The Sun. — London, England, 1855-01-02 00:00:00

TILE WAR EPOCH '54. (Front ea Bankers' Magazine.) The year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-four will occupy a prominent position in the annals of Europe. It will mark the important period of a transition from a lengthened continuance of profound peace to an outbreak of war, to termination of which depends upon a variety of contingent influences. To those sufficiently advanced in age to remember the memorable Wellington campaigns, the present crisis exhibits the remarkable contrast of the association of England and France to repressthedesigning ambition of Russia, and to preserve intact the balance of power in the East ; while to those acquainted only with the stern realities of belligerent operations since the despatch of the allied forces to the Crimea, the suc °MCC obtained must furnish an earnest of the lasting benefit to be derived from their cordial co-operation. Amidst the general distress, social and pecuniary, the fearful loss of life in the one case, and the derangement of trade in the other, 'each producing great discourage. ment, there is, however, the consolation that the attempt ofthe Czar to subvert the government of Turkey has accelerated a union between the two countries whose natural position and resources entitle them to take the lead is regulating the destinies of the civilised world ; and that, if the first exertions to secure an honourable recognition of their power have been attended with a heavy sacrifice, it will, in the end, be more than com pensated by the advantages which are likely to accrue from the favourable nature of the relationship esta blished. It was not to be supposed that the current of finan cial and commercial affairs would, at an epoch like this, assume a steady and undeviating course, or that the prosperity of the two or three preceding years would, under such circumstance; be maintained in its full integrity. From the character of the negotiations - entered upon, and the unflinching perseverance of the Muscovite interest to achieve the object of their ambi tion, almost every one, from the entry of the combined fleets into the Bl ac k Sea, was prepared for the alterna tive ultimately adopted. The significant fact of the retirement of the Russian ministers from the courts of London and Paris, followed by the declaration of war in March, brought the actual position of the case pro minently before the public ; and even many who had previously professed an utter disbelief in the probable co-nmenoement of active hostilities, were then compelled to admit the sombre hues of the picture presented for contemplation. But, although a declaration of war had taken place, it was at the same time felt that the extreme measure had not been resorted to before every considerate attempt ,had failed to induce as honourable adjustment; and, although the public were not unanimous, after the issue of the "secret correspondence," that the Cabinet had, with the possession of this knowledge, proceeded as energetically as circumstances required, they cheerfully accepted the responsibility entailed, and, with an enthu- SWIM deserving high commendation, indorsed it with the character of "a people's cause." The war announced, preparations were requisite to carry it forward. The early budget of Mr. Gladstone, which provided for an extraordinary expenditure—the positive result of negotiations not having been then ob tained —received support, despite a further increase of direct taxation ; and the country, while agreeing that it was prudent to arrange for any emergency, appeared to regret that the fallacious hopes entertained of any settle ment should prevent the Government from seeking a I arger amount of assistance. The supplemental state ment exhibited in May indicated that a larger provision was necessary, but recourse to a loan was studiously . avoided—the Chancellor of the Exchequer having refused originally to recognise the principle of rendm ingposterity liable for an outlay which should, according to his views, be discharged from the income of the period. Although the reasonableness of this position was contested at the time, and continues to be contested by high authorities, the majorities acquiesced, and the whole of the plans pro pounded were 'edified, and speedily put in motion. While these auxiliary events were taking place, the presence of our fleets in the lii!ack Sea and the Baltic exercised an influential surveillance ; and the enforce ment of blockades, notwithstanding their temporary evasion, impressed upon the suhjeets of the Czar, throueh diminished tr a d e an d restricted resources, the l ienalt incurred by the d espotism of their ruler. There was, however, on his part, no desire to avail himself of the friendly offices of Au s t r i a, who, throughout e whole toefnuthsisbedtiwffieceunittiresetion, has . endeaveured to arrange Staty from any inatentndti7difigt. Governments ; not pro es, but to avoid, if po.. to assist the Western possible, a personal embroilment with her haughty and irascible neighbour. In the in termediate period, a concentration of forces at Varna and Constantinople gave breadth to the proceedings of England and France, and the victories gained by the ~,Turks over the Russian; under the leadership of Omer Pasha, presented, in a satisfactory light, the effective rllanltanne of th e presumed weakly antagonist. The retreat from Silistria, and the proposed evacuation of the Principalitiee at once changed, in many essen tial respects, the features of the war. Suffering greatly, as the allied troops had been, - at Varna and Scutari, - gym disease and inaction, loud comp'aints were raised . Of the absence of_an active demonstration against Ni cholas. The bombardment of Hangoe and Bornarsund, in the Baltic, although not considered brilliant achieve ments; testified to the anxiety of our naval forces to distinguish themselves in those waters ; but the diffi culty of the navigation, and the want of gun-boats, pre vented th e attainment of ether desirable objects. It was at this important juncture that the pvpsdition to the Crimea eves publicly intimated. Arrangements • P h/ it'lieler in progrems furnished evidence of some con siderable movement being at hand. No direct infer i" had, however, - transpired ; and, until the very -Bating of the fleet, there was a doubt respect i ng its posi •destination. It was then officially declared. to be r an , B4bas i ,..ln te ixtle-an announcement that created the greatest a , wh eiastia. The -i n t e lli genc e of the landing of the n ..." of the f orces, w ithout accident, on the 14th of wat a cause of congratulation , not the less • satiefaetory beca use o f th a t circumstance, but because as believed to p resent the prospect of an auspicious 'esunPa taai ig "' T he pa ssage of the Alma, the capture of exhibited,la a n and . the l battle of Inkerman, in their stroneest colours, the desperate coil -16 and indomitable perseverance , surrounded by all difficult ies, of 'both the English and French troops, who having fought side by side with a valour comparable only to that recorded in the classic age, elicited the mu tuel encomiums of their commanders, those the field and ▪ in their published tone published of despatches. But brilliant Pages Of m ato w hich may be veritably described existing in t v th i e . generation, to among but the mightiest of the great sacrifice of- blood been unaccompanied • able situation .lood and treasure ; and the deplo ee an hick the with 'wr k 'of i ff NY I!'oll the army-has been reduced, the alteration in , • dimente ahead the Euxine;and unfavourable weather, have increased the hive - of the siege.