The Sun. — London, England, 1841-02-20 00:00:00

MORNING EDITIONi give jurisdiction in those matters to the Judges proposed who would have nothing else to decide upon. If the Judge of the land, who heard twenty cases, was likely to be affected by political bias, what would be the effect upon the Judge who decided upon no other description of case ? Would he not decide according to political bias ? He would next draw the attention of the House to a most important part of the subject under conside ration ; namely, the ailthority by which those Judges were to be constituted, and what would be the effect of that constitution. What was at present proposed was that 15 Judges be selected out of forty.five barris ters, of a certain standing, by the Speaker of the Hoiee of Commons, to constitute a tribunal, to register votes throughout the couotry. The Court of Appeal was to consist of three Judges, also selected by the Speaker of that House—not out of a rst furnished, but out of any portion of the Bin he chose. The Right Hon. and Learned Gentleman next proceeded at some length to j point out the inconvenience arising from that arrange ment, and the impropriety of putting, in the present case, so much power in the hands of the Speaker of the House, who was generally nominated on the ground of his a;reeing in political opinions with the majority of the Meruliers of that House, which majority was always supposed to entertain the same politi al opinions as the existing Government. TEIO3Z duties require the greatest impattiality, and although he hail no doubt that any Speaker who was called to fill that chair would me in to net impa yet as they a'l had a very strong poll tieal bias, and as thei r bias would, in spite of the greatest honesty ofin tention, lead them to do acts which their cooler judg• merit would condemn, he could not but foresee that the ease might arise in which the Speaker, thinking that there were as good men on one side of the House as the other, would choose men of the political opinions which he himself professed. The Court of Appeal was left entirely to the See zker. When they considered the duties which that Court had to perform they would see at once how important it was that no possible doubt should exist as to the motives which led to the appointments. He believed that the independence of the Speaker, the position which he enjoyed, and that honourable station which was assigned to him on both sides of the House, would be considerably lowered and damaged if such power were placed in his hands. Every appointment by him would be rigorously can vassed on both sides of the House, exceptions would be t zken to the exercise of his power, however honestly and conscientiously he might perform the duties, and he would be exposed to temptations which by the constitution of the House he had never been exposed to before. He (Sir E. Sugden) considered himself (if he would give him leave to say so) the advocate of the Speak er on this occasion. He desired that the Speaker should not be placed in a situation is which none of his prede cessors had stood. You yourself, Sir, (continued the Hon. Gentleman) can scarcely be aware of the dangers to which you will be exposed in the execution of these duties. What were the duties of the Court of Ap peal? It would have to perform duties which at pre sent there were no means of performing. The Court of Appeal which would have to decide these great ques tions, would virtually have to decide, in a great mea sure, which of the two great parties should have the predominance at the ensuing election. Who in that House was prepared to say that they would leave the decision of that question to such a tribunal when they theinsels es would not undertake to do so?—(Hear.) Would they leave to other parties the power of decid ing this question, which might, in so great a degree, influence the ensuing elections ? No party would con sent to such a sacrifice ; he would not ask Hon. Gen tlemen on the other side to do so, and he would not consent to such a sacrifice on his own part. If they looked to the Irish Registration and the Scotch Re gistra ion Bills, and found that the Speaker was to have the nomination of the Court of Appeal in both those countries, in the same wanner as in England, then it would be evident that it was the intention of the Government to alter altogether the character of the Speaker of that House.—(Hear, hear.) Speaker Lenton, in the time of Charles I. had said to that Monarch, that he had neither eyes to see, nor tongue to speak, except in obedience to the orders of the House, whose servant he was. Now that was perfectly true, but if these powers were given to the Speaker, instead 'of being the servant of that House, the most honourable situation a commoner could fill, he would be the master of that House.—(Cheers.) The House would abdi cate its functions. The more he looked at the se ap pointments the more objectionable did the plan appear. At present the registrations throughout the country went on simultaneously throughout England. When the new Judges should be appointed, they would take nearly the whole year in their perambulations. The time at which they should hold their Ceurts would de pend upon themselves. They would break into the htivsst—they would break into the Quarter Sessions —they would break into the Assizes—they would in terfere with the times of the sittings of the House. Instead of going at any given and fixed period, they would go when it best suited themselves. They w e iuld have to give notice of the time at which they intez e ded to register any particular district, and the pay ment 0 4. the woold depend upon the time wheem they might fix for holding their Courts, and thus insteeed of the payment of rates taking place at a particular fix - ed period in all parts of the country, it would depend upon the times when these Registration Courts should be held ; the consequence would be that in different parts of the same county there would be dif ferent rights of voting, not iu consequence of any direct legislative enactment, but in consequence of the operation of these newfangled clauses. But independently of that, the right to the franchise was greatly altered by the Bill. He certainly wished, deem the respect he bore to t . e Noble Lord opposite, that, in altering the franchise in England, he ha I acted in a more reatly and straightforward manner than he had done. The franchise uasto be altered by the Bill, but the dteration war to be effee t d iu a war which he (Sir E. Sugden) would take the liberty of ceiling a skulk ing manner. It was not fairly stated that the franchise should be altered, but it was intimated indirectly, and in clauses which had other objects. He would not then discuss the question, whether the elective franchise ought to be altered or not. But, at all events, that was not the manner in which such a work should be pt rformetl, and that was not tire manner in which such a p roposition should be brought before the House. He had used strong expressions, in designating the con duct .of the Government on the occasion, but he wished" to show the House that it was not without pro vocation.. The Bill proposed to alter the Reform Act, by render ing it no longer necessary that a party, in order to bet enabled to vote, should pay taxes. But when the Noll! Lord intended to make such a pro po.zal, he ought fairly to have stated it to the House and to the public. Lie (Sir E. Sugden) had tiken the advice of Lyttleter, and not read extracts when he could go to originals ; and he accordingly looked from the mar gin of a clause in the Act to the clause itself; and he iound in the margin that the voter should have paid rates and taxes ; while it appeared from the eialse self, that it was only necessary to have paid ratee. He wished to know where was the mistake.—(Hear.) Lord J. RUSSELL said that the mistake was in the margin. Sir E. SUGDEN sa;d that the word taxes was linwover in the body of the claate ; and be would ask whether that were the way in which a Bill might be in troduced ? When the Noble Lord brought in the Re torm BA! he required, as a condition of voting, not only that the party should pay his rates and taxes, but also all his rents. Now, he (Sir E. Sugden) at that time .objected to the rents, because he considered that would thave the erect of making that 811 a landlord's Bil!, and would create discord between land lords and tenants. Sir.ce the introduction of the Noble Lord's last Bill, be (Sir Edward Sugdcn) wished to know what he had seen to induce him to lake off the taxes. Was the franchise, he wooll ask, too low ? Why, the tact was, that other 8111 had been introduced, in which there nes no withdrawal of the taxes ; and it was only in the present yc ar that thi s new light had broke in upon the Noble Lord. Another objection he had to the Bill was, the introduction of voters, to be called established voters : no provision was, in his opinion, snore calculated to produce fraud. The effect of the provision would be to make three classes of voters, having different rights ; the rich man would become an established voter, and thereby a dif derence would be made bettvcea the rich and the poor man. These were his various objections to the B 111; and, in snaking these objections, be trusted the House would ben- in mind that they bad at present a tribunal that was working well, and with which he thought the country was satisfied.—(Cries of " No, no.") He ',believed the country was satisfied with the Revising Barristers.—(Cries of " No, no.") There were some men that were satisfied with nothing, but when Hon. Members expressed their dissatisfaction in that respect, all that be would ask theme raj, that they should point out a system that would work better.