The Sun. — London, England, 1849-07-12 00:00:00

:5 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 O 2 6 O 5 1 O 3 0 O 2 6 1 0 0 O 2 6 1 0 0 4 12 0 2 q 0 O 10 0 O 5 0 O 10 0 1 1 0 O 5 0 O 2 6 O 1 0 O 0 6 0 0 1 5 6 O 110 0 O 4 6 1 10 0 O 2 0 O 2 6 O 3 9 5 0 0 O 5 0 1 0 0 5 0 0 1 0 0 8 12 4 O 16 0 4 0 0 O 12 6 O 2 6 1 0 ° 5 0 0 1 1 6 0 2 6 11 1 0 0 • 1 0 . _ .0 2 6 .1 0 0 . 10 10 0 5 0 0 0 1 0 0 6 0 0 5 6 0 2 6 0 2 6 1 10 0 5 0 0 0 5 0 6 0 7 3 0 : 0 15 v 1 1 0 0 1 1 5 0 0 0 10 0 0 10 0 6 0 2 5 0 S 0 0 5 0 5 v n 0 10 v 0 0 2 0 0 1 o 7 0 0 2 6 o 5 0 5 0 6 0 2 7 6 0 0 2 6 0 2 6 0 2 6, 0 2 6 0 2 O 15 O 0 O 3 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 4 D 10 u 9 0 2 0 0 1 1 0 ' 2 0 u L 16 EES• [PATH! . .ND Lz- riterven- kers: -- tor;" or recently IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. (THIS DAY.) HOUSE OF — COMMONS. o'cln The SPEAKER took tho Ch a i r s h or tl y after Twelveek. lo Mr. S. A.DAIR presented petitions in favo u r of th e te b y ballot. In rep THE SCOTCH BILLS. ly te r. HER FRBES, Mr. LABOUMGOE intimated that the Noble Lord the F irst Lord o f t h e T reasury would make his . D state tient upon thi s suhject et five o'clock this efterrnoon ME RCHANT SEAMEN AN PILO s. On the motion of Mr. LABOUCHERE the House weet into Committee. Mr. LABOUCHERE then rose and said he proposed, is redemption of the engagement which he entered into at an ear l y period of the session, to call the attention or the R ouse to the various objects connectedwithsodated the Mercan tile marine o f thi s country, and he felt er in doi ng so that it would be wholly unnecessary for him to d e tain the H ouse with any preface by setting forth he im mense import ance o f t h e su bj ect to which invited th e attention of the House. He need not dwell upon the immense capital invested in the merchant service t country, up portion magnitude ofo. thisthe on the great and valuable immense 'of our population which it employed, nor of the connected with 414t ienal as well as commercial interests ~h© service. It was their duty at a formerp t e o rio a d of the subject session to call the attention of the illtireatelY connected with the interea ll ts ol o is f e aervice—he meant the question of the the navigation- merchant l aws- On that occasion, in znieasures which he felt it his duty to prop ~ bringing forward tho h s e e encountered, as he had naturally anticipated, oppof'ses,,itwienes o f a great and powerful party, to whose opinions h, Well aware the principle of the Bill which he proposednther Was altogether contrary, and he, therefore, could Teel surprised nor complain of the strenuous opposition Which that measure had to encounter. But he had titers Ithatni.r wacitthi of entertain invited being able to feeling the re a g t a te r n d to the class of subject to which a he ri ( o )P w ion of the House no such party would mcessarily be excited; but, on the contrary, s th a a , t they should be able to turn their attention in adi p alenate manner to this subject, and to endeavour, bybest 'their united counsels, to dispose of them in the which manner, with a due regard to that great interest ht n ti tYe e .„ l "et• Ile had already adverted to changeth t ? on. nut rarliament had agreed to in the n fo a r vigat iout he could not say that in any measure the relief, he could. laws; improve ment of the mercantile marine, or tu h r a it d s urged is support nsistently with the arguments he of the navgation laws, recommend those !louse as a sort of compensation . for measures the injuryto the so tha t inflicted upon the mercantile service re peal by co t u h r e sew 'those laws. If he were to do altogether inconsistent with the arguments ou 1d be to agree to the re when he asked the House hpeeahladhfustehde, havig‘tion service of this country by laws—but if he had believed that injury was inflicted upon the mercantile nicp h siliarnent had consented to the alterations w make in them, no consideration on earth would have in du .ecl hie; to propose . that alteration to the Hou se . In did not s ay th a t future roses raures would not be in roduced with a view swingg this, however, h ° to the urn * p r ovement or hd v a n t age o f that marine; but this he would S W, that th e at t ention o f the mercantilemartne would after wh a t h a d taken place, be earnestly directed to tho e grievances which they consi lered they h lrthoured under directing greater attention to them than they did durine Ihe period w h en they believedt _.-y were pr tectert though they were i n reality crippled by the existence of he navigation-l aws. This he thought was an of i nrlu, men nient to the lloti-e to ca l m ly cons id er t hi s class . . He did not propose on that orcision to take a 1 complete view of all the questions that affected the frnarcanele marine. Indeed it would be impossible se veral 'Min in a single statement to do so; but there were had Ptuartneedtohis veral questions of great importance to which he thaett*.ntion and upon which he intended to pro• Measures of relief and importance. Upon others he was Rouse what he trusted would be found *suable at that •,a the session to pro Rouse any ip „,,,,, 4t , b , it pent) of me period which he could hope the Press the deserved, but upon this consider as maturely as they occasion he was anxious to ex preliminary sentiments and interests of the Government . to proceeding by Bill in another session, in `older that the Rouse and the public—but more especially o th f a cZ w • houl . they affected—might have an opportunity con s them during the recess with that careful lkle-ss which their importance required. The first of the inlijects to which he wished to call the attention of the 'llse candle w ere the li g h t dues which were paid by the mer ccitile ma rine of thi s country. The burden of the light ee l " ePon the mercantile marine had been long justly it-13140 Plained of; from their weight, unequal distribution, tm o ibr many other reasons connected with the system e r -ti which they were founded. In other countries t P th ts were 111,,,, maitained at the public expense, or of the l' a ced at the disposal of the Treasury.—(Hear,) In --.3 count different system Maintai ry a _ . . and were under the Il ed by tolls upon shipping, . . prevailed—they were ratina n ,„ _c itl is N seement of ancient corporations, which in England.. diet; fse, and Ireland, exercised a separate juris -°e, and over which the Privy Council exercised an o oltnthneertect authority, with which they were invested r countries the lights were placed under some Inegeneral board of management, responsible to the Govern -et and the public. He felt it well to express his neuPHlton that it was snost desirable to improve this sys ohm' and to render it more censonant with the wants of pres ent day and the requirements of the mercantil e marine, and more in accordance with the w ay in cent:Meted, which the admi n i strat i on of this country was r etract any of than the at present. I n saying this he did not opinions he hail expressed. He had general embodied his views in which ntroduced last session, the 13resent insporMot a n d principle of was to substitute for the Privy Council xercised inadequate co n t ro l w hi c h th e con trol by a Governmen(t ivF board of boards an efficient he ot management, light Re and also to no Saes to a char Mmute the pr esent system of payment of .l. ge on the of te shipping at large. !e intended still to adher e to tonnage the principles that tnea- L ur e; and if h e had ag-.in to lay a B u ll on t h e eu bj • et on the table it shoal embody the same principles, though he a dmitte d t . atieuusequent reflection showed th a t t h e modi kion of some of the clauses would be advisable. As, he sever, that Bill could not be passed this .ession, even if embodied in the present Bill, he thought it well to reMerely intimate the course he should adopt with spect to i t, leaving the consummation until a uture session. 'laving turned his attention to the possibility of obtainin g for the commercial Marine relief from the burdens which the pre sent light dues imposed upon them, he put himsel into communicati on with E the Tri,niiwtyerll,., , vested, I u"' in whose h. ' management the lights in England Was proud to state to the Heti e that be had found . en the part of that cnrperati in an at xious desire to co-operate with the Government in this matter. Re w as t h e more b oun d to state thts, as the two:gr. meta of th e Trinity-house ha d been much imp ugne d a nd having e x p resse d t h a t opinion, which . he had su i te d o n forme r occas i ons, he was the snoretrhpressedw lt t his inst ance o' t h e i r liber.dit, as he found that those breth ren in tee corperation who had beee—if he might use the expression —most libersl in their readiness to meet the views of the Government had only life interest in its welfare,—(Hear, hear.) No b e was not by any means inclined to . go into any unnecessary details. A great portion of 1/19 the d ifficulties with which the corpristiion had to deal. which bore most hardly on thEt merchant service in wits c ountry-, arose trotn the de;c tentracted some time ago in consequence of perch%ing the private lighthouses on the coast. That d e dto million of money, sequence of t and in con ht av e,ounte a tiler question, th ~.te representations of the mercan , , e - -e e :erporation had entered into an ar house w `tu tote mercantile interest. The Trinity byntsi h ad paP., a large portion of the debt contracted only „%I),,,ere:a_tise of_ the private lights, They had not the e F.'.4 all the interest due, but also a large portion of a , I"erincipal with considerable interest. The whole eoetut which had been discharged was 500,0001., and `` e re was an arrangenaent still in existence by which to Trinity- house were bound to pay 50,0001. per annum. 'perly stated that That was a great burden, and the corporation very pro c_coehunt try, they , under the circumstances, and consider ing the benefits which they had conferred upon the were entitled to have the payment of this .1_ 0 s.pread over a greater number of years. Now, in 4418 p li llorli the tim e was :services were . come when the merchant ere entitle to this relief; for upon them of rurrse fell the great weight of this obligation.