- Russia ' s old y en countered to a vigorous prosecution negligenoe on the ally, winter, throug has proved, as in f p o art of our general war administration rig;oseirnscea, eo o o r v d e i h alleged was anticipat e d • rn ' er cases , more antagonistic than exercised, the and inconveniences oniaeroyeeparevofoyaancereimbeeaenn 'climate rnieht have bees in .. • aghinst Sebastopol effcte l ni l tigated, and the operations ' • The war, and its influence'vey prolonged. - topic whichhas. been upon trade and finance, is ties express extreme muck eaevas'ed• Extreme par 'V AWNS and different opinions hav e ' consequently very ere of. Government, ?ert current. The support : liCtiolut have not • aintain. that business trans received so which was predicted would great a check as that first appeared imminent ; whi t lane when hostilities at hand, declare that the. count hpponents , , , on the other deep distress , ' the whole burdrli P r geu in a State of to ; the vacillating policy of the w 4l l 2, c e h is attributable Taking a more moderate estimate of i;tllleen Cabihet. consequences, a nearer approach to the truth war and its to be arrived at. Generally admittin theruth is likely of the administration in naval and tailitaleyelPerience . conceding the point, that blunders have are tactics— , perfecting preliminary arrangements, and whinetrat in in all probability, have occurred had other pertiemsibette ,- in power—it is impossible to conceal the fact that considering all things, affairs have moved forward in -• a "tranquil and satisfactory manner. While allowing this, it must, at the same time, b e remem b ered that no straggle althea momentous description could be engaged iu without creating some effect upon Commerce, the re lations of Which are invariably disturbed whenever such events take place. The inactivity of trade, and the dullness whi c h has, more er less , o vershadowed • , overshadowed every de e -11tirtmerit withinthelast four Months' have been provoked by other circu ms ta n c e s than the war teral incidents are,.in themselves, of a i m ' o A-jid these colla - eince• to those which may he sapposed to he s e e s q p nal i e w Port thecouteet now-going on with Ruesia. Tax:ti-or'ln4 , ;ait of • the expenses of the war has, of comae, been increelsray, and the weight has f a ll e n on th e pu b lic. Bat, unfor t nately, :in addition to this unfavourable state of thinga eAustraliis and America, the two principal customers 'Gant Britain, have been passing through phases of • pressure, which have affected, not only the credit of mercantile and trading establishments in those loca litieea hut also that of agents and correspondents re sident here. Failures and other commercial disasters • -which have not arisen from these proximate causes, ( -I'l'4l be found to hnee been few and far between. e•With such an excess 'of -business, mostly speculative, as •is represented to- have 'been transacted through these ceientetionse it was sotrcely possible to avoid the effects of the - revolution recently witnessed. - , But if business hoe been heavy, and in the 'majority of eases unr el:numerative; great di:position hai b een exhi e. stretch forth a helping hand to those in difficul fto • where the-least hope el recovery existed ; and the occasional symptoms of panic presenting themselves have thus been allayed , without being permitted to reach a „ hsheight to endanger legitimate and healthy trade. With teentecee such as these, it was to be expected that mo no r would, on the average, command full rates, and "ttr'llo3•ltteen active employment for the whole avail lawe?Stnaiitit of capital, both in Lombard street and egenerrd lemettisig circles. Although the supplies from '(l2-lesrid44ll***not and California, ha ve not decreased, they have barely been sufficient at particular periods to I:!alleP " in a ',:"": at .tott bale , requisite to create confidence alt "ni , and when the metallic reserves ~-or the- Bank threatene e l t e e nee eree 3 rapid diminution. I:Hewes. so ;elieeleehass the :alteration in the rate of die -donut been regulated,- that the 'flgr /i * te rms of the rank authorities have not varied " off 1 osit than one- h alf per cent e- rate inhlay- having bees, ad* ailed from five Attefive-and-a-half per cent. • and In e ee -- evinced from fiveeand-a-half to five por ognet having been letteetatinnee while the stools of bullion' hastfutean present t eete ene l6 ,2B6,oo.o/. (25theit Febrnary) and 12trted be 20th Ma a ) emewestanding (December 16th) 14:4 0 1 ;e 0 ) g l. Oneesseential setameut in inducing the public te; ProPhesied adversities was the al:band:ld harvest, hehiuhespreeided for a contingency that migh t otherwise have been attended with disastrous results t and, fortified with this certainty, they were prepared to; 1 . 1,.. THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 2, 1855., combat with minor difficulties in a spirit worthy of the occasion. The subsequent fluctuations in the value of grain. through --;-n9 for exp-rf, have nod. dir,'i nished the confidence in the adequate nature of the home supply ; and, although quotations may exhibit firmness at the average advance, there is little appre hension of lengthened scarcity. A remarkable feature to notice, in the midst of this general perturbation, is the almost inflexible stability of the funds. No doubt can be entertained that the greater number of capitalists, especially of the investing community, are less excited by war or war rumours than they were half a century since. It is true that, during the agitation occasioned by the declaration of hostilities, Consols sank to Bg-, but the fall was principally produced through heavy specu lative sales, which ultimately ruined many who engaged in them. The reaction, afterwards apparent, which caused a rise to within a fraction of 96, establishes a range of about 11 per cent., but there has once more been a change, and the nearer quotation is 914. Doubtful as the future seems to be--and it is very hard to attempt vaticination on points so complex as those involved in the existidg state of foreign relations — there is yet a gleam of hope that, if . Austria Prussia be brought t o a proper sense of their true interests, a peace may at no distant date be concluded. But it must be distinctly u nderstood that victory or defeat does not depend upon those powers. Their acquiescence may facilit a te an arrangement which is likely to be beneficial to themselves and also to Russia. An expenditure such a s England and France, out of the whole European family, can alone bear, will probably be necessary to carry out the war, should their policy dictate a different plan ; but each of those two nations, now they have once pledged themselves to the conflict, will most cheer fully exhaust their resources rather than succumb to the proposed aggression of the all-usurping Nicholas. HULL BOROUGH SESSIONS. (From the Hull Advertiser.) 0 Christmas ti The Thursday morning, borough E sg . o , p Q e . n c e c . l , D.C.L., Recorder of Hull. The usual forms of the court having been gone through, The Learned Recorder proceeded to charge the Grand Jury as follows :—Gentlemen of the Grand Jury,—Ever since I last sat here I have been longing to see in your weekly organs of intelligence an announcement that a beginning had been made in good earnest—one worthy of this important and popular borough—to establish refor matory schools for juvenile criminals. But I have looked in vain. Nevertheless, I believe that there is a noble Christian feeling here on the subject, a true and high phi lanthropy not evaporating in words, but manifesting it by acts. Does not the necessity continue urgent? I have here a heavy calendar again before me ; and a letter which I received from the governor of the gaol, shortly before I left London, in answer to inquiries of mine, as to the state of the gaol, ends with this melancholy and afflict ing sentence :—" It is a lamentable fact that the juve niles under seventeen years of age, have increased to nearly double the average number, during the last five mouths ! Indeed, there are two only eleven years of ago !" If no steps have been. takes in the borough towards meeting the advance of the legislature in the last session, I can but ex press deep concern, and earnestly echo the recently uttered language of Lord Brougham—the most illustrious law re former of his age, aid ever foremost in anything calculated to advance the higher interests of society. "I hope and trust," he says, " that the war will not, among its other evils, occa sion abstraction in either country—France or England—to any of those , great plans o f b enevo l ence—let me rather say, beneficence.' He was writing on the subject of Reforma tory Schools. My excellent friend the Recorder of Lon don, in his last charge to the grand jury, took occasion to express regrets similar to mine on this occasion, that the great coruity of Middlesex h a d n o t c ome f orwar d, as I am now imploring you to come forward, to arrest the foul tor rent of juvenile crime; and at the late Winter Assize for this county, I am assured by those who were present, Mr. Baron Alderson delivered an eloquent, a most impressive and awakening charge to the grand jury, on the all important topic which I am now urging again upon your attention. I believe that every gentleman whole I am now addressing is listening, in an enlightened and conside rate spirit, to what I am now but too feebly saying, and also feels that public duty is knocking loudly at the door of his heart and conscience. Gentlemen, in the course of my legal readings, a few days ago, I suddenly stumbled on on a very affecting and remarkable passage, which I had never seen before, in one of tbe writings of him whom we lawyers call our great master, Lord Coke. Wilting two eenturies ago, he concluded his last great Institute with the words, " Blessed be the amending hand !"