—(Hear, hear.) The whole machinery of the present Bid was not what 31 ought to be, and therefore it was that he objected to it in the respects to which he had adverted. Now, what were the amendments he proposed? Why, he was willing to take the Noble Lord's Bill of 1838 and 1839, with a slight modification of ti,;;tgistration: How, he would ask, could the Nnb!e Lord reconcile his conduct last year with that he was now pursuing ? Last year the Noble Lord brought in a Bill to define the franchise, but on the present measure the Noble Lord left all the difficulty on which the franchise depended to be decided by the Court of Appeal. In conclusion, he would give notice to the Noble Lord, that it was his intention, in Committee, to move the expulsion of such parts of the Bill as he had referred to, and he should ask leave to introduce other clauses, which would have . the effect of carrying out the objects he had in view: — Mr. GISBORNE was happy to find that there was so large a portion of the present Bill which was not likely to be opposed by the other side. He was sur prised to hear the Right Hor. and Learned Gentle man state that very little evil had arisen from the con flicting decisions of the Revising Barristeis under thl present system. The Right Hon. Gentleman had not %ad so much experience in the Barristers' Courts as be had, but he remembered an instance in which two Barristere, sitting in the same room, with only a par tition between, were deciding one one way and the other another ; one Barrister was admitting the trus tees of all chapels, and the other was rejecting them. He recollected another instance, where in one part of a county two Quakers were admitted to vet-, and in another part were struck out. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman particularly objected to the Speaker having political appointments, or appointments having a poli tical tendency. He beeeed to remind the House that a proposal somewhat simil it to the present had been made by the Right Hon. Baronet the Member for Tamworth, when he introduced his plan for the ap pointment of the Committee of selection for election petitions.—( Hear, hear.) There was some part of the remarks of the Right Hon. Gentleman on the subject of established voters in which he entirely concurred. This Bill gave great encouragement to persons . to establish their votes. That was undoubtedly a privi lege ; but the extent of the benefit conferred would de pend entirely upon what the voter was called upon to establish before he could be admitted to vote. The words of the Reform Bid were, that the claim of the party waste be proved to the satisfaction of the Barrister ; words giving the Barrister very extensive powers, and leaving a great deal in his hands. He believed, how ever, that the usual custom of the Barristers bad been, not to call upon him technically to prove his title, but, if he was in the receipt of the rents and profits, to hold that that was sufficient proof of title. He (Mr. Gis borne) considered that that was the true mode. If a person was unlawfully in possession or property, it t the law be applied, but the Court of Revising Barristers should not try the question of the title of persons to the property for which they claimed. The 56th clause of this 1341 read thus : Nor shall any objection to the title of any established voter to held any land or tenements be allowed." That was the case of a person objected to as an established Toter. The plain inference from that err, that if the party was not an established voter the Revising Bar rister should have posses of inquiry into his title. If not, why were those words introduced ? Why was it said that the title of an established voter should not be inquire f into unless it was open to the Revising Barris ter to inquire into the title of those who were not C3ta • as:id ? His view was that possession should be taken as a sufficient title, and that would remove one of the great objections which he should otherwise have to the system of making a distinction between established voters and voters not established. There was another provision which he thought ought to be introduced, in order to make the Bill consistent. If a person wire ob jected to, it was now for the first time required that the grounds of objection should be stated. It would be going too fur to say that when a person had been brought up upon one ground of objection only, and that had been decided in his favour, he should be considered as an established voter ; but having sustained his vote upon that ground, he thought he ought not to be ob jected to upon that ground again. Doubtless, there would remain great objections to the dividing voters into two classes—the established, and the non-esta blished. To the person of property it would be a mat ter of little consequence, but to the poorer voter it would occasion great inconvenience. —(Hear, hear.) Let them take the case of a poor man pos sessed of a 5 1. house, who had mortgaged it for W. He would have to procure the attendance of the mort gagee and of the lawyer, so that there would be con siderable difficulty and expense in the way of his esta blishing his right to vote, which the rich man would not experience ; in fact, he would be left as a mark to be shot at by any person who chose to object to him. He did not say that this was a sufficient objection to the making two distinct classes of voters, but he mentioned it as an illustration of the disadvantages under which the non-established voter would labour, and also with a view of showing that when once one ground of objec tion had been established to be untenable, the voter should not again be liable to objection on that ground. He thought there was something in the objections taken by the Right Hon. Gentleman to the ambulatory character of the Commissioners for the revision of the lists, but on the whole great advantage would accrue from the establishment of a Court of Appeal, without which there was no prospect of their obtaining anything like a uniformity of decisions. He thought, however, on the whole, notwithstanding the objections that might he urged against some of its details, that the Bill pro ceeded on an equitable principle, and that it would cor rect many of the abuses of the old system. The objec tions were to the minor points, and he felt great satis faction in witnessing the introduction of the measure. Mr. W ARBURTON said that as there was to be no division on the second reading of the Bill, it was not his intention to enlarge on the objection urged against it. He should observe, however, that lie thought it was a settled point that the present constitution of the Courts of the Revising Barristers was highly objection able, and had been found exceedingly inconvenient by the electors, as well as by the House, in consequence of the great number of disputed points that came be fore Election Committees. He -believed he might al lude to the negotiations which had taken place between both sides of the House in 1838, on the constitution of the Courts of the Revising Barristers. by which many of those points were chcided, to which the Right Hon. Baronet opposite bad objected. The Right Hon. Ba ronet had complained of that provision of the Bill which took away from the Revising Barristers the opportunity of again returning to Westminster Hall ; but he (Mr. Warburton) did not think that such a provision would operate unfavourably. The Commissioners of the Court of Bankruptcy were placed in the same position ; and be, whatever might be the other defects of that Court, believed that no complaint had ever been made upon that head. The fact was, that cases of the most complicated nature in law and equity would come be fore the Revising Courts : and these would be sufficient to occupy their entire attention. lie would reserve any other observatons he might have to make on this sub ject till the House went into Committee on the Bill. Mr. HUME said that he thought it would be easy to avoid many of the inconveniences which it was urged would follow from the Bill. The Gros ernment might get rid of the objections to the measure by defining the franchise a; they had done for Ireland.—( Hear, hear, from the Opposition Benches.) Ho had always under stood that what was good for England was good for Ireland, and what was good for Ireland was good for England.—(Hsa-, hear.) As far, however, as the Bill went, he thought it was a great improvement in the pre sent system. Mr. ROWLAND ALSTON supported the Bill, as he thought it high time that the present system should be a:te-ed. Cclonel SIBITIORP begged to ask what the salary of the Barrister would be. Perhaps that subject was below the Noble Lord's consideration ; but he should certainly take tl:e sense of the House on it in Com mittee. Lord JOHN RUSSELL was not prepared until they went into Committee to state the exact amount of the salary. But as the Hon. and Gallant Member's views were so much in favour of economy, he begged to inform him that there would be a raving probably of 15,0001. under the proposed system. At present the cost was 35,000/. or 36,0001., and it would be about half that sum under the new system. N ow w h en t h e H on . an d G a l _ _ lant Member would see the reduction of expense, he would perhaps give his support to the measure, but of course when they went into Committee it would be for him to propose any further reduction if he thought proper. The Right Hon. Gentleman opposite had made a great many observations on the details of that measure, but be (Lord John Russell) would not follow him. It was said that there was some unfairness in the omission of the test of the payment of taxes. Ile had tlaomzht it very inexpedient to keep up the test of the payment of taxe3 and rates, as each had often di!