—(Hear. ea ') Tie must also say that the Trinity-house had this matter Matter by adopting give' their fullest co-operation to the furtherance of 1 the a system of greater economy trile agetnent of their lights. The Hen. Member lfor Slontrose r. flume)—he did not know whether phisff 'Wee in the House —had on a former consideration of I,th_e,ir. the question called their attention to what he termed extravagant mode of managing their lights, and e• want of economyeco in not using rape oil. Th. Wgge,.,."rntY•house not failed to take advantage of the C" stion had changed their mode of managing lights, and rape oil had in effect ir:n used tor most of the lights on the coast.—(Hear, ~!e r -) He believed, therefore, that it was but justice to ',l Trinity -house that this debt should be spread over a greater numb e r of years. His object was at present only ttoo thosesafer to the private lights on the English coasts, for . of Scotland and Ireland the same objection did re zn e o e t aP .7- -- (Ile sr, hear.) tie found by the returns that foisvnl cost of sustaining these lights was 318,000/. ; boss for Scotland, 1 45 0 001; and of those for Ireland, 173,0001 Of th e 001 the Trinity Board, b) the ne w - • - - and the eco principles which they had adopted, h nntnY which they had used had saved ups% ards of 100.000/. or more than one-third of wh,le cost,_ 0 001., Cheer-). That was the amount of the reduction already effeCteri, and the sub jac! of the strong representation ou the strength of whtch the Government were disposed to make the !herczeduetion for the future, of the light dues aid by hant-vessels.—(Elear, hear.) He bound to sly f 4l at he took upon himself all the ponsresibility which Iho alteration might involve when the reduction should De made When he came to consider the whole of thi vehjct, he found that these dues pressed muct, Moro heavily upon coasters than upon foreizo (!r, over -sets vessels. In the first place, if thee ;3cl/es were e paid only by those ve , s,ls whi c h ; ` )t aind a direct an d i mmediate benefit from the 'Of; but littl e a d vantage would accrue to the snerchan. 'l4:lrviee from the alteration. But such was not the case th erefore the whole of the mercantile marine would nt. relieved. By the changes proposad e which he ad uPt, 7 0,000/. a year w ou ld b e saved to the merchan, service of this country, and that was about 50 per cent °f the amount now paid by the coasting vessels of this country, But the House would perceive that this bone t was prospective, as the Bill was only intended to take eu eet on the Ist of October; but When it did come into operation, it would cccasion a relief to the amount of one-halt the money now paid by the shipping inter est.—(Cheers.) He would not at that time enter into the details of the measure, for those could be fully con sidered when the Bill was in Committee; but he might observe. that it was the custom for foreign or over-sea vessels to pay a toll, not only on passing a light, but also on their return. That ho proposed to abolish by this Bill, and to make one payment sufficient. That would make a reduction of 50.0001., or what was equal to 16 per cent. upon the amount paid by foreign or over•sea vessels; so that the House would see that the reduction on coasters would be 50 per cent., and on foreign vessels 16 per cent.; and he was again bound to say, that in the win 13 of this matter he had received the best assistance from the Trinity-house. Sir J. GRAHAM—It can be done without an Act of Parliament. . . UCHERE—The Rie,,ht Hon. Baronet asked him if it could not be done witheut an Act of Parliament. It certainly could be done by the Trinity house, with the consent of the Privy Council, without having recourse to the enacting of an Act of Parliament. He came now to another question, which was also of great importance to the shipping interest of this coun try—he meant the question of privilege.—(Hear, hear.) It was not new in that House, for frequent attempts bad been made to improve the system under which our pilotage was conducted. He remembered when he had the honour, some years ago, of being President of the Board of Trade, the Right Honourable Gentleman the Member for the University of Oxford strongly urged upon him the propriety of dealing with this question, and he recollected when the Right Hon. Gentleman was President of the same Board, he in his turn returned the compliment by requesting him to in terest himself in dealing faith this difficult subject.— (" Hear," and a laugh.) He believed they had both very good reasons for not undertaking it, while they were very much warned against it by the example of his late lamented friend Lord Sydenham, who with great energy, great industry, and great talent, devoted himself to the consideration of the question; but in that instance he was sorry to say that local interests were too strong, and the public interest too weakly represented, to give much chance of success to any efficient measure upon the subjece—(Hear, hear.) However, he did not intend to propose, nor was he in a condition to propose, any great or general scheme, such as was contemplated by Lord Sydenham on this question, if he did, he could not hope that at this period of the session the House would be able to carry it ; but with regard to this subject, as well as upon the subject of lights, he had turned his attention to considering whether it would not be possible, even at this period of the session, to secure for the mercantile interest of the country some practicable relief from a system which he, for one, had always Con sidered acted with great severity on all who were en gaged in the merchant service —(Hear, bear.) The sys ' ,em of pilotage in England was under the control of ; three jurisdictions first, there were the Ci nque Ports, who had the control of the p ilotage within their own range. Then some of the greatest of our ships had to resort to a pilotage that was under the control of local and special jurisdiction; et.il , in the last place, the rest of the country, cons ;trising that part of the kingdom beyond the North Fore. Lind, and which was traversed by most of the shipping passing to the port of London, ceme under the jurischc toil of the Trinity-house. In his communication with he corporation of the Trinity-house he had felt it his +toy to call their attention as well to the question of ilotage as to the questii.n of light, and he was happ} ei say, that upon this question likewise the cerporatioe lad met the demands of the mercantile interest, and the views of Government, in a spirit of en operation fuel sa to come to some arratigemeet en the subject And he was able to state to the House that a great prat , icable alteration would he introdueed into the piletag eystem under chir control.—(Heer, hear.) At present he coasting trade was alteget her exemp e e trove pilotage out the whole of the foreign trade of the country wa ..bliged to take pilots, notwithstanding the captain or toaster of each vessel might be sufficiently conversant with the coast as to enable him to work his ship into pert without risk or danger. That was a system which ren dered it incumbent upon every vessel to take or pay for a pilot, and he was sure the House would agree with him that it was an obligation which inflicted a severe injustice upon a large class of shipowners. At the time when this system was founded he believed there might have been good reason for its establishment; for instance, the importance of encouraging local pilots might have rendered it necessary, but in the present condition of our trade he had no hesitation in saying that if the system ought not to be alto gether abolished, at any rate it ought to be greatly modified and improved. Could a greater anomaly or injustice than this exist—a vessel going from Liverpool to Dublin was not obliged to take a pilot on going into Dublin, but a vessel going from Liverpool to Dublin, and then to Brest, was obliged to take a pilot in going into port, although the captain might be well acquainted with the coasting trade. He might multiply instances of this nature to show the injustice and anomalies of the present system, but it was not necessary for his purpose that he should trouble the House with doing so, since he was enabled to state the willingness of the Trinity house to allow in future any foreign trading vessel that should have on board a master or man con versant with the coast, and of whose fitness and ability they had previously satisfied them selves of, to dispense with the services of a pilot. It would be necessary for him to Wing in a Bill upon this subject; the Bill would be of a permissive and not of a compulsory nature, extending not only to the Tri nity-house, but to all bodies who had jurisdiction over pdose; it would allow them, if they thought fit, after having satisfied themselves of the qualification of the master or man on board, to grant permission to the ships to dispense with the services of a pilot. As he understood the law, the pilots themselves had a vested interest in working foreign traders along the coast, and unless this Bill were passed they might be in a position to bring actions against the Trinity-house He attached the greatest importance to this question. as this position would not only be given to the Trinity-house, but to the Cinque Ports and other jurisdictions, if they should think fit to avail themselves of it. Certainly he was not empowered on the part of the latter bodies to state that they were disposed to follow the example of the Trinity house, but at the same time he indulged in the hope that if the new system were found to work well in the instance of the Tri lay-house, the Cinque Ports and other local bodies would tie induced to consider whether there were not special circumstances to jusuity them to follow the example in part, if not in the whole. Still, however, he could not nelp thinking —returning to th., real question—that a prin e so i te, p k ero l 7 e u t d h os a rhn t o, u s , t,l, v ,fi e b s eb s e e eo l on e bi t o : l na irpg, i e n d g t f o r o m t a k a r o a a d l i t c , p ) n s t d i s c t i creel point had b een ga i ne d b y the establishment of the if e ten b t oar a d bil a ity cep t t n ain wo o r r k P m t a h n e vessel along th e coast.