The Sun. — London, England, 1867-05-01 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAHENT 'HOUSE OF COMMONS—LAST EVENING. The SPEAKER took the chair at four o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The following bills were read a third time and passed:— Barking, Gas, Exmouth Market, Fisherton Anger and Bernerton Water, Llynvi and Ogmore Railway, London and North Western and Lancashire and Yorkshire Rail way Companies, Tees Conservancy, and Weymouth Con sumers' Gas. PUBLIC WORKS REPORT. Col. FRENC/I tyke(' the Secretary to the Treasury, ivl,y the report of the Public Works Commissioners for the I:ist year had not been laid upon the table of the house , ? Mr. HUNT said the report had not been laid on the table, because the accounts were taken up to the end of the financial year, which ended on tho Ist of May. Ho hoped to b ablo to lay the report on the table in the course of 8. fow days. THE IRISH AND SCOTCH REFORM BILLS. Mr. STACPOLE asked the Chancellor of the Exche quer when the Irish Reform Bill would be introduced ? The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER did not think there wa.M any difference of importance between the Scotch anti the Irish reform bills. It was necessary that somo progress should be made with the English reform bill before either of the two bills referred to were introduced. He thought it better that ho should explain the nature of the bills when he made his general statement, rather than answer ques tions relative to the provisions of the two bills. With respect to the question of the hon. gentleman (Mr. Oliphant), be was quite sure that there were no compound householders in Scotland, but he did not think that country was to be oondoled with under those circumstances. (Hoar, hear, and laughter.) THE LUXEMBURG QUESTION. Mr. D. GRIFFITH. asked the Secretary of State for Fo- reign Affairs whether any suggestion that this country should enter into any guarantee for securing the future political neutrality of Luxemburg had been made to, or entertained by, her Majesty's Government during the late communications on the subject. Lord STANLEY said a great many suggestions, prac tical and unpractical, wise and foolish, had been addressed to him, but all arrangements for the political future of that country would be matter for the consideration of the conference, which he hoped would assemble at an early day. It was not his duty to anticipate what would then be discussed. England was one of the parties to the treaty of 1836 with respect to Luxemburg, and it was being a party to that treaty that had led to this country being invited to take part in the conference. DISTRESS IN GALWAY. Mr. GREGORY asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether any report had reached him as to the probability of serious distress in the wastern part of Galway during the summer ; and whether he had ordered any inquiry on this subject ? Lord .7 SAS said he had only received one letter on the subject, which he had referred to the Poor-Law Com missioners, who had intimated to bim that they would make inquiry into the statements contained in the com- munication. IRISH LAW APPOINTMENTS. Lord DUNKELLIN asked Mr. Attorney-General for Ireland whether, with regard to the vacant mastership of the Court of Exchequer, it was intended to adopt the re commendation of the Royal Commission on the Courts of Common Law and Equity, who in their second report stated that one master was sufficient for the three law courts. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL for Ireland said no de finite determination had yet been come to. The matter was still under consideration. FIRE INSURANCE. Mr. SHERInAN asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if be could fix a day for the consideration of the bill with reference to the national debt, because he had an amend ment he intended to move with respect to the fire insur ance duty. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said it was impossible to bring the bill on on Thursday next. He would, however, bring it forward at the earliest day pos sible, and he would promise the hon msmber he should have ample notice previous to its being done. THE FACTORIES BILL. In reply to Mr. BRIGHT, Mr. WALPOL E said ho would state on Friday next the course ho intended to adopt with respect to the Fac tories Bill. THE PURCHASE SYSTEM IN THE ARMY. Mr. TREVELYAN rose to call the attention of the house to the system of purchasing commissions in the Army. He said the ins! ter was one of the greatest impor tance, and it was necessary that the person who undertook the duty should be very young, because the subject was one that would require great attention, and more than likely it was one that would eventually wear him out as it had already done Lord Clyde, who was one of the most uncompromising enemies of the purchase system in the army, awl General Sir Do Lacy Evans. The present system in practice was one that reqnred thorough reformation, because as matters now stood it was not skill and intelligence that qualified for a command in the army but money. (flear, hear.) The purchase system was indefensible in practice, and he thought national safety required that it should be altogether abolished. Every man when he entered a profession he considered, should be enabled to live by his call ing, but such was not the case in the army. When young men entered the army certain deductions wore made, which rendered his pay altogether inadequate to meet the ordinary expenses, and, without he had the good fortune to belong to a wealthy family, he stood very little chance of being able to rise in hisprofession. Accord ing to the present system it mattered very little whether he had intelligence or not, because if a man depended on his intellect, ho would certainly be in a worse position when he got promotion. Wealthy fami lies found it convenient to put their junior members into the army, and when once there have ing ample means to fall back on promotion would net only be easy but rapid. There was no purchase in the navy, the ludian service, and other branches of the public service, and he was utterly at a loss to know why pur chasa should be required in the army. It cot.: taiuly was not because the military service was unpopular. Quite the contrary ; because no pro fession held out such inducements for achiev ing honour and dtstinction. The system at present in existence was wrong in every sense. Under the pre sent arrangements what was the position of a really brave but comparatively poor man ? Why if an opportunity presented itself of obtaining higher grade in the service he was quite ine , apable of embracing it, because he was not possessed of the means of purchasing the com mission, a younger man stepped in with the regulation price, and thus passed over the head of the experienced and able soldier. It was said that by purchase promotion became more rapid, but he was of opinion that if a judicious system of retirement was adopted that would do as much as the system of purchasing commissions in the army tends greatly to diminish the efficiency of our military force. _ Colonel SYKES seconded the motion, as he considered the purchase system was mischievous, imprudent, and Captain STANLEY supported the motion, remarking that he had no fear that the post of honour and gentle manly feeling would be endangered by promotion from the ranks. lie hoped that the right hon. baronet the Secretary for War would take the matter into his serious consideration, because it was one that required great care in carrying it into operation on account of the difficulties that now lay in the way. Colonel .Nowrit and Captain NUGENT-GREVILLE opposed the motion. After a few words from Sir 11. VERNEY, Major JERVIS gave it as his opinion that the question was exclusively of a financial character, and said that, if Parliament was willing to vote the funds necessary to carry out the change proposed, be for one would be quite ready to vote for doing away with the system of purchase altogether. Sir J. PAKINGTON admitted that there were great and serious anomalies in the purchase system, but re minded the house that the British army had achieved under it a degree of renown which made it second to none in the world. It would, he thought, be impossible to put an and to the present system without a greater con currence of public opinion in favour of the change than had yet been plicited,but without that expression of opinion it would be vain to expect that the public would consent to the expense which it would entail. The present sys tem—anomalous as it was—had received the sanction of the Duke of Wellington, the Duke of Richmond, and other eminent authorities, as also that of the Royal Com mission of 1810 ; and it ought uot, he thought, to be abolished without duo consideration. The right hon. gentleman added that he hoped to be able in a short time to lay on the table the report of the Commission on Mili tary Organisation, of which Lord Strathuairn was the chairman, and that it would coutain many important recommendations, which he apprehended ought to be considerwl in connection with any scheme for mak ing the serv i ce more efficient. 