The Sun. — London, England, 1841-09-23 00:00:00

EAST' IN MA HOUSE.-- (YE STERDAY.) A. Quarteray General Court 01 the Proprietors of East India Stock, was held at their House in Leadenhall street; which was also in ade special, for the purpose of coniideriag the by-la w , ; tn d ot h er purposes. G.' Lyiea, Esq., M.P., took the Chair at twelve o'clock, accompanied by the great er part of the Directors. The proceedings of the last Court having been read, theioapers which had beet I laid on the table of the Houses of P . ayliam lit since the 1 Ist Co ur t, were presente d to the'Court of Proprietors ; also an account of the super aninlations granted by the Court of Directors since the last Court. Mr.G. THOMPSON, befoi 'e proceeding to the special business of 'the day, begged' to ask the Chairman whe ther he had received a node 3 which he had thought it his duty to send to him, of his intention of calling the attention of the Court to the • case of the late Raja of Sattara ? The CHAIRMAN said he h ad received the notice, but that was not the proper timed 0 mention it. M. THOMPSON had naked the question, because he had seen no mention made of his notice, in the adver tisement calling the Court. ',The CHAIRMAN—OnIy thos a notices given in Court al jpear in the advertisement. Mr. M. MARTIN (who had a notice of mation on the paper) objected to the Court amnsiderinaa any business made special, upon the authority of tha Directors, be fofe,Oat of which notice had been gaven by a Proprie „to 'le e ,' previous to any intinrat'am of the special t: , o 91eSs. 4 , loraiv. conversation, in w i atch the Chairman, Mr. _Arian - Director, and' 3ilta Weeding, contended for the pg . hi to bring on all 'ausiness made special by .he a-Factors, and Mr. Lenis suaported Mr. Montgousery's ` l laWa, 'which were not pressed; The Cu AIRMAN said, the by-law, which tie Direc tors reifoinlnended that' Court to give authority to the Conail,iik on lay-laws to 'repeal, prohibiting a ny Direc tor, officer, ^ or servant of . the Company from trading within the limits of the Charter, was one that was passed in 1795, when. the Court were planed in circumstances °f a yery different character from those in which they 'were eaav placed. (Hear, hear, hear,) At that time they were deeply engageed in trade, and were the on ay individuals who were permitted to do ea U . ) India. Since ther, they had not only thrown open th e trade of . every ether description, but the ~y had ven d g up u the right of trading at all ; thereto ere the object propcsed to be obtained by the by v uo , longer e x ist e d. fhat object was to prevent any Direr tor, officer, or se/a-ant of the Company from in terfa clan g with the trad e w hi c h was carr i e d on f or t h e bent lit af all. The Company Were now, in fact, the only parties who 'were prohibited from trading within the limits of th e Ch arter . H e an d t h e Court Direc tors', saw no reason for the maintenance of the restriction. They thought it now worked prejudicially to the in- Ita rests of ;,he Company, for it narrowed the choice of tat e Prop rietors of commercial men to seats as Direc tors. A s it now stood, hardly any general mer chant would be able to offer himself for the direc tioi i, a Lich all would acknowledge to be a very serious evil- ' The Directors did not propose that any of the pro hibite it classes should have the power of trading with India', , properly so called, or with any of the nations on the cs rntinent of India sulject to us, but under the by law,' as it now stood, they were prohibited from tra'i ng with any of our Australian colonies, or with Sot t'th America, for the charter embraced all parts, from tfl€ i. Cape of Good :dope to the Straits of Magellan, wt, Lich constituted a circle embracing nearly the whole sat erld. Under present circumstances there was no reason fol c such, a large disqualification, - and, therefore, he would pr °posts a resolution is obtain an alteration of the by- Jai v, tc, which he could not anticipate any objection. 7.•C0/ e Sir L. LUSHINGTON (the Deputy Chairman), se aeond• ed the motion. Mir. WEEDING deeply regretted such an alteration a move recommended to that Court by the Court of Direc tors.—(Hear.) The, reasons which formerly supported I ii' : by-laws applied 'with more force at the present I a aie than before. In his opinion it was inexpedient to t 0 comply with the recommendation, because our commer ( i II intercourse with the Straits of Malacca was large, and tat •er all the nations resident there the Government of Is dia had too much power to allow the Directors, their of deers, or servants, to trade without suspicion. In his el; inion it would be a violation of the Charter, and he va - amid propose an amendment in accordance with those of ', anions; If the by-laws were altered in accordance w ith the recommendation - of the Directors, any member of ' the Board might become a proprietor in some joint s(, . ck .concern trading with the countries under their Go v( rinnent ; or they might become sugar planters, and ex agage largely in the importation of Hill Coolies.— (I fear, hear.) The Directors would be placed in a false la 'sition, and it. would be impossible for them to come to a a safe conclusion, or one that would be respected on a any questions that must come before them, and he would much fear' such trading by the Directors would !bring the Court into disrepute, and the Government of India into collision with the Government of this country. Ile honoured the character of a merchant, because lie believed that 'to commercial intercourse, more than any r )ther cause, was to be attributed the enlightenment and c ivilisation of mankind ; and he would not abridge any o f the advantages to which they were fairly entitled ; fa ut he must say, that, in his opinion, the proposed alter at ion was fraught with mischievous consequences ; that ti le effect would be to bring their duty as commercial n' len into collision with their interests. There was an other reason which led him to oppose the motion, namely, tl le oath imposed by the Act of Parliament. The Act o.,..mtained that oath not only in 1794, but again in 1813, ti hen the whole eastern world was thrown open. Still tl le Legislat ore imposed the same oath. Formerly it had la aen proposed, by gentlemen behind the bar that they sl mould be atermitted to trade to Australia. If such opi ni ons prev 'ailed, they could have est a bli s h ments not on l y in the Archipelago, in Java, and at the Philippine Isles, bra also w Candia and Columbo. The proposition was contrarie to the law of the land, and t o th e o bli ga ti ons ifillaase upon the Company. He called upon the Court to. rot/% !ct the Proprietors from themselves, by refusing to aces ale to the motion. MI . LEWIS, in rising to second the motion, said it ap- I:amr ed to him that the alteration could not legally be atle cted in the manner proposed. It was perfectly well lknown that the power of making and consequently of :altering by-laws, was vested by the statute of William, iin the Proprietors assembled in a general Court. On :this occasion the Proprietors were called upon to request i the Committee upon by-laws to amend a certain by law, valling upon the Committee upon by-laws to do -. that which the Legislature said should be done only by the assembled Court of Proprietors. If it had been pre viously determined by a distinct valuation that such an alteration should be made in the by-laws, and had tb en called upon the Committee of by-laws to frame the 'alteration accordingly, such a course could have been per iactly regular. 'The CHAIRMAN said the amendment was to be sub la itted to the Court. Mr. LEWIS said no limit had been specified. The . Committee were to alter the section, so as to confine its operations to the East Indian Continent, and to other places on the Continent of India ; leaving it, in fact, to the Committee to say what places on that Continent should or should not be included in the prohibitory enactment ; whereas it ought to be done with the sanc tion. and consent of two General Courts. The Hon. Pro pri:etor then referred to a motion made by Mr. Randall Jackson in 1814, proposing an alteration in a by-law, in v ehich the mover called upon the Court at once to make the alteration, and contended that that precedent ought to guide the Court on this occasion. Having said thus much on the manner in which it was proposed to make the alteration, he would say one or two words on the al teration itself. The reason stated for the proposition was, that the constitution of the East India Company had been changed since the law was passed. The CHAIRMAN said the cause originally assigned for enacting the by-law had then entirely ceased. A num ber of commercial men had entered into extensive trans actions with India, and in consequence of that it was end ted that no Directer should be allowed to trade with India. Mr. LEWIi3 said he believed it had originated in a much more satisfactory reason. It was not merely to avoid the inconsistency and incongruity which must arise fron, an y one mem b er of a Joint-Stock Company, . carrying , an trade with India, and at the same time car rying on trade individually ; but to prevent a Director from uslng that knowledge and influence which he might possess in a sovereign capacity, tar the purpose of pro noting his own interests.—(Hear, hear.) It was to show • to the public that they deserved to exercise the Sove reign power. That was one reason, if not the sole and predominant one, which led th e C our t t o pass t h a t l aw . al He asked the Court of Proprietors, then, to prevent the f~Court of Directors from injuring their ch ar acters as ~ St:a/thins of- India ; 'And by rejecting th e re solution, ,-.' they would secure them against those suspicious copse . quenees, which he was sure would result from the al aeration. Mr. HOGG said it appeared to him that the main ques tion for consideration was whether or no the alteration was, in. fact, dasirable.• If the Court came to the cenclu- Sion that it w. as desirable, of course the Directors would see that it - was made in legal form. He protested against the line of argument which had been adopted by his friend Mr. W' eeding. The question had been argued as if the , C a ouria of Proprietors an d th e p u bli c were on one s id e , an d the 'Court of Directors on the other. He protested against s ue.ll a line of argument. The suggestion from the Chair w as, whilst the East India Company was a trading body, *the Directors were prohibited from trading within the limits of the Company's Charter, because their private interests must come in collision with their duty as far as interests of the. Company were concerned. The words of the by-law itself explained its meaning and the rea taus which led to its adoption. His friend last Wednesday said that their functions of sovereignty 'caught not to be mixed up with their functions as ',faders. Now he (Mr. Hong) thought that that ire att h oped always a e . tement ought t o b e qua lifi e d somewhat,r because to see among the C o u r t of Di actors., member s of the principal banking and ruercan '4 141 e firms of this great city. Those gentlemen brought t ° the deliberations of the Court of Directors most use ful knowledge and information. With respect to the a alteration of the law, he begged the attention of the Pro iillie,tooF to the manlier in which' their choice was at pre sentted. There was scarcely a commercial firm with th: u.O that Was not directly or indirectly connected if the ta • trade ' ne the east of the Cape of Good Hope. - why lei, itotiperniletra thought proper to reject those persons, wotildthereb .