—(Cries of , " Hear hear. "He was authorised on th e part of the Trinity t ) e to state that thi s p erm i ssion woull be give n , an d as t he, 3111 h-- proposed to bring in was merely of a permissive character he could see no diffieuity in the way of carry big it even at this late period of the session. —(Hear, oear•) He was empewer-d by the Trinity-house to say that they did not mean that the permission in their hands should be a dead letter, but that they would truly and bona fide carry it into eff et; that the) would, in all cases Wore they should be satisfied of the eornpetency of the master or mate, or some other per eon on board an over-sea trader, to pilot the vessel along the coast, give permission to exempt that vessel from the necessity of paying a pilot whose services they do not require.—(Hear.) This was the only measure which lie proposed to introduce, with a view to carry out or emend the law in the course of the present session, but th-re was another measure relating to this question of the highest importance, and perhaps of still greater in terest, but with regard to which he did not propose to take any step, or to ask the House to pass it in the course of the present session. Indeed, at this period of the session he must despair of the House being able to give that consideration to the matter which would justify them in passing a measure on the subject, still he was most anxious to lay the views which he and the Government enter tained with regard to it upon the table of the House, in order that they might be considered by the House and the country with that deliberation which the importance and the interest of the question demanded.— (Hear, hear.) He came now to the consideration of the general condition of our mercantile navy.—(Hear, hear.) He desired to ask the consideration of the House to the condition of the mercantile marine, mainly with reference to the character and qualifications of the masters and mates, and to the discipline of the crews, and general well-being and condition of the seamen.—(Hear, hear.) They had already had incidental discus , ions on this subject while dolling with the navigation laws, and he could only repeat now, 'what he stated then, upon this question, that while nothing was further from his intention than to cast any sweeping or indiscriminate censure upon the officers of the mercantile marine of this country, yet, upon the other hand, truth and a sense of duty obliged him to state to the House his opinion—an opinion founded upon inquiries of no limited or superficial description —that there w as much in the condition and in the present state, in the qualification of the officers of our mercantile marine, in the condition and dia. cipline of the men, and in the condition of the mercantile sailors of this country, that required the most serious attention on the part of Government and the Legialature—(Hear, hear.) de believed that in saying this no corn nerciel man of experience, and no captain of the Royal Navy, whose professional services hail fed him to a distant part, where he heel found 13ritish ships, and hal ample opportunities o f forming an opinion upon the subjects, would contradict him when he said that especially in regard to the qualification, both in an honorary and a scientific eiint of view, the mercantile captains of this country were not the most competent in the world; and it was most desirable for the House to consider whe ther some measure could not be devised to put a stop to an evil prevailing in the mercantile marina of the country, which, if not soon arrested, he had no hesitation in saying would, ere long, threaten the prosperitt anti welfare of our mercantile service. —(Hear, hear.) Ho said this without any feeling of despondency wi h eteard to the condition of the British merchant navy. —( dear, hear.) 11. believed they possessed that which mast constitute the staple of the greatest mercantile Heavy in the world, anti he had no doubt whatever that hs -time judicious measures they might place it on the saints orerninent footing on which it once stood. It was, , t herefore, not from an y f ee li ngs o f despondency, nut from a tense o f d uty, that he urged the i-cussioa of this important question, in the hope that the most expedient course might be adopted to put a stop to the evils which they all so much re- He was un w illi ng t o go at any l engt h i nto gretted. evidence to prove the statements which he had made. They had had much discussion will regard to the character of those very remarkable documents—the reports of our Consuls—which had been laid on the table of the (louse. He was very much of the opinion which h- had heard exprt-s,ed by a Noble Le,rd in another place, who had paid great attention to the subject—he tnegot Lord Elleeborough. Speaking of the Consuls r , ports, he said although it might ba true in particu lar instances, the Consuls had b-en biased in favour of our merchant navy, and had coloured the character of it a little too highly, but that there could be no doubt ah)ut the truth and general accuracy of the reports. He believed that to be a fair description with regard to those Consuls. (LEFT SPEAKING.) THE ST-TN Lo DON. THURSDAY EVEN ING, JULY 12, 1549 certainly had not read the Alessa4e of the President in the same ...ay the Hon. Gentleman understood it. Ai he r(ad it. FIN un:ierst-od it to say, gem-rally, that Eng land and France had been on the best terms during the transactions that had taken place within the last year, in reference t. Rime; but with reference to the expedi tion to Rome, h© could say we were in no way involved in it.' " No way euvolved in it.' No doubt his Lordship could safely say this. " Mr. flume never meant to inquire whether we had supplied the French troops with ammunition, or given them actual aid in men or money. It would never have occurred to him to put such a question. What he says is simply this:—•lt is publicly alleged that we had con curred in the proceedings of the French against Rome, and I regret to observe that it is confirmed in the Speech of the President, which affirms that we agreed to, and concurred in these proceedings. Now the question I would ask is, did we, or did we not?' His Lordship knew that to give a true and direct answer as to our concurrence would be to admit the fact; aware that be was speaking within hearing of the newspaper re porters, and that its answer would make its way over the kingdom the next morning on the wings of the broad sheet, he rides off on an ambiguous term—' with respect to the expedition to Rome, he could say we were in no way involved in it.' " Nothing is so useful in Parliamentary logic, when a Member is bard run, as the use of words which slide easily from one sense into another. It c i a rd nn j o o t h f n ai ß l to be raehmonalrdkeadayastramt,er He somewhat singular that tha " t L read tho Message of the President in the way the Hoa. Gentleman (Mr. Hume) understood it.' What difference is to be found in these versions? As Mr. Hume read it, it averred that our Government were advised of the hostile preparations that were making by France against Rome, and offered no objection to them. ' As I read it,' says Lord John Russell, I understood it to say, that England and France had been on the best terms during the transactions that had taken place within the list year in reference to Rome.' Can the most critical perception separate the two meanings? The confession comes out stronger as Lord John proceeds, for be proceeds thus : " "The French Government had asked our opinion as to the propriety of their joining in the conference. at Gaeta; and we said in reply that we had no objection to the French Government sending a Minister to join in that conference.' " We have here the disclosure of a most important fact. The French Government did not take a single step until they had obtained the sanction of the British Ca binet. They would not even suffer their Minister to proceed to Gaeta with,ut taking counsel from Downing• street as to the propriety of so doing. The matter tot consultation was—' Would it be good policy fOr Franc , to concern herself with the special interests of the Pop( as determined upon at Gaeta, or to carry out her owl views, and leave those interests to abide the result?' Th. answer given was such as our privileged vanity entitle/. us to return—' We have no objection to your sending Minister to join that conference.' The + l ...Atteritg det.. renee paid to the judgment of our Ministers by the R. publican functionaries of France is remarkable. The etve them not only the haut de pave, but all the pavi Is this to be received as the first fruits of Fratornit% ? 0. is it the well earned reward of their concurrence? A Englishmen have a deep stake in these questions, let u pt oceed to profit by every additional light that is throws upon them." "Phis reasoning is so clear and close that there is n. evading it. This pamphlet, as our readers wil perceive, comes from a powerful pen. There are on. or two nan..es whispered as the writer, but we attar► hut little credit to the rumour as to either. That h. is of no party, and is as thoroughly well informed a to the past is the present state of political affairs, i evident, and his disclosures have already produced a sensation. 'That the striking prophecy contained it. the title•page is in a train of fulfilment we fully believe. In our opinion the events of every passing day are bringing it nearer to its accomplishment. PENDENNIS• By TV. M. Thackeray. Part IX. The present number commences a new era in the existence of Mr. Pen. He has left the country and located himself in chambers in the Temple, as a law student and litterateur, and is indulging in._4day dreams of vast annual sums of treasure which he is to realise by the exercise of his pen. ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY. The half•yearly general meeting of this society was held yesterday at the rooms, 3, Trafalgar-square; Ben jamin Hawes, sen., Esq., in the chair. The minutes of the last council were read and confirmed, as were also the minutes of the several meetings of the Committee, held since the last general court. The weekly report of the superintendent at the re ceiving -house, Hyde-park, showed that there had been in the course of the present season 192,450 bathers in the Serpentine-50,091 in the mornings, and 142,359 in the evenings; and that there were brought under medi cal superintendence in the receiving -house, 6; rescued and landed, 8; drowned, 1; found drowned, 2. qih.joined is a list of the cases referred to the Genf , ral Court, in all of which a silver medal was awarded:— Henry L%ngbnin, a seaman; saved Captain E. Stan le‘y,R N., and assist , d in saving others upset in a boat. Master Harcourt Carter; saved Thos. Regan and Wm. Warren. Mr. C. E. H. Parrant, mate, R.N.; saved a marine. Lieut. S. Osborne, R.N.; saved a sailor. John Dickerson; rescued two men from shipwreck. Thomas Carne, a miner; saved nine persons who had been upset in a boat. (In this last case it was deter mined, after some little discussion, that, in consideration of the recipient's great heroism and comparative poverty, he should be presented with 51. in addition to the silver medal ) Lieut. 0. L. Jones, R N.; saved a seaman. Martin F. G. Powell, a gentleman commoner of Win chester; saved his schooltellow. Thomas Sangster, engine•guard; saved the master and crew of the British vessel Thistle. The next two cases were referred to the Brighton Branch Society. William Cheesman; saved the Rev. G. Powell and M•Douell. Wen. Wright; tried to save Mary Hill, and brought up her body from the bottom of a well 130 feet deep. s(lr. Wright has also received (about ten years ago) the bronze meclitl of the society. The report having been then read, and the medals awarded, the thanks of the meeting were given to the chairman, and the prr eeedings ended. IRONMASTERS' QUARTERLY MEETINGS. WOLVERHAMPTON, WEDNESDAY.—The Midsummer quarterly meetings of the ironmasters of South Stafford shire comment.-d at Walsall yesterday, and to-day there was an extremely numerous attendance of the trade at the Swan Hotel, in this town. The prelitni.dary meeting held at Handsworth a fort night ego prepared the public for a reduction of price. It is scarcely necessary to say that the nominal rut. twreed upon at tkrse meetings is not invariably to be re bed upon. It is frequently violated in the first fortnight. Added to thi', many heavy contracts ate regulated b ) .pecial agreements. The toll in toe price of iron Iron ne April mewing may, however, be fairly taken at be weep 21. and 31 per toe, and the probability is, that ere !ong, if net during the present quarterly meetings, there gill be a stilt turther reduction. The fierce competition in Wales, and the continuation of the Danish blockade produce most destructive effects upon the iron trade or South Sraffordshire. Prices, as far as can be obtained. now range us follows:—Sheets, 71. to 71. 10s ; hoops, 61 to 61. 10'.; merchant braids, 51. 10s. to Cl. Some persons wake the quotations a little higher, and others a trifle lower, but the above may be taken upon good authority as a fair average. The very heavy reduction which has taken place does not, according to accounts, materially increase orders. Purchasers, with the hope of a further fall, hold back. The home market is consequently extremely dull; and it is needless to observe, that the state of Northern Europe has for the present almost entirely suspended our commercial intercourse with one of the largest and best markets for our iron manufacture. The workrwople in South Staffordshire bear the re duction of their wages with extreme good temper. They are no longer the tools of interested demagogues, but seem perf(ctly aware of the situation in which the iron. masters are placed. The proprietors of ironstone and coal have in consideration of the present condition of the iron trade reduced their rates of charge for those essen tial materials, the agents of Lord Ward (the most ex tensive owner of ironstone in this district) having an• nounced a fall of l 2 per cent. The nail trade, a most important branch of manufac ture in this neighbourhood, although somewhat depressed. Is comparately steady. It is infinitely better than two or three years ago. Orders from Canada and the United States are said to be in free circulation, and great hopes are entertained of increasing prosperity. The largest of the usual quarterly meetings of the South Staffordshire and East Worcestershire iroumasters will be held in Birmingham to-morrow, when it is pos sible that some further information with regard to the condition and prospects of the trade may be disclosed. rhe probability, however, is no alteration of prices, other than that already announced, will be declared. THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY'S FETE.—Yester day the last fete for the season was given by the Horticultural Society, in the gardens at Chiswick. The extreme fineness of the weather helped to bring a most numerous assemblage of visitors, although there was the eeuntereattra lion of the Thames Regatta to draw them elsewhere. The dresses were remarkably beautiful, and the array of fashion quite as striking as on the most ieelliant of Ll:lest-fife-days As usual, the exhibition of fl wers and fruits, although the ostensible object of the gathering, was a secondary consideration with the gay multitude to the pleasure of seeing and being seen, and ot li-toning to the inspiring strains of the military hands; but they, neverteeless, secured a very large ,hare of attention. The grounds of the Duke of Devon shire were, as usual on the third day of the flee, thrown open to the visitors. PARLIAMENTARY AND FINANCIAL REFORM.—Yes terday evening a pr, liwivary meeting of the lle'ormers if Greeuwicn was held at the Lecture Hall in that f rdtb.wp which u hA l te h eht , f eh t sp , th e r iejerit.i rt:nA p , i u tkdi r teas p p: os etA e ,iiat o sits f ,i6,,n, t ue o i a r t, r:st g hom ty a i.v b .. r ci a t (i, n fuva c nis h ect society iewir.sin. ,EiLo:u o y. were a r d e a c r: s: d d w t i t band enthusiasmle explained t b h y e t o h b: e a c u ts . e h n c:n e :i ience, and were. followed by several • lemen con nected with he locality, who alt expres sed g'fi t t heir convic ,,tloaistsetlhsaotritrowttairsmo.nrlsy that bY the mutual objects c rne w ' ' h ' li n 8 they be teweideeesni all red could be nucleus u o I branchs y t e(et association,h lv i s as da t h y )w f e i k m li,da tassewvt seven s announced tthhue obtained. otna u A Trei c , t o'clock, a public borough meeting should be held, to which the deputation should be again invited. The meeting, which was entirely of a business character, broke up about ten o'clock. AMERICAN ARCTIC EXPEDITION IN SEARCH OF SIR JOHN FRANKLlN.—Adverting to a paragraph which appeared in one of our contemporaries, stating that it eas reported at Boston, when the Europa left, that the expedition in search of Sir John Franklin had been abandoned or postponed, we have great pleasure in stating that, in a letter received from Washington, of a date only a few days prior to the rumour, it is men tioned that active preparations fur the expedition were then making, and that much generous emulation was evinced by officers of the United States navy to take part in this arduous service.—Herald. Ledru Rollin, Martin Bernard, Etienne Arago, and Sergeant Boichot arrived at the St. Katharine 's wharf yesterday afternoon, by the General Steam Nevi gation Company's steam-ship Sir Edward Banks, that left Ostend in the morning. CORONER'S INQUEST.—ROMANTIC STORY.—Last night Mr. Payne went into an inquiry at St. John's, Horselydown, on the body of Mary Metier, aged twenty eight, who came to her death under the following eir cumstances:—The deceased and her sister, Rebecca Metier, were natives of Bretz, in Prussia, and neither could speak a word of English. The former was about to be married to a young man of her own village, but be broke off the acquaintance and made proposals to another. This had such an effect on the deceased, that she induced her sister to enter into a plan to leave the place for ever, and go to their brother, who is said to be living at Birmingham. Accordingly they collected what money they could, and took their passage by waggon to Hamburgb, a distance of seventy-fax miles. They then embarked on board the Wilberforce steamer on Saturday morning at three o'clock. On the same night Mary Metier was taken very ill. On Monday she was nit better, and having walked the deck was obliged to be taken below again, where she remained until the arrival of the vessel in Loudon, when she was seen by the assistant of Mr. Mishin, of Horsley down, who gave her brandy and other stimulants, but she never rallied, and died the same night. The two sis a tersi g t h and had asup was said, o o f f a broth,piec beyond o salt herring he a y t tlmbur had no food for the voyage except a few oranges ; but Mrs. Meeson, the stewardess, seeing the helpless state of the teo poor foreigners, gave them some wine and arrowroot, and the passengers made a subscription of 255., which the boatmen on the river had cheated the surviving sister of, and she was left helpless and friend less in London. Mr. Hill, the assistant of Mr. Mishit), did not attribute the death to cholera, but exhaustion, arising from retching on an empty stomach occasioned by sea sickness. The Coroner and jury observed it was a very deplorable case, and they highly commended the conduct of the stewardess. A verdict of " Died ft.= Exhaustion," was then returned. PRESERvED MEATS.