- franchised a number of vet :Ts who were otherwise fully entitled to vote.—( Hear, Lear.) It was certainly his intention lo make some alteration in the clause with respect to the payment of rates and taxes and the change of occupetidn. When his Hon. Friend the Member For Kilkenny had asked why not make tire franchise the same in England as in Ireland? he had been cheered by the Hon. Gentlemen opposite ; but he did not know whether they meant by that to abolish the 405.. free holders, or to introduce again the freeholders to Ireland. He certainly was not inclined to agree to any proposition for abolishing the 40s. freeholders in England, because he thought them a most useful and important class of voters. The Bill was then read a second time, and oidered to be committee that day se'nnight. EAST INDIA RUM BILL. On the mot'on of Mr. LABOUCHE RE, the Esst India Rum Bill was read a second time, and ordered to be committed on Monday. IRELAND. The Tithe Compositions (Ireland) Bill was read a third time and passed. The Committee on the Turnpike Acts Continuance (Ireland) Bill was postponed to Friday. MACHINERY. Mr. BROTHERTON moved that the followina• be nom inated the Select Committee on Machinery :—Mr. Mark Philips, Sir Robert Peel, Mr. Labouchme, Lord Francis Egertry, Mr. Home, Lord Viscount Sander, Sir George Strickland, Mr. Emcrscn Tearent, Mr. Morrison, Mr. Bolling, Mr. Villiers, Mr. Townley Par ker, Mr. John Hcathcoat, Mr. Colqnhoun, and Mr. Obwald. SYRIA. On the motion for the House resolving itself into a Committee of Supply, Mr. HUME said it would save the time of the House if instead of making a motion for an address, of which he had given notice, he were to ask a question of the Noble Lord. It would be in the recollection of the House, that at the commencement of the Session the Noble Lord had consented to lay upon the table of the House all papers relating to the Syrian garfare. Three weeks had elapsed since that promise had leers male, and the papers had not yet been laid on the table. Now be wished to ask the Noble Lord whether it was his in terition t o l ay t h ose papers b e f ore t h e H ouse , an d if so, when it was likely they would be laid on the table ? When they were laid on the table it was his intention to bring the whole question before the House. Lord PALMERSTON e ►uld assure his Hon. Friend that no unnecessary delay had taken place. There was a great mass of papers to be arranged and printed, and at present there was a great press of cur ' rent public business in his office. He could not fix any particular day, but he could assure his Hon. Friend that no unnecessary delay should take place. Mr. HUME hoped the papers would be laid on the table as soon as possible, as the Noble Lord had stated that the object of the Treaty of July having been accom plished, there ought to be no delay in bringing the papers before the House. AMERICAN BOUNDARY. Sir ROBERT PEEL wished to ask the Noble Lord whet was the precise posifon in which this coun try stood in relation to the United States, and the North Eastern Boundary. Two Commissions had been appointed to ascertain the •Boundaries between the Province of Maine and the State of New Bruns wick. NVhat he wished to know was, whether, since some portion of those Commissioners had made their Report, any steps had been taken, in concert with the Government of the United Stites, to bring the ques tion to a satisfactory settlement ? Lord PALMERSTON said, that a convention bad first of all been proposed by this country, to which the Government of the United States had objected, and had sent over to this country a draft of a counter-propo- Lition to that. Her Majesty's _Government could not agree ; and in the early part of last year they had made a third proposition, to which he hoped the Government of the United States.would have agreed. They, how ever, had not done so ; but, in reply, had sent another counter-proposition, to which her Majesty's Govern ment could not agree, and to which they had sent a reply. A survey had, however, in the meantime, been ordered to be made, for the purpose of acquiring an accurate knoa ledge of the geographical features of the country, by Commissioners appointed by her Majesty's Government, without any reference to the United Statee. These Commissioners had reported, but, of course, the Report, although there was no reason to doubt its accuracy, ciould only be looked upon as an ex-parte statement, and not at sll binding on other par. ties. The United States had also sent Commissioners of their own to make a survey, without any reference to the Government of this country. Sir R. PEEL understood, then, that the Report of the Commissioners had been made without reference to the United States, and that there was no General Com mission actlig on behalf of the two countries, and that no proceedings bad been undertaken in concert between them, to bring this question to a settlement. The plain fact was that reciprocal propositions had been made by the respective Governments of Great Britain and the United States, which had been reciprocally rejected. Lord PALMERSTON wished to explain. The two Governments had agreed upon the principle of the question at issue, but they had not agreed as to the de tails by which it should be carried into effect. Mr. Featherstonhaugh had been sent by the authority of the British Government without the authority of the Ame rican Government, although the American authorities had afforded him every facility. Sir ROBERT PEEL was desirious of knowing if the American Government agreed to any arrangement for the settlement of the points in dispute. Lord PALMERSTON—The American Govern ment had at first proposed a Convention of one kind, to which the British Government had agreed ; they then proposed a modification of that arrangement. The American Government then proposed a Convention of a different kind, containing a provision for the appoint• meat of a Commission of Arbitration. The first Con vention contained no proposition for the appoint ment of a Commission of Arbitration ; they then proposed such an arrangement, to which and to that change we had agreed, as we thought it desirable to have some arrangement for arbitration. The two Governments were agreed on that point. He did not think it right to enter into further details, as to the negotiations. The difference between the two Gevern meats was not as to the principle, but as to how the principle was to be carried out. ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS. Mr. HAVES wished to ask the Noble Lord whether it was the intention of the Government to in troduce any measure with reference to the Ecclesiasf cal Courts, and if so, whether it was intended to make such measure applicable to the questions at present in litigation before those Courts. It was exceedingly de sirable that the jurisdiction of those Courts should be defined, and that some measure for the regulation of the proceedings should be adopted. Lord JOHN RUSSELL said that it was the in tention of the Lord Chancellor to introduce some mea sure for the regulation of Ecclesiastical Courts into the House of Lords, whether it might also be necessary to introduce some measure of a similar nature in that House he could not at present say. MUNICIPAL REGISTRATION. Mr. BARING wished to know whether it was the intention of the Noble Lord to introduce any measure to remove the difficulties that bad been found in the registration of voters in municipal corporations. In Liverpool and Leeds such had been the difficulties in the registration, that they had been obliged to proceed upon the registration of the fcrmer year. Lord J. RUSSELL said, that from what had oc curred in two or three towns, he believed it would be found neeesary to bring in a measure upon the subject. The other Orders of the Day were tl.en read, for the purpose of postponing them. THE SUNS_ LONDON, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1841. LORD KEANE. Mr. HUME wished to know whether the Noble Lord would have any cbjection to his moving for a re turn of the services of Lord Keane ? Lord J. RUSSELL said the motion was rather an unusual one, but he should have no objection to its being made in the manner pointed out by the Hon. Member. Sir J. HOBHOUSE said the return had no nection with the pension to Lord Keane, as that wa pension for services agreeably to the Queen's Mess After a few words from Sir DE LACY EVAN., Mr. HUME moved for a statement of the military services of Lord Keane.—Agreed to. Mr. W YSE moved for returns relative to education. —Agreed to. The House adjourned at a Quarter past Seven o'Clock to Monday. PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS. NOTICES GIVEN AT THE PRIVATE BILL OFFICE. THURSDAY, FEB. 18. I. Medina Navigation,—Committee on Petition, March 2. 2. Isle of Wight Highways,—Committee on Petition, March 2. 3. Bradford Road,— Committee on Petition, March 1. 4. York and London Assurance Company,-2d Reading, Feb. 22 5. Southorpe Inclosure,—Second Reading, Feb. 22. 6. Collyweston Inclosure,—Second Reading, Feb. 22. 7. South Western Railway,—Second Reading, Feb. 22. 8. Chard Canal,— Committee on Petition, March 1. D. Stafford and Rugby Itailway,—Committee on Petition, March 10. Eastern Counties Railway,—Second Reading, Feb. 22. 11. Manchester and Salford Waterworks,-2d Reading, Feb. 22. 12. Wimborne and Piddletown Itoad,-2d Reading, Feb. 22. 