„..,,,, merely rel;i:anr(ileaoercial.firuas of ' ') "0, taal if they would reject them they h er , „ f th,i cY exclude Alr.Weedinq himself, and the mem e a _. sphere oa• this city. The question their i their interest in the extent of the tend that Amara choice,. If they thought proper to ex tie!' of Di reetaa's 'n 7Y th en l et them concur in the selec t tlaar,: , don. I t ' tile trading eonul,:aii ties ut Lena the law remain usat.hat course injudicious, then let Hogg's) knowledge or ands.itthest As far as his (Mr. Went, he knew ofsecs of the prison-house" nothing which any gentleman con- 1 netted with a trading firm could, as a Director, become acquainted, which he could turn to his own pri. vete interest, as a commercial man. He trusted that the deliberation of the Directors would alwaj s become known to the public, in ,order that the salutary influence of public opinion might be brought to bear on them before the measures they involved were adopted and became law.(Hear, hear, hear,) He thought that the reasons for excludinggentlemen.connected with the trade of India from the office of Director no longer existed. The sole object of the Directors in submitting the matter to the consideration of the Court was, that as the reasons which formerly led to the passing of the law ceased to exist, it was for the Proprietors to say whether or not they were willing to alter it. There was no desire on the part of the Directors to urge the matter on them; it was merely R suggestion which, if it did not meet with general approbation, gentlemen on that side of the bar would, he was certain, be most happy to withdraw. In Fluswer to an observation of Mr. Weeding, Tie CHAIRMAN said, that he wished to ascertain what vmre the views of the Proprietors on the subject. Appli cations had been made to him regarding it, and he thought it would be wise to ex tend the field ofselection of Directors Mr. LINDSAY thought that if it was the wish of the Proprietors, the motion ought to be . withdrawn. Mr. Mims was of opinion that there was great reason for altering the law, as he believed it to be a dead letter. Mr. WIGRAM conceived that it would be better to withdraw the motion, on the understanding that it be referred to the Committee of By-laws, to consider the subject and report thereon, as to whether it was expe dient that the law should stand as it at present was. After a few words from Mr. WEEDING, The CHAIRMAN said he was entirely in the hands of the Court. If the Proprietors were of opinion that the motion should be withdrawn, he was disposed to second the view taken by Mi. Wigram. Mr. THOMPSON said they were obliged to the gentle men behind the bar for so distinctly stating their views, because certainly the opportunities of choice that were given to the Proprietors were few and far between. Some Hon. Directors were of opinion that the heads of commercial firms should become Directors. 'He (Mr. Thompson) differed from that opinion. He thought they ought not to become Directors. If they represented large and important firms, let them keep to those transactions which belonged to those firms. The Directors formed exclusively a political body. They ruled over 150,000,000 of human beings, inhabiting a country 500,000 square miles in extent. They had to attend to the interests of a vast empire, and they ought, therefore, to look narrowly to the persons whom they selected as Directors. The Directors were bound to de vote all their time to the affairs and the government of the East Indies ; and he thought gentlemen would not deny that, however broad their expanse of mind —nay, were it even poSsible that their intellects were rendered larger than they now undoubtedly were, and were it pos sible to extend the length of the day for their delibera tions—all that increase of intellect, all that extent of time, would be required for the proper discharge of their duties. Then why engage in their counsels men whose time was much occupied in the affairs of commerce ? One of the members of the Court advocated this propo sition out of a regard to India, yet employed arguments in another place fatal to those he used to-day. The con dition of India demanded the whole of the gentlemen who composed the executive body of this country. The trading and executive business of India ought,in his opinion, to be kept quite distinct. He should take the present opportunity of expressing his thanks to the Com mittee of By-laws, for th e p os i t i on t h ey took on this oc casion. As the motion was to be withdrawn, he would not say more than express his thanks to the Court for bringing it forward. TWINING begged to say a few words as a Member of the Committee of By-laws. If th e ma tt er was brought before th a t C omm ittee he was sure it would receive every consideration it deserved. In reference to the cause of the subject at present under discussion, he was, perhaps, able to say what was the object when it was first brought forward by men whom he made the guide of his own conduct, and in proportion as he followed them he found himself to be proportionably correct. He believed the By-law was passed to prevent East India 'Directors from trading in a private capacity —(Hear, hear)—and if that restraint was not inter posed, very serious and extensive evils would follow. The circumstances, however, had changed, and the at tention of the Directors was changed to other objects, which they executed with great benefit to themselves. It was a question of much importance how far that barrier should be removed. If it came before the Com mittee of By-laws he could only say for himself and the other members of that Committee, that the matter would receive every consideration due to its impott ance. He considered the Court of Directors was well constituted, and the proportion of mercantile men in it was productive of great benefit ; and that such men as Sir I. Read and Mr. Martineau were highly valuable to the Court. He would conclude by again saying, that the matter would receive every attention from the Com mittee of By-laws.—(Hear, hear.) The CHAIRMAN entirely concurred in what had fallen from the last speaker, as to the origin of the by-law under discussion, and he was sure it would receive every attention from him. The motion was then withdrawn. Mr. WEEDING inquired if it was withdrawn without qualification ? The CHAIRMAN was understood to answer in the affirmative. PERMANENT LAND-TAX. Mr. M. MARTIN requested the attention of the Court to the importance of the subject he was about to bring before them, which had been brought under. the con sideration of the Court at various periods during the last half century, and had been mooted Ly men of the largest views and most philanthropic feeling—by some of the most distinguished Governors of India—by some of the ablest servants that were ever sent to that coun try—by men in the present Court, all of whoin con curred in his opinion, and h a d en d eavoure d, f rom ti me to time, to draw the attention of the Court to this great and momentous subject, and to bring it to a full and final decision—he alluded to the fixing of the land-tax in India. He had, moreover, the opinion of the present enlightened Prime Minister of the country, that the great evil of the Court was the leaving unsettled ques tions of an important character, or bringing them for ward without a prospect of a speedy decision. It was a question relating to millions of British subjects ; it in volved the financial and commer c ial re l a ti ons btween India and this country ; it embraced the elevation of the people of India in the scale of humanity ; it in cluded an enlarged consumption of British manufactures by India, and the well-being and prosperity of the Bri tish empire. Upon the first moment he visited India he gave his anxious attention to this subject, which he thought would be mutually beneficial to both countries. In the year 1828 he entreated investigation upon the subject. He might have done so at inconvenient times, and with too much warmth, but he trusted the observations he should make upon the present occasion would be delivered with temper and moderation, and, at least, he hoped the importance of the subject would not be measured by the weakness of the advocate.—(Cheers.) But there were many and dis tinguished advocates for what he was now contending, and amongst them was one, once a member of this Court, one of the ablest, and at the same time most unpretend ing men that ever adorned the East India Company— he alluded to the late Mr. Edmonston.