—The vessel Louis Charles, arrived iii the river from Galaiz, has breught an entire coarrgaloolouf ipuer:userer,ve:futmiesatss.ileuoprin:risiiig 34,170 tins of the article. This preserved meat undergoes no preparation and then hermeticelly sealed until le quired for one. It is imported in considerable quantities tor the use of the nr(Zarliyas will as a pt(hmendins weightrct n t boded in tin cannisters, t under supply to time Admiralty on f''vt3h d e e p aa a nr ; l t i m eal e ec a o t! : raaltcttpwfroaers amb e t ae fi nn r u s tfi t aect c te r ur i considered dn determined red that the meats preserved in the man ner mentioned were chargeable with duty, but it has d u r t t h h e a r t t h h a a v u i n t g he u p n r d e e se rg a o a n t e fun no be p to r r oc e e u2 ss eu of . timed, they are admissible free. COURT CIRCULAR. OSBORNE, WEDNESDAY. The Queen and Prince walked us usual this morning in Osborne-park at an early hour. His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and the younger members of the Royal Family walked and rode in the grounds. There was no addition yesterday to the Royal dinner party. Her Majesty the Queen of the Belgians and the Countess de Neuilly arrived in town yesterday morning from St. Leonard's, paid a visit to her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, and partook of a dcyeuner with her Royal Highness, at her residence, Clarence•bouse, St. James's. H►s Royal Highness Prince George visited her Royal Highn, ss the Duchess of Kent yesterday. Mr. Capriole, from Canada, had an interview with Earl Grey yesterday, at the Colonial-office. Sir Hedworth Williamson bad also an interview with his Lordship esterday. A deputation on the subject of the Royal Pavilion at Brighton. consisting of Lord Alfred Harvey, M.P., Cap tain Pechell, M.P., Mr. Slight, clerk to the Commis wieners of the town of Brighton; Messrs. Faithful'. Freeman, and Cobb, had an interview with the Commis. sioners of her Majesty's Wouda and Forests on Tuesday, at their office, in Whitehall place. Mr. Laing transacted business yesterday at the Office of the Commissioners of Railways in the Board et Trade. Lady John Russell was safely delivered of a son on Tuesday night. The Countess of Minto arrived it ;own on Tuesday night, and yesterday morning went Lord John Russell's residence, Pembroke Lodge, Rich ,uond Park. HER MAJESTY'S TLIBATRE.—EIer Royal ilighnes• the Duchess of Kent honoured the performance at her ' Niejesty's Theatre on Tuesday evening with her pre ,once—the suite in attendance upon her Roy al Elighnes , ncluded Lady Augusta Bruce, Lady Fanny Bruce, th i3aroness de Speth, and Lord James Murray. Het Road Highness occupi. d her Majesty's box. Het Royal Highutss the Duchess of Cambridge, accom panted by her Royal Highness the Grand Duchese of M. cklenburg Strelitz and his Royal Highness Princ , George of Cambridge, also honoured the theatre with their presence. The Prince and Princess Metternict aid the Count and Countess Mahon had the honour o• iccompanying the Royal party. The suite in attend• nice upon their Royal Highnesses included the Berot Kngstb. ck and Mr. st. John Mildinay. The Rua. party occupied her Majesty the Queen Adelaide's box Amongst the visitors were his Grace the Duke of Wel ungton and the Marchioness of Douro, the Duke and Duchess of Mont o-e, the Duke and Duchess of Cleve land and Lady Augusta Paulet, the Duchess of Leeds mid Misses Lane Fox, the Duke and Duchess of Beau fort and the Ladies Somerset, the Duke of Leeds, the Marquis of Huntley, the Marquis of Abercorn, the slarquis of Donegal, the Marquis of Clanricsrde, bis Excellency the Austrian Minister and the Countess C(.lorada. his Excellency the Belgian Minister and Ma dame Van der Weyer, his Excellency the Danish Mi nister, the Countess Reventlow and the Countesses Hilda and Malvina de Reventlow, his Excellency the Brazilian Minister and Madame la Marquis de Lisboa, his Excellency the Portuguese Minister, his Excellency the Minister from tho Argentine Republic, his Excel lency the Minister of Costa Rica, M. de Berg, M. de Stratenus, M. Padia Rolli, his Excellency the Neap. litan Minister, the Earl of Besborough, the Earl of Car digan, the Earl of Belfast, the Earl of Lonsdale, the Earl of Falmouth, the Earl and Countess of Pembroke, the Countess of Essex, the Countess of Westmoreland, the Countess of Harrington and Lady Jane Stanhope, the Eitl and Countess of Granville, the Earl of Munster, the Earl and Countess Bruce, the Earl and Countess of Uxbridge, Lady Emma Vesey, the Earl and Countess of Kilmorey, the Viscount Somerton, the Viscount Enfield, the Viscount Dapplin, the Viscount Anson, the Viscount Cjnterbury, the Viscount and Viscountess Maidstone, the Viscount Emlym, the Viscount and Viscountess Lascelles, the Viscount Ranelagh, Lord Ward, Lord and Lady Ernest Bruce, Lady Rachel Russell, Lord Francis Somerset and Miss Somerset, Lord Elphinstone ' Lord G. Paget, Lord Sandys, Lord Harry Vane, Lord W. Lennox, Lord George Gordon Lennox, Lady Gordon Lennox, Lord Arthur Lennox, &c. 1 ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA, COYENT-GARDEN.—Her Majesty's box was occupied on Tuesday evening by the Right Hon. Sir Robert and Lady Peel, Mr. Frederick and Captain William Peel. Among the visitors were the Marquis of Douro, the Marquis and Marchioness of Ailesbury, the Marchioness Dowager of Westmeath and the Hon. Mrs. Henry Murray, the Countess of Malmes bury, the Earl of Wilton, the Countess Dowager of Essex and Miss Johnstone, the Earl of Belfast, Lady Charlotte Denison, the Countess of Egremont and Lady Howard de Walden, the Countess of Glengall, Earl Compton, Viscount and Lady Marian Alford, Lady Catherine Cust, Lady Amelia Cust, and Lady Caro line Cust, Viscount Malden, Viscount Exmouth, Viscount Mandeville, Viscount Sydney, Viscount Can tilupe, Lord Leweson Gower, Lord Leigh and the Hon. Augustus Leigh, Lord Arthur Hay, Lord Templeton, Lord Ward, Sir John Hall and Lady Hall, Sir Henry Webb, Lady Quentin, Lady Brougham, Lady Morgan, Sir Francis Lawley and Lady Lawley, Hon. B. Lawley and Lady Elizabeth Lawley. DEATH OF JOHN HAY MACKENZLE, ESQ.—This gentleman, the father of the Marchioness of Staff I'd, died on the 9th, at Cliefden, near Maidenhead, after a long and painful illness. He was a gentleman of con siderable fortune. and the representative of the old Earls of Cromarty. Whe deceased gentleman was, to all ap pearance, enjoying good health when his daughter was married last month to the Duke of "Sutherland's son ; but, to the extreme grief of all his family connexions, he expired on Monday afternoon as above, the Marquis of Stafford by his decease succeeding to a princely fortune and larded inheritance. TIOLITION OF " KING EDWARD'S STAIRS:" —On Saturday a special session was held in the Court-house, Osborne-street, Whitechapel, pursuant to a notice issued e by Mr. Thomas Reynolds, the high-constsble of the Tower Hamlets, " for the pu r p ose of considering the propriety of discontinuing or stopping up a certain court, alley, or place called King Edward's Stairs, on the south side of Wapping High-street, leading out of a certain highway called Wapping High-street into e certain high.. way called the river Thames, and being wholly situate within the said parish of St. John's, Wapping." After some consultation, the magistrates being satisfied that l b. s hip were ; [Aimee, ordered them to be Stopped. LITERATURE. DANIEL THE PROPHET Reflections on his Lie and Character. By the Rev Thomas Knox. This excellent little hook is written in a spirit of unaffected piety, altogether free from anything ap proaching to cant, intolerance, or dogmatism. Its object is not to dwell on the sublime revelations of the Chaldo Judnean Seer, or to search into the mean ing of those wondrous prophecies which have occu pied the minds of so many good and learned men from Newton to Allwood. The author restricts himself to an elucidation of the Prophet's character and life, dwelling upon his strong faith, and exhorting with a gentle earnestness to emulate his devotion, and unfailing reliance upon the Supreme. Among the many sound and practical observations with which these pages abound, none are more worthy of attentive consideration than those on the necessity of the regular observance of prayer, its duty and privilege, its object, its hinderance, and the distinc tion between private and public devotion. The fol lowing paragraph on the revenues of the Established Church proving a clog on its more important duties evinces the writer to be a divine untainted with bigotry, and sensible of the genuine interests of his order : " Unhappily, there always has been, and still is, in the Church a struggle for wealth and power; the une qual mode in which her revenues are divided has fostered and raised up this very defect. The original founders of the system seem to have forgotten that the vessel used for the work of the ministry was but a week and frail one, or they would not have placed temptation within their view to the extent that has been done. There must be always, in every profession, grades and ranks of different degrees, in which greater duties and higher responsibilities call for larger means. It would be in possible, if prudent even, that all should have alike in this more than in oilier situations of lice; but still it is much to be feared that the temporalities of our v enerable Establishment have often been a clog on the spiritual and more important duties, from the mode in which they have been constituted; and odium has often been cast upon it, as if the aggrandisement of its members was their sole care. It is to be hoped, however, that be' ter times have now commenced, and that if an undue love of wealth and power were a subject of complaint at one time among the clergy, the same cause no longer exists, or in a very diminished ratio." That these considerations are not set at nought by the hierarchy we sincerely trust, for the sake of the overwrought and underpaid curates. Want of space precludes our saying further than that a better or more interesting volume for the leisure moments of either sex, of whatever age or station, has seldom tallen under our consideration, and we cordi a ll y un i te with the author in his deserving wish, " that this little book may be kindly received into every one's library." A SUMMARY OF THE LAW OF ATTOR NEYS AND SOLICITORS. By Alexander Pulling, Esg , Barrister at Law. We have lately called the attention of our readers to Mr. Samuel Warren's able and eloquent "Lectures on the Moral, Social, and Professional Duties of At torneys and Solicitors," a work of which we spoke in recommendatory terms, as containing much wisdom thd valuable information, and addressing itself with a voice of el , quest admonition to the candidates for admission into the junior branch of the legal profes sion. 