13. Liverpool Gas,—Second Reading, Feb. 22. THE TRIAL OF LORD CARDIGAN TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUP/. Stu—The members of the Finsbury Working Men's Pt.soeiation 'held their weekly meeting at their Rooms, No. 9, Little White Lion -street, Long-acre, Wednesday night, Feb. 17, when they directed me to request you to he ple.se 1 o insert in your widely circulated news paper the foiloning Resolutions adopted by them. I am, Sir, your humble servant, 3, Tottenham-court-road. lIENRY GIBBS. Resolved Ist—That this Association views with great Ais.. satisfaction the result of the late trial of the Right Honourable the Earl of Cardigan in the House of Lords, Feb. 16, 1841, for shooting at captain Harvey Tackett with intent to kill, which proves to them becond doubt that there is one law for the rich and another for the poor, inasmuch as the small flaw in this indictment was fatal to the prosecution, whereas the strong objections raised on the late trial of John Frost and fellow-prisoners were declared to be of no avail ; and further, that it is the opinion of this Association, that had the same forms of trial been adopted in both cases, namely, trial by their peers, the latter men never would have been found guilty ; therefore, as Lord Cardigan has been acquitted, we deem this another reason why John Frost and fellow-prisoners should be recalled without delay to their friends and their country, and compensation awarded to them for their long suffering. Resolved 2dly—That this Association, after mature delibe ration, cordially agree with the plan proposed by Colonel Thompson for the purpose of carrying Chartist candidates to the poll all over the kingdom at the next general election, and that they pledge themselves to assist by all means in their power towards carrying the same into effect ; and further, they recommend their brother Chartists all over the country to take the same into their most serious consideration, being convinced that it is one of the best practical means of enfoi eing their claims on the attention of the Government and on the public, and of obtaining those rights which they consider indispensable to good government, namely, the People's Charter. NORTHERN AND EASTERN RAILWAY:—.A general meeting of the proprietors of this railway was held On Thursday at the London Tavern. William Crawshay, Chairman of the Board of Directors, prepiderl. Tilis line kins the Eastern Counties Railway at Stratford, and is in tended to terminate for the present at Pishop Stortford. It was oper,ed as far as Broxbourne in July last, and the report 1 id hr fore the meeting yesterday, and unanimously approve.] f, gave a very f tvourable dewription cf the re sult-. The works between Broxbourne and Bishop Stott f are to ha pusl.ed on with great vigour, and it was tat(d that, iu conseque n c e o f th e I. vel characte r cf th e greater part tf the country through which it runs, the cost the whole railway will not exceed 22,000/. per mile. Th e coat of otbe- lines terminating in the metropolis has varied from 26,000/. to 60,000/. per mile. An application is now before Parliament fur power to construct a branch etl Ware and Hertford. It is probable that the line will also be extended to Cambridge, although, perhaps, not by that company. The line, as originally projected, extended to Cambridge; but the company subsequently obtained an Act, empowering them to abandon the por tion below Bishop Stortford. The busiaess of the day having . been transacted, a vote of thanks to the Directors fur their gratuitous services was unanimously carried, and the meeting separated. The inhabitants of Belgrave-square and its fa shionable neighbourhood have petitioned the Gcvcrnment to ailow a new carriage entrance into Hyde-park at Knightsbridge. an d Mr. (,:übitt has offered to erect an ornamental lodge at his own expense , the proposition be acceded to. COURT OF SEWERS FOR WEST. IMINSIIER AND PARTIOF MIDDLESEX., A Court of Sewers. for the City and Liberties of Westminster and part of Middlesex, was yesterday held at the office of the Commissioners, in Greek street, Soho-square, at twelVe o'clock, Thomas Leverton Donaldson, Esq., in the chair. The minutes of the last two Courts were read. During the reading, The CHAIRMAN stated that he had received a note from Sir G. Farrant, stating the worthy Commissioner's intention to withdraw the notice of motion which he had given, it being his intention to bring it forward in another form. The minutes were then confirmed. The Collectors' Reports were then received, and cer tain summonses and warrants were issued against cer t ain then re a d hi s R eport o f t h e state o f The defaulters.cLEitK the collectors' accounts, and of the money in the trea surer's hands. Mr. JOHN WHITE then rose for the purpose of calling the attention of the Court to the Marquis of Nurmanby's Drainage 13111, and stated his opinion that this Court had already d one a ll t h at cola he done with respect to drainage. Mr. Slane}' had called upon him yesterda;, and he had called upon Mr. Sluney to-day, hue had not met with him. Mr. ADEY rose to order, and protested against being called nn to discuss a matter of this import true at a momert's notice, because the Clerk had laid the Bill on the table. They ought not to discuss any thing that was not in the business paper. Mr. LESLIE hoped Mr. White would be permitted to ee I. Mr. ADEY objected to proceeding with anything not in the business paper. The CHAIRMAN said the matter must be postponed. The next business therefore was, to order payment ol 1,6961. 13s. Id. to the Equitable Gas Company, Icing the amount tendered in the case of Medley v. Priteli ard, in pursuance of the order of Court of the Ist De cemher,lB4o. Upon which Mr. LESLIE moved," that the sum of 1,6961. 13s. hi., as a compromise in the action, Medley v. Pritchard, cannot legally and therefore ought not to be abstracted from the Sewers Rate by the Commissioners of Sewers, as the cause of such action is shown in the records of the Commission to have originated from an illegal or aer of the Commissioners, by which a private be nefit was conferred on one of the Commission e:s by making an unnavigable stream a naviga ble one ; and that the legitimate source from whence such compromise ought to be paid is by a refunding of so much of the purchase money paid by the Equitable Gas Company for a property so illegally benefited and improved in value, and not by a tax upon the pre sent rate-payers of the Western Division of WeA minster Sewers. The whole proceedings being con trary to the statutes on sewers and the judicial decisions thereon, and conseque..tly void ab initio." The tender had been made on the 3d of April, 1835, helore the action, Medley v. Pritchard, had been brought, and after this Court had ben triumphant in the Court of Chancery, and had had the ex parte injunction, ob tained by the Equitable Company, dissolved with costs. He would go at once into the merits of this question. He would call upon Mr. Dowley, surveyor, to produte the original plan of the King's Scholar-pond sewer in 1808. There were two brick cul% erts, with self acting flaps, with an area of 25 feet 7 inches, through which the King's Scholar-pond sewer drained into the Thames ; and now the Commissioners would perceive that by no possibility could it be navigable to or from the 'Thames. The sewer rose in Hampstead, drained property on an area of about five and a half miles in length, and three quarters of a mile in breadth. Sir G. FARRANT rose to order ; they had no right . to go into the history of the sewer. Captain BAGUE said Mr. Leslie could not speak un less his amendment was seconded. The CHAIRMAN decided Mr. Leslie was in orde'. Mr. WHITE said, that on the face of the proceedings themselves was the grossest libel, and he protested against the Court being mode the medium of publish ing libels, and perhaps it would not end there. The CHAIRMAN thought, upon the point of order, Mr. Leslie had a right to proceed. Mr. LESLIE then proceeded to describe the state of the sewer according to the Reports of the Surveyors in 1808, the defects of which were a want of a free out let into the Thames, and an increasirg capacity es it advanced to the river. Contiguous to this outlet of the sewer there was the property of a Commissioner of Sewers.