—(Hear, hear.) He would not require more than acknowledgment of the principle, for he knew if that was once recognised, the mode of eartying it out and the time for its adoption might be fairly left to the Executive Directors of India. If the principle were adopted, they would soon come to a final settlement of a fixed land-tax. The proposition he meant to propose was an abstract one, but it was fre quently made the subject of discussion. It was, that the British Government were not de .facto or de jure pro prietors of the soil in British India; and though it was opposed by the Hon. Proprietor behind him, and the Hon. Chairman in 1829, he was happy to find in des patches from the Court of Directors to the Court of Bengal in 1815, the principle for which he was contend ing was advocated therein. It was carried out with refer ence to 40,000,000 of British subjects so long as forty years ago. And they had proof of its good effects in the prosperity of that portion of the country to which it was applied, the increased security of the public revenue throughout the Bengal territory. Why, then, should not the same principle be applied with regard to the other 60,000,000 of their population 'in India ? If it was wise, just, humane, and politic, and proved to be so by the experience of forty years, to adopt such a principle towards 40,000,000 of their subjects, was it not expedient to pursue a similar course with regard to the remaining 60,000,000 ? His views we r e con curred in by the best and wisest statesmen who ever — vittd - India,- men of large and expanded views. The Marquis of Wellesley, whose language to you in one of his despateies was, that it was not desirable for the interest of India that the Government should act as tth proprietorsres . excuse There (f thl.)v aesoil, could thatn o a th n e d w aa c so doubtl e le x c r expedient ed i e o n e nn t tt fhrteoomsdubei jltaesyctc..ultTßivhuaet language of their own body admitted the principle he was contending for. It was admitted in a dispatch of 1792, that the principl e o f taxation between the Sove reign and cultivator was not sound. A member of the Court, who had distinguished himself by writing one of the ablest works on land taxation, he alluded to General Briggs, said the right of the Sovereign to the soil never existed in the Hindoo or Mahomedan Governments. It w as true, from the time of Mahomet to Aurungzebe, the Sovereign had certain rights of property in th e land, hut not such as are now possessed. When they had such authority, be thought it was time to give the people of , Sir Thomas India a property in the soil which would both benefit the l a e t ni el s y el a v c7uait g e a d in w4h the work wllnlodiawaasnidntitml ine• of the present system in India, declares it impossible people Munroe,of in India impossible that private land property can exist' so long as one-third of the gross p r oduce of land was taken aw a y from the people. And, he would ask, was it desirable have no it would to reduce India to a state in which pri vate property? It could not be the interest of any person that such a state of things should exist. No state could rise above barbarism as long as any persons had the power at any time to take away so large a portion of the produce of the soil. ermanent Under such a system it was impossible that a p at the people lauded proprietary could ever exist, or day labourers. could be raised above the condition of Such had never been the practice in India until we had adopted this plan, so ruinous to ourselves. If they ed in the re ferred to thei r Bibles they would.find recorded the 41st ch a pt er o f G e n e sis that during the time of the famine famine i n E g ypt, w h en J o s e ph supplied the Egyptians with f oo d, h e requ i re d t h at t h e y s hould give the Sove reign the whole of their lands, and when they had done so he restored them their lands again on condition that they should pay one-fifth part of the produce to the King, while the remaining four parts were left for then own' use and for seed. Surely, then, when the Bible declared that four parts cut of five were necessary for the purposes of the cultivators of the soil it was not act ing the part of Christians to exact one-half. In dostan, previous to its coming into the possession of the British, the land tax . actually levied amounted only to one-sixth of the produce. In the South of India the land tax at the present moment amounted only to one sixth,. In Ceylon it amounted only to . one-tenth. Menon, the great Hindoo lagislator s who flourished about six hundred and eighty-eight years before Christ, said that one-sixth was a legitimate portion, but that in time of war or under special circumstances, one-fourth might be levied. Colonel Wilkes had shown that when ever the Mahometan rules of India had tried to raise a larger amount of land-tax, famine and rebellion had been the invariable consequence: Shere Shaw, who had expelled Humaioon, had levied a land-tax equal to one fourth. There was some difference between that and 45 per cent. Arungzebe had only levied one-tenth, and the Emperor Akbar, in his instructions to the collectors of his land revenue, had directed that two-fifths of the amount of produce should be paid to the Government, and three-fifths shOuld be left for the cultivators. Allum Dein, who reigned between the years 1194 and 1215, had attempted to levy a land-tax of the same amount as that at present levied, and the result had been a famine. The utmost amount that had ever been levied by the Mahometan Sovereigns amounted in money to about one-fourth the produce. In fact, every precedent that could be brought forward went to show that we had adopted a system for which there could be no justifica tion.--(Hear, hear.) In the Mysore, Hyder Ally had levied three-tenths as the land-tax, and there had been two rebellions against Tippoo Sultaun because he had attempted to buy more than one-third. When the British Government became possessed of the Government of India it had been deemed advisable, in consequence of the diminution of the revenue in Bengal, and of the destruction of the people by famine, to fix the amount of the land tax. He had already partly stated the reasons which had induced those at that time in authority to adopt such a course—they had wisely de termined to co-operate cordially with Lord Cornwallis for that purpose, and one of the reasons given for fixing the land-tax was, that it was impossible to give a country in which there were only two classes, the Go vernors and the cultivators, and that in order to do so it was necessary to raise up a third class—a class of landed Proprietors, who should stand between the Governors and the cultivators, and to do that no scheme could be so efficacious as the establishment of a permanent land tax. He trusted he had stated sufficient to prove the reasonableness of the first portion of his resolution, and he would therefore proceed to discuss the second portion of it, which was to the effect that the assessment of the produce of the land at the sole will of the Government, tended to defeat the rights of the cultivator of the soil, and by preventin ,, hereditary succession to lands, to ren der the British Isles insecure. In support of the prin ciple of that portion of his resolution lie would also ap peal to their own documents. It was obvious that a fluc tuating assessment must deteriorate from the value of the land. The statement made in a communication, dated. February, 1841, which he had received from a gentle man employed in the revenue department of the Madras Govalanm . , fully bore out the views which he enter tained. He, stated, that in one district in which the land tax had been lowered, the Ryots were now doing well, and had, in consequence, applied for more land ; and that, whereas formerly great difficulty had existed in getting the assessment collected, the Ryots, since the assessment had been lowered, came in of their own accord and paid the money. That fact proved that, wherever they gave a permanent value to landed property, the people were impressed with the improvement which had taken place in their condition in consequence, and paid the assessment 'cheerfully. What an advantage it would be if such a system were extended throughout India. One of the Governors-Ge neral had stated that one-third of the territory of British India was waste land. He (Mr. M. M.) thought he could produce authority to show that at least one-half of that territory was waste land. Now, if by giving a per manent value to landed property, they could bring these waste lands into cultivation, how immensely would they augment their revenue and commerce, and, more than all, the happiness .and prosperity of the inha bitants of that country. Mr. Fullerton, of Madras, had demonstrated the impossibility, under the present system, of there being any aristocracy (using the word in its best sense) to connect the Government with the peo ple of the country, and he compared the present state of India with what might be supposed to be the condition of this country if the landlords and farmers were all swept away, and all the population reduced to one common level. Mr. Thomas, of Madras, had shown that the natural result of such a course of proceeding as that adopted by the Government had been to reduce the people to the lowest possible scale of subsistence, to pro duce famines, and to prevent the increase of the revenue, or of the advantageous subjects of the States. That gen tleman had drawn statements shewincr the statistics of twelve villages in the Presidency of Madras, from 1801 to 1831, in which he had classified the inhabitants with re gard to property, ece., and the result of that .statement went to show, that while from 1816 to 1831 there had been an increase among the occupiers of small holdings, chiefly pauper Ryots, the wealthy Ryots had diminished from 78 to 28—that the majority of the occupiers were little better than pauper labourers. In these statements he (Mr. M.) found a remarkable confirmation of his views. Why had it not been thought adviseable to extend the permanent settlement to the whole of India? In Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, where it was in operation, the tax upon land amounted to about 2s. 6d. an acre. It was importance to notice, that when this assessment was first laid. on, it pressed so heavily, that, before ten years had expired, the whole,of the estates had passed under the hammer of the auctioneer ; and the Bengal Government stated that never, in the history of the country, had such a change taken place in the distribution of private pro perty. At that time one half of Bengal consisted of waste lands, yet now those waste lands were all taken into cultivation ; there were fewer sequestrations of pro perty throughout that territory than in any other part of India, and the revenue was more regularly collected, and more regularly found its way to the public treasury; and during the fifty years it had been in operation, the cus toms, excise, stamp, and post-office revenues had trebled, and every branch had been equally productive. had they adopted the same system in other parts of India, the same results would have followed ; but instead of 2s. 6d. an acre, in some parts of India it was 10s. 6d., and in the Guzerat it reached to 225. Bd. an acre. Mr. WARDEN (a Director)—Where is that stated ? Mr. MARTIN—In the evidence given before a Com mittee of the House of Commons. Mr. WARDEN- 7 Trobahly it was meant to apply merely to the sugar lands of Gnierat. Mr. MARTIN-It had •: been stated by Mr. Rickards that in the island of Salsette the assessment amounted to a guinea an acre. The greater part of this tine island was in consequence waste -land ; and that fine island, which, from its situation With regard to Bombay, ought to be one of the largest of our commercial emporiums, had only very recently had the tigers expelled from , it, and was lying waste in consequence of the enormous amount of the land-tax assessment. He trusted he had not exaggerated any statement re garding the land-tax. He thought that where they levied such a large amount of rate as one million, they would have no landed proprietors. The land-tax in other countries was nothing to what was levied in India. In England it was only ls., and, in fact, in the time of Wil liam 111. it was almost nominal. In France it was one fifth of the net produce. In Tuscany it was one-fifth of the net rental. In the Venetian States it was one-tenth, and in the Verones4States it was one-tenth. In Parma it was only 9d. an ace. In Bologne the taxes were only 2d. an acre. In Chirai it was one-tenth of the produce, but so lightly was it lyvied that in parts it was only about one-fiftieth.