %, Of On the 9th i ns t., a t Y or k- s t ree t, P or t man-squar e, 0- of J. Millard, Esq., of a son. lOW On the 10th i ns t., Mrs. G. Harrison, of Br ee k-stmt' over-square, of a daughter. f t iis On the 10th in s t , a t St. Ol ave ' s, S out h war k , t h e vr :( e o Of Rev. C. Mackenzie, of a daughter. gm 1 34 On the 11th inst., a t N orwoo d , M rs. H . F. Vo r ° iit— • ~ a son. _...---- DIED. y pre,' On the 9th inst., the Rey. S. Smith, D.D , °f 1 3 1.1 76. >, tou, Camb r id ges hi re , an d P re b en d ary o f D ur h a m , agTh . tor *. On the 9th inst., 111 r. 'l'. Hood, of Bennett's-hill, A-'°c . Commons. ‘,.eei,, 5* On the 9th inst., Mr. Bennington, of Jernayll - s ( A la James's, aged 78. tlO On the 9th inst., Elizabeth, the wife of Mr. c..' te ''" o f Allsop-terrace, New-road, London, aged 25. 10 ° On the 10th inst., Sarah, the wife of T. C. Jr'isb i , I 0 , Great Berkhamstead, Herts, aged °6. v i ew , On the llth inst., Rachel, relict of the late Mr. I '- set Union-street, Southwark, aged 63. oul l r On the 11th inst., at Red Lion -street, Mary, the Y e all s ' daughter of the late Mr. Warren, of Chancery-lie,sle, n i London: Printed and Published by MEMO Ye r aoe No. 112, Strand, at Ms Sun Ofileg lis• 112 ' - Val' the county of Middlein.—Thursisy, Ansil I"' I