'Co encourage them to the pure mad high minded discharge of important social duties—to in spire them at the very threshold of their professional life with a proper sense of their office and its obliga ions—was the object Mr. Warren proposed to him -elf, and the execution was worthy of the design. Ilse work now betore U 3 is of a different character Practical, lucid, and laborious, Mr. Pulling treats of attorneys and solicitors, as the subjects of a chapter in jurisprudence. He has written a compendium of the Statute and Common Law, as it affects them mediately or immediately, in relation to the Courts of Law or Equity, as their officers, or in relation to their clients, as their intimate agents, and repositories of their most important interests. He treats of their qualifications, their modes of admission, their pe culiar functions, their privileges and exceptions, their liabilities and disabilities, the various duties incident to their business, of proceedings by or against them. Assuming that Mr. Warren has sufficiently taught what religion and morality expect, Mr. Pulling details what the law requires. " The aim of the present work," says its clever author, "is to afford to attorneys and solicitors concise practical instructions as to the regulations, rights, duties, and liabilities which are peculiar to their profession, and to serve as a digested index and work of reference for members of my own branch of the profession, on the multifarious points which arise in court on the law of attorneys." Further on he observes, " The attorney may here, perhaps, find a safe guide in the practice of his profession according to law; but with respect to what is strictly just, proper, and honourable, he must seek another mentor." His was no scanty subject for a legal treatise, and the eight closely printed chapters into which this body of law is condensed fully testify to the author's industry, care, ability, and method. Not a single position is advanced without the authority on which it rests being quoted ; and when we add, that the number of cases cited amount to more than 1,500 some idea may be formed of the patient and indefati gable zeal which animated the author in the prosecu tion of his well-directed labours. But the work does not consist of legal matter only, though to arrange and express the law, and the law merely on a given subject, logically and concisely, as Mr. Pulling has done, is a great merit. It is interspersed throughout with original observations well worthy of attention, and becoming a sound and liberal judgment. In his chapter on the office of attorneys and solicitors in conveyancing he thus proceeds : " Tne great improvements which have of late years taken place in the education of attorneys and solicitors must necessarily have the effect of rencering them mots qualified to perform the onerous and multifarions duties which have now, by long custom, devolved on them. Practical knowledge, habits of business, and of personal investigation, familiarity with the leading rules of evi dence, and of the ingredients which generally constitute rights and titles (no less than legal know!, dge). point out tors class of practitioners as the best qualified for th. duties which are thus entrust. d to them; and expert ence has shown that the interests of the public ere better urott cted by the system of a respectable attorney being. on all ucca-ions of legal diffit•ulty. employed in the first instance, than either by negotiations being conducted thr-ugh unqualified, uneducated, and less responsible parties, or, on the other hand, the services of barristers, however highly qualified, being personally retained be -ore all the facts and circumstances to which their legal knowledge is to he applied have been correctly and com pletely arrang.d." fes-i differenceo attorney,n - there is much candid tr u thf u l ness i n thi s j u di c i ous t r i b es and nw e de n e o nu d p e to p hn a e r t vocationshr e from thiso peculiarf c a o p r b r ra e o rev:: province, ct n ee d r, Bute by Mr. P u lli ng to t h e other b ranc h es of h i s pro t impartial spirit i n hi s remarilts in another page upoo t a h n e d functions, and general duties of the latter. We have not space for other extracts; the subject itself is not one with which we profess to be very familiar, but its grave and increasing importance, the widely-ex tended influence, social and political, of the body for whom it is properly intended, and a pleasure arising from the inspection of a well-written law book—a literary result not of daily occurrence—has tempted us to make these observations, and to offer a brief criticism on a work which eminently deserves atten tion. Mr. Pulling had already, in publishing his compendium of the " Law of Mercantile Accounts," undertaken less extensive though scarcely less useful labours. On that occasion, as on this, he has given to his profession, and the public, a book of more than ordinary merit ; and if industry, method, learning, and talent can promote him, Mr. Pulling will not be last among the legal authors of the present day. ROME : the Rock on which Louis Napoleon will be Wrecked. Nothing could be better-timed than this pamphlet, the subject being one of the utmost interest both to Englishmen and to the whole of Europe; it is ad dressed to the Minister for Foreign Affairs. The policy of our Government is made to undergo a searching examination, and the exposure of it is so complete that the generality of newspaper readers, who have regarded the expedition against Rome as having no other object than to restore it to a settled state of government, and as being a matter in which our Foreign-office took no concern, will find it shown, to their great surprise, that our Government has been from the very first, and is still, in secret alliance with France and the foreign Powers, and that all that has been done by the French Assembly to cru,h the Republic of Rome, has been done with the conniving good• will of the British Cabinet. This fact is set in the strongest possible light; after exposing the shuffling language in which _Lord Lansdowne meets the charge, the writer thus pro ceeds : _ _ _ " The language of Lord John Russell and of Lord Palmkrston was as quibbling and ambiguous in the one House, as that of Lord Lansdowne had been in the other. On the 11.11 of June Mr. Hume said— " • That not observing the Foreign Secretary, to whom he had given notice of his intention to ask a question, he would put that question to the Noble Lord at the head of the Government. It related to our connexion with the French proceedings against Rome. It was alleged publicly that we had concurred in all the proceedings of the French against Rome, and he thought that those pro. ceediugs were most objectionable (Loud cries of Hear")—being ourselves a Government depending on 7 , lg d g. been lie, therefore, given, therefore, w i s h e d to to what extent k the will of the people as the French Government was— he had observed with regret that we were involved in the Srech of the President, as having age eed to, and concurre if d ou in r , c tl , re l s c e u r r e o i c i c e , e . d h i and in what manner it had been given, and in what we were now connected with them.' "The above questions are clearly and distinctly put, and were open to a plain and specific answer. "Now mark the answer given:— " Lord John Russell slid,' that as far as he was con cerned, he had not received any notice whatever of the lion. Gentleman's intention to put this question. 14 TILE t,ItUTIC EXPEDITION. The following interesting letter has been received at the Ad entre! t y : " Fort Confidence, Great Bear Lake, Sept. 16, 1848. " Sir,—l hive the honour to acquaint you, for the in formation of my Lards Commissioners of the Admiralty, that with the boats and party under my charge I reached the sea coast at the outlet of the eastern branch of the Mackenzie on the 3d of August, and, having ex amined the coast line thence to the Coppermine River, including almost every intervening bay, found no traces of any party of Europeans having passed, nor any indi cations whatever of shipwrecked vessels. We had in terviews with numerous parties of Esquimaux, who uni formly declared that they had seen no ships nor any whitemen, and, from the friendly way in which these people met us, I have no doubt of their kindness to any party of Europeans they might see in distress. "From the Mackenzie to Cape Bathurst, which we rounded in 70 deg. 37 min. N. latitude en the 10th of August, the vegetation indicated a comparatively mild climate, and we saw no ice; the Esquimaux, also, who were at this time assembling on the various headlands and islands to chase the black and white wales, informed us, that during their two slimmer moons they never saw any ice. But, after crossing Franklin Bay, and round ing Cape Parry, we had to pass through many streams of drift ice, which greatly depressed the temperature, and when we attained Cape Bexley we found the Dol phin and Union Straits filled with densely-picked ice, heaped against the precipitous headlands, and covering the sea, as far as we could discern from the heights, en tirely across to Wollaston Lend. " Winter may be said to have set in with sudden ri gour on the 23d of August, and we had frost, and snow either falling or lying on the ground for many days afterwards. From that date up to the 31 of September we had to work our way round every bay by cutting passages among the flies of ice, or making overland portages, according to circumstances, being occasion ally aided in our advance by a little open water where the shore was shelvng. These laborious operations were conducted by Mr. Rae, to whose sound judgment, expe eience, and personal exertioas we were indebted, under Providence, for the progress we were enabled to make. " From the experience of four several visits to Coro nation Gulf, by Franklin, Deese and Simpson, and m - self, I had exp ecte d, on rounding Cape Kruseustern,' -bould find an opea sea to the Coppermine; but such is the uncertainty of the navigation in these narrow seas that we had the disappointment of beholding the whole gulf completely packed, and had to continue our poling, ,tutting, and carrying operations with slower progress 'aid augmented labour, as the frost became more sevaaa ip to the 3d ut Sept' mber, when we were filially arrested a Icy Cove to the north of Cape Kendall, by the new ce having so glued the floes together that it was no anger in our power to move them, while the hummock) orm of the masses heaped by pressure on the rocky iiuts precluded our launching the beats over them. teeing that there was no vrospect of a speedy change of veather, and that the ground was already covered with .now. I determined reluctantly on ailitthig the boats and annmencing our overland march to Bear Lake from that "Had we reached the Coppermine, as I anticipated ye should do untitT ordinary circumstances, and as• , nded the Kendall, we should have been, with tents. 