—(Hear.) In Peru it was one-tenth ; and even in the time of the Romans, when they spread their conquests over the whole world, they only levied a tax of one-tenth, and according to Levy, in Spain, it was only one-twentieth. - No nation had ever levied such a land-tax as that in India.—(Hear.) Until they adopted a permanent system of revenue, their interests must be come deteriorated. Since the year 1829 the land revenue had decreased five lacs of rupees ; and it would still con tinue to diminish unless they fixed the land-tax. It was to the interest of their revenue to do so.—(Hear.) It was remarkable how little they derived at the present time from the present system of taxation. The amount of taxes in British India only amounted to 2s. 6d. a head, while in the United Kingdom it was 2/. ; in France, 1/. 4s. ; in Spain, I4s. 6d. ; in America, 15s. ; and so on in other States. The land tax had been fixed in Ceylon, and there was alteration in every branch in consequence. That island was rising with extraordinary celerity, and they had the means of making India the same. For seven years the revenue of British India had amounted in land tax to 70 millions ofrupees, the salt tax to 54 millions, The Post-office three millions, and the Excise fifty-two millions. By the present system of the land-tax, they would injure the whole of these.—(Hear, hear.) He hoped he had proved, as stated in the second part of his resolution, that this system impoverished the people, and he had shown how it deteriorated the revenue.—(Hear, hear.) „He had the statements before him of the Bengal Commissioners, by which it appeared that this system produced famine. It appeared from various sources that this system was productive of famine, particularly in Bengal. In 1661 a tax was levied of 50 per cent., and the result was a famine. Shortly afterwards they came into possession of Bengal, and adopted the same system of taxation, and the result was that in 1770 the Governor stated that famine had destroyed nearly the whole of the country. Col. R. Dundas, who had been so distinguish -ea in the city of Poonali, had stated a very striking fact, viz. that he found no farmer who was worth 5001., out of a population of nearly 13,000,000—n0t a farmer possessed of 5001. Jir John Monroe, after an expe rience of twenty-five years, declared that the system adopted by the East India Company, with respect to the land-tax, was reducing the country, its revenue, and its proprietary.—(Hear, hear.) 'The third portion of his resolution with which he should conclude was—" That the occupiers and cultivators of the soil of British India are entitled to obtain from the British Government a fixed assessment, and a guarantee of hereditary occupancy, unmolested by arbitrary de mands and periodical claims, either by annual or more in t bm l e i t e prder G oent o bse. . o_ e nn r d n (teH n id i i e ae n atur t pi,to : Nl v il‘e. a aat s srh.le; g i g r o ; rl n d t iti i ie n pur g ile.ei nt i se i hi e ijaop w tluel. l ease lt extended leas es ." H e was aware it would be said that was b hisut they firm p n something v s e h m o e u n l d t e d e be e t i b m i in their present system of revenue. He therefore urged upon them the consideration of the land-tax. He did not ask them to give up one shilling of their present revenue, but lie was convinced that in fixing the land tax they would be enabled not only to obtain more readilystheir present revenue, but it would be the means of augmenting it.—(Cheers.) It was not by crossing the Indus alone that would demonstrate to the country a disposition towards their interests, but it was by wisely governing them and giving stability to the Government, by placing the happiness of the people in their own pos session. He regretted that some individual of longer 'tending in that Court, and of more experience in the subject, had net taken up this question. There were men who had devoted their minds to this subject ; he regretted they had not taken up this subject before ; for then he should have been content to have followed at humble distaw:e, for the. purpose of giving them his sup • - port. —(Cheers.) •He had brougbt the subject before the • Court because he felt that it should be no longer delayed. He did not know any' position of their Government, net even excepting its Ministry, that had greater claims on their consideration. He was sure they had the goo 4 wishes of every man in the country. Their was not a Christian heart that did not beat in their cause.—(Hear.) —.- The great good sense of the country was awake to the subject. This consideration would-conduce to the hap piness and prosperity of the people, and continued con nection between that country and this kingdom. Major BRIGGS rose to second the resolution. He was extremely sorry that some one of more consequence had not been called upon to do so. The Court of Directors had assumed that they were the proprietors of the land in India. He should confine himself to that question alone. He was of the same opinion as the Hon. Gen tleman who had just sat down, that the land-tax, such as then established in India, was the most pernicious that could be imagined. The first authority he would re fer them to was Mr. Grant. The Hon. Gentleman here read a long extract from the works of Mr. Grant in 1786 to Prove that the Court of Directors had no right to the property of the soil in India. The Hon. Gentleman con tinued—The Directors had said there was no harm in their taking the whole surplus profit; and Mr. Mills. in his exa mination before the House of Commons in 1832, said that a country taxed in that way was not ;axed at all, and that the Board of Directors had a right to do this, as they were the proprietors of th e soil. A similar opinion had lately been put forth in the Quarterly Review, stating that the very best mode o f t axat i on was th a t of taking the whole surplus profit from the cultivation. Now he (Major Briggs) begged to ask who was to be the judge, what was the whole surplus profit? The cultivator of the land could not be the judge ; therefore it was left with the Governor to be the judge ; and, assuming that to be the case, the Governor would, of course, take to the utmost extent. He would ask them if they kept in their hands the right of taxing the people in this way, how many colonies they would have left In Australasia? Let a proclamation go forth, that the Governor would not allow any land to be cultivated, without paying, as taxes, the surplus profit—they would then see how many ships would leave the river. Thames to be freighted from those lands.—(Hear, hear.) Who would have ever heard of the present America, if England had for merly said, Give us the surplus profit of the land ? (Hear, hear.) Australasia would not have been occu pied ; they would have had no colonies at all if they had pursued such a principle as this.—(Hear, hear.) He was prepared to prove that the Directors had no right to the soil of India. (The Hon. Gentleman then proceeded to read a great number of extracts from various works on India, and also from various dis patches from servants of the Company, the ob ject of which was to prove that the present oc cupiers were the real owners of the soil, and not the Board of Direction.) He would not go into the question of how the revenue was collected. He was of opinion, with the Hon. Mover of the motion, the most just way to levy the land-tax would be to take a certain number of years, and then the average of the produce, and fix the tax at that rate for ever—(Hear, hear) — leaving out the waste lands for them to cultivate if they chose, thereby enabling them the better to pay their taxes. They had tried the present system for half a century ; they had advanced money for the purpose ; but still the lands were not cultivated. (The Hon. Gen tleman again referred to statistical accounts at some length.) He entreated them, both for the sake of the people and the, Government, to look to that question with European eyes. A short anecdote occurred to him just then ; while he was in Mysore, an old man, upwards of seventy years of age, who possessed a small estate, which yielded him 400 rupees, out of which the Government received a tenth. In the time of Bulleir, this estate was taken from him, and the old man said the -curse of Go vernment had been on it ever since, for it only yielded forty rupees. He (Major Briggs) asked him how that could be, and the old man answered that as the Governor took one-half of the produce, he could not think of cul tivating his land. He thanked them for having listened to him, and the Hon. Gentleman sat down amidst consi derable applause. The CHAIRMAN then rose, and said he did not think the abstract question a proper one for that Court. He deprecated such a course, as it was impossible for them to enter in that Court into a calm discussion of the question, so as to enable them to come to a just decision. He would say that the Court was fully satisfied of the truth of what had been stated, and that the Direction had an anxious desire to promote the welfare of the people of India. He could only say that it was impos sible that any one could be more desirious of promoting the happiness of the people than those he had the honour to call his colleagues. When anything was brought for ward it always received his utmost attention, and had done for twelve years. But he should deprecate the in troduction of such a question into that Court. He con cluded by moving the original motion. Mr. BROWN said he had in his possession reeds that he had obtained while in India from persons holding estates, some of which reeds had been in the families from whom he obtained them, of upwards of 200 years old, which had been produced on the estates of the par ties now occupying the soil. Had there been such a book as Doomsday Book in India this would have been proved. These facts were now open to proof, and these were the persons who were sought to be dispossessed of the soil. Mr. WEEDING would go back to the works of Col. Weeks, from which it appeared that there was no private property in India ; it was all the property of the State. So vast was the consideration of this question that he (Mr. Weeding) should vote for the amendment of the Chairman. Mr. SALOMANS said he thought the discussion itself was useful, because the more the attention of the Court of Directors was drawn to the subject the better, but he thought the proposition of the Hon. Mover of the motion' was most inconvenient, and he therefore should support the view taken by the Chairman. After a few words from Colonel SYKES, An HON. PROPRIETOR moved that the Court should ad journ, which being put was lost, and— . Mr. G. THOMPSON rose and said—He did not think it became one Hon. Proprietor to tell another that they could not discuss that question with calmness. Was it not discussed somewhere out of doors ? He had been gratified that day with the knowledge that not one asser tion that he ever made in reference to the injurious land tax of India had been contradicted. For two years and a-half the land-tax of that country had been his study. Why not discuss this question with calmness ? If it was a question to be discussed by Hon. Gentlemen let them discuss it. 