11.-3 hoped the host. b r would not, under theca circioustaueJs: preaa the, motion to a division. The Marquis of lIARTINGTON also joined in this recommendation, and expressed his opin ' io ' n that the feeling of the public etas not ripsfor so important a change as that suggest e d, die also though; which w t z h ‘s e t h o ot b is e e s ( u t b g s h ti t tu to te k (i now the nature of th e system for and that which n ow ex i sted, also the cost which the country would be called upon to Mr. THEVEL having replied, The ton was reject e d b y The house divided, and the mo P i "' 116 Mr. R. MILLS obtained leave to bring in a bill to repeal the several acts granting and regulating the appropriation of -£.10,300 from the consolidated fund for the ecclesiastical establishments in the West Indies, excoptinz, so far as to continue their allowances to the present recipients until their promotion, resignation, or decease. Leave was given to Lord R. MONTAGU to bring in a bill to consolidate and amend the laws of vaccination. In committee of supply a vote of £402,000 was agreed :o on account of the new Courts of Justice. The other business was disposed of, and the House ad journed at 8 o'clock until twelve this day. Railway and other Companies. LONDON, BRIGHTON, AND SOUTH COAST. The adjourned Wharncliffe meeting of this com pany was held yesterday at the International Hotel, London-t.ridge ; Col. Barttelot, M.P., in the chair. The. Secretary having read the notice of adjourn ment, The CHAIRMAN moved, in accordance with the notice read by the secretary, that the meeting be further adjourned to Thursday, May 16, at that place. Ile said that at the last meeting he mentioned that the directors would call a special general meet ing to give the shareholders the opportunity of dis cussing various matters connected with tho affairs of the company. A meeting for that purpose would be held on the 9th May, and he hoped all the share holders had received a notice to that effect. Mr. MACKENZIE seconded the motion. Mr. Gorz, a member of the committee, said, in in the absence of Sir J. Jackson, the chairman of the committee, it was his duty to state that it had been agreed with the directors to hold the present meeting for adjournment only, and that no discus sion should take place. The meeting then adjourned to May 16. LONDON, CHATHAM, AND DOVER. The adjourned half-yearly meeting of this com pany was held yesterday at the Victoria Station. L or d HARRIS, who presided, said that the same reason which had induced the directors to adjourn the meeting to that day now existed, and he had to ask the proprietors to agree to a further adjourn ment. As the directors were not in a position to state anything with regard to the bill before Parlia ment, it was not advisable that there should be any discussion at the present moment. He then moved that the meeting stand adjourned until June 17 next, by which time the directors' bill would be suf ficiently advanced for their consideration. Mr. HARTRIDGE said that under the circumstances he had no objection to second the motion. Mr. BRISTOW asked if the directors intended to give the proprietors an opportunity of discussing the half-year's accounts before the Wharncliffe meeting was called. He thought some information should be given the shareholders regarding the arbitration and other questions. The same view with regard to holding a general m eetin g before theW harn cliff e meeting was expressed by several proprietors, and acquiesced in by Mr. Baxter, solicitor to the company. Mr. KNIGHT expressed general distrust of all law proceedings, and said he believed the law costa for the bridge over the Thames had amounted to £BO,OOO, so that if things went on at that rate, and the directors had to fight this, that, and the other, things would be still worse for the shareholders. He asked the chairman if the guaranteed interest upon the B and C Metropolitan Extensions was not paid by Sir M. Peto what steps would the directors take. Mr. WARTER said that Sir Morton Peto did not admit his liability to pay this interest. Mr. KNIGHT said that Sir Morton Peto had paid some of it. Mr. WARTER said it was so, and the question was in statu quo. For his part, he believed there was nothing binding. Mr. KNIGwr remarked that the B and C stacks only were guaranteed by Sir Morton Peto. Another SHAREHOLDER said these shares were ad vertised to the public, on the authority of the direc tors, as bearing a 6 per cent. guaranteed dividend, and he thought the directors ought to test the vali dity of the guarantees. A long conversation ensued with regard to the directors' bill now before Parliament, and an assur ance having been given that an opportunity should be given the proprietors to meet before the Wham cliffe meeting, the motion for adjournmedt was passed. A vote of thanks was given to the chairman, and the proceedings terminated. to 75. BODMIN. The half-yearly meeting was held at Bodmin on Saturday. The CHAIRMAN (Mr. Alms) stated that a bill had passed the committee of the House of Lords which gave the company two years longer for the purchase of land three years longer for making the line. He believed the only chance of Bodmin having a rail way was by the present scheme, as there was good reason to believe that the action of the West ern Railway Shareholders' Association would stop completely the extension of the narrow gauge from Launceston westwards. The report was unanimously adopted. THE SOUTH WALES MINERAL. A Wharncliffe meeting of this company was held yesterday at the offices, Victoria-street, Weatinin ster ; Mr. J. P. Barlow in the chair. The solicitor read the beads of a bill to enable the Llynvi Valley and Ogmore Railway Company to increase their capital. On the motion of the CHAIRMAN, the bill was unanimously approved. The meeting was made special for the purpose of cancelling certain forfeited shares. A resolution was passed empowering the directors to issue in lieu thereof 6 per cent. preference shares to the amount of £6,730. A vote of thanks to the chairman concluded the proceedings. MANCHESTER, SHEFFIELD, AND LINCOLN SHIRE. The total expenses of this company's railways and canals, including rents, tolls, duty, &c., from the Ist of January to 21st of April, 1867, amounted to £161,425 as against £156,913 for the corresponding period of 1866. The proportion of the South Junc tion receipts accruing to this compeny from the Ist of January to the 2lat of April amounted to £11,005 as against £12,025 for the corresponding period of 1866, and the expenses to £6,220 as against £7,105. GREAT SOUTHERN OF INDIA. The annual general meeting of this company was held yesterday at the Loudon Tavern ; Mr. J. Chapman in the chair. The report, an abstract of which has appeared in The Sun; was taken as read. The CHAIRMAN, in moving its adoption, said the progress of the