—which he ad dressed to "the wise-hearted and expert builders of the laws, to amend both the method or uniformity of them, and the structure itself, wherein they shall find either want of win dows, or sufficient lights, or other deficiency in the architec ture whatsoever." But the passageto which Imore particu larly refer occurs in the epilogue to his Third Institute ; and it does eternal honour to the memory of that mighty law yer. "Justice," he says, "is justice severely punishing, and justice truly preventing. True it is, that we have found by woeful experience that it is not frequent and often punishment that doth prevent like offences ! Those offences aro often committed that are often punished ; for the frequency of the punishment makes it so familiar, as it is not feared. For example : what a lamentable case it is to see so many Christian men and women strangled on that aumeti tree eif the gallows ! inasmuch as, if in a large field a man might see together all the Christians that, but in one year, throughout Zngland, came to that untimely and ignominious death—if there were any sparks of grace or charity in him, it would make his heart to .bleed for pity and compassion ! Bat here I leave to divines to in struct the inward man; who, being well instructed, the outward man will be easier reformed. This preventing justice consisteth in three things :—First, in the good edu cation of youth, and that betliby good instruction of them in the grounds of the true religion sit st les'oemr• Ci^a • anal by learning thom 1.....-Istige or trade, in their tender years, so as there should not be an idle person, or a beggar, but that every child, male or female, whose parents are poor, might, at the age of seven years, earn their own living : and this, for ;the time to some, would undoubtedly, by preventing justice, avoid idleness in all (one of the foul and fatal channels that lead into the very Dead Sea), and, by honest trades, cause them to become good members in the commonwealth. Secondly, preventing justice consisteth in the execution of good laws, True it is there be good laws already to punish idleness, but none of sufficient force or effect to set youth, or the idle, on work. Thirdly, that forasmuch as many do offend in'the hope of pardon, that pardon be very rarely granted. But the consideration of this preventing justice were worthy of the wisdom of a Parliament ; and in the meantime, expert and wise men to make preparation for the same. Blessed shall he be that layeth the first stone , of this building ; more blessed that proceeds in it ; most of all th a t finisheth it to the glory of God, and the honour of our king and nation." Gentlemen, these are grains of gold—the pure ore of philanthropy—dug out of the old ragged blackletter, and I commend them to your reflec tions. The first stone of the building has been laid in Par liament ' • let us new, in Lord Coke's language, uttered two hundred years ago, proceed in it, and finish it, to the glory of God, and the honour of our Queen and nation. Let it not. be recorded that the Parliament relied on our voluntary co-operation in vain, and were at length obliged to have recourse to compulsory action. And now lot us hear a commentary on this touching passage of old Lord Coke, by a pious and humane chaplain of 1854—the chaplain of our gaol, in his report to the magistrates this day :—" It is peirifed again to mention the great number of juveniles that from month to month are committed to prison. Since the Ist of January last the number has been 133 ! of whom 37 have been committed since my last report. The greatest part of them youths come to me on the Sunday morning for an honr before chapel time, to read the scrip tures and receive religious instructions. About a mouth ago u t mh Lard'seb i n e r Prayer, h w a e d r e n n t ) ata b uina e dybl e l some of t i mo n t her gaol oooasfad t, iliav b :h e r i I bad 23 on Sunday morning for this purpose ; and from in quiry I found that only it of n f ore ; 7 bad been in once, 1 three timer:, 1 four times, and 1 the• ability to read knowsia teenlittle times!m lt " th en an °f t t h h e 6 havecould beenn e t rteopeat schoolseven that a n t o t c o k r e r e e p c t l u y p . end write, and their attendance at a pl ane of worship ~,_ = on the Sunday is a thing of rare occurrence. They thus lose their knowledge of religious phraseology . , as well as of reli gion itself, and aro easily led to think that the knowledge of the commands of God, as contained is the Bible, is not necessary to their present or future welfare; and to this, is, I think, to be traced, in a great measure, their present reckless conduct." This, I repeat, is your worthy chap. lain's mournful but awakeeing cemmentary on Lord Coke. Gentlemen, I venture to threw out for the consideration of the authorities of this borough, and of all intrusted in its welfare, whether they have not admirable facilities and o portiinities for establishing a Maritime School, for the hitherto neglectedclasses, such as I believe exists in Bel gs_ill„,n, if talso' lls the Continent. There, I no e.sesseere, en ""eve, such an institution is attended with the very best fleets. ekt a place 20 or 30 wiles distance from the sea, theY have an by establishment for teaching poor boys, chiefly means of in the Royal Naval acbool a great model of a ship, (as , ~ duties of at Greenwich,) the elementary and practical seamanship, useful know ledge; so that p, as well as a little other ~ ficiently t rain Then 01,1 enough to go to sea, they are sut duty, and coca ° pe zl O coinPetent to undertake regular ship and wise system can cabin-boys. Now, if this humane what are your faeilitieesr aacceasfully used so far inland , a beginning here, and ' d How easy it would be to make emulation among the bovsn'llY excite an esprit ale corps and parents and friends ; an,tilovenich would soon reach their the gentry of Hull, to find tlveve tl.rtfril to the fasting; of in numbers, as the cells of the prison'•tinse School increasing ably untenanted ! What facilities existbelanl3 proportion - 7 (lniee sailors, in your, very presence for training- hardy ell4tethe rig,, ,, ,ing, instead of ick to handle ropes and the dream, and do radii frePad 11 ,oakini and treading rerornuto tylie . 