'Were they prejudiced, it was their duty to remove this prejudice. Had they formed a bad opinion, let them show that they were wrong. It was a duty they owed to the people of England and India. Not discuss it with calmness ! Was there a want of calm ness in his Hon. Friend ? It was too much to hear that when there was any opportunity before them to obtain evidence on that question that the Chairman deprecated the introduction of such a subject, because it could not be discussed in calmness. There was calmness in his Hon. Friend's face, and in all his actions ; calmness even to the very end of his very luminous speech. He would appeal to their judgments and their sense, and ask was there any want of calmness in the gentleman who sat below him, who had given the result of his own expe rience (Major Briggs) ? and yet they were told that the Court—the Chairman—deprecated that discussion, and when any question vitally interested the people of India it was deprecated. Now this was a question coming home mot to him (the Chairman) —not to himself—they were Directors still ; but for the man whose happiness depended on their government. They had not increased their revenue in the new found—the newly colonized country of Australasia. The little port of Stockton upon-Tees sent more tonnage than they did to all India. Now there was a cause for this. His Hon. Friend and the Gallant Officer who sat beloW him, and who seconded his Hon. Friend's motion, thought that the cause was to Y..” 1 . ~,,, be found in the vicious system of land taxation. He (Mr. T.) could say it was not in the principle of taxation only, but also in the mode in which they collected it, by which they made their servants" instruments of crime where they would rather be the administrators of justice. —(Cheers.) This question was introduced. They had their own Chairman to give information to that Court, who was in a situation to go to the very fountain-head of light on this matter, and who had searched all the works of writers on the subject down to the Hon. Mount stewart Elphinstone. The Board came into that Court as Directors ; they were bound to communicate all that they knew. They were bound to inform them, and they asked nothing unreasonable at their hands ; but in stead of that, sullen silence was observed, and the original motion was moved. In eight short months in 1838 60,000 human beings died of famine, and were they not to discuss that question ? He was prepared to go into the principle of the land-tax, but all that could be said, had been said by the gentlemen in the debate. He put it to themselves and the country. With a gentleman - had refered r t e o sp a e i c e t to time otfhferimloaund-r;tabxu,t he (Mr. Thompson) would, as he seemed fond of antiquities—(Hear, hear) —go still further, and take him to the time of Abra ham,—he that was an inhabitant of this little Avorld, and not an undistinguished one. What said the testi mony of Abraham on the subject of the land-tax ? He wanted to buy a burial-place for his wife. How did he get his ground ? " My Lord, hearken unto me :—the land is worth 400 shekels of silver. What is that be twixt me and thee ? Bury, therefore, thy dead." Let them show him the shekels they had given for India ! He asked them where were the shekels they had given for India ? And yet those Gentlemen told them a fact of their being proprietors 3f the soil—a fact they would not attempt to support. But he had not done with Timour.—(A laugh.) What if there were owners to them ? Let them mark that. He would make the Gentlemen a present of Timour, and he wished them joy. " All the lands," said Timoitr, " if there be no owner to them, should be annexed to the Crown lands ; but if there be an owner, and he be reduced to distress,, let him be supplied to retrieve him." 'Who was now the' proprietor of the soil ? This was a ques tion vital to their honour, vital to their interests, coming home to the poor wretch who lived upon rice, as who ad_ Although t anhogi authority the l)oy well as to those who rolled in the lux ury obtained from his labour.—(Cheers.) W hen woul d the question be de cided, if not then ? T here the y were at issue. He would. quote insubject, supplanted that of the Mahomedan in Benga l, we did not , it is true, adopt sifrom“ l er the sanguinary part of their creed ; but from the impure fountain of their financial system did we, to our shame, claim the inheritance to a right to seize upon half the gross produce of the land as a tax; and wherever our arms have triumphed, we have invariably proclaimed this savage right, coupling it at the sam e t im e with the senseless doe trine of the proprietary right to those lands being also vested in the Sovereign, in virtue of the right of conquest." They saw it maintained that day. Either they were, or they were not, the lords of the soil. It could be soon settled, but it seemed they were not prepared to settle it after 200 years of trade and 70 or 75 years of conquest. The sense of justice contained in British bosoms would settle it for them, and that would settle that they were not the lords of the soil. Their revenue t was insignificant compared with the rich com merc i a l facility of the country. They would think of the paltry sixteen millions of revenue gathered from 150 millions of people living on a soil of fertility, and they would , compare it with the fifty millions raised from twenty millions of people in this country, while their land-tax 'made that country of India a desert—a desert. in all but the wild and teeming luxuriance of the earth. It would be rich, but they had made it poor. Let him look at the issue of this. Why were they obliged to discuss that question of the land-tax in India at public meetings? It was because they would not discuss it there. They had other business to attend to, but he denied that they had more important business to attend to.—(Cheers.) But they knew the Indian question was a bore. They knew that the people of this country were only waking, and that it would be a long time before they were wide awake, and they thought things would last their time out. It was time they should consider this ques tion. Let them talk not of the previous question. Try if they could not discuss it with calmness. Was he not calm ? He intended to be calm. Men belonged to that Court who filled the sacred office, who were Ministers of the Gospel. Should they not come there ? They all had their opinions as to the cause of the discussion, but he wished them, as had been urged by an Honourable Proprietor, to look at it with European eyes. Give the people a fee-simple to the soil—adopt the sacred principle urged by his Hon. Friend the mover of the motion—and India would bless them.—(Cheers.) Drive them not from the soil—drive them not into the wilder ness, and from their villages. He would say no mere on that occasion, but whenever that question was brought forward again he hoped he should not rise as lie sat down at nearly six o'clock; but he should,always te prepared, as was duty, to vote " aye," that they were neither de facto nor de jure proprietors of the soil of British India. Mr. STUKEa said he for one of the Directors never had any objection to go into that subject ; but he could see no utility in discussing that question now. They must first getl'arliament to adopt their action. They were not the authorities that could decide such measures, The most intelligent men in the country had considered the subject for years, and none had been more widely discussed. He had always studied that which was use ful, and he could not see that any benefit was to be de rived from discussing that question at that time. Mr. MARTIN said, if he had failed in his object in bringing forward this subject, and as they did not feel disposed to discuss the question then, it gave him plea sure to think that it might give rise to some salutary measure being proposed.—(Hear, hear.) It was then moved that the Court should adjourn to to morrow (this day), at half-past twelve o'clock, and the meeting broke up at a quarter past six. CHRIST'S HOSPITAL. ORATIONS OF THE SENIOR SCHOLARS. This highly interesting anniversary took place in the Great Hall of the Hospital on Tuesday afternoon. At one o'clock the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress ' with Sir Robert Inglis, the Sheriffs, and several other City func tionaries, having quitted Divine Service in the Church, took their seats at the upper end of the Great Hall. Nearly 2,500 spectators were present, three-fourths of whom were ladies. The rostrum from which the Orations were to be delivered occupied the centre of the room, and round it were ranged the Clergy, with the Exhibitors of the day. Mr. HENRY NEWPORT commenced, and recited 1. A Latin Oration, on the Benefits of the Royal Hospi tals. This prose Oration alluded to the foundation of Christchurch by the Sixth Edward, and the orator, re garding it, therefore, as a religious seminary, spoke of those times when Popery was dominant in the land, and the " religio corrupts" prevailed. The Oration was well delivered, and his pronunciation of the " Romani impe rium pontificis abrogatur" was excellent. 2. English Oration, on the same subject. SAMUEL JOHN PHILLIPS.—This, identifying itself with the preceding, contrasted the external beauty of structure, and the in ward uses of devotion of our present Christian temples, with the temples of Heathenism, and pictured England escaping from the deformities of Romanism. 3. French Oration, on the same subject. JOHN ALFRED AIREY.—The smoothl liquidity of the French tongue singularly contrasted with the boldness of the Saxon and Roman that had preceded. Airey's allusion to the. " noble et brillant architecture" of the great ball in which the company were seated, was happily in unison with the scene, while the sunshine poured through the painted windows, and underneath. its roof female eyes "rained their sweet influence" upon its talented students. These three gentlemen above-mentioned, are nc w pro ceeding to Cambridge University on the foundation of the . School, and undoubtedly promise well. 4. Greek Sapphic Ode, on the " Emigrants." PETER HAMEL HAMMILL.