company during the past year was highly satisfactory. To the 79 miles of line previ ously in operation there were added 47f miles from Trichinopoly to Caroor, opened for traffic on the 3d of December. All that now remained to com plete the undertaking was the branch from Caroor to Erode, a distance of 40 miles, and it was confi dently expected that this would be finished by the end of the year. The centre line, extending over a distance of 166 k miles, would then be in working operation, and a large increase of traffic might be looked for. The Government had sanctioned the issue of £200,000 of additional capital, of which only £150,000 would be required. In 1864 the gross receipts were only £27,000 ; in 1865 they were £35,000, and last year they amounted to £45,000, showing an increase of about 68 per cent. on the returns for 1864, which he thought was sa tisfactory. The net traffic for 1864 showed a profit of 16s. 4d. per cent. This was increased in 1865 to £2 15s. per cent., ani in 1866 to £3 153. per cent., anti would thus steadily increase to £5 per cent. guaranteed by the Government. Mr. J. BUTT tecond,kl the motion for the adop tion of the report, which, after some discussion as to the cost of inanagcnient, was adopted. Captain JOHNSON, the retiring director, was re. elected, as was also Mr. Nelson, the retiring audi tor ; and a vote of thanks to the chairman con cluded the proceedings. TELEGRAM CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTEN ANCE (LIMITED). - - - - The third annual general meeting of this com pany was held yesterday at the London Tavern ; Mr. J. Fender in the chair. The report stated that they had successfully com pleted the following contracts taken during the past year:— The cable across the Gulf of St. Lawrence, con- lIIE SLN, LON i necting Newfoundland with Cape Breton, establish ing a second telegraph line from the Newfoundland end of the Atlantic cables to New York ; also the manufacture and laying of a heavy four-wire cable from Lowestoft to Norderney for Reuter's Telegram Company, thus giving direct telegraphic communication between England and Northern Germany. In addition to the 6,006 miles of submarine cables of different types previously laid down by the staff of the company they had, during the year 1866, manufactured and successfully submerged 2,167 miles of cable, and satisfactorily established the company's competency to recover cables in great oceanic depths. After reserving £lO,OOO for maintenance of the Malta and Alex- andria Telegrhph there remained a balance of profit of £122,426, from which was deducted £13,211, the interim dividend of 2i per cent. paid to the proprietors to June 30, 1856, leaving £109,212 for disposal, which the directors proposed to appropriate as follows :—To pay the proprietors the balance of interest on capital at 5 per cent. £15,265, and a further dividend at 5 per cent. per annum £30,530, making up 10 per cent, per annum, free of income-tax, and out of the balance of £63,418 to place to the credit of the reserve fund £35,329, 1 • which would at once increase that fund to the maxi mum amount—£so,ooo, and to carry £28,089 to next year's profit and loss account. In addition there remained to be received at the end of the year 1866 from the Atlantic Telegraph Company further ordinary stock of that company, amounting to £67,030, which would augment the balance for next year. The Board had found it necessary to raise further capital for the more profitable and econo mical working of the company's business, and had decided to make a call of £5 per share, payable by instalments—viz., £3 per share in May and £2 in August. The directors had already this year con tracted with the New York, Newfoundland, and London Telegraph Company for the manufacture and laying down of about 300 miles of cable between Placentia (Newfoundland) and Sydney (Nova Scotia), and they were in treaty for several other important contracts. The balance-sheet showed that £609,145 had been paid up on 37,350 shares, and £60,000 had been raised on debentures. The pro perty of the company in premises, leases, goodwills, patents, &c., was estimated at £784,888. There were also sundry securities held by the company in shares and debentures of other companies represent- ing £129,289. The CHAIRMAN, in moving tho adoption of the re• port, congratulated the proprietors on the successful laying of the Atlantic Cable of 1866, and on the recovery of the cable in 1865. Those impor tant works had involved great anxiety on the part of the directors and great expense on the company. The Great Eastern had been six weeks knocking about the Atlantic in adverse weather before they were enabled to pick up the cable of 1865. He be lieved the expenditure and risk they had incurred in those operations were more than any other company would be prepared to undertake. The dividend of 10 per cent. for the year was not so large, owing to the reserves they had to make, as they originally con templated. They had been at considerable expense, and then came the great and long depression in the money market. It was thought that, as they had completed their work so successfully, they would have been flooded with contracts, but that had not been the case, and, as prudent men, they thought it better to improve what they had. They held pro perty in the Atlantic Telegraph Company and in the Anglo-American Company, and as the receipts of those companies were increasing every day their securities would go on augmenting in value. They had already improved to the extent of 30 per cent. The successful manner in which their work had been done must create great confidence in the company. They found the business required a larger capital than they thought would be necessary when they commenced operations, and that was the reason they made a call of £5 per share. The call would produce £l3-1,410. They had that day accepted a contract for a cable from Tasmania to Australia. They had made a contract with the Italian Govern ment for a line from Susa to Suez. They were to make lines to India, and they would have a right of way for a telegraph through France. The Go vernments of different countries now seemed to be impressed with the importance of extending tele graphic communication to other countries. They were in treaty with some of them for laying down important lines which it would not be advisable to mention at present. The Atlantic Telegraph cables were now in receipt of from £1,200 to £1,500 a-day; it was found that these cables had the capacity of doing any amount of business, and he was sure they could defy all competition. Ile regretted the absence of Sir H. A. Glass from ill health, but he hoped be fore long that he would be so far recovered as to be with them again. (Hear, hear.) They had secured the services of Capt. Sherard Osborn as managing director, and from what they knew of him they had entire and implicit, confidence in his ability and ma- nagement. Mr. CAMPBELL, a director, seconded the motion for the adoption of the report. After some further observations by Mr. Eames, Mr. Evans, Mr. G. Bidder, jun., Mr. Samuel, and Mr. Dickins, The CHAIRMAN replied that he considered it an advantage to have all the calls on their shares paid up. The calls which were due had been paid up, and the debentures were issued when money was dear, at 6 per cent. interest. The number of direc tors was 12, and they had £3,000 a year ; they re ceived for three years' services £B,OOO among the 12 men, and they were entitled to a percentage of profits over and above paying 10 per cent. to the shareholders. After the failure of the cable of 1863 it became necessary ,to raise money for the company, when ten names were put down for £lO,OOO each, eight were directors, and the other two were Mr. Cyrus Field and Mr. Bewley, of Dublin. In carrying on the business of the com pany they managed to secure sufficient materials to be independent of the market ; and it was not wise to give too much information with regard to the business they