—(Hear, hear.) There was a Special Committee appointed, and this Commissioner sat upon the Committee, and the contractors who exe cute d the works were also Commissioners. From Charlotte -street, Pimlico, to the outlet at Millhank, distance of 5,128 feet, there was expended on the King's Scholar-pond sewer nearly 21,0001, of which about 3,000/. was spent on the portion abutting on the property in question. The Special Committee met, and came to various resolutions. First, they de cided that flood-gates should be placed next the Thames, and subsequently they resolved that they should be moved higher up the sewer, which would have the effect of making it navigable for a considerable distance up the property in question. Then they decided that for the security of the walls of the sewer, there should be introduced piles, with one fender plank. He thns showed that this Special Committee did that in pri vate, which ought, by the laws relating to sewers, to have been done in open Com t, and that the public were damnified in consequence. The worthy Commissioner then went at great length into the history of the foram tiots of the sewer, quoting the minutes of the Special Committee for the different works undertaken as he went along, which the Chairman and the Clerk read as Mr. "Leslie called for them. The Honourable Commissioner then read from the Minute-hook 'of the Court, 28th of October, 1808, an extract, showing that the Surveyor, in obedience to the direc tion of the last Court, presented a calculation, showing the quantity of reservoir in the old water course, and that of the reservoir that evid be gained by taking the land proposed to he taken from Mr. White, and placing the proposed flood-gates at a distance from the Thames, viz. :—Calculation of the space that will he lost as a reservoir at the south end of the King's Scho lar-pond Sewer ; supposing the floodgates to he fixed 293 feet up the sewer from the river Thames, the quantity would be 41,738 cubical feet. Calculation of space given up by Mr. White beta con the_bridge and the proposed situaton of the flood-gates as a reservoir in lieu of diet lest between the river Thames and the flood- g ates, the quantity of reservo i r here obtained would be 42,283 cubical feet. Mr. Leslie here pointedly called the attention of the Court that the space lost to the public and given up by the Commissioner was in the wrong di!ection, for the Re port of the Surveyors showing the great defects in the sewer prior to any a!ter..tion was the want of a free outlet to the river Thames, and an increasing capacity as the sewer advances. He then resumed the minute. The expense of excavation of Mr White's ground as proposed to be given up by him would be about 701. or 80/. The ground excavated as above would be worth to the Commissioners, in my opinion, more than the excavation and brick work would be saved by the straight line to the amouiit of 80/. or 90/. It being represented to the Court that the proposition of the Special Committee of Works, for ex cavating the ground within the sewer, for admitting, barges next to Mr. White's premises, had originated from the circumstance of the Committee having consi dered that the great additional quantity of water let down the sewer by the alteration, for the flood-gates therein would prevent Mr. White's barges lying in safety alongside his wharf next the river— Resolved unanimously—That in consequence of the arrangement agreed upon le teeea Mr. White, and the Committee appointed for the improvement of the sewer, whereby lie h.a agreed to relinquish a very considerable portion of his freeheld land for the widening of the sewer, as a reservoir, above the situation of the intended gates, he be allowed to widen the creek or sewer at the outlet below the gates, by cutting away part of his land to a sufficient width on his own side of the said creek or sewer, so that the water of the sewer may not he interrupted in the entrance to the River ; and to be also allowed to fix a floating boom to the opposite side, to prevent any annoyances en tering the same, the expense incurred for the walls on the sides of the sewer, between the intended flood gates and the Thames, which shill exceed the proportion able expens e o f th e wa ll b e tween the said flood-gates and Mr. White' s brid ge , a l re ady built, to be borne by M r . White, together with other extra expenses. The Com missioners erecting a bridge across the sewer at Mil bank at their own expense, the whsle to be formed acenrding to a plan produced to the Court this day." The Hon Comturei sioner then called for the minutes of the next Court, by which it appeared that the word unanimously in the preceding rest iution was struck out by order qf the Court ; and he deemed this another vary suspicious circum stance in the transaction. In January, 1809, this Special Committee was suspended by order of the Court, and a Committee of Inquiry was appointed. The Investigating Committee met on the 27th of January, 1809, and ordered the surveyor to report in writing what orders had been given, what had been the proceedings, what works had originated with the Spe cial Committee, and whether any land had been taken for widening the sewer without notice to the owners. On the 10th Pebruary they again met, and received the Report of the Surveyors. Upon which it was moved—" That it is the opinion of this Committee that the information concerning the proceedings of the Spe cial Committee appointed 19th August 1808, can be sufficiently obtained from the minutes of that Commit tee." Whereupon an amendment was put, " That the Members of this Committee do proceed to examine the Officers of this Commission as to the objects contained in the notice." This amendment was lost, the Com mittee adjourned sine die, and thus ended the in quiry at that period, and the original Special Com mittee resumed their proceedings. jr, Leslie then reminded the Court that be had shown that, on the 5,128 feet of this sewer, which cost the rato-ertyers 20,756/, 3,0001, of that sum was expended on that portion of the sewer at the outlet into the Thames ; and the proportion of this expense contri buted by the Commissieeer was in cash 421. 7s. 4d., and an allowance to him, for old materials pulled down, of 210/., making together 252/. 7s. 4d. The consequence of this alteration thus made, bad been, that the parishes of Marylebone and St. George Hanover-square, had been damnified to an immense ex tent, the houses in Bond -street, Bruton-street, the Marquis of Lansdowne'', and all the lower part of those parishes having been frequently flooded in con sequcuce of the obstruction occasioned in the sewers, by one of the Commissioners being pe:mitted to moor his boats in the sewer, which before this expenditure of 21,0001., bad never been navigable. The land in ques tion, at the outlet of this sewer, was soli by an agree ment, dated 22c1 November, 1832, for 11,250/., for two acres, to the Equitable Gas Company, together with the free liberty of ingress, egress, and regress, to and for the laid Company, their executors, adminis trators, and assigns, their servant', agents, and work men, with lighters, barg es , an d b oa t s , or otherwise, up and down the sewer, to the ground thereby agreed to be sold, for the purpose of landing and unloading all such goods, coals,or articles as they might require." The consequence of this agreement was the unfortunate question they had been called on to discuss that day. Why should any of the Commissioners be permitted to sell free ingress and egress to one of the public sewers? Before the Gas Company entered into the agreement, notice had been given that certain parts of the premises would be wanted for the public benefit. A Bid in Chancery was filed by the Equitable Gas Company against Mr. Saunders, the Chairman—the last person against whom it ought to have been filed, as he had sever presided over the meetings of the Special Committee, but had washed his hands of the proceedings—and Mr. Pritchard and Mr. Hoof; the contractors, for interfering with the property, and they obtained an ex parte injunc.. tion to prevent the Commissioners from proceeding with their works. The Chancery proceedings cost the Com mission 3001, and the injunction was dissolved with costs. Having obtained this triumphant position in Chancery, in Medley against Saunders, Pritchard, and Hoof, how estate this Court to be involved in Medley against Pritchard, and why was this tender of 1,696/., a hick is upon the business-paper to-day, when it ap peared that actually at that time there had been no such action brought? One of the Commissioners had objected to pay this money, because the notice of action required by the statute on sewers, had been waived. Now, how had it been waved ? The solicitor had stated that the opposite party wished notice of act;on to be waved, and they having applied to the late Chair man, who stated sery properly that he thought he had nothing to do with it, would Hot waive the notice, while the Commissioner's name was in it, but agreed to waive the notice for the contractors, and thus they got into the cause of Medley and Pritchard. The preseat Chairman not liking to take upon himself the responsibility which the late Chair man bad done, had a Law Committee to assist him. The worthy Commissioner then detailed at great length the different st roes of the law proceedings. On the proceedings on which the injunction had been dis solved, it had been sworn that the obstruction oc casior.ed by the mooring of the barges was so great us to occasion the overflowing of the marsh lands of St. George's, Hanover-square. Thus he had shown that, in 1808, the sewer was not navigable, that it had been made navigable contrary to law, and that, in consequence, the rate-payers of Marylebone and St. George's, Hanover-square, were now called upon to pay 1,696/., because one of the Commissioners Wad sold the free navigation of the C o m m i ss i oners ' sewer to the Equitable Gas Company. It was their duty, according to their oath e, to remove obstructions, and not to suffer one of their own body to create ob,t!'uctions in the public sewers. He hoped no Commissioner would so far forget his duty, as to sign the order for the payment on the pre sent rate-payers. The Commissioner whose property had been benefited, should be called upon to pay the amount in question, and net the rate-payers. Mr. ADEY asked if the Chairman could put that which was a direct libel from the Chair? The CHAIRMAN said he could not put any motion or amendment, unless it were seconded. Mr. FULLER thought it was very undesirable that such a statement should remain unanswered ; and yet he knew not. how far he should be justified in seconding that which some Hon. and Learned Commissioner stated to be a libel. He would not second the motion because the name of one of the Commissioners had been intro duced. The CHAIRMAN could not put it unless it was Se conded. Mr. FULLER said that a more disgraceful