—HaMMiii, with a pleasantly-modu lated voice, spoke his Sapphics in a very agreeable manner, and his delivery was graceful. 5. Latin Altaic Ode, on the " Crusaders." Wn.Luor HAIG BROWN.—These Alcaics represented the Holy- Land Knights departing for the Sacred Tomb ; their emotions on planting foot on holy soil, and the praise of Lion-hearted Richard. 6. English Ode to the Princess Royal. JOHN SMITH BEN/FOLD.—This being the most intelligible, and on a Loyal subject, pleased the audience excessively. The opening lines were : ODE TO THE PRINCESS ROYAL. Hail ! Bud of Promise—Ocean-Child ! Beauty and Grace, thy couch attending, Smile on thy birth with aspect mild, Their magic power together blending : Sweet be thy slumbers I—softly Angels are o'er thy cot presiding. Gaze—gaze we on the gladdening scene ! And mark the parent's bosom swelling ; What rapture fills the Mother-Queen ! What joy within her breast is dwelling ! Trace, too, in Albert's features stealing High smiles—a father's love revealing. 7: Latin Hexameters on " The Shipwreck." Arcrs- TUS SPILLEIt HARRISON.—These verses evidently al luding to the fate of " the President," commenced in the strain of Falconer's Shipwreck, by representing . the turbulence cf sea and air, till the disastrous ve:sel is laid on her beam-ends, end her masts dismantled. Harrison's delivery of "lieu periere ornnes !" descriptive of the pe rishing passengers, was good and effective, and his sub sequent verses on the sorrows which this loss would oc casion among relations at home--the " lachrynue ina trumque patrumque" were qualified with appropriate pathos. 8. Greek lambics on "Leonidas." GEORGE EDWIN PAT TENDEN.—This was the gem of the series. Pattenden, with a rotund voice in his favour, spoke it with as much fervour and heroism as the old Greek warrior himself. The ode consisted of the address of Leonidas to his handful of high martyrs at the pass of Therinopyhe. Pattenden's enunciation of those passages which directly q appealed to the Hellenic soldiery—the (rm . E AEU Off oi, —" Be ye free"—and again, the " 02FEIVE Vp..£lc, " "Be ye bold," were delivered by this young scholar with excellent nerve and spirit. 9. Leetin Sapphic Ode, to Prince George of Cambridge. AnTrzna CHURll.—This ode was addressed to his Royal Highness on the occasion of his becoming a Governor of Christ's Hospital. 10. Latin Elegiacs, or " Nathan's Reproof of David." GEORGE BANASTRE Pzx.—An opening phrase seemed somewhat unorthodox : David and his Princes were de scribed as seated on thrones " vittis ornati," literally, I adorned with " fillets." Now, from Aaron to Solomon, Sacred Writ mentions no fillet : priests and Kings wore "crowns," and . even "bonnets to:beauty and glory :" never theless, throwing aside hypercriticism, the allusion to the " tender lamb" was choicely given ; and though nothing can equal the plain scripture of " Thou art the man !" it was fairly rendered by— " Tu rapuisti agnum, crimen et omne tnum !" 11. English Poem, on "Edward the Sixth." WILLIAM ROMANIS —ln praise of the Founder of the School, who was likened to a young star shining in the heavens. The speeches being concluded, a liberal collection was made in a glove for the scholars ; and on the departure of the Lord and Lady Mayoress, clergy, &c., the 800 Christchurch boys, seated in front of the organ, sang " God save the Queen," and afterwards testified their hilarity of spirit by using hand, foot, and voice in accla mations. Dr. Rich, the very urbane Head Master of the School, with his coadjutors, have undoubtedly made their scholars arrive at some " show and standing." OPENING OF THE LONDON AND BRIGHTON RAILWAY. This stupendous undertaking is at length achieved, and the whole line eras opened throughout to the public on Tuesday . morning. The difficulties with which the Company have had to contend have been great, but they have all been surmounted , with comparative ease, and the great work—a work charac terised by an eminent engineer as almost impracticable—does honour to the engineers and the Company Its cutting, its embankments, and its tunnels are immense, exceeding per haps any other line in the kingdom in point of magnitude in the same distance. The most magnificent and imposing ob ject on the line is the Ouse viaduct, about 34 miles from London, which is 1,434 feet long, entirely built of brick, arid consisting of 37 semi-circular arches, each 30 feet span. From the surface of a small river the parapet rises about 105 feet, and the structure, when seen from the bed of the valley, has an elegant appearance. At an early hour the bells of St. Nicholas ushered in the auspicious morn, and, notwithstanding the prevalence of a heavy fog, numbers of persons were upon the hills in the vici nity t.f the terminus to witness tl.e departure of the first up train, which left at a quarter before seven. A special train, which is to run the distance in an hour and three-quarters, left at half-past eight with some of the Direc tors and their friends. Every Available spot in the vicinity of the terminus com manding a view of the road was occupied, and the scene alto gether w as very imposing. Thousands upon thousands were scattered in all directions upon tho hills and on the roads in the vicinity of the terminus—the town literally emptied itself of its inhabitants. Under the shed at the terminus a host of musi cians and vocalists, professional as well as amateurs, had assem bled to greet the first arrivals with a triumphal chorus. The train was expected to arrive at about a quarter after twelve, and as the time approached every eye was directed as far as it could reach on the line to catch a first glimpse of the train. In a short time the rattling of the engine was heard, and in mother instant the train was whisked over the New England viaduct, and reached its destination amidst the shouts of the vast multitude. The band immediately struck up the national anthem, and was joined in full chorus by a thousand voices. This train was followed by another in about ten minutes afterwards, which was also hailed with acclamation. The course of the line is as follows:—It starts upon the Greenwich line at London•bridge, on which it runs for one mile and three quarters. It then takes the Croydon line until about nine miles and a half from town and one from Croydon, where it turns off front it to the left, and skirts the eastern boundary of the town, at which it has a station better placed, it appears to us, for the accommodation of the town, than that of the Croydon Company. From this place it gradually approaches the turnpike-road to Brighton for a mile and a ball. The line now keeps very close to the east of the road until a little beyond the " Parsonage," twenty-five miles and a half by railway from town. At this place it crosses , and leaves the road sometimes a mile sr more to the east of it, creasing from Surrey_ to Sussex at twenty-eight miles from town, and going by Haslic-mill, Pound-hill, Green -trees, and Cooper-corner, until it re-crosses the road at thirty-four miles and a half from town, where is the Balconibe station. The line now makes a considerable detour to the east of the read ; in one place nearly Vito miles from it. passing ty Muster green, Burgess-hill, and nut meeting the road azain until it reaches Recomb, 46 miles from London. It then crosses to the west, and keeps very close to the road to Brighton, which it enters on an eminence near the old Church, fifty-one miles from town. There are five tunnels—Merstham, 1,800 yards long ; Bal combe, 1,120; Hayward's Heath, 220; Clayton, 2,200; and Patcham, 480 yards long. Merstham is about 18 miles from town ; Balcombe, 324 ; and the Clayton, 45 miles. The principal shaft of this tunnel is no less than 270 feet below the surface of the earth. (From the Brighton Guardian.) The morning was at first cloudy; but by about ten o'clock the mists dispersed, and the' God of day" broke forth in auspicious splendour to welcome the achievement of one of the mightiest triumphs of " mind over matter"—of human skill over the irregularities of surface, that modern science has yet presented to the notice of the British public. It would ill be come us in this place to detail the geological difficulties that were to be overcome in the completion of the line of railway ; and it would be much worse taste to allow any little feeling of misconduct by the Directors of the line towards this Journal to interfere in the acknowledgement of its general benefits and utility to the community at large. At an early hour in the morning, the national ensign was hoisted on the steeples of our churches, the bells of St. Nicholas poured forth a merry peal, and many of the inhabitants were seen hastening to the terminus to witness the departure of the first train to London. That left at a quarter to eight and took up, we believe, about thirty passengers, an my of whom went only as far as tiayward's fleat.h to meet and return with the first train down from London. It should have been observed that the Directors of the Com pany came down in a train consisting of four carriages at half past two o'clock on Monday afternoon, and were received at the terminus by the local officers of the station with great enthu siasm, an elegant dejeuner a la purehette being provided for them. _ . . • The first down train yesterday arrived about twenty minutes to one o'clock, and on its appearing in sight the bands of the Scots Greys, the promenade concerts, the theatre, and the town, struck up the national anthem, in which they were ad mirably joined by a party of professional and amateur singers under the management of Mr. Harroway of the theatre Both sides of the line for a considerable way down, as well as the splendid balcony of the terminus, were crowded by a very large concourse of the most influential and fashionable re sidents of the town and neighbourhood, all of whom ex• pressed their gratification at the completion of this stupen dous undertaking. As far as regards the exertions of the Directors themselves to give an eclat to the occasion, lin. pattiality compels us to state that there was a niggardli ness in their arrangements utterly unworthy of the public spirit by which alone they ought to have been actuated. We have had the singular good fortune to have been present at most of the openings of the other lines of railway in the king dom. We witnessed the triumph of Stephenson on the works of the London and Birmingham Railway,—we were present at. the opening of the London and Southampton line,—we were honoured by an invite on the occasion of the Great Western Railway displaying its " proud pre-eminence" over every other similar means of transit in Great Britain,— we were participators in the festivities of the Greenwich and Croydon Railway Companies on the completion of their pro jects; nay, more, we claim to ourselves the distinguished honour of having received a special commission to chronicle the national fetes on the completion of the Belgian chemia de fee at Ostend, in the autumn of 1838 ; and we unhesitatingly declare that there was yesterday a perfect absence of all the civilities and boa hommie, if we may use the expression, on the part of the Brighton and London Railway Company, which generally characterise the full developement of these speculations. In the evening the entertainment to the Directors adver tised in our last number, came off with great eclat at the Old Ship Tavern, the dinner and wines not only doing credit to the liberality of the Committee, but also to the taste of the cele brated proprietors. We must also mention that the room was very tastefully decorated by Mr. Fox, and that the vocal and instrumental music afforded great satisfaction and was ably conducted by Mr. Harroway of the Theatre Royal. There were also a grand display of fireworks and other entertainments at the Royal Gardens, besides partial illumina tions and amusements in different parts of the town to cele brate this great event, which is, we trust, pregnant with advan tages of the highest order to Brighton. SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE. (LLOYD'S.) LONDON, Sm. 22.