had in hand, as it might not be to the advantage of the company. Resolutions were passed adopting the report, and declaring the dividend of 10 per cent. on the paid up capital, free of income tax, for the year 1866. The meeting was then made special for the pur pose of considering the propriety of adopting a provisional agreement for purchasing premises, patents, and stock for the manufactureoftele- tele graphic cables, and after some formal resolutions the iir proceedings and directors. i ngscotclu(led w ith a vote of thanks to the ON, WEDNESDAY EVENIING, MAY 1, 1867 turesque point of view, when all are converted into Easter sepulchres ; when the pale tapers at long intervals serve to magnify their proportions and throw any defects into the shade, standing like sentinels or silent mourners guarding the approaches to the tomb, and the polished marble pavements re flect their flicker as in a calm lake. The only relief to the general gloom is the vista afforded by one chapel adorned by countless lights and bril liant floral and vivid images and symbols shaded by flowing draperies. In the centre of some vast naves may be another cluster of starry lights beam ing round a Crucifix laid on the ground, which groups may be of the mighty or affluent, or may be of the poor or lowly, may be of ragged, barefooted children, are kissing devoutly, and a salverat the feet receives the offering of the frequent mite. The Easter sepulchre is the great school for children ; the lights, and colours, and pictures, and flowers attract them, and elicit their inquiries, the source of traditional teaching, as their parents lead them along from shrine to shrine. I spent a long time studying such scenes in those churches lying within the special haunts of the people. In that eminently popular church, St. Maria de Monti, where the memory of Venerable Joseph Labre, the beggar-saint, is so affectionately venerated, in the lofty pile of St. Lucia in Selce, and at San Martino a' Monti, where the spacious crypt always affords opportunity for so faithful a representa tion of the tomb in the rock, and the flames come and go through the plants of "mermaids' hair," like watchfires seen through the long grass. St. Pietro in Vincoli was closed, but repaid the pilgrimage by the sight of the wonderful old stair case leading up to it, lit only by the tinylladonna lamp, and the palm-tree' opposite standing out against the moonlit sky—the oil-lamps faintly twinkling over the declivity below tempt one to de precate the further advance of gas on Roman soil. May it remain to light up the busier centres, but may it never penetrate into such nooks as this. The pale reflections of the moon and the Italian grown olive oil are quite sufficient in an atmos phere which glazes the roughest old buildings with brilliance. St. Catarina da Siena, emulating San Martino for beauty of arrangement, attracted a great many pilgrims. The nuns, behind- an elaborate gilt traceried grille at the west end, were singing verses of the Vexilla Regis and other Passion hymns alternately with a small band of Domini cans before the altar. An enthusiast might have considered the effect entrancing. At the Cappucini a venerably-bearded frate was preaching. The nave being encumbered with listeners, I made my way through the northern string of side chapels ; in each half-a-dozen monks were grouped in various effects of chiaroscuro, as if an artist had been there to place them ; so like a picture they looked that it seemed quite spec tral when they moved to makel'iiay for one to Pa in, or to whisper. that another meditation. - Tfis shortly to commence when I turned to leave. As I knelt, a Sacristan bearing a huge black cross, sypported by twotaper-beariugfrate, emerged from the sacristy and stood infront otyf the altar. " Ecco ! ee,o is Croce !"- exclaimed the 'lir 6aclier, who had dexterously timed the language of his meditation to suit this interruption, and all eyes suddenly became aware of the silent apparition. Most were strained and clouded with tears as he apostro phized it in glowing language, and implored the strengthening of the just, the conversion of the reprobate. Time and space, however, forbid further loiter ing amid these congenial scenes ; and, after all, what is so spirit-stirring to witness is, perhaps, tedious to read about, or I should like to give you a few lines about the Good Friday celebration, too ; but that cannot be by this mail, so you must for give me that it will reach you in the depths of Easter ; visiting these things leaves one little time for writing. The washing of the pilgrims' feet at the Trinity de Pellegrini has been as well attended as usual by visitors, but there has been an unusually small number of pilgrims—not forty on the men's side, and, I hear, a hardly larger number on the women's. It seems that this is caused by the great celebra tion ; for, of course, time and strength could not be spared for the long pedestrian expeditions so near together. On Tuesday, Pere Pettitot, who has taken up the Euvre of the French soldier almost as warmly as the late lamented Pere Villenuave, conducted the " Via Crucis" in the Colosseum, for the special benefit of the French-speaking portion of the Pon tifical army, which was very well attended. He made a short and fervent address at each Station. We have had a great deal of talk here about the Monitor Miantonumock being at Civita Vec chia ; its curious appearance has naturally excited a great deal of attention, and I hear of several persons having run over to pay it a visit. It is accompanied by an armour-plated and another American vessel. There are also at this moment, in the same port, a Prussian corvette, a Portu guese, and a Spanish man-of-war, as well as an Austrian and a French corvette. All these, as well as all the foreign ships in harbour, were fes tively dressed with their colours on the 12th.— Correspondent of Westminster Gazette. ROME. ROME, April 20. Padre Franco preached the Three Hours' Agony at the Gesii yesterday, every recess of the vast building being crowded to excess. Of course there has been the usual confluence at all the Holy Week offices conducted by the Papal choir. For my own part I always prefer the less known to English visitors, but more popular services of the parish churches. Of course, except in a few instances, the " musical treat " is very inferior, but it is far more interesting to find yourself in the midst of a throng of earnest people brimming over with faith and devotion, than to be surrounded by a gaping crowd of mere listeners. Some of the functions of the smaller churches are strangely thrilling, and make you imagine yourself attending sonic dreamy or mesmeric reproduction of a scene from the " Ages of Faith," rather than standing in a living assembly of common nineteenth century people. Not the least stirring of these are the mission services ; they begin at Mid-Lent. The earliest, at half-past five in the morning, is, perhaps, the least well at tended, but still you may always find a good-sized congregation assembled " while it is yet dark." At twelve and at four there are sermons and litanies, and before the latest, at seven, processions. These start from four succursal churches an hour after the evening Angelus, and are attended by repre sentatives of any confraternities of .the parish, habited in their peculiar dresses. Preceded by Crucifix and tapers, they wind along the streets singing hymns and litanies. The more devout of the passers-by (and they are not the smaller pro portion) abandon for the moment whatever busi• ness they were pursuing, and join themselves to the swelling procession, and the more careless are arrested when it stops at some open space, and the priest, in a few earnest words, exhorts them to _ _ come and attend to the affairs of their soul in this time of Lent ; and so they proceed, gathering as they go, and by the very earnestness of their charity " compel " men to come in with them, that God's House may be full. At one spot you may meet a