'ores, &c.. in comparative comfort within four easy Lays' march of Fort Confidence, but it now became ne. -scary to augment the loads in proportion to the in rease of distance. "Each man being supplied wilh thirteen days' provi •ions, and carrying in addition his clothing, spare shoes, and bedding, with cooking kettles, five astronomical in struments, ammunition, hatchets, and Lieutenant Hal (en's portable boat, with lines and nets, we abandoned ,he boats and tents, having previously concealed the re naining pemmican, and on the morning of the 3d of Sep tember began our march for Back's Inlet, which we reached the same evening. " Here we opportunely found a party of Esquimaux, who rendered us very essential assistance on the follow ng morning by ferrying us across a deep river between 300 and 400 yards wide, which they informed us re• tamed its width far up the country, and without their neap we should have lost much time in passing so large party across with Lieutenant Halkett's boat alone. I nave named this river, which was previously unknown to us, iu honour of Mr. Rae. On the following day we crossed the Richardson River, which is of less width, by means of Halkett'a boat, and encamped in the evening on the banks of the Coppermine. " I had appointed James Hope, a half-caste native, who had formed one of Deese and Simpson's party, to meet us in the beginning of September with two Indian hunters on the Coppermine, but, owing to stormy wea ther at the time he ought to have set out, he delayed his march a week, and we missed each other altogether, having, we suppose, passed one another in a day of con tinued fog and snow on the banks of the Kendall. "Yesterday being the 13th day of our march, we ar rived at this place, having for the three last days had the advantage of an Indian guide, who led us by easier paths than the direct route across the country. " The way in which the drift ice was packed into Co ronation Gulf and Dolphin and Union Straits, so late in the season as the 3d of September, and glued together by new ice, rendered it very improbable that it would alien again this season to afford a passage for ships, and I have therefore no expectation that the discovery ships can have made their way in that direction this sum leer, and hope that they have either found a channel in a higher latitude more directly westward to the open sea off Cape Bathurst, or that they have effected a pas sage homewards by Lancaster Sound. The circum stances I have mentioned show that my boats could not .approach IVollaston Land in this unusually untoward ,eason, but this may be done next summer, and I shall endeavour to make arrangements for sending Mr. Rae with one boat and a select crew of active men down the Coppermine next July to examine the opening between Victoria and Wollaston Lands. The flood tide, which .t full and change runs in Dolphin and Union Straits at he rate of three knots an hour, comes from the east ward out of Coronation Gulf; and must flaw primarily lawn the opening I have mentioned, or by the one be ween Victoria Land and Boothia, being the only two !ommunications between Coronation Gult and Lancaster Sound and its continuation. On this account, and also or the purpose of aiding a party which Sir James Ross Top .sed to send towards the Coppermine over the ice, \lr. Rati'a intended expedition may be useful. "As the resources of this post are inalt quate to the support of our entire party, and the ice remains fixed in his lake till near the middle of August, too late for men ,rinte:itT here to reach York Factory in time fur a itissage to England the same season, I have determined n sending thirteen of the men from England up she Mackenzie without delay, together with six of qr. Belt's party, to be supeorted for the winter at the :fishery on the Big Island Slave Lake. I purpose joining hem myself in the spring, crossing this lake on the ice, and ascending the Mackenzie when it opens is May, aking with me the remainder of the English party not •equired by Mr. Rae for his summer operations. Mr. Rae will have instructions to return hither by the end of August, so as to closu the establishment at that time, and remove the people time enough to ascend the Mac kenzie and Slave rivers before the navigation shuts up. " During our sea voyage we deposited pemmican at Point Separation, Cape Bathurst, Cape Parry, and in Pasley Cove, on the north side of Cepa Krusenstern, and erected signal posts, as agreed upon with Sir J. Ross. 4 ' I beg that you will be pleased to express to their Lordships the high sense I entertain of Mr. Rae's valu able services during the whole progress of the party, both on the coast and in leading the men overland, and also my gratification with the orderly conduct of the mon.—l have the honour to be, Sir, your most obedient servant, " J. RICHARDSON, " Medical Inspector Commanding the Party, " To tha Secretary of the Admiralty, &c." NAVAL IN TELLIGENCE. MALTA, JULY 2.—tier Majesty's steam-frigate Arro gant arrival on the 27th ult. from Plymouth. She did not employ her steam, and under sail has proved a superior vessel, having realised as much as II knots. On arriving, she saluted the forts Tunis. Algiers, yesterday morning she left u s a g ain for Al g iers, Gibraltar, and Lisbon , and conve y ed Colonel Irvine, the Admiralty engineer, who has been employed during his stay here in making such observations as may one day tend to tha advantage of the island. The Racer had arrived at Trieste from Malamocco on the 14th ult, The Ripon, with outward India mails, arrived on the 30th ult. The Medina arrived from Marseilles yesterday after noon. The Oberon carries on the mails to-morrow to Corfu. A Russian steamer the Sulim, from Lyndon, Fal mouth, Oporto, Gibraltar, and Algiers, arrived on the 29,h ult. Her Majesty's ship Vengeance, the Right Hon. the Earl of Hardwicke, returned last Light from her long cruise, having been employed during the difficult revo lutionary period at Genoa. The Vengeance was re lieved by the Thetis, and on leaving Genoa for Naples, was subject to a period of five days' (we believe) qaaran tine at Naples, consequent on the appearance of cholera in Paris—a stupid imposition, inasmuch as there is daily communication with the French at Rome from France, and a tree intercourse between the army before that city and the Neapolitan dominions. The Noble Earl, who bas distinguished himself as much for firmness of character as for humanity during the late events, saluted as he was entering port, and having brought up in mid channel, was taken in tow by the boats of the squadron, and conveyed to his moorings. The Peninsular and Oriental Company's stiiame Ripon continued her route to Egypt last night, with the Indian mails and passengers, as w ell as tho.o received by the Medina from Marseilles. DISTRIBUTION OF THE MEDITERRANEAN .SQUADRON. In Malta Barbour — The Caled uaia, 120, Captain T. W. Carter, bearing the ifig of Vice-Adruirßl Sir W. Pa , ker, the Convnauder-in-Chie l ; Ceylon, r e Edward Harvey; bearing th e flag Roar-AdmiraljStirling; Harvey; Howe , 120, Captain Sir J.engePaunwe'ee:tBl4l., 84, Captain the Hon. R. S. Dundas; y Captain the Rich= Hon. the Earl of Hardwicke; Ter rible, Captain W. Ramsey; Rosarnoud, C ommander Fete; Volcano (in ordinary); and Locust (tender to Triton). Lieutenant Glinn. Rogent, 99 On a Cruise--rhe Prince Captain Mar tin; Thetis, 3G, Captain Codrin . ron7 Racer, Captain C. W. 13: ddoes; Captain Vansittart; Bull dog, Command: r Key; Odtu, Ctiptain the Hon. F. F. Pdharn; Spitfire, Lieutenant-Commander \Vides; For cuplite, Lieutenant E. F. Roberts; Tartarus, Commander Sir G. Wehstt,r. Oa Surveying Duty—The Village, 6, surveying ship, Capta , n T. Graves; Auxiliary cutter, Lieutenant G. W. Geary ; and Research cutter, Lieutenant LQrd J. Browne, buth tenders to the Volage. At Gibraltar—The J tam* steamer, Lieutenant Powell. At Trieste—The Racer, Lieutenant Beddoes. At CW9 tantinopla—lione. At Corfu—Nine. At Athens—The Sharpshooter steamer, Lieutenant. Commander Bailey. Ln route to Lisbon from Malta—The Arrogant Capt. R. Film-oy. AIL At Malta—Thu Triton, Lieutenant STEAM-PACKETS. C. J. P. Glints; Oberon, Lieutenint Gardner; Antelope, Lieutenant F. Smyth; Medusa, Lieutenantßathurst; Medina, Lieut. A. Darby. En route - to Marseilles from Malta—The Merlin, Lieutenant J. 11. Turner. En route from Malta to Corfu-1 he Ardent, Lieu tenant Novell (special service). PENINSULAR AND ORIENTAL STEAM NAVIGATION COM* PANT'S FLOTILLA. At Suutharnpton—The liindostan, Pacha, E ux i ne , Erin, Qicen, acid Indus. En route to Gibraltar and Southampton from Malts —The Sultan. At Constantilople—The Tagus. En route to Alexandria from Malta—The Ripon. UNITED STATES SQUADRON. En route to Gibraltar—The steam-frigate Alleghasy, Captain Hunter ; the steam-frigate Princeton, Com. mender Eagle. Spezzia—The Constitution frigate, Captain Gwynne, Acting- Commodore. Palermo The Jamestown corvette, Commander Mercer. FOREIGN SHIPS or WAR AND PACKETS IN PORT. The French steamer Leonidas. R. Y. C. Sapphire and Nautilus, English steamer Water-Lily, Tunisian gun-boat Dumnigel. PORTSMOUTH, WEDNESDAY.