9 - ' m il • Why not make a . belie've, nth guining here? It oveuld be pop a i a . i d o humane feeline ;Illianabler classes here have not that lc i iiid and credit. It v0 ...,t, "bleb at present I do heartily give them 1 would a ppi atu , l 7 l . i ! s * mi . act which the country at largo that Hull had set :°lr they heard of it ; and oy in Great Britain 1 e n - C R ` e l ozarnp'e to her sister pots i men, there is another enlif44- in connection With siiineth lieve that honour. Gentle, r' t ' ti>viltioh mu s t the ref " the last session; and —4 w 414 .1xa relating to the s.d. here, I was deeply coneerned to le y . er oil re minc e ~ r a, 1 4 ,nuitra Lion of two gentle/hen have expressed mix' it e ctssl, that one or hero should be'disposecl of'agreat le ' ' `‘‘' • 1 I think is consistent with th deal p ubf4 treatia c:rsos e due- adminicalls.oldly than tice. If I am correctly informed, mine 'one ra S a es, ° l,l 4 ins* adiuiration of having " seen a Man tried, e see ss k l,:;with sentenced to transportation, all in ten minutes liC-". ' 4 4 other said tho Recorder • an as could prevent the sessionii being lengthened by " keeping counsel to the Point, wad gettingthrough. a case in three minutes." Gentlemen, whetee: my seat first in this chair, I stated, quoting languageni with which I would - hope we are all familiar, that I would uniformly strive ". truly and indifferently to minister jus t tice, to the punishment of wickedness and vice, and to the maintenance of true religion and virtue." This cannot be done but with gravity, circumspection, and deliberation; and all I shall think fit to say here on this subject, is, that if you will go to your prison when these sessions are over, 1 do not think you will find a prisoner there who will not freely own that he or she has been fairly and patiently tried. Some of those with Whom I havoibeen forced to deal most severely have said as much to myself often, when after wards visiting them in gaol, and to others, who can testify it; and I can conscientiously say that no man, woman, or child—ales that I should have to say child !—ever stands at that bar, whom it is not my humble endeavour to try a s f a i r l y, and look into his case as thoroughly as I would desire to be done in my own case, if unfortunately our positions What irreparable injustice may be done were reversed. h it is imagined aperson may be the three minutes in whie . 1 be tried, convicted, and consigned toinfamy add agony in during a long period of his life ? No, gen tlemen,a fereign land, dun sit here,with God's blessing , l • will sit here, . as long as .1 holde the scales of justice calmly and steadily, and watch the inclination of them towards guilt or innocence, with unfaltering steadfastness and deliberation. For rough and ready justice, as it is called, I always entertained, and do entertain, a horror. And as for any interfering with a prisoner's counsel, cannot do so. idy heart recoils from interrnptin , * a gentleman to whom an unhappy prisoner has intrusted his charater and liberty, and who has a most anxious duty to perform. The length at which this shall be done, mu it, however, be left to the discretion and taste of the counsel themselves. Gentlemen, both the criminal and civil business of this borough is much increasing ; and I am, and always have been, delighted to do everything i n m y power to despatch both as quickly, but also as satisfactorily as possible. My distinguished predecessor here, Mr. Justice Cresswell, was appointed recorder in 1831. The population was then 53,744. In the year 1833, the average number of criminal cases at each sessions w:l4 29, with three appeals. In the year 1832, the civil business consisted of 4 cases for trial, and two writs of inquiry iu the whole year. Now I was appointed in 1851, and then the repulation was increased by upwards of 30,090 —that is, it was 84,690. The average number of criminal cases for last year, each session, was 47, with one appeal ; and in the same year there were 13 civil causes tried, and one writ of inquiry. Thus you see, gentlemen, that as the population has greatly increased, so has the criminal and civil business of the sessions ; and, moreover, many of each class of cases are of difficulty and importance, with many witnesses, and require that attention which I am resolved they shall always have, as far as I am con cerned. I have yet, Tgentlemen, one other matter to men tion to you :—that in order to obviate as much as possible the inconvenience and loss of time of which the Venire juryman have of late so much, and I doubt net justly, complained, I intend fcr the future to appoint a certain day, before which they need not attend, and en and after which they may attend and Cs - patch consecutively whatever business there may be for them. Whether this fixed day shall be for the future im mediately before or after the sessions I have not yet de. terinined. The Christmas sessions are rather exceptional, as far as regards myself, and some of the gentlemen at this bar who also attend the Beverley sessions. Desiring to accommodate them ar I deemed fair and reasonable, I have named Wednesday, the 3d of January, for the sitting of the Venire Court; which will admit of the members of the bar attending on the Tuesday, at Beverley, en which day the greater portion of the business of their sessions is transacted, and the bulk of the bar released from attend ance. I hope to finish the criminal business here by Sa turday next, or at latest on Monday ; and cheerfully sacri fice the one or two intervening days, remaining here idle, to consult the convenience of those members of the bar who may have business at Beverley. I repeat, gentlemen, what I said in a letter recently read before the Town-coun cil, that I feel a warm interest in the Venire Court, and am delighted to see the Town -council of the same mind. The Venire Court is a very ancient court of civil justice here, absolutely unlimited in jurisdiction, except in respect of locality. It sits throughout the year ; the deputy-judge is your able and experienced Town-clerk, whose decisions I have never once hitherto had occasion to overrule ; there is as free audience for attorneys and soli citors as for the bar; and I have seen gentlemen in both departments of the profession discharge the duties of ad vocates in this court, in the most able and satisfactory manner, and in cases of no little difficulty and importance, and I never saw jurymen discharge their duties better. Having adverted to jurymen, allow me to say that their duties, alike in criminal . and civil cases, are equally important and honourable. Nay, they are very elevating, for they train the mind to grave, patient, dispassionate inquiry,—teaching the noble lesson of keeping the judg meat suspended, uninfluenced by mere assertion, by leo ',hist/7, by prejudice, by prepossession; and while doing this, becoming also familar with the system ofj udicial inves'- tigation, and the great leadingprinciples of our civil and cri minal law. No juryman who forms a proper estimate of his positicn,—one which trains and prepares him admirably to fill muuicipal office—will feel impatient while called on by lai s country to exercise such interesting and momentous public functions. The learned Recorder then proceeded to say that he regretted to find that, although little more than two menthe had elapsed since the last sessions, there were not less than 46 or 47 distinct cases for trial, involving at least 49 prisoners. And he was sorry to find that among these cases were some which he had hoped would have been decreased by the wholesome severity which lie had felt it his duty to exercise. There were no fewer than 10 cases of servants robbing their masters. That must be put down. He would venture to remind the grand jury that they had not to try cases, but simply to ascertain whether on the blush—on the first aspect of the case—there was enough of suspicion of guilt to warrant them sending the case into the court for trial. There was one or two cases of felonies by youthful offenders, and it might occur to some of them that. these might have been disposed of sum marily by the excellent gentleman (Mr. Travis) who sat by him. But he (the R ecor d er ) presumed that the magis trate acted upon the principle of the Act of Parliament which enabled justices to deal summarily with juvenile de linquents. That Act did not apply to compound felonies, but in the express terms of the Act to simple larcenies only. And if a child unfortunately committed a compound felony as it was called, he (the Recorder) and the jury alone could deal with it—as in the case where a child stole from the person—that took the matter oat of the hands of the stipendiary magistrate, and compelled him to send it there. There were one or two cases involving only a small amount of property. But the amount had nothing to do with the matter. If the grand jury, in their sworn judg ment, believed that there had been a felony, the value of the goods had nothing to do with it. Property was neces sarily exposed on wharfs, railroads, &c., and if only a sin gle apple, or orange, or piece of rope was stolen, the value of it was not for