bearded Capuchin, at another a close-shaven Passsionist, further on an impassioned son of St. Dominic, or St. Ignatius, but all gesticulating with genuine Italian earnestness. The Gesa i s gene rally one of the most remarkable churches on these occasions. Night services are rare in Rome, and there is no permanent provision for lighting up the body of a church. Twelve large tapers, at long intervals down the vast nave of the Gesii, but just serve to throw into strong shadow the silhouette of the assembled thousands, and leave the vast vault above looking like the sky on a dark night. Now and then the huge doors are thrown open, and finishing the last petitions of the Litany begun in a distant street, there come in the various confra ternities, marshalling the flocks of stray sheep they have gathered, whose crowds are soon lost in the general throng. Then come the Litanies of Loretto and of the Saints, responded to by the united voices of the masses, and then a sermon, short, loud, bold, and sententious. You are behind a pillar, and you don't hear much of it ; the chances are in the Gesit you wont hear much, but you have no difficulty in making out the leading idea —some sentences are sure to be sent rolling along in your direction from time to time, which give you the subject under meditation. " Fede, fede, sempre fede !" will, perhaps, be the words you catch, and then, per haps, nothing more, till the next period winds up with the same exclamation ; or, perhaps, some , illustration which strikes him as very popular and irresistible, will make the preacher at pains to enunciate more distinctly, while being less of an oratorical effort he is less loud, and you are not distracted by the reverberation. " After all, faith is more rational than unbelief. How many of you are there who could undertake to explain the laws of gravitation ; how. many who never even heard of them ; yet that does not make you disbelieve the fact that if you drop that walking-stick from your hand it will fall to the ground. You cannot explain either the great laws of Divine Providence and government of the universe, yet would you, on that account, disbelieve that the prayer which you launch upwards from an earnest heart will reach the Throne of God ! The one recommends itself to the mind as naturally as the other." And then you lose the th rea d aga i n, t ill once more you catch the refr a i n , " F ede, fe d e, sempre fede !" Then follows Benediction, the people managing the singing all by themselves, and at the end an Italian hymn, intoned by a priest, the ritornelli taken up bff_the'people in a sort of perdona! Mio Dio f - perdona !" Persons of s ail classes., are 'crowded together without distinction. I noticed- near me the other night a well-known Roman nobleman with his young wife, and, close to them a most interesting group, consisting of a venerable old man, with a scarcely less venerable, looking dog, who rested his head on his knee and licked his hands at intervals all through the sermon, and a stalwart young mechanic, doubtless his son, who showed the gre a t es t so li c i tu d e i n a djusting the old man's cloak bef ore l ett i ng hi m go out into the night air. Not to neglect the Vatican offices entirely, how, ever, I attended on Thursday the most interesting of them, and got to the Piazza at a quarter to 12, just in time to secure a place for the Benediction in the shade of St. Peter's statue, for the sun is already very powerful. I need hardly say that the Pope's voice was heard loud and strong at that distance. There was great excitement, as usual, to catch the indulgence papers as they fell ; one flew into the hands of a young villano, who seemed to prize it immensely. An English tourist standing near offered him up to 21 sendi for it, but he would not part with the prize. The ostritch feathers form a fine background to the chair in which the Pope alternately sits and stands while giving the Benediction ; when it is over he is carried backwards. Then, without a moment's lows of time, I went to keep niy appointment with an Italian friend who had promised to give me a view of the ceremonies without going into the crowd. Near the door of St. Marta we found admittance to a seemingly interminable corkscrew staircase, wide enough for three or four people abreast, and with a vie w do wn the centre like the sliaf le coal mine. This brought us a t l as t on to the gallery round the dome, whence we t of a white could look down on to the multitudes thronging into the church below. The strange humming roar coining up from their supposed silent ranks was very remarkable. On a framed board in this gallery are preserved the authenticated measure ments of the building, given according to the mode of reckoning of every European country ; I had time to note some of them before the Pope arrived. One of the most curious is that of the giro of the cornice, which runs all round the inte rior of the building, viz., 1,943 9-25 English feet, or 11 palms less than half a Roman mile. Ths height of the letters of the inscription round the dome, "Tu es Petrus, &e. , " is 4 16-25 feet. The grea t e st height (from the pavement to the top of the e l l 10 e v r oss )7, 448 3-10 feet ; and that of th e cryp t b The washing of the feet takes pl ace i n t h e south with -100 feet a napkin. or t a g s e o I n li d sentences basin ences ar e sung b y transept ; twelve feet poor priest s are ranged along a sort of couch d own th e east side. The Pope stands first on the estrade of a throne at the south end, and then adva nces them,towardusienro etuarnnds to ohs throne, i kiss ingi each, gives him a medal an d a purplef water nosegaanyd, m a p d es d t p h s eamnd his some into short the choir. We now made our way over the roof and down part of the cupola staircase to a seat contrived in an architectural opening high up in the wall, and affording a good view of the Sala over the gre at portico of the Basilica, which was densely packed with visitors to the cena. A long table down one side was tastefully decorated with flowers and gold ornaments, statues of the Apostles, and an Agnus Dei in the cen t re ; a c l ear space strongly barricaded round it , an d atten d e d by the w e l t theve poor o r picture sque priests appeared Swiss Guard. in their Presently curious cos tume, carrying their purple nosegays, and took their places, while the cardinals and monsignori gathered round. Then the Pope . came, dressed in a cotta and a scarlet cape, with a white skull-cap, and poured water over the hands of each, a prelate holding his nosegay the while, and handing it back with a napkin. The Pope then said a short grace, without any choral ceremony. Meantime a long file of bishops and heads of orders had formed, handing up the v • arious dishes, or plates rather, presented by the last of the column on Ms knees to the Pope, and handed by him in turn to poor men at the table ; then, returning down the table, he poured wine and water into each glass. Mean time the Gospel narrati • ve of the Last Supper was being read, and at its termination, the third course having likewise been got through, the Pope gave a short benediction, and retired. Two other courses were then handed by prelates, all being tastefully arranged and garnished. The recipients did not seem to feel any awkwardness about their part in the ceremony, but eat and drank, and carried away " the fragments that remained" with perfect ease of manner. The whole scene meals the " upper chamber" of Jerusalem as perfectly as it is possible for anything human to picture forth anything Divine, and the mutual good under standing pervading the whole is very edifying. To an English mind the idea of having your feet washed and your table served by the head of the State, and in public, would suggest a situation appallingly awkward. Here the spirit of the Gos pel is understood in a different and more literal way. Not one showed the least sign of any »iau raise honte, each, on the contrary, was evidently possessed by his sense of the sublimity of the re presentation in which he had been selected to take part, and made it his endeavour to be worthy of the occasion. It is on the evening of this day that the churches Of Rome appear to greatest advantage from a pic- SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. TlMES.