—The Egyptian frigate Sharkie, of 36 guns, arrived at Spitheld last evening, at half. past six o'clock, ue , ler the comma td of Commodore Heinz Bey, having left Gravesend at three, a.m, in the morning, thus running the distance of 170 miles at the late of about eleven miles an hour. She saluted the Lieutenant. Governor of the garrison with 21 guns, and the Commander-in Chief of the port with 17, and was duly answered by them respectively. This ship was built at Alexandria under the immediate direction of Mohammed Bey, the chief naval architect in the Egyptian service, who received his professional educa tion in this country, and the best judges of ships say that she does great credit to that distinguished individual bhe has been fitted with steam-engines of 550-horse power by Messrs. Miller and Ravenhill, and with a screw propeller. Her pa,sage from the Thames to this port shows her to be an eminently successful result of the application of the screw propeller to a ship of war; and both this perfoimatice and her trials iu the Thames have called forth strong expressions of surprise from nautical men and engineers, who stem previously to have under rated the extraordinary capabilities of the screw. An accident occurred, we regret to say, whilst salu ting. One man was ramming home the charge, and another, whore duty it was to stop the vent, neglected to du so in a proper manner. The result was, that the rammer was blown out of the port, and his remains nave not been since teuud. Mr. Beattie, the Ottoman Vice-Consul at this port, dispatched a boat and men to drag for the remains of the unfortunate man, but with out success. Mr. Z trate the Ottoman Consul General, and the Turkisti Admiral, are expected to arrive this evening. The triple will embark her splendid state barge (built by Camptr, of Gotport) to-morrow, and sail obi Saturday. Portsmouth Harbour (the watermen's) Regatta coin. nieteed to day, under Ro)al auspices. The Ajax steam guard-ship will probably be COM. missiont d at this port shortly, and report says by Cap tam IV. 11. Henderson, C. 13., late of the Sidon. The Pecenix screw steam-sloop, 260 horse power, 6 guns, is ordered to be commissioned here by Commander George Wodehouse, 1844. Tile Fire-Queen steam-yatcht, Master Commander Allen, was cocked this morning for re-embellish ment, &c. WOOLWICH, JULY 11. The Niger steam-sloop, fitted with a serer?' propeller, and recently experimented with along with the Basilisk steam•slooo, fitted with paddl. - -wheels, is ordered to return to Woolwich to be ie id up for the preseut. The BAsilisk steam-sloop is to remain at Deronport as an advanced war steamer. The Flamer steam vessel, ready for commis sion, has beet' examined, and as doubts are eutertained of her efficiency to be mounted vrith guns as a war steamer, she is to be sent round to Portsmouth and kept in readiness as a pseket-boat. UNION BANK OF LONDON. The tenth annual general meeting of the proprietors was held yesterday at the bank, Princes-street, Mansion- House, Sir Peter Laurie in the chair. The Secretary, Mr. Walter Lanais:, having read the minutes of the last and the advertisement convening the present meeting, proceeded to read the annual report of the affairs of the bank. It stated that during the last twelve months the pressure upon the commercial interests of the country, which was the subject of remark in the last report, had been continued, and in many instances aggravated by the political convulsions which have dis tracted nearly the whole of Europe; that a low value of money had ta en the natural consequence of the influx of foreign cepital and the . ontraction of mercantile enter prise; but that, notwitustanding these disadvantages, the directors were able to refer the proprietors to the balance-sheet as an evidence of the continued progress and success of the bank, from which it appeared that the net profits of the year amounted to 28,617/. 18s. 10d., out of which the directors proposed to appropriate a sum of 25,3741. for the payment of a dividend at the rate of six per cent. clear of income -tax, and 5001. as usual, in reduction of the preliminary (xpenses, leaving en unappropriated balance of 2,734/. is.. .od. to be car ried to profit and loss new account. The interest paid to customers on their current and deposit accounts, during the last year, amounted to nearly 34,0001. The &coos sion of numerous and valuable connexions, valuable not only as adding to the profits of the bank, but as evincing th,. stuns ion in which it was held by the public, proved to the directors the soundness of the cautious and pru dent system of management they had endeavoured to maintain, and enabled them to assure the proprietors of ,he steady and gatitying progress of the company. • The prepobiti,n of the directors to declare a dividend of six per cent. was unanimously agreed to. The CHAIRMAN moved that the report should be re ceived and circulated among the proprietors. He con gratulated them ou their continued prosperity and pro gressive increase of business. As a proof the opinion entertained of them by the public, he might state that theirs was the first joint-stock bank that had obtained the confidence of Government, and they had received the support of the metropolitan commissioners of reams. The motion, having been seconded by Mr. PETER LAURIE, was carried unanimously. Die following gentlemen, who retired by rotation from the direction, were re-elected:—Mr. George Webster, Mr. John Barnes, and Mr. John W. Sutherland. Tha general meeting then resolved itself into a special meeting, for the purpose of considering a proposal made by the directors to alter the clause in the deed of settle ment which required each director to be a holder of twenty shares iu the company; so that, for the future, the possession of one hundred shares should be required as a qualification for that office. Mr. J. BROWN thought that the question was not one of the qualification of uirectors only, but also whether e election of them should rest with the board of direc tors, or with the proprietors. When he sigued the deed of settlement he was not aware of the clause, which gave power to the directors in this matter, else he should not have signed it. Mr. W. BROWNE said that when this subject was dis cussed at the general meeting last year, a promise was given that the election of new directors would be left to the proprietors. At present the directors had virtually all the power in their own hands, because when any gentleman was nominated by them to a vacancy the shareholders felt that they could not, w ithout a b a d grace, oppose tho nomin a t ion of their directors, when asked to confirm it. Mr. P. LAURIE said that they could not then alter the clause in question, as that was a special meeting, and they could not entertain any other measure, except that One which they had been called together to consider. It was true that a promise had been given at the meeting in last July, that if an election should take place the nominee of the directors should not take his place at the board until his appointment was sanctioned by the proprietors. That, he thought, was the same thing as leaving the nomination to the proprietors.—(No, no.) Mr. J. BROWN then gave notice that at the next gene ral meeting he would move a resolution to the effect that when any vacancy occa-red in the direction, by death, bankruptcy, or otherwi,e, the secretary should give thirty days' notice to t , e proprietors, at the end of which period they should meet for the purpose of filling up the vacancy, and that the names of candidates should be posted on the banlFilporl twenty days previous to the election. Mr. RICHARDSON said that the price of their shares in the market was not so high as might be expecte!d from the dividend paid by their company. joint-stock bank tendon to the fact that theirs was the n iy bank that paid two per cent. interes_t e o posit accounts to customers, and suggested t a t n h d a t de i - t the nea payment rly34,o o this of would n interest, est advisable v,hieh to diminishamounted Wheu the liv etst t hme in d s i te r L o. Bank outdtak, reduced rs cent. they were said to have lost 1 a°srt abolish year to etheir inatre,rheesatrio) consequence of that measure. The Charnsassr promised t the in c dtrectors respecting the number of only ono one per t h e suggeattun into consideration. then put and carried without runner discussion. qual Theifinal:trio:pun:a; customer in was -- A - voto of thanks to the chairman and officers of the compauy was passed, and thi. meeting separated. ASYLUM FOR AGED AND DECAYED FREEMASONS. —Last eN • ening the annual general meeting of the above institution w as h e ld at Radiey's Hotel, Bridge•street, liLckfriars, Brother Wright in the chair. The secre. tary read the negoti itions relative to the proposed amal gamation with the Bo) al Masonic Benevolent Annuity Fund under one common title. A site for the new asylum had been selected on Croydon , common, and the building was rapidly proceeding. The financial report showed that the receipts were 8931. is. Bd., and the Par raents, including 3571. 16s. 3d. for the purchase of lend at Croydon, were 529/. Os. Id. l c eying tendered the re- . signation of Dr. Crucifix, a resolution highly comPli tnentary was unanimously carried, requenting the gen tleman to continue in the office, „d:spipdoeinntti:dßroetthheerr John Hodgkinson as joint treasurer tw . itti him. After Dudley Stuart rt was the election of Pr e sident, when nearly officers, thanks were accorded to Lard D Presiding at the recent leativaL collected; The suitors of the Court of Chancer y will be g lad and the meeting was adjourned. to learn that the Lord Chancellor is now rapidly reco vering from the effects of his late alarming illness. His Lordship takes carriage exercise every day, and the announcement of a resumption of the publio sittings is te a s joutty expected before the end of the week. man.