consideration. Alluding to a case of rope stealing, where the rope had not been removed wholly from the premises, the Recorder pointed out the law that, if with a felonious intent property was oily removed a hair's breadth, that constituted a stealing. The Recorder then dismissed the jury to their duties. i`lt,• We are greatly gratified at finding that our lam distinguished recorder, Mr. Warren, has devoted s_ ..uch time and inquiry to ascertaining the extent to which tke r az i stai f ee , „ re „ea "awl are moral ound to provide a good Reformatory School for the recep tion of juvenile criminals with a view to their ultimate restoration to the paths of social intercourse, rectitude, and virtue. it is a new thing in Hull for our magistracy to be invited from the judicial bench to take as early a• part in the discussion of great reformatory questions as their brethren in London, Birmingham, Manchester, and Liver pool. The active intelligence of our excellent recorder is not content to leave us to grope our way by the thin tra ditional light of precedents drawn from courts not superior in jurisdiction to his own ; he nobly dares to ask us to ad vance boldly, and under his safe guidance, to claim for our selves the distinction of setting an example to towns less populous and less influential than the borough of Hull. We feel Confident that there is not e.person of any reflection in the East Ridingof Yorkshire, who willrcad the recorder's charge but who will thank him very heartily for the pains which he has bestowed upon the consideration of this important subject, and for his eloquent and forcible recommendation of it to the adoption of the Hull grand jury. Most of our readers will be aware that the question was strongly urged upon public attention in some l e tt ers w hi c h recen tl y ap peared in this joxrnal, purporting to be part of a series in preparation on Reformatory Schools. These letters were from the pen of a magistrate of much experience in cri minal matters; and very gr ea t w ill b e th e d e li ght of the writer to find his views 'supported by the lucid intellect and blackletter lore of the author of a "Diary of a Late Physician." After the charge of the learned recorder, we consider that there is really an eud of the theoretical part of this question. What we chiefly want now is s ome ma gistrate to take the lead in convoking a meeting of the ma gistrates, preparatory to a meeting of the whole borough, to consider the desirableness of commencing forthwith the esta blishment ofa Reformatory School. Perhaps the most proper person to take the initiative would be the stip en di ary, M r Travis ; who is exceedingly wall acquainted with the whole bearings of the proposed system, and who has hi mse lf de voted much thought to the applicability of such a system to th© wants of the youthful criminals in our Borough to The practical question, as regards the public, can be best dealt with by a lawyer conversant with all the details of prison discipline, and capable of showingin what way the system would work in a pecuniary point of view. We have ourselves a very strong conviction that, properly managed, all Reformatory Schools might be made sell supperting, if not actually sources of national income. Labour was the first,, and it should ever be the chief punishment of sin. God set us the example, in the per sons of our first parents, how all future transgressors ought to be punished ; and had mature wisdom guided the judi cial deliberations of our fathers, they would have substi tuted for dark, damp, fostering dungeons, with heavy chains, compelling the idleness of the limbs, ample moans for the duplication and tiiplicatiou of that earth subduing toil, which won from the red furrow of the field the golden grain which still forms the groat staple of human sustenance. As regards the suggested Maritime School we foal very sure that it would appear to the Recorder less neces sary if he were practically acquainted with the educational establishment conducted hero, under the auspices, and at the expense of, the Hull Corporation of the Trinity House. What is really wanted is an industrial school under the inspection of the Poor-law Board, for the receptien and training of all the destitute children of both 20:C02 in any given number of poor-law unions. The law already pro vides for the establishment of such schools, and enables boards of guardians to lay rates for them at a sum not ex ceeding one penny in the pound ; but wh en th e opportu nity of establishing one in this neighbourhood was pre , seated, and receremended, a number of very zealous, but n ot very sagacious, individuals succeeded in charging m theselves for ever with the bu r d en of a ragged sc h oo l , which no ef f orts over can render half so valuable as an industrial Government school, to a large community like that of Hull. An industrial school might be made to train up five thousand boys either as seamen or husbandman without more expense to its patrons than if it only con tained fifty children ; whereas a ragged school must always .fortmuoniee,nvaenro.,l sun depend for support upon the variable offerings of industrial school would offer undoubted guarantees t p h e e rso v u n a ri l a i t a i b on le s to nt. Ind t i h v e idu ca ar prif o e p e i s m o ut to parents anxious about the religious training of their children ; whereas, Ragged Schools must necessarily com pel the hiving a general preference to teaching of certain creeds. It may be that the Hull Ragged School will form an exception to such institutions elsewhere, and that its utility will be as ex ensire as the benevolence of its foun ders. In that case no other schools of the kind will be required. lint if it fail there is still in reserve the legal provision for the establishment of a Quatt's Farm School adequate to the industrial training of all the poor chil dren in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The other points touched upon in the Recorder's charge t i ) ghl assurei m ? h o e r ta n learnedt , lob there he ea handled rree i is c nothero.- e the are snore of an administrative character, and though least e W s toew°vecse venture to fee any defence of the t " 14 tvial of the i body • hi _ e grea of prisoners now brought before , i ;'_.__T a lt Recordcrship of Hull is a very onerous office or :v7,oll,l,et.red to what it was when Mi-. Cresawell sat here, minal iwiguealie. Baines so worthily presided as chief cri- Hull involve this borough. Many of the cases tried in and affectindat4rtei°s't" of law and of fact as complicated, tal trials bronght bef4ora4 is the ability rmenifesteedt.:•6 that in uo place is terily. tomentous, as any short of capi the l aw 13 " judges at York, and yet, much are Quarter Sessions court administered mono satisfac- BAILWAY TRAFFIC . RET URNS. "..............111..........- LONDON, BRIGHTON, AND SOUTH COAST RAILWAY. Tia.flie return for the week ending Dec. 30, 1854 Colre3ponding week last year ....................£10,659 5 9 10,531 0 7 Total of th e h a lf- year t o th is d ate, 1851 ...... 380584 2 5 To of th o h a lf- year t o thi s d ate, 1353 358 , ,09.: 13 1 LONDON AND SOUTH-EASTERN RAILWAY. —Traffic ro turn for the week,lending, Dec. 30, 1851 £16,197 9 2 Corresponding week last year 15,591 10 10 Increase in 1351 .., ROO2 18 4 THE LIVERPOOL SHIP TRADE. (From Messrs. Curry and Co.'s eireqtyr.) We beg to hand you, as customary at this time, our annual statement of the past year's business in the sale of ships at this port, and though we may consider it as almost terminating with September, there being but few transactions in the last quarter to report, we are enabled to lay before you just such a result as we pre dicted-----the returns for the year ended, showing an in crease of 91,570 tons in excess of the previous year. In last January's annual letter we stated nothing was likely to interfere with this result butthe interruption of our na tional peace, and which is here clearly proved. When in the month of May war was proclaimed, though producing a depressing effect upon most other trades, it was found, from the anticipated large requirements of Government for the transport service, rather to give an increased stimulus to shipping property than otherwise, which continued until the beginning of October, when the un fortunate stoppage of Mr. Oliver, with a fleet of ninety eight ships on hand, and which it is obvious must be thrown upon the market, brought about a reaction and consequent paralysis that has seriously affected us to the present hour. The difficulty of speedily arranging for the liquidation of an estate of such magnitude in a manner that is satisfactory to all parties interested, has hitherto retarded the payment of a dividend, but it is understood that all difficulties have at length been removed. The sale by auction of 22 of Mr. Oliver's ships, amounting to 15,706 tons and realising 96,185'X, being an average of 61. 