—Faithful to his trust, the Registrar -Ge neral presents us with his Quarterly Account of the actual condition of the people of this kingdom. There is no gainsaying his auth or it y or quarrelling with his statistics. When th e fi gures are once given their import is notorious. If more people die or fewer people are married th an usua l , there is some thing wrong; if the death rate is low and the mar riage rate high, we must be doing well. There may be local exceptions to the ru l e, b ut in the main the conclusion is, in the present instance, not unfavour able. In the last quarter brought to account the marriages were numerous, an d t h ough not quite so num erous as in the corresponding period of the year previous, they tended to maintain what has been an unusually high rate for the last three years. The deaths, on the other hand, sh ow no i ncrease, and it is reasonably inferred that, except for the intense cold of January, which swelled the mortality for the month, there would, upon the whole quarter, have been a n actual d ec li ne. i ndeed, the result m ay be still more favourably represented, for, though the death rate of the quarter expresses pre cisely the average of th e season according to csleu lation,rt is really b e l ow that of the last. three win ters. The actual number of deaths in England and Wales for the'winter quarters of 1864, 1865, 1866, and 1867 respectively were 142,977, 140,410, 138,233, 134,254, from which figures it would ap pear that the publi c h ea l th had b een stea dil y im proving for the last three years. This conclusibn, indeed, would probably b e co r rect, except for the epidemic of cholera in 1866, which, though it did not affect the returns of the winter quarter, raised the mortality of the whole twelve months. It will be satisfactory to the public to learn that little or no trace of this formidable malady has been visible during the present year. In one part of Eng land only did i t assume anyth i ng lik e an epi▪ de mic form. In Durham it carried off 35 persons, but before th e en d o f th e quar ter it had dis appeared, and in no other place was there any alarm. The different districts of the kin• g dom, however, show very different rates of mortality. The Eastern Counties have been very healthy, Yarmouth and Norwich especially so. The South Eastern, too, show a good return, but the South Midland are not so fortunate. In this class are comprised the counties of Middlesex (excluding the metropolis), Hertford, Buckingham, Oxford,North ampton, lluntingdon, Bedford, and Cambridge, so that the U n i vers i ty towns appear i n th e same divi sion, and the Registrar-General is puzzled at the difference between them. Oxford has been healthy, Cambridge unheali hy, and " it is very desirablo," says the Report, " that Cambridge should not be deprived o f th e h yg i en i c i mprovemen t s on which vigour as well as health depends." The Northern and North-Western Counties make, as usual, a bad return. Durham and Northumberland are " un healthier than ever they were," and yet the death rate iu those parts was not so high as in Lancashire and Cheshire. "We have a right," adds the Re gistrar-General, to expect that these great and aspiring co un ti es w ill no l o n g er remain the un healthiest communities in the United Kingdom." The thirteen great towns in the kingdom now re ceive a classification of their own. Special reports are made of London, Liverpool, Glasgow, Man chester, Birmingham, Dublin, Leeds, Sheffield, Edinburgh, Bristol, Newcastle, Salford, and Hull. Of these, London, of course, is immeasurably the most populous ; the others descend iu the order in which we have placed thenr, from Liverpool with its 492,000 inhabitants to Hull with its 106,000, To understand the comparisons now instituted be tween these great centres of population the reader must know that whereas the annual rate of mor- tality in the whole kingdom was, for the winter quarter, 26 per 1,000, it was 27 for the town, and 23 for the country districts generally. Now, in London the rate was only 26.78, whereas in New castle it was 37.10. In Dublin it was 34.62 ; in Manchester it was 33.81 •, in Glasgow and Liverpool slightly less ; in Bristol, 25.50 ; in Birmingham, 25.35 ; and in Hull, only 25.23. It is quite possible, therefore, for large towns to be not only not more unhealthy than other places, but actually less so. Birmingham, with its 340,000 inhabitants, has a lower death rate than all England •, London, with its 3,000,00'0, has a rate only a little higher. The prevalent diseases of the quarter were whoop ing-cough, smallpox, and measles— ma i n ly di seases of children, but the returns from the sub-districts attribute great fatality to the cutting north-east winds in their effect upon the aged and infirm. The cold, too, of January was very great, and the change in the last week of the month singularly abrupt and violent. From the Ist to the sth of the month the frost wus severe ; from the 6th to the tenth the daily temperature rose to an average excess of seven degrees. On the 11th the frost returned,. and con tinued till the 22d, with au average deficiency in the daily temperature of ten degrees. Then, once more, on the morning of the 23d the weather changed again, and with such extraordinary abruptness that the thermometer rose 20 degrees in the 24 hours, and for five and thirty days the warmth was such as had never been experienced at that season since the year 1779. No wonder that such weather should have proved trying to health. We may infer from the marriage rate—which is now returned, not for the winter quarter ending with March, but for the autumn quarter ending with December—that work must, upon the whole, have been plentiful and wages good, though there are indications of distress in various places. Ever since the close of 1864 the general prosperity of the country has been shown by a high marriage rate maintained with unusual steadiness, but the figures for 1866, though above the average, are below those of 1865. The decline was seen in Lon- don, where the number of marriages fell from 9,738 to 9,112—a result, no doubt, of the distress at the East-end--in the West Midland Counties, in the Northern, and in Yorkshire. But in the manufacturing districts the improvement which had followed on the revival of the cotton industry was distinctly maintained. It happens uniformly that the last quarter of the year, classed on these returns as the autumn quarter, is that in which there are most marriages. There is no exception to this rule, and the difference is very great indeed. The quar ter least favourable to marriages is the winter quar ter, or that terminating on the 31st of March, during which the marriages in all England are about 36,000. The two following quarters are tolerably near each other with about 45,000 each, the spring having rather an advantage over the summer. But in the autumn quarter the numbers jump at once to 55,000 or 56,000, showing an increase of at least 50 per cent. over the totals of winter. Whatever may be the explanation of this phenomenon, it is abso lutely invariable. The rate of the whole may be high or low, but whether it be high or low, or whether the marriages be many or few, it is quite certain that in the last quarter of the year there will be half as many again as there were in the first. In all the statistics which are compiled in these reports for our edification and guidance, there is no result which is more constant or conspicuous than this. THE 44 WESTMINSTER GAZETTE " ON JAMAICA, IRELAND, AND BRITISH RULE. One of the most profound, erudite, and constitutional charges ever delivered by any judge in these kingdoms was that lately addressed to the Grand Jury, at