thing than the suffering such a thing to drop, he had never known. On the originel motion being put, Mr. A DEY moved as an amendment that the money be not paid, because it was illegal to pay it out of the Sewers' -rate. They had a good defence to the action, and they ought to have made use of it. He would not rip up old transactions, and cast a slur upon the cha racter of individuals, but le thought it highly indeco rous that papers should go forth to the public, bringing such indecent charges against any Commissioner or Commmissioners, when they had hal no opportunity to defend themselves. Mr. Muenttss seconded the amendment. Mr. LESLIE thought the character of the Court was involved in this payment. He was glad that two mem bers of the legal profession had come forward to move that they could not legally pay this sum. They were at the bar of public opinion. He had not brought forward the matter as a charge against an individual Commissioner ; he had found among the records of the Court that the transaction had been one in whieh the private benefit of an individual had been consulted, and he had brought it forward. Mr. FULLER thought some answer should have bean given to Mr. Leslie's statement. Mr. WHITE thought the present a favourable oppor tunity for answering that statement ; the state of the sewer had been complained of as far back as the time of Sir Christopher Wren, who had devised a plan for its im provement. It was evident that the gentleman who bad brought. forward the question was ignorant of the transaction and of the laws of sewers generally. That there had been the greatest improvement in consequence of that outlet having been made be was convinced ; and it was stated on the highest authority, that there ought to be no gates at the mouth of any sewer, and that the reservoir drainage was bad and impolitic. The Commissioners bad taken away the landing place of the wharfs, and the balance of ;Account was in favour of the Commissioners, and not of the possessors of the property. His belief was that no money could be so will expended as that spent in obtaining increased depth and increased current. After the sewer had been embanked the height it ought to have been, the Commissioners put up flood-gates, and he believed that all those who put up the flood-gates would be assessed in the . expense. It was not the individual to whom allusion had been made that had put up the flood-gates, but the Commis sioner, and thus the obstruction had been caused. The whole previous transaction had been a matter of com pact in 1808, and the sale to the Equitable Gas Company of free ingress or egress hal been made, with a reser vation of tan rights of the Commissioners of Sewers, which the Hon. Commissioner had omit'ed to state. The original 1 amain betwe en t h e C omm i ss i oners o f Sewers and the individual alluded to, he had no besitas tion in saying, was one of the must beneficial ever made for the public. He should not vote on the mo tion at all. Mr. Leslie rose, but was not allowed to explain ; but Mr. THISELTON DYER, at his request, stated, on re ferring to the document, that the agreement for the sale of the property between the Commissioner and the Equitable Gas Company, from a record of the Court—viz., the affidavit in Chancery of the soli citor to the Equitable Company, the sass in eluded the free liberty of ingress, egress, and re gress to and for the said Company, their executors, administrators, and assigns, their servants, agents, and workmen, with lighters, barges, and boats, or otherwise, up and down the sewer, to the ground, thereby agreed to be sold for the purpose of landing and unloading all such goods, coals, or articles, as they might require. Hut nothing in the document in question showed anything about the reservation of the rights of the Commissioners of Sewer'. Mr. GUNTER came prepared to ask for the payment of the money, but as Mr. Ailey had stated there was a good defence to the claim, his mind had been consi derably changed. The SOLICITOR stated that if they did not pay the 1,696/., they could not put those pleas upon the record that would be a bar to the action. Mr. ADLY said that, situated as they now were, he would advise the payment of the money, The CHAUMAN next addressed the meeting. There could be no doubt that the most expedient course would be to make the tender, and recommended the meeting to abide by the solemn decision of the Court of Com mon Pleas. A show of hands was then taken, when there ap peered— For the motion For t; , e amendlnect Majority for the payment of the money 6 &veral Commissioners would not vote. A COMMISSIONE R moved that the names be taken down, which was done acoerdingly. Thc CHAIRMAN hay.ng put the question that a warrant do issue for payment of the same, Mr. THISELTON DYER inquired on what district it was intended to issue the warrant? The CHAIRMAN replied, the western district. Mr. THISELTON DYER then inquired whether there was a sufficient sum in the hands of the bankers stand ing to the credit of that district, to meet that payment, because if there was not, and they Ka t y to levy a rate to make up the amount the legality of stleh rate might be , disputed, The CLERK replied there was. Several questions were put tl the Clerk, the an". 9" to " 3 :..:e -i n were not considered satisfactory by some of the Commissioners, and the following amend rant was therefore moved et the suggestion of Mr. THISTLETON DYER: " That the said sum of 1,696/. 133. Id. be not paid, it not appearing to the Court that there is a sufficient sum in the hands of the banners, received from the Western District, to pay that sum." The question was then put, when there appeared— For the issuing of the warrant For the amendment Majority against the amendment — Several Commissioners again refusing to vote. The warrant for payment was' then ordered to issue. MARQUIS OF NORMANBY'S DRAINAGE BILL. The CHAIRMAN felt it to be his duty to state tliat a drainage Bill had been brought into the House of Lords, and it was necessary it should he looked into, as it affected the powers and rights of that Court. He thought the Bill would prove highly advan tageous to the public interests, but at the same time the Commissioners ought to look into it aid asceitain the position in which they stood with respect to the measure. He thought it would be desirable that a Committee should be appointed to con sider it and report thereon. He would therefore move that a Committee for that purpose be appointed. Mr. ADEY thought it would be better that a special day should be appointed fur the discussion of the sub ject in open Court. A show of ha•uds was then taken, when there appeared a majority in favour of the appointment of the C 3 ,11- mittee, but as the Chairman could not get six Com missioners to serve on it, although there were upwards of 24 present, the resolution fell to the ground. It was therefore agreed that a special Court should be summoned for the consideration of the sahjort one day next week. Petitions and memorials were then received (it being five o'clock). Many of those petitioners and me morialists were respectable tradespcop'e, and had been kept in Court the whole of the day, to their great in convenience and the negl2ct of their business. It would be as well if the Commissioners, in future, would hear tho . petition 3, &c , before they enter upon ques tions that arc likely to create discussion, and thus enable the parties to occupy their time more profitably by pur suing their respective avocations. THE KIRK AND THE VETO. It appears frame statement made by Mr. Black, in the Edinburgh Town Council, on Tuesday, that in the Old Church, which is now vacant, up to the end of De ember, there were only 38 seats taken. This church is situate in the heart of the Old Town, and consequently in the midst of a large population, yet Chalmers and his party call out for more churches, while they cannot fill those already built. Tho Old Church has now been vacant nearly six months ; a further delay was agreed to at the last meeting, and it is not at all impossible, therefore, that the right of presenting may fall into the hands of the Presbytery. The valuable living of North Leith has also been vacant about six months. Some three or four candidates have withdrawn, one after the other : four more are again in the field, and tne veto ists and non-vetoists seem as unlikely as ever to come to an agreement. According to an Edinburgh paper, long and warm discussions took place on Monday, at a motley meeting held in the parish church, each party squabbling for his favourite candidate, amidst- cheery, laughter, and hisses, and one speaker (Mr. Couper) seemed as determined to fight and conquer as if he had been with Napier on the Syrian coast. "We have got a vested right," said he, "in the presentation. We wilt stand by that right, and nail our colours to the mast.—(Laughter, cheers, and hisses.") And all this takes place under the blessed system of the men, who, while they talk of peace, and harmonious calls, and Gos pel ordination, not only set the law at defiance, but stir up the worst passions among the people committed to their charge. This veto, as we have often said, will be the death of the Kirk. THE IRON DUKE.