2s. 6d. per ton has been already effected, while many others are likely to be speedily sold, so that there is every prospect of an early dividend. Frem January to October our high quotations of 1 last year were fully maintained, and in some instances exceeded, and for that period we may quote first qua lity colonial ships to class seven years at 101. to 121., those classing six years at 8/. to 111.—and spruce ships Sl. to 101.—small vessels suitable for the coasting frade at 71. to 81. 10s. From October to the present there has been a fall in prices equal to 50s. per ton on large ships and from 20s. to 30s. per ton upon Use smaller craft. We have noticed with pleasure a decidedly im proved feeling among ship buyers within the last fort night, when. more sales have been made than for the previous two months. A considerable number of Rus sian prizes have lately come upon the market and been sold in some instances at very low prices. As regards our prospects for the year before us, we may state there are very few ships to come forward from the Colonies. The reaction that has taken place in our market and the high rate of wages 110 paid to shipwrights, together with considerable monetary depression experieaced in Ca,nala, New Brunswick, &c., ice., will prevent much building and as our stocks are not excessive and the losses of the past year greatly above the average, we have reason to think the supply wi!l come short of the usual demand, and prices must considerably improve before spring. In confirmation of this opinion we request your attention to the following fect the December of 1853 there was on the stocks at Quebec 29 ships, equal t 0135,000 tons—in the De cember of 1854 there were but 4, from 5,000 to 6,000 tons collectively, in any state of forwardness or likely to be ready for launching during the spring. In New Brunswick comparatively nothing is doing, and the same may be stated of most of the other colonial building stations. Notwithstanding the very decided assurance given by the Government that a strict blockade of the ports of the Black &a an Sea of Azof was to be enforced, we may name that we have lately sold several vessels for this trade, and as the cargoes continue to arrive freely from these waters we are led to believe, however unjust it may be to the merchant and importer, this outlet for small vessels is not likely to be closed. The number of ships that have changed hands in Liver pool in the year is 730 —equal to 330,030 tons—of which 83 are British, egos; to 31,33 G tons—against 653; equal to 288,430 in 1853. The number of new colonial vessels that have come into Liverpool and been registered i 3 123—equal to 123,994 tons—against 112 83,375 toes in 1853—show ing an increase in tonnage of 45,018 tons over the pre vious year, and nuking the average measurement of each vessel 1,04 S tons. The number of foreign vesseh; that have changed hands in toe year and been regh,tered in Liverpool is 55—equal to 35,665 tons—against 2611,300 tons in 1853—show. in an increase ot 25;365 tons. The number of steamers registered in Liverpool is 40 —equal to 14,830 tans—of which 18 are pa.ddle=l,s92 —and 22 acrsw=l3,23B tons—against 419,237 — showing a decrease of 4 vessels and an increase of 5,593 toms upon the return of 1353. Iron ships are somewhat less in favour owing to the present difficulty of adjusting the compasses, and the recent were disasters arising therefrom. The excitement occasioned by Mr. Oliver's failure has been maintained for nearly three months, and does not seem likely to subside for a long time to come. This is, of course, attributable chiefly to the unusual magnitude of his engagements. The debts are reported to exceed 800,0001. ; and the assets, if judiciously realized, to amount to half-a million. But there are other circum stances which have contributed largely to keep the commercial world of Liverpool in a ferment about this matter. To throw a fleet .of merchantmen, of the largest size, and of more than 50,000 tone, sud denly into the market menaced our skippi n g. trade wart'utter stagnation. ro prevent this it was ab solutely necessary that Mr. Oliver should be enabled to avoid bankruptcy, and sell his ships gradually. The principal creditors thereupon exerted themselves to obtain a general assent to a trust-deed. It was pre pared and executed on the 7th of October, many coming into the arrangement, upon the understanding, earnestly pressed upon them, than it was the only way to pre vent the American creditors from appropriating to themselves exclusively all that part of the shipping that happened to be in American ports. The trustees under this deed forthwith proceeded to act upon it and a few weeks since instructed their brokers to sell 22 of the ships by auction. To give a stimulus to the sales a novel expedient was resorted to ; it was arranged that purchasers should pay half the purchase-money in Mr. Oliver's bills, to be estnnated at 50 per cent. of their nominal amount. This plan might have answered but for one obvious objection ; it placed several of the creditors, and tkose among the largest of them, in a more favourable position than the smaller fry ; for it operated to give them a long priority of pay ment of a dividend of 10s, in the pound, every pur chaser of a ship on such terms receiving that divi dend on completing his purchase ; and many, there fore, refused to come in under the deed ; and a creditor of the name of Evans, whose debt amounted to nearly 7,0001., petitioned the Court for an adjudica- Sion in bankruptcy, on the opinion of Sir G. Stepbon that the extention of the deed of the 7th of October was itself an act of bankruptcy. This proceeding- added fuel to the flames, and a scene then followed of the most ex traordinary character. Where was the deed ? Who hod lost 0? What had be done with it Guided, we presume, by the sane learned counsel, Mr. Cross, the solicitor, summoned the trustees appointed by the deed, and also their solicitors, and "the solicitor of Mr. Oliver, requiring each and all of them to produce the deed to the court, but produced it could not be ; for, as report goes, one and all of them disclaimed all knowledge of its tate; except that some lad of 15, whom nobody knew, had obtsissed it, ensome pretence or other, from the counting house of one of the trustees the very day that the petition was filed. At was ratte- prematurely concluded that Sir G. Stephen had been felled in his five days' examination, and that the bankruptcy could now be averted till the 7th of January when the deed would have become valid by the effluxion of time ; hut, having thus proved the deed to be irretrievably lost, Sir George, as we hoar, tendered secondary evidence of its purport, and this evHence was received. By some unaccountable omision the solicitor hal not brought the petitioning creditor, Mr. Evans, to prove his debt till the net of bankruptcy was thus proved, or, if he was in attendance, he had omitted to examine him. On the last day, however, he appeared, when he demurred to the form if the affidavit, and requested tune to consider it. It was granted, but when it expired Mr. Evans, for some reason best known to himself. declined to appear ! Thereupon Mr. Her ring, of Newcastle, a new petitioner, came forward, proved his debt, and, all other preliminary matters, being thus established, Mr. Oliver was adjudicated a bank rupt on Friday. Whether the adjudication will be dis puted we have not heard ; but, in the meanwhile, the messengers of the court have proceeded to take posses sion, and all the past arramoinent3 are for the present set aside, and in all probability will not be revived.