the Central Criminal Court, by Lord Chief Justice Cockburn, in the case of the Queen against Colonel Nelson and Lieutenant Brand. It is not our intention to enter into the question of the guilt or innocence of these officers, or of their superior, Governor Eyre ; but to confine ourselves to what we consider of much higher im portance, namely, the constitutional law of these realms, as laid down by the learned judge in his very lucid and elaborate address. We are sure that this charge has been universally read, and therefore do not deem it necessary to go through it in detail ; but there is one great and salutary constitutional principle contained in it, namely, "that the prerogative to proclaim martial law does not belong to the Crown of England "—and the enunciation of this principle by so high an authority is, in our mind, of unspeakable advant age to the progress- of genuine liberty and the cause of public order at the present time. We know not what the intentions of the " Jamaica Committee" are whether it is intended, to make any further exertions to bring the above -named officers to trial—or whether the committee will rest satisfied with the public benefit they have already conferred on her Majesty's subjects throughout the world by vindicating the right of the meanest to a fair hearing and to an impartial trial ; but of this one fact we feel convinced that, after so clear and solemn a statement of the law of these United Kingdoms, neither the Government at home, the Lord Lieutenant in Ireland, nor any of the Queen's representatives abroad, will be likely so far to yield to the influence of exaggerated fear, prejudice, or caprice, as lightly to supersede the civil courts of justice, and substitute in their stead crude, arbi trary, mock tribunals, which are not only declared, but proved, by the Lord Chief Justice to be un constitutional and illegal. This is a great object achieved by the public-spirited gentlemen com posing the Jamaica Committee, and we are sati s fi e d it will be appreciated by the inhabitants of Jamaica, and hope it will have a salutary effect in restoring public confidence among.them, as they may expect a more impartial administration of the law for the future. Nothing is more irritating,' either to an individual or a nation, than to be made to feel that the law is partially administered. In Jamaica, we fear, justice has not always been administered in an impartial manner, and in the government of that unfortunate colony is to be traced too much of the hateful spirit of faction and ascendancy. England, we must reluctantly acknowledge, is somewhat too fond of ruling by means of a mino rity, and for their exclusive interests •, but the sooner she abandons this system, and wisely governs the masses of her p eop l e by the influ ence of affec tion rather than fear, the b e tt er for her owl' in terests. England's partial system of government has tbheaenn,iannadnsytiollthise,rmpoartre of fullyher stexveampdloifimeidniionnls. Shereland has now held sway in Ireland for seven hundred years— e and has dshurg noeineverpperamrtitotfedthtahteimmlrisehnpseeoppelreiotc(l3. enjoy equal laws with. herself. She has never for one day, out of the seven hundred years, given them the advantage of the same rights, privileges, and institutions, as sh e h erself has enjoyed. Cen tury after century the Irish people have been asking and petitioning for equal rights, laws, privileges, and institutions, but their demands and their peti tions are rejected even to the present hour. The Catholics of Ireland, during the last three hundred years, to say nothing of the preceding four hun dred, have suffered more injustice at the hands of Protestant England than any other human beings of any creed or colour, have suffered at the hands of any other Government on the face of the earth. Every scholar in England knows what Ireland has been made to suffer ; every lawyer knows it ; every member of Parliament knows it • every man, woman, and child of I r i s h bi rth and blood feels it ; and a vet large number of Englishmen, Protestant as well as Catholic, acknowledges it with pain and humiliation ; and yet England, as a nation, boastful as she is of her love of justice, and affecting sym pathy with the oppressed of .every foreign clime, has had none to bestow on Ireland, her next-door neighbour, and, may we not say, her miscalled sister ! Perhaps some of our readers will object, " this is a severe charge, a sweeping accusation can it be true ?" and, if t rue , i s it w i se to b r i ng it at the present moment? In our opinion, the case as against Ireland, since the Fenian outbreak at least, has been too exclusively dwelt on ; it is time now to lay Ireland's case fairly and fully before the English public. Lest any should doubt the perfect truth of the historic fact of England's misrule in Ireland, we shall not ask them to rely on our own authority; for some might imagine that, as Catholics, we have an undue leaning i n f avour of Catholic Ireland, but we will quote for them the recently-spoken words of an eminent Pro testant judge, who cannot be suspected of any bias in that direction. here are the words of Lord Chief Justice Cockburn in reference to the mode in which England has governed Ireland. Speaking of Ireland, in the charge already referred to, he calls her " the sister island, where, unhappily, generations of misrule and political and religious tyranny and oppression had existed." Here is a description of the worst species of government that the wickedness of man could establish andtablishfo torturing a neople—namely, “ ptic reli gious tyranny and oppression," and this tyranny and oppression continued for " generations !" Political tyranny and oppression are bad enough ; religious tyranny and oppression are still worse. But the combination of both, which formed the ground-work of English rule, or, to use the learned judge's more correct expression, of Eng land's " misrule" in Ireland, led to the infliction of every species of refined cruelty and torture that tyranny, bigotry, and intolerance could suggest. The English press has not dwelt on these re markable words of the Lord Chief Justice as we think it ought to have done. If such a state ment had been made by any high judicial func tionary respecting any foreign Catholic country, we should have leaden without number in the English Protestant press dwelling on the griev ances of the people under such " misrule, and calling on the Garibaldis, the Mazzinis, the Kos suths, et hoc genus omne, to draw their swords and free their countrymen from such tyranny and in justice. But, perhaps, we shall be told that this was the state of Ireland in former days ; but that there is now no distinction between Catholics and Protestants, and no difference in .the mode in which justice is measured out to Catholic and Pro testant in Ireland at the present time. We wish this were time, but, unfortunately, it is far from be ing so. The Catholics are still too often legislated for in the old spirit of ascendancy, and are to this very day marked out as the victims of the law. The minority in Ireland, that is, the Protestant part of the population, still possesses and exer cises the power of " misrule ' in that Catholic country. From that minority are selected the overwhelming body of Lord-Lieutenants and Deputy-Lieutenants of counties, and nine-tenths of tne magistracy of that kingdom •, and hence the power of governing the majority of the people, who are Catholic, is reposed by the British Govern ment in the hands of the minority, too often represented by the bigotry and inhumanity of the blood-stained Society of Orangeism. Chief Justice Cockburn has borne testimony to the former system of misrule in Ireland. We shall now quote the authority of another judge to prove the present system of injustice and oppression prac tised by those in power upon the Catholics, and which may be taken as a fair sample of the animus that guides the ascendancy party in their " mis rule" of Ireland. As we have said, the blood stained Orange Society too often represents the feelings of the ascendancy party in that coun try ; and the sympathy between Orangeism and those in magisterial authority has been clearly by Mr. Justice Keogh, at the Tyrone Assizes, so lately as within the month. At those Assizes that learned judge felt it his duty' to reprobate, in strong language, the conduct of certain magistrates of that county who, in a case of riot that came be fore their bench, in which Catholics and Protestants had been engaged, and where the Protestants were the firstto outrage the others by playing party tunes and using insulting expressions --such as to ll— with the Pope, &c.