—The arrival of an iron sea-posin g vessel in our river, is an incident of so much in terest from its novelty, that a e have been tempted to pay it a vi it, and to gat'ner such particulars as might be de sirable to possess. The Gautier had previously given us as article on the subject, but it iv too meagre and unsa'is factory to be of much use to our merchants. The Iron Duke was built at Glasgow, foe the employ of Messrs. George Het ick and Co., of Waterford ; and left that port aith a general cargo on the 6th July. Her outward passage was not marked with any peculiar difference front that of others which left at or about the same time. Alto gether the success of the first iron ship to this port must be highly gratifying to those concerned in her, but we un derstand it is doubtful if even the Duke, with his iron sides, will at any period equal the well tried wooden walls of old England.—Friend of ROME.—The Constitutionnel publishes a letter from Rome, which states that the feast of languages w as cele brated on the Itith ult, at the College of the Propaganda. Cardinal Mezzofcuitt presided at this solemnity, unique in its way. All the strangers of distinction in Rome were invited and assistml. The festival commenced by a pro logue in Latin, delivered by an Illyrian. A young man from New York then recited a poem in Hebrew. Two Chaldcals a dialogue in the idiom of the RabLis. Abd- Al!ahs Assemani, a native of Lebanon, declaimed in Sy rian ;erne; and a young man from Bethlehem delivered a discourse in Samaritan. A Persian spoke in Chaldean. Two Turks, ore from Aleppo, another from Constant . - noplc, deelaimed in Turkish poetry. Two young Indians Pegu spoke is Dineen ; the younger of the two, only to elve years. of age, &elide ea with so much skill that he res&ved unbounded applause. Some Armenians read a La in elegy, a discourse in ancient Greek, and verses in modern Greek AKurd read verses in that language, remark able for the hardness of the sound. An American of New Sc thud an in Celtic. Afterwards fsllowed Illyrian, 13ulgariar, Peenzir, German, Dutch, Eng:ish, and French. A negro from Godsciand spoke in Ammarien. An inha bitant of Calif reia sung a song in the barbarian dialect of his nation, accompae3ing himself with caotagnetteo He was applauded, but the greatest applause arts reserve for the Chise4e, Joachim Ku-o, from Cie province of He-man, si caking tee langeage of his c orritry composed entirely of monosyllables. A second speakieg the Chine s e of Can ton. In flee, two other Chinese of Sci-an presented themselves in their rational costume, and read verses in toe ioione of their previece, termioatieg those acale.nic exer ci es by a most harmonious Chise e song. The greater part of t',e audit ra understood but one word " alleluia," which occurred frequently. The loud applause bestowed by the vi•iters, Catholic and Prete.itant, preyed to those young men how much their per formance was admired. NOVEL MODE OF THIEF CATCHING.—A few days since an inhabitant of the ancient burgh of Prest wick having observed that a potato-pit in his kail-yard had beer, broken into, and a quantity of potatoes carried away ; and supposing that another visit might be paid to it, bethought himself of a plan which would effectu ally lead to the detection of the offender. Accord ingly, next day, he dug a pit, to the depth of about nine feet, adjoining the pote.toe pit, and covered it wish smell sticks, straw, and earth—thus rendering the sur face level with the ground. All things thus being prepared, the thief again, during the night, proceeded to the potato pit, expecting to rifle it of a portion of its contents as formerly unmolested; . but having unwittingly planted a foot on the covered pit, in the twinkling of an eye she descended, along with the sticks, straw, and earth, to the bottom with a vengeance ; and, after wearying herself in endeavouring to make her escape, she sunk down, and quietly submitted to her fete. Next morning, the Prestwiekian went into his yard to examine how matters stood ; and upon approaching the mouth of the pit, lie looked down, and, to his amazement, saw, not au urchin or brawny chid, but an old and hagard woman cowering at the bottom, and al. moat overcome with cold. Having thus found cut who the person was who had been helping away with his potatoes, he was moved with ccmpassion towards .her, and, there fore, instead of handing her over to the ministers of jus tice, to be " prosecuted with the utmost rigour of the law," he kindly liberated her from durancit vile, believing that she had already suffered a sufficiently lengthened period of imprisonment. —Ayr Observer. In noticing any matter at this moment connected either with the East or West Indict, it is material that tin re should he tro leaning towards either of those great interests, and that no facts should be kept cut of eight cal eulatsd to assist a correct judgment on the questione at issue. The argument lately used to show why a prefer ence has beers given in the West Indies to the production of rum rather than sugar, is impugned by a correspondent. He contends that rum is only made from the molasses, or "skimming of sut.Tar," and that therefore the production of sugar is necessarily involved in its manufacture. To a prs ference for masking rum, rather than sending over sugar, he would not therefore attribute the decrease in the impor tation, but would rather find the cause in the scarcity of labour, and its uncertainty even when procured. Valuable estates, be asserts, with canes actually ready for cutting, —canes equal to 250 hogsheads of sugar, and the culture of which has already cost the ex pense of twelve and fourteen moutlis,—have been offeeed fir a merely nominal price to any body who can find the requisite labour, that the canes may be prese•ved from rotting in the ground. It should be observed thtt these statements are not so much made in reference to the Western possessions generally, as to Guiana in particular, where, it is said, the negroes not only receive high wage;, but look upon the act of working at any price as a matter of 'great favour. There is, of course, no doubt that a scarcity of labour must bring with it a scarcity of produce; sat in accounting fsr a diminution cf import, this should be taken into account. As for the argument against tl.e probability of a preference for rum over sugar, it might be conclusive could it be proved that molasses was the only ingredient used in the manufac ture of rum ; and further, that the material called molastei really contained only a certain quantity of saccharine matter, and was not surcharged with it for the purpo3ei of distilling. The evidence taken by the Committee of "- House of Lords on East Livia produce show " skimmings of sugar," as well as moles ,— which are two so that the question • ,that the article 3, are employed " •- tmc manufacture of rum ; rial that m;e •-• cull left whether some of the m a t e _ m at have come into the market in the shape of sugar does not form part of these "skimmings" from which rum is distilled.._ Times. The Directors of the Royal Polytechnic Insti tuthn beg to say that t.e Statement which appearod in ih.l Post and Herald relative to the withdraw it)g of the new po:ta , fc stlmps was nct in any degr ee aut h or i sed by th qu.—Robt. J. Longbottom, Secretary. WANDswouTtr.—On Thursday a new Police 'cow t was opened at Wandsworth. It is rota new buildirg cr, ct:.d far the purnose, but a room, in the house of Mr. Bucknell,the superintendent of the V divi , ion, in Litre-lane, Wandsworth, has been fitted up for the purpose. MORNING EDITION. EGYPT. ALEXANDRIA JAN. 27.—M. C, C o nsul' General of France, will return thither in about a fet' night, and a new di p l omat i st i s cxlecte d here. C e he t tainly, his position is changed very much of late, en d h cannot avoid feeli ng it. his perceptible to all, that Raga influence is now no longer paramount in the Divo' 131 to render it s till more str iki ng , an E ng li s h engineer of been called in to pronounce sentence on the ehl° a dry dock w hi c h t l :e F renc h h ave b e en promisiq t° ief construct in the mud of a western harbour. hat e already sunk an immense caisson filled wit i masonry, and nobody can find it. The niche bed P r ; viously severa l h one t E ng li s h op i n i ons give° hint lid speeting the impo s sibility' of building an ything !o 5 1 there with ou t a f oun d a ti on , an d o f k e eping out sr j U b h &c. ; but he h a t e d t o h ear o f the impossibility et . proj -cts, and found F renc h eng ineers ready to take i e ; money, and h umour hi m i n oVertyi.l4ng. Now, beorl no more mo ne y t o spare , no; n ore occasion fo r i o armaments and dry do c ks fOr three-deckers, ap ' fine, no f ur th er con fid ence i n F renc h en gineering. 