—Wind this day at noon S.W. DEAL, SEPT. 21. W ind E. N. E., fresh. —A rri ved the Theresa, from Calcutta. Arrived from the River the Wool sington, for Ceylon; Maria, Somes, Singapore. Sailed the Sarah, for Cape of Good Hope ; Ontario, New York ; Copy, Africa; Lord, Malta; James, Bermuda; Martha, Washing ton, New Orleans. LIVERPOOL, SEPT. 21.—Wind S.E., fresh.—Arrived the Elizabeth, Price, from Pernambuco, sailed 13th ult.—on the 12th, 13th, and 14th inst. experienced heavy gales from N.W. from lat. 41. lon. 24 to lat. 45. lon. 17., split sails. lost bul warks, &c. ; George Marsden, Montreal. Sailed the Hindos tan", for Bombay; Agnes, Barbadoes ; Oriziculo and Tyrian, New Orleans; Goodwin, Philadelphia. Arrived off, the High lander, from Valparaiso. DOVER, SErT. I9.—Arrived off, the Odin, from Leith, for Buenos Ayres; Penelope, ditto for ditto. PORTSMOUTH, SEPT. 21.—Wind S.E., fresh.—Arrived the Ajax_ .! Thomson, from Leghorn. OFF ST. ALBAN'S HEAD, SEPT. 19 —Arrived the Minuet, from Batavia; Phya, of Sunderland, North America. :OWES, SEPT. 21.—Arrived the Carl Wilhelm, Ludering, m Bahia. FALMOUTII, SEPT. 20. —Nil had E. S. B. , strong breezes. Arrired the Rover, from Odessa. Sailed the Tagus (steamer) for Vigo. Arrived off, the Lady Sarah, Bayley, from Jamaica St. George, Havannah. OFF FOWEY, SEPT. 20.—Arrived the Lord Lowther, Pat • m, from Calcutta. PEZANCE, SEPT. 20.—Arrived the Amitie, Normantier. The Mary Ann, from Trapani to New York, foundered on the 25th ult., 90 miles west of Sicily. Crew saved by the Rover, Stamp, arrived at Falmouth. VESSELS Sem: EN WITH. —The Eliza, from Calcutta to London, 22d ult., lat. 13, lon. 27 ; Sophie, Otto, South Seas to Bremen, 25th, lat. 16, lon. 25, by the Earl Wilhelm, arrived at Cowes. Feronia, Jamaica to Bristol, 14th, lat. 27, lon. 79 ; Reward, from London, 11th inst., lat. 45, lon. 31, by the Elizabeth, arrived at Bristol. Jumbo, London to Launceston, July 20th, lat. 29, lon. 23 ; Surprise (ship), by the Runac, arrived off Portland. Barque Tapley, May Bth, lat. 5, lon. 85 E. ; Venus, Buenos Ayres to Antwerp, 3d inst., lat. 36, lon. 39, by the Cassiopa, arrived at Liverpool. Harlequin, bound to the Cape, 2d ult., lat. 11, lon. 23 ; Louisa Bailly, bound to China, Bth, lat. 14, lon. 25 ; 111ontefiores, bound to Colombo, 12th, lat. 16, lon. 28, by the Prince Albert, arrived off the Wight. FEARGUS O'CONNOR AT BIRMINGHAM.—• On Monday night Mr. Feargus O'Connor held a meeting in Birmingham, and his speech on the occasion was more inflam matory than ever. He spoke for nearly two hours, abused all the old leaders, condemned the Anti-Corn-law agitation, and denounced Mr. Ray, of Dublin, and the Repealers, who had prevented the Irishmen from joining in his agitation in Bir mingham. He was, of course, a Repealer, and whether the Irishmen would have liberty or not at his hands, he was detel mined on giving it to them. He said it was his intention,now that they had separated all the wheat from the chaff, and got out the Whigs, to combine all real Reformers in England and Scotland, and arouse the people against the Tories. As he had always said. " the Whigs were devils, but the Tories were devi:s in hell, and they must put them out." CORONERS' INQUEST•—On Tuesday forenoon Mr. Wakley, Coroner, held an inquest at the City of Hereford, King-street, Baker-street, on the body of Frances Goodrich, aged thirty-three, whose death occurred under the follow ing . circumstances : Mrs. - Mary Clarke, an independent lady, resicing at No. 12, Nutford-place, Bryanston-square, deposed, that the deceased was formerly in her service, as cook, but left to be married, and on her husband dying, deceased, with her four children, came up to Islewerth, and subsequently went into the union. On Saturday last, witness hearing that she was very poorly, went down to see her, and found her fretting very much, and crying violently, saying that she felt very unhappy about her children. Witness then proposed for her to return to town, and got into an omnibus for that purpose. On alighting deceased said she felt very fatigued, and just opposite that house said she could go no further. They entered the parlour, when deceased said " put your hand here," pointing to her heart, and on doing so she found it beating violently. In the morning she went to see how she was, and on going into the room found her in bed dead and cold, her hands clasped as in prayer. Witness did not think that she took anything to destroy life, but had no doubt she died of a broken heart from difficulties. The Jury, after passing a very high eulogium upon the exemplary actions of Mrs. Clarke towards deceased, returned a verdict of " Natural , death " THE CANADAS IN 1841.—The great and varied interests which have of late years attached to the Canadas, both Upper and Lower, are doubled at the present moment., in consequence of the many changes attendant on the recent troubles, and a concise work is much wanted that shall put us in possession of the nature and extent of those changes, both actual and perspec tive. Such a work, it appears, we are on the point of receiving from the pen of Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Henry Bonnycastle, whose official position in Canada afforded him unusual facilities and advantages for the execution of such a task. The title of Sir Henry Bonnycastle's book expresses precisely the work we stand in need of The Canadas in 1841"—for it is only from the most recent survey that we can hope for an , account of the actual state of those vast public works which have lately opened to us in " the Far West" such unlimited pros. pects of national advantages. THE INVISIBLE VENTILATING PERUKE; OE, GENTLEMAN'S REAL HEAD OF HAlR.—These inimitable perukes, designated as above from the close resemblance they assume to the natural hair, having been worn Without disco very even jay members of the same family, are strongly re commended to the notice of every one requiring this addition, either on account of baldness, grey hair, or as a restorative by shaving the head, an infallible remedy, if adopteil in time. An extenfive assortment of these articles, of every.ahade, form, and kind, enabling the purcha ser t o see t h e effect before order ing, in private apartments devoted solely to the abOve purpose at the inventor's, Ross and Sons, 119 and 120, Rishopsgate street. The Government Inspector of Railways, Sir Frederick Smith, after a very careful survey of the whole of the Brighton Railway, gives it as his opinion, in his Report, that this line is one of the best constructed, and consequently the safest in the kingdom. It is said that this coiielusion is principally induced by the great width and solidity of the em bankments, and by reason of the cuttings upon the line being through adhesive strata of chalk. It certainly presents many features of great interest which are not to be found on other lines. Where a departure from the ordinary coach road has hitherto been effected it has generally been Aojposot a great lots to the lovers of the picturesque, buttere.tietkelevation of the embankments secures a , continually changing scene of a; lovely a country as the eye could desire to rest upon. Added to this, the invigorating and health-inspiring breezes from the ocean are not impeded in their passage, and their presence is made deliciously apparent to the grateful traveller' long before the " Town of Palaces," Brighton, appears in ,sight. t The ,a fast trains reach this place in an hour and threeT e ua l r in e iit of period of time neither too long nor too short, in t the man of business, which can be made one of the most delightful trips' science of steam" has yet presented to the s to he very likely seeker of pleasure, or the invalid. appears to be that this line will shortly be the principal c the proud tween London and Paris: Died, at Appin House, on the 10th inst., Robert Downie, Esq., of Appin, aged 70. Mr. Downie passed the earlier part of his manhood in Bengal, where, by his intel ligence and diligence in business, he acquired an ample fortune. Not long after his return to his native country, he represented for several successive Parliaments the burgh of h S he tirling, i n which town he had bee n educated;. and, thoug did not often speak in the House, his business habits and general knowledge of the affairs of the country rendered him an effi cient and useful 31eiriber. He . also took an active interest in many public undertalcing,s whicti have proved of great import ance to his n ative country.—Scotch raper, • DESTRUCTION OF THE SHIP INDIA BY FIRE, AT SEA. In° JANEIRO, JULY 25.