— Liveepeol Albion. VACANT GROUND NEAR ST. PAUL'S. The following letters have been addressed to the Editor of the Times : Sir,—ln consequence of the convereation, in the House of Cintrtons on the above subject; I request you to allow me to explain the money part of the question, wlaieh I fear, if not explained, may stand in the way of this important improvement. Sir W. Molesworth, in answer to the question of Mr. Labouchere, is reported t♦ have said that the Corporation of London required 60,0001, for this laid, which sum the Government were not prepared to grant. Ou this subject I beg to give the following explanation, which will show that on the one hand the Corporation of London do not require this sum of money paid down for the land in question, nor are the Government asked to pay it on the other, and that, therefore, there must be some misapprehension on the subject, which the Committee of Architects desire to remove. The improvements in the city of London since the closing of the functions of the London bride, and its Approechee Committee have been conducted by a new committee, called the Improvement Committee ; and, so far as the new Cannon.atreet is concerned, are authorised by an act of Parliament passed in 1815, which gave powers to raise 500,0001. for the purpos to widen Ceunon-street and Queen-street. In 1850 another act passed, authoris:ng the raising of 300,0001. additional for continuing Cannon-street westward to St. Paul's-churchr:rd. The operation of these !las is this—that under their authority the corporation is empowered to pledge its annual income to raise these sums of money on bond, and it is understood that the Bank of England makes the advance in such sums as may be required, and is ;lowered by the corporate seal, thus authorised to be used. It is necessary, however, now to explain an earlier part of the process. In the first instance then, and before any act is applied for, a plan of the improvement sug gested is. submitted to the corporation, and after disclas aion and approval a careful estimate of the cost of pur chasing th e property, with all its trades and incidents, includi ng conveyanc:ng and other costs, is prepared. In addition to this an estimate is also mado of the value of the surpl us property to be sold after the street is widened or opened, amid one total is set against the other, If as, it is said, is the case in Paris, the new frontages and surplus land would sell for as much as the cost of the e-oeee-ty, then the eereer t^ b,-- - ev en eney ?mall only be reqnired pending the actual operation ; and when the land ' was all sold, the borrowers would be paid and the transac tion at an end. In England, however, wo are not so fortu nate, and I believe in the main that those experienced in such matters all agree that even under favourable circum stances the eventual deficiency is 33 per sent. ; and in unfavourable circumstances, much more. Perhaps no case may be quoted as more favourable than that au thorised by the act of 1850, whereby a series of obcsure lanes were obliterated, and a broad thoroughfare, open ing in the very heart of London, created. Be that as it may, such an advantage would probably be more than counterbalanced by the cost of the improvement of the eastern part of Cannon-street, authorised by the first act of 1845. For the sake of illustration, however, I assume the 33 per cent. of loss, and the case would tb en stand thus :—the original cost of the property and ex penses of all sorts, including interest on the advances, may be taken at 1,200,0001. ; deducting one-third or 33 per cent, deficiency, amounting to 400,0001., and the remainder, or 800,0001., would represent the value to be obtained by the resale of the now frontages and surplus land. But then it is obvious that the Corporation of London, who take the risk of the operation, would at the close of the transaction be the losers of 400,0001., and have to find it either out of the corpus of their estates, or to pay it by instalments in the shape of annuities, or otherwise. This, however, is not intended, and one of the important tolls, granted originally by charter to the city of London, and confirmed by acts of Parliament, provides the annuity for paying off this loss. This duty is the Coal Tax of is. id. per ton, which tax expires in 1862, and is thus divided-9d. goes to the Treasury to pay for West-end improvements; ld. to the Commission ers of Woods and Forests for similar purposes ; and the original toll to the city of London for paying off this and similar charges. If I have made myself understood, it will now be seen that if the city of London give up this land, represent ing a sum of 60,0001., the deficiency must be made up out of their own funds ; anel they propose boldly to take the chance of this if the coienauty were continued for one ' year more, that is to 1863. This reasonable suggestion is refused by the Lords of the Treasury, and the pro bable consequence may be, that "the act of Vandalism" of covering their land—as it was termed in the house— may be perpetrated. It is right, however, to add, that it has been suggested, that the recent enormous prices given for the land in St. Paul's churchyard and its neigh bourhood would enable the city of London to give up this sum of 60,0001. without any call upon their private resources, or without the additional year's duty on coal. Of course, as the operations under both acts are now completed, or nearly so, it would be very ea-1 to move for a return, and see how the account stands. But in justice to the city of London, I am bound to say, that the committee have received more encouragement from the Improvement Commission than (except in personal courtesies, for whioh they are very grateful) from the G-overnment.—l am, sir, your obedient servant, 42, Lowndes-square. WILLIAIi Sir,—l trust you will indulge me with a small space in your valuable columns for the purpose of making a few comments on a letter from Mr. Tito, the emi nent City architect, and a principal member of the committee of the Society of Architects, which ap peared in the Times of Wednesday last, on the sub ject of the abandonment by the corporation of a small triangular piece of land—less than a quarter of an acre—in the south-eastern corner of St. Paul's-church yard, which, having been cleared of the old buildings upon it, affords the public a much better view of the cathedral than they enjoyed before. A very genoral wish has been expressed that this opening may be permanent; and Mr. Tite, who speaks as the expeeent of the views of the corporation, names, I presume with their autho rity, the sum of 60,0001. as the value of this triangular plot, containing by computation 1,050 square yards. Surely the corporation must fix this price for the sight, and not for the site; for, otherwise, land in that neigh bourhood would be worth above 250,0001. per acre, in dependent of the buildings upon it, which is monstrous. This piece of land may have cost a great deal for build ings, goodwill to occupants, and so on, which constituted a charge necessary for the formation of the new street ; but the present value of the vacant piece of land, which is not in a good situation for shops, must, according to my judgment, be far, very far, below the sum talked of. I was struck by the observation in the latter part of Mr. Tite's letter touching this question—" If I have made myself understood"—for, certainly at that stage of the perusal of it, I had felt that I never saw a very simple case clnfounded and 'confused more effectually than this was by the skill of Mr. Tite, which had been employed to prepare the way for his extravagant pro position that the public should give in exchange for this 1,050 yards of land a year's continuance of the coal tax, which at present mulcts theta to the ex tent of 200,0001. per annum, and, of course, increases year by year. lam rejoiced to l e arn f r o m Mr. Tite's letter that the Government refused their aid to this job. I presume they thought that it was the affair of the millionaires in the city, who were the possessors of land worth, according to Mr. Tite's showing, 250,0001. per acre, independent of the buildings erected on it, in stead of the poor inhabitants of Westminster, Maryle bone, Finsbury, the Tower Hamlets, Rotherhithe and Lambeth, who would practic a lly f ee l th e en h ance d price of their coals, though they are probably very indifferent about the proposed improvement.