—opposite the very doors of the Catholics; yet the magiiitrates, on the occasion of six of each party being identified by the con stabulary and summoned before them, dismissed the cases of five of the Protestant rioters, who were the aggressors, and sent the six Catholics, who were acting on the defensive, before his lordship for trial ! Mr. Justice Keogh sentenced the six Catholics to severe punishment, and expressed his regret that the Orangemen—those who really caused the riot—had been screened by the magis trates, and he thereby prevented from adminis tering the law impartially and punishing them also. So that here we have Justice Keogh proving from the judicial bench, in 1867, that the same sys tem of " Orange misrule" is still kept up in Ireland as Chief Justice Cockburn describes at the close of the last century—the principle of misgovernment is the same, the difference is only in degree. There is nothing so well calculated to irritate the public mind, and produce wide-spread dissatisfaction and disorder throughout any country, as the main taining of some unequal laws and a one-sided mode of administering others. Both these vicious sys tems are perpetuated in Ireland. The Irish Catho lics, without exception, are insulted and injured by the laws still in force in their country. These un just laws affect the Catholic aristocracy, the Catholic archbishops, bishops, deans, clergy, and people, as we shall demonstrate before we have done with this subject. It is too important to be dismissed with a single article, and, therefore, we intend to return to it again. THE NORTH BRITISH ENGINE-DRIVERS• At a meeting of the engine-drivers on the Cale donian, Glasgow, and South-Western, and North British Railways, principally the latter, held in Glasgow, on Saturday evening last, it was resolved to present a series of resolutions to the directors of the North British Company to the following effect : " That a period of ten hours be called a clay, the time after that to be reckoned by the hour ; that the wages of drivers commence at ss. per day for a pilot driver, 6s. per day for a goods driver, and after the first 12 months 6s. 6d., and that passenger drivers get 7s. per day ; that the wages of firemen commence at 3s. per day. for a pilot fireman, 3s. 6d• for a goods fireman, and 4s. for a passenger fire man, and that firemen shall be promoted to be drivers in rotation according to seniority whenever a vacancy occurs; that six hours be a shed day, and any man requiring to run on a shed day to ordinary day's w o r k ; that catch cngino driver be paid at th e ra t e o f t i me and a quarter for all fireman when required to come on duty shall not be paid less than one day's pay, and shall have nine hours off duty before required to come on duty again, or to be paid time and quarter for the time he is on duty ; that when an engine is repairing the driver and fireman shall be supplied with anot her, or get running wages ; that any driver or fireman punished for any mistake or error of judgment shall have a right to appeal to the Board, shall be paid his full pay till a final decision is given, and shall if he wishes it be accompanied to the Board by a deputation of his fellow-workmen ; that 11 0 engine -driver shall be punished for being a member of the Engin e -d r i vers ' an d Fi remen ' s United So ciety ; that no i ns p ec t or s h a ll interfere with a driver or fireman w hil e on d u ty, b u t s h a ll simply report to the superintende n t ; that all Sunday work shall b e paid tim e an d h a lf, and when any driver or fireman has to be away from home at night he shall be allowed 2s. 6d. per night, and when from home ov a Sunday he shall have 4s. per day, and shall have refreshments when going any great distance from home special ; that 100 miles be a day's work for goods and mineral, and 130 miles for passenger trains." A deputation was appointed to lay these resolu tions before the directors, and, while empowered t fire give way t w o a d y n o v n er s s u h c i h ps m a a n t d te t r h s e a i s a t e h r e fe p re ro n m ce o o t f io inpe promotion of ctorsi was instructed to insist on such points as wages and time. COUNTRY MARKETS. LEEDS—TUESDAY. The more pacific political nows has imparted a calmer feeling to the trade, but holders of wheat are not at all less firm, and demand the full rates of Friday for all descrip tions. Barley and other articles quite as dear. LIVERPOOL—TUESDAY. At this market there was only a moderate attendanc e to-day. Wheat and flour met a good consumptive demand at full rates. Indian corn in fair requost at 41s to 44a ad for mixed American. Oats and oatmeal unaltered in de mand or value. MELT ON MOWBRAY.—T UESDAY. The transactions in wheat to-day were not very active, but prices bad an upward tendency. Oats met with a mo derate inquiry and rather dearer. Beans a ready sale. White wheat, 67s to 73s ; red, 60s to 68s per 36 stone . Barley for malting, 40s to 52s per qr ; feed, 32s to 38s per 30 stone. Oats old, 30s to 355; new, 25s to 32s por 24st. Beans, old, 52s to 545; now, 45s to 48s per qr. SHEFFIELD--T u ESDAY. There was a middling supply of wheat, which was di g " posed of steadily at quite last week's prices. Barley a fir° demand at late rates. Oats at•extreme prices. Beans Wer ° scarce, and in favour of the seller. Red wheat, per load of 3 hop. bt;jhels 22a Od to 2 , 58 04 do 2 O o d White do2B B Od New red do do O ll d do ... 2 13 88 218 64 New white do Beans do Peas, per qr. Grinding ha' ley, per qr 35, Od 3 3 8 011 Malting barley, co do I:98: Octod 4 1 8 2 8 8 ( o ,:i d t Oats, do 278 Od 3.z8 0— F10ur....28 4d to 2s tid per 141 b.. 6 e d d 1 2 9 5 8 8 06; MARKET HARBOROUGII.-T UESDAY. The demand for wheat ruled firm at advancing pricelt Barley heavy. Oats iu tolerable request. Beans in goo' demand. Old white wheat, 65s to 73s ; new red. 55s to 66s per 36 stone. Barley, fine, 528; other kinds, 23s to 363 per 30 s!' Oats, new, 26s to 348; old, 30s to 318 per qr. Evans, ola, 54s to 58s; new, 42s to 47s p r qr. Births. KARSLAKE —On the 28th ult., at Westeott Parsonage, Doi *^ lag, the wife of the Rev. W. H. Karslake, of a son. PAGAN —On the 21st March, at Sealkote, Punjab, the Wif e of Captain Pagan, H.M.'s 38th Regiment, of a son. ROSENCRANTZ—On the 23d ult., at Elsinore, Denmark, tlit) Baroness aver 11. Rosencrantz, of a son. Marriages. KEARNEY - Dlx—On the 27th ult., at Holy Trinity Chord' Darnsbury, Ed ward, fourth son of "the late NV. K. 1 ( e 8 ,.: ney, Esq., of the New Society of Painters in W4te,',/ Colours, to Selina, youngest daughter of J. Dix, Esq., St. John's, Clerkeii;yell. - MAluttuo—HALL- 7 0n the 23d Jan., at Fairhurn, Mang i r wai, Charles Napier, eldost son of Col. M'Murdb, 0. of Rose Bank, London, to Elizabeth Frances, yotinge' . daughter of F. H. Hall, Esq., J.P., M.G.A. I Deaths. GRANT—On the 26th ult., at 80, Albert-street, Morningtou crescent, Mr. George Grant, aged 53. GAM:JEER —On the 28th ult., at Avignon, Wm. Gairdn er ' M.D., lath of Boltou-street, Piccadilly, aged -------- London: Printed and Published by WILLIAM ANDILIONI2' of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at THE SUN Office, 1 ,4 Strand, in the Precinct of 'the Savoy, in th e Count)" v IliddleoOL—WOdneii4ef, May 101867. A' Ti, Dnhi s ome F T — l . ni Cc. A1)1 Pre, Pena DF aTi s F om and A t tdi 1 101 COB 40 7 the