0 The Pacha ha s pensioned off his. Turkish officers follows :—To Fezzi Ahmed, the Kapoudan POOOO who br oug ht t h e S u l tan ' s fl eet h ere , h e has give" bilak s feddans o f l an d, near l y es many acres , on the "40 of the Mahmoudieh Canal, to cultivate, and 7 5' 00 0 dollars per annum. (This man had s c i ll ie lY riff j 'l l; dollars a year salary at Constantinople.) his Kiaya, has been given .1,000 feddans on the 5 : o f canal, and 5,750 dollars a year. Last l 3' , the s T% - esc Sheriff Aga, who also receives proportionate PaY• t tli three trait ors are a ll t h at remain to Me heng i si ca of tha T ur ki s h fl eet, a f ter a ll hi s labour: ), m ake and disapp o i n t meats ; an d h e s eems to do, make mu c h o f th em accor di ng l y . Their so le t h e to celebrity an d cons id erat i on consists ;a to p! base betrayal of their trust. Au , t he aruhitiou is extinguished in Egypt. Hassan BP O , for Egyptian Vice-Admiral, who had hoisted bis, ll4 l l o la'n' four months in a line-of-battle sh i p' to 'quietly hauled it dowr, and returned 3ct eru d „ a o '' rt• shore, where he may resume his previous -I;:od ment of Administrator• of the Marine, with 1 % 0 bY ante or leisure, aid little chance of interruPd'a s lyo ribtiler blast of war blown in his ears. Yec r 11 / the tire - Arab sailors who ha-.l beea employed c i s to batteries ashore were sent back to their v fi e l : en rof assist in the reparations making for the of t he three object;: -Ist, to despatch a division, thr ee Egyptian fleet, consisting of four frigates otl e l ath corvettes, to the Isle of Candia to bring how° t " t here Regiment of Infantry from their garrison d et ti v kiih (according to a recent arrangement with ti ,e leapt commissioner, Mazloutn Be)) ; 2d, to prePaiwOber ports, to bring the Syrian troops from Gaze, if t be • n der of should permit ; and 3d, to dismantle the real , spa the vessels, and lay them up in the wet do l e T hs , safely store their equipage in the arst na p o bs,l return of the Nile steamer, with Ibra him anxiously looked for. It left this on the Ine r tt h e - the 22d instant, bearing Kosrouff Effend i t.distelf dragoman of Mehemet Ali) on that mission, inloc out the after having assisted the Stromboli to toW nl i i rott Turkish fl ee t. - T o- d av the Frenc h c orvette wi t osit er was to have sailed for 'Smyrna, • but her sailieg c / o tbei died yest er d ay , i t was sa i d of the plague, a nd b . h° were thrown overboard, the ship fumigated, now it is d ec l are d to be some other diseas e ' oba i r j h Leans from Cairo announce that Solo an a P S a ca e G n u t i e f r o e( f l A E k g a y b •p a t h t ) ry ; the eastern horn of the Ildu a t SS' . They were 't d gate estitut a and the Governor .' t coui demand pravisions of Abbas Pacha, theGovereft Abel% and had arrived with his at ° ,l,i sent! Ibraham Pacha had not yet arrived at a"' t Me h n i t k h l e i v c i l si t on ha o d f . P Ibrahim p acha, n am ,", 411 ' g uaruee poi lit i f it he horse, as a state prisoner —not, as the): dare, for any treason committed, but st°, l "; ti t° should take it into his head to turn his roil back to his harem at Damascus red h er r Yesterday two fresh cases of plague cce ti , r io one on board the frigate Damietta ; the elr ' l r e iote ee6t ' 3d Regiment. This, among other subjects o f COD' formed a topic of serious conversation he t i 7 e ; it I(ss } , modore Napier and the Pacha, and h' of the mainly owing to the earnest r presentatice:, owelf former, that th e l atter has decided on s weep s the the masses o l fil t h to he seen in a ll t he O , e n ehr the city, in the shape of thousands of tots,' doge-u 1; human beings pig together in dirt ar„„ tion indi scr ib a bl e, b ut suff i c i ent to i t it e s jresadra'3. perenni a l pl ague i n the heal t nt . °, a r t e Dr. Gras so , t h e p l ague -phys i cian , had - n e a similar r emonstrance, and the or der is g o n e that the Arab st i es b e shovelled awn,' by a - le 011 ' .1 ; culean lab our . Th e numerous garr i s on in tit," must, however, first be disposed 01, and se : 9 b(;1011 villages i n the count r y ; f or the 0 41 " , "fliti;tal tb to their wires and familiee, who tie en- ' sir ra) a soldiers wh erever t h ey go, and. squat beside tn to sni n to in these extemporaneous huts, built ton l evi , only in, two short to lie straight in, and with &fast n ` i- s, he crept through. When it is considerci° t fr ost soldier has one, two, or three wives, 0 1, 0 ireaglp, many clusters t e , i e li r ilc a lre i. n ; following him, may c**... .nrig what er T of reg d im en e s n -C ts n a 'i r ; e cll e ti n ie c v p il e l :; gte: v g'e'trb b eri f, u tb6 wh Grt at changes are contemplated by the 1' rialtos, employment both of soldiers and fellalio, i° tbe in commerce, and in his own administration njiarihl3 st rious depatturente of State. is intent Oboe ing the lands among his grands es, with be j they will elicit mole produce (to be taxed)tb° retc h j e , yet been aid,: *to accomplish,thoueb tit the e e ; fellabs' hacks have not he say. The chief douanier is e to sP ise 134 : ( 1 °9 All the present mudire (ada'.inistrators) -o to be ' 1 (inspectors) of provinces :and "districts ar e pd carded, and to be reaaeiaced by the Paeloll - i dcd , asp among whom the 'land of Egypt is to be ' l :4d e for themselves, are to he allowed to make as much a- p a chs' re e kta, m irmiet s ii e inri l: e ' a c d s Ente , iiosn a pia f i ' ar t d e iy r s i much r e t: t t e h s l l , o i 0 0 0 : .. 6 br i Me c m i l li t i ke to obtain it. or Said Ile h a a n s d corn iti c o b u ne c v o 's. lout any, - having m or after tb thee, suited his father, has set y ; out again fnr th e to try. The produce of late commercial ealestiodzt`;;•3. collected, amounting to 800,000 dodo"' f ro in t he are l appropriated to pay the army returnieg „ 0 hr ; : o f The Pacha consoles himself in a great tiq",i a re'en ri a ,' loss of Syria, Caadia, and Arabia by eolailu: I d e a 'L6 economy. The first mentioned li:rehab° !..e,t060,„ 2,200,000 dollars, while the ex erase vies i Z dollars. So, here is a saving at one P e of tat: 01 1 0 0 700 In Candia the saving is reckoned ate - ore O r r e - 'oo°, l r„ r dollars. In Arab a the Pacha eX i acti ticcl a r - o ' . for dollars, and did not receive a farttaing in r et. " n oon tn ot l, is a saving of rem ly 6,000,000 dollars Pcritefol,r if - 12 4,p'Pt T. The Pacha ought, to be mos t gr a bu ry h' he please: , , may put his house in order, a n self its gold. ass / tlis S l 'l l ' :•,p L it tj al K :a: S h e l l ai d °s t l' t i: t l e A G LC eo o r uF g rO e t 011 a ncl: ;; N : 1:-Ati t : : ced'i'll°:fra:° ; Thurs day L i lo Annual General f the `-'° Car"; hil.:, when a statement of the number of P 3 V -n D' e ; j s e t i r t a c b tr l e e: t dM it i c tl p e l d w a , ::: d di t s h c a h t ar: h e e d re f w ro e m r : ln ja ' n ,:t . t ... : d f r° :; : ri lb u i t r;rt l r l) ,st:; oB :e. s il lp fet) o ,l i ily , : s,r a e,det i ae , 3if e' rse c t i t l i l air 2 m s ,gl Bi eee : st ; , e didwe ' t o s:oo, u , ' uo a lsrit s i4e o accid.,i n o l e t rm i s i f d e t ilit, r mild i yl l a ea : i t i l , e f i o atst r ,b l: o 2 ,lvl ;l 2d h a:: : : o d i C ntsa :: i d o Lign t : li - i i. e t ove t )e lL sa r li rr g. et : i l 't e i e : . 18 , J ; remainin n g g 106; .unfit, the „do ,b P oot , , ft would further a r ea able, 64 • deaths, trial, 13. incurable there here •-the l i p • 1 J a n. 1, .• mules, so, in riospita , er admitted d • w ri nt l t h i h al ot 50 1 2 p : Iitp :i la i b i : in:teis ' 4 ; oo. l :::: iif :: o44; during the year 6, of whom 47 a' b d e s ire 5 9 females. There NS Rt: o r one discharged 4 A 'i n O f friends, 1 out on trial, 6 dead, y and 96 reola t- ` e— Mis r. hospital. The following is a ) r, psis of tho ttir . o o, J P alluded to above :—On the books, Jan' " 15 0, 2°1) 4 7,cuuarryaitsbb:laces:ailinbodoo,6,ciintsietcatu‘lrrcaadbble2e7;2tatc,dtEin,itt,4tiesed2; d pu r ls ir r_ it ar t a h ou S r ito e c v: s l, - :ng l o s n il t u he L bo A ok i s ,E , Dcc.SVII i „f, ---The result of this election, write. a G °ll°. °f lb° should not be taken as thir fedi: 0 110 - t, o f the division, i o count.3, as there net little -v roore'trhan 4,000 cOrierroboote,, :i ELECTIONirI34 curable, FO 6llirfesiunitrelsb9ii!e* i_t e o g o r r i gu b : le , ; , , ,_ u a t 1 a constituency amounting to 6,50 0 , or tlis;„ OA' ". vulg irealll 2 noó unolled. There era Mag id - rs ci against the Ulu 1 ,the • f tho tioof' era parti, operations n _ oec _,, aa,nndd who „ C e l i e c r i g g y:, both very active o i tl i g r li t t h c ot to s e L a pthier which they r ecOrd ifig f ar', the opportunity ' of doing. Mr. Alcock deserves al big for going eery erector an opportunity or r ar d rig- t vote, and it is to be hoped that he will come forwbil ecr u, it and by being early in the field there is no doubt vot ers b. t ° is qei:e secure. In the late election Iraq t a ny g • 1/ given th, it promi,e; I dote they were aa are r a b a leman on th , Li• crsl side was coming for"' hat a , ,/ 0' The letters from Manchester sta:bio"sel..:7::::si: usual demand has sprung up there for a n ew t : „ il lsti ti% ‘, mousseline Ce laiae" specie:, which i t a L , e pro m ve a r ri n u c f r a lf c;u i r li crs to great exertions, tending their rawer of ioduction, and ir Airing., the f faciliti . , , , s .he mo t ti h , e y ppat„lsetPrangs; gOivethorusea, ',.,:hrilopufg:c.ifract,oll ale trnsitritted in the letters, and th .1 puLO: ea llf el. g. have: v seen them, wilt hardly ere di' , ' 1141 14 1 ( 1 . . Or.. .a ,, r,es arc protlnced, at the rir 0 of Bas 0 „Y,1,7 1 „ f ur a cot: 0 7 inches wise , . 1t he II "'w t. :mat proof, if any were wanted, o f the 111 ' 0 " - t bell" whir h our manufat turerr, if fair plaY / be gi" P ire t t in toll contrive t) of tiin the command of 'every mar k f o r for a . world. Some of the irranufactefers have n' aer rv en''' that they are able to produce wiri n in the next thref io kg' Money seems to cor.t'nue in Cl ,nsiecraye &man! im pedi: cheste-, but not no as to create any yery o rion , on in tbo meat to the general activitl,, which, is springiq op t° trade of the district. ti A .• CURIOUS CONSANGUINXTY.--t1 s h ort d moon since, at James's Church, Poole, a father marr ie , , siste r j • wnc 5 a wife's aunt. The son marrir d his father -5 fat her, 5 4 Consequently one Sets is broil , er _in_law .t0_44. , i on • othe r a-ifo the father brother-in-law tr, hi s so n. Toe,,' , j his - , nephew and son-in-law to his father's wile; 7,, ei . , n ice", is niece and thughter-io-law to her husband' o r ,":,, go an . ! and sister-in-law to her husband's brother, a r scvu ld D u sister-in-law to her bm.bann's brother's wife. . 1 _ 1 ; !,.,,i, re difficult to frail a parallel instance of such low' tionship.— Selisbiery Her a.d. a., '-:w. , . ''t,t~a. ,:,, • 1 . j , , , ~'~ 0,. tlt '~~ •. ~, s'