—1 t is my lot to descsibw to you one of the most melancholy events in the annals, of tslip disasters sthich has occurred for years, tent:- peree with the merciful interposition of Providence ins *Living multitudes of human beings from certain de struction. On Monday the 19th instant, our ship the India was in fourteen degrees south latitude ; after breakfast one of the passengers came to the cabin and repo: ted that a strange sail was in view. Not having s e e n one for the previous fourteen days, we were all on deck instantly ; but it was too far distant to notice (stir signi Is, and as she was sailing in the same line with us, we k pt in view of one another all the forenoon, and Came rather nearer after lunch, at 12 o'clock. Tile writer states that he returned to the cabin, and tl e proceeds with his narrative : I had not sat above half an hour, when I was sur prise I by a cry for water by the second mate, who was: runn ng from the stair leading to the store-room to wards the saloon. I immediate'y sprang towards the door of the stair which leads to the store-room, where the c else was but too apparent from the smoke and Na a moment was to be lost ; tie men were juin), diately call d aft, with all the pails cud pitchers; they could lay hold of. Tuis was done with the utmost.: alter ty ; the sum ly of water was, however, far from stiff, :eat. We had a pump behind the binnacle, bat its bora was very trifling ; some flung buckets over the ships sides, but in the hurry these were drawn up scarcely half lull. Ail this time, although some of the heeds were breaking up the vessel to get at the seat of the fire, it was rapidly gaining ascendancy. It being evident that we could not 'save the ship, our whole cnerzies were directed to the preservation of our lives. " When I came forward all was one scene of con fusion and despair, the women wringing their hands in the most heart-rending manner, and this, mingled with the :creaming of children, presented a scene it would bo e sin to attempt describing. During this interval guns of distress were fired to attract the attention of the vessel in the distance. But in the meantime we sent away the jolly boat with five seamen, to over take or attract her attention to our situation; as it was apparent that unless she came to our assistance every soul on hoard must perish. They next commenced cleering the long-boat of pigs, goats, &c., which were toast overboard. Tee boat was strong and heavy, and it was with difficulty got over the side. After it was over, it was immediately filled with the children, and Is many of the females as it could hold, with four men to row them towards the vessel, and the gig was lose red and lay off about 50 yards to prevents its icing swatiiped• " It was by this time evident that the vessel in view was aware of our situation, as she appeared to be bear ing down upon us, though still about nine miles dis tant, and although to the windward of us, it was not unreasonable to conclude at the time that our vessel wou d not float till she reached us, as she was now one glowing mass of flame from stem to stern below, and risirg through the hatches, and running up the rigging with incredible velocity. In less than one hour from the commencement of the fire her mainmost was lying over her lee-side, and the foremast, from being stayed to the jit-boom, was brought forward across her bows, and carrying along with it the jib-boom, of which I shall have occasion to speak hereafter. " Several of the crew and passengers who could sties were now floating out towards the vessel, and the • bowsprit was literally crowded and down the martingale: Tne captain and the first mate h ad b y this time take n the water, and nothing but despair was now depicted on every countenanCe- A number of the men re mained perfectly cool unt:er these awful circumstances, but at the same time every one'a attention was devoted to his own individual safety - , Fathers, mothers, and chihiren might all be found its different positions, in search of . and trusting to such means of deliver ance as they thought best ; and a great number were now floating in all directions, on pieces of wreck. A spare ma,t, which had been thrown over, had upwards of twelve clinging to it, and as they were nearly all on one side, it was continually revolving, which caused them away:* to drop off, and the whole, I be;isve, perished. The foremast, svhich was lying across the bows, was crowded, and also the jib-boom. I proceeded along the martingale arid lair: hold of a rap: ; whether I went down or was pushed, 1 betas.; not but I slid down, and when near the water I found the rope too long, allowing me to go quite over the head, and with the rolling of the vessel the next mo.liallt , psnded about five or six feet." The writer of the narrative describes his sufferings after he contrived to reach the mast, stating his belief thst he remained in this most perilous condition up wale's of an hour and a half. By this time the decks were all burned, and the boats of the strange vessel had reached them. Sa great was the rush that one of the bo s was upset, and upwards of five or six men drowned by this accident. Tneir own boat bad now leached them. By the management of the second mate all let on the wreck were brought away eefely. The strange vessel proved to be a French whaler for the South Sea Fithery, about the i'he of the India, and well found in provisions. Every attention was pail to the wants of those saved from /he wreck, of whom many were actually naked, and none had Leen alie to save anything. " The total number on board the India was 2: 4, of whom 18 perished—viz., 16 steerage, one cabin klas senster, and the boatswain. " Tile fire originated thus :—The second mate and one of the boys were drawing off some gin, and as the cau.l!e was too short for the lantern, they took it oat, and when placing it, it fell between two barren-, where some of the spirits had been spilled, and in a moment the whole seal in a blaze, the store-room being full of eau vass and other combustibles. e We arrived to-day in the harbour of Rio Janeiro. At the time of this accident we were 600 miles from lani', and our boats would not have held one-third of the oassengers, and so rapid were the flames that we cot l I not save a single article of bread or water, nor etc provide ourselves with a compass." No blame could be attributed to the captain or offi cer , who all did their utmost at first to extinguish the fire, and when that became hopeless, to save the il;ves of the passengers and crew. IMPORT OF WHEAT AND FLOUR.—Between the sth bzul the 11th instant, there was imported into Liver pool. London, and other ports, 119,223 quarters of wheat; 16,ii:13 sacks, and 9,469 barrels of flour. Total, this yetar 1,421,342 quarters of wheat, 419,101 sacks, and 303,Cf3.5 ►tip'" rely of flour. FOREIGN MACHINERY AND MANUTAC-- TUI:E . S.—As a proof that foreigners are fast putting up ma chinery for competing with this country, we may state, that the American ship Henry, Capt. Pierce, was lately char tere,l and cleared from Liverpool for Ostend, there to be laden with machinery and workmen for the manufacture of cotton, to t c conveyed to Vera Cruz, and put into work' in Mexico.. The machinery was made at the Phcenix Works in Ghent.— llitt qchester Guardian. The Macon papers observe that the Prefect of that place, who was absent on a tour with his family during the ,ate disturbances, returned the moment he heard of theme. Nine inhabitants and six soldiers are in the hospital for their wounds. The total number of persons arrested is twenty. The town is perfectly tranquil. On the 15th of March a melancholy accident oceerred at New Zealand, in the death by drowning of Francis Att.erton, Esq., and David Malcolm Kemp, Esq., the latter Asqistant-Surveyor on the Government establishment at New Zc. laud. They had proceeded with a young friend, Mr. Ro bin-on, in a small each:, to an island about five miles from the man land, and had nearly reached the shore on their retu: la, win a squall caught the vessel, which filled with water and went down. Mr. Kemp, being unable to swim. sunk imme diately; Mr. Atherton endeavoured to save himself by swim ming, but being encumbered with a great coat, soon shared the same fate ; Mr. Robinson succeeded in reaching a small rock, and was saved.—Liverpool Conner. LEITH PIER. —Workmen are now engaged in ren oving th e roun d ed b alustrade at the end of Leith Pier, which has a. long formed the terminating point of that ti; .. ligl:tful promenfde, in order to connect the pier with the 1".7_ for ; i hat the workpu r p tented portion, which has been so long in contemplation..e r.: r in ap a id s l 7t f e er l a f r o d r . war n dn ie ess ; ob-i rye the piles that are intended to be driven into e tb don '' bt o w se ill a go e will extend 1,000 feet. — Edinburgh Advert:ler• of A BEGGAR'S HONEsTy.—A circums t a nce , evening rate occurrence took place in Liverpool on Satu t T r a c y cur d. A we.-k, and one which, we think, deserves a placefoa sailor, was middle-aged man, rather decrepid, in the g-arbwoien a girl about soliciting alms in one of the principal streeis. L a wless, to in thi• +een years of age, the daughter of Mr. u , want, to give him Fte.e;o:edvadditimai Kara-street, was induced, from his appare e t d on h a ving been whit she supposed to be a penny, and Pa s- de 'd'a short dis d r didn't ta.t., e, the beggar again accosted her, c ‘ ro it w n n piece. ' The as you make a mistake? You gaverireendaed g ive you a penny." sent. to collect a debt. When she bad p r ro,,c_ en My , ea , to tocished girl replied, , " Yes , I i iili o g,, and received from the He gave her back the five sh illings: th toiful child all the copper she had' w hi c h was funri , ence, for wleeh he also appeared grat ified n . broke over Peronne a A violent ,thunder at oll fell twice on the town ; few evenings back. The lightning once near the powder 3 t first supposed to be dead. The se • it that lie was a h kaubouro• de Bretagne, and iniered by heuse in t e coz:d time it struck a c in a room, where 5 years ago, about tagazinc, where a sentinel was so much did consiricrsblc damag.ear, the pert Beranger was knocked the same time the ,3. time in his life. net states that the announce- Vie Cons titut i on h 'obtained the ' ', a house at Leipsic acing concession for don n by the eleoeftrienuid and much injured, for the second nu . " o' 1 , t en St. Petersburgh and Moscow, is premature. 11. '`• i c i , t " ) ,1,Y, g . ,'' it says, ‘.‘ has yet been decided on the subject, but is spoken of, an Eng li s h Company to .. which, it is said, the ,governmentßus.- will guarantee a minimum of interest. It is •• . to St. etersburgh, in which case the length of :a li' d that the line is to go 50 wersts round by the Wolga, so as to i•onvey corn .1, railway A WOMAN KILLED BY A BULL.-- We (.Iyr Advertiser) have seldom been called on to record a mi re lamentable event than the following, which took place oti Wednesday at noon. Mrs. Hunter, in Laigh Thornyflat. ne r Whitletts, a widow of advanced age, having gone out to a. , -.4 the herd-boy in driving the cattle from a field of wheat into which they had broken, was attacked by the bull, and so dreadfully gored and bruised that she died in about an hour and a half afterwards. The Chamber of Accusation of the Correctional Tribunal of Aix has just glken its decision as to 246 persons arrested for the attempt at revolution at Marseilles on the 23d 11l arch. Thirty•one are discharged, seven are to be tried by the Tribunal of Correctional Police of Marseilles, sixty•two are to be brought before the Court of Assize, on charges of revolt, &c. The remainder are to be placed at the disposition of the Preeureur du Hui, it not being.proved that they were connected with any political conspiracy. MO It NING SUN THE stIN, LONDON, THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 1 41. MORNING SUN