—l remain, sir, your constant reader, JOHN DICKSON. Tnn VEXATIOUS BBER BILL. On -Friday last William Orriel, landlord of the Red Lion Inn, Meadow-lane, Leeds, was summoned before the Mayer of Leeds, (Joseph Richardson, Esq.), and John Wilson, Esq., charged with violating the provisions of the Sunda) Closing Act, bykeepin:r his house open for purposes of trade between half-past two and half-past six on Christmas day. Mr. Naylor, the solicitor to the Licensed Victuallers' Afsooiation, appeared for the defendant. Two officers, belonging to the reserve force, stated that they went to defendant's house about 20 minutes past 5 on the afternoon of Christmas day, and knocked at the front door for admittance ; no one came, and one of then went to the back door, with no better success. Whilst there a milkman went up to the door, and told the officer he wanted some gin, but on the officer telling him that he could not have any he went away. The officer then re turned to the front door, and on looking through the keyhole he observed the landlord at the top of the steps, and called out to him. The landlord then let him, 'and in reply to their inquiries said he had four travellers from Bradford in a room up stairs. The officers proceeded up stairs, and in one of the rooms they found two men and two women with beer before them, and some empty glasses, which had contained spirits. They first said they were travellers, and afterwards, on the suggestion of the officers, they admitted they were pleasure seekers. Mr. Naylor submitted to the bench that there was no offence proved, as the officers had not seen the landlord se!! any beer or spirits, hut if their worships overruled him on that point, he maintained that the persons found in the house of the defendant were Lona fide travellers. He 1, new that a learned alderman had laid it down that pleasure seeker: were not travellers, but he felt convinced that the Legislature never intended to say that persons travelling, say from Wetherby or Bradford to Leeds, for the benefit of their health, or their enjoyment, wore net travellers, and he therefore contended that the par- ties in question were travellers within the mhaning of the act- The Mayor said the bench were quite of opinion that the case was proved, and as there was no evidence to show that the parties were travellers. they should fine the defendant 10s. and costs. Mr. Naylor said that in this case he should advise the licensed victuallers to test the judgment of the bench by an appeal. HISTORY . OF THE ARMY MEDICAL DEPARTMENT. The earliest mention made ia history of the pay of sui heJas in the British army is in 1557, when those employed at the siege of St. Cuintin received Is. per diem, being the same amount as cbaplain%, serjeants, drummers, and filers, with whom they appear to have been classed. At this early period a surgeon was attached to each com pany, which usu4lly consitded of 100 to 120 mon. In 1620, we find that, in addition to the surgeon to each company, every regiment of 2,000 had a head sur geon, whose pay was 44.; and a surgeon-major was ap pointed to the whole camp, who received 53, per diem, and had two " mates or servants" under him, at 4s. each. The pay of the surgeon of a company continued to be is. in the infantry, but in cavalry - regiments was 2s. 6d. In Cromwell's army, in 1665, the appointment of a surgeon to each eompany or troop was abolished • the head sur geon of the regiment continued to draw the same pay as formerly, viz., 4s. a day ; but, in the infantry, was allowed a mate to assist him, whose daily pay was 2s. 61. ; while in the cavalry he received 2s. a day, in ad dition to his pay, to enable him to keep a horse. The surgeon's mate was not a commissioned officer, but was appointed by a warrant granted by the colonel of the regiment. In 1759 his pay was increased from 21. 6d. to 34. Gd., at which rate it continued till 1796, when the rank was abolished, and replaced by that of assistant surgeon, who held his appeintmont by commission from the King, and received ss. daily pay in time of peace, and 78. 6cl. during war : this dis tinction of pay, hawever, was removed in 1804, and the amount finally settled at 7e. 6d. On the staff of the army, hospital mates continued to be appointed by war ratite signed by the Head of the Medical Board till 1813, when they also were raised to the rank of commis sioned officers, with the title of hospital assistants ; but in 1804 their pay was increased to 6s. 6d. when serving at home, and 7s. 6d. abroad. Prior to 1783 a small sum was paid annually to the surgeon by each officer and soldier, under the name of " Medicine money," out of which he was bound to pur chase whatever medieiue might be necessary for them when serving at home. In 1783 this was abolished, and Government allowed in lieu thereof a r,um varying from 70/. to 1201. per annum to each regiment. Out of this "Medicine-money," the surgeon frequently, in years savea•bend fnr om x so t rt . o t r o d 7 i foT.ywahrhurit increased () sic tie s is p s ay o t c o c urre aboutd, 7s. or Bs. per diem. This system was found to be at tended with many disadvaateges, and, in 1797, the alle,vance was, iu consequence, discontinued ; but, to compensate for it, the surgeon's pay was raised to 11s. 41. in cavalry, and 93. 4d. in infantry regiments— edieca Times and Gazette. A THRIVING TOWN.—On Sunday last, the Rev. Henry 8r00k... christened 104 children in St. Peter's Church, in this town—the largest number ever known in one day in the parish.—Liverpool Courier. . • INSURANCE COMPANIES. • . Dividend Amount i Name of Compatiy. per of Paid. Price. Annum. Share. ) X s. d. X s. d. Albion .............. V. 10s. 500 I 0 50 0 0 - • • Alliance Brit. and For. 71. 14s.6d.bs. 100 0 0 11 0 0 IS Ditto Marine ....... 61. p.c. & bs. 100 0 0 25 0 0 - Anchor .............. 6 per cent. 5 0 1 0 0 - Atlas Argus Life .........•• 4/.per cent. 100 0 0 25 0 0 22 British Commercial .. 7s. 6d. 50 0 0 5 0 0 7 Clericl.Med.3s Gen. Life spr et. & bs. 100 0 0 10 c,,,,,,,., .............. ..c. lOU U v 10 0 0 125 Crown .............. 178. Od 50 0 0 3 0 0 174 i Eagle . - Equity and Law...... 44 per cent. 100 0 0 1 0 0 54 European Life . 11. 20 0 0 all - Genera 1.............. 6/. 5 0 0 PI 54 1 Globe .. •• ...• 61. per cent. Stock. 1274 • Guardian ............ 51. per cent. 100 0 0 45 0 0 5514 Imperial Fire......... l2/. per cent, 500 0 0 50 0 0 330 Imperial Life Indemnity Marine.... 11.34 k 31. 100 0 0 20 0 0 65 Law Fire ............ 25. & 2s. bs. 100 0 0 210 0 4% Law Life •• •• - 100 0 0 10 0 0 56 Legal and General Life - 50 0 0 2 0 0 6% London London o hip.... - Marine ..... .......... 18s.per share 100 0 0 18 0 0 23 Med.lnvlid& Gen. Life 44 /. per ct. 50 0 0 2 0 0 3% Minerva ........ •• .. sp. ct. & be. 20 0 0 2 0 0 5 % Monarch .....• •• .. - 5 0 0 1 0 0 - National Loan Fund.. 51. per cent. 20 0 0 210 0 - Palladium Life... - Pelican - - - - I Phcenix - - - - Professional Life."... 5/. per cent. 5 0 010 • % Provident Life........ 11. 58. & bs. 100 0 0 10 0 0 Rock Life ............ ss. 5 3 0 010 0 7% Royal Exchange .....• 61. p.ct. & be. Stock. all - Sun Fire ...... 6/ 10s. - VP .' Ditto Life ..... 1/ 10s. - 574 United Kingdom .... 41. p. ct & be. 20 0 0 4 0 0 4% Universal Life .•. - 1 Victoria Life - 412 6 5% -- - - --- - ---- - 1 --- MISCELLANEOUS. Dividend Amount Name of Company. per of I Paid. Price. Annum. Share. 4 s. d. i X s. d. Assam Tea - ; Auctien Mart •• •• •• - - Australian Aericulturl 11. ls. 100 0 0 17 10 0 36 Australian Trust • • - 25 0 0 - Australian Royal Mail 51. 10 00 I all 44 knglo-Mexican Mint ii. 105. 10 0 0 1 an i British Aro erican Land 15s. - 40 0 0 - Canada ... Do. 5 per cent Bonds 51. per cent. - Ditto, 6 per cent. • • 61. per cent. - City Navieation Bonds Electric Telegraph (A) 1ntt0'.....• .... (11) Equitable Reversionry Ditto New . .... . Gen 1; - - 1 - - 110 7 per Cent. 25 0 0 21 - 0 0 18 - 51 pr. cent. 1 2 0 5 0 0 0 . evers. & . Invest. 5 c& bs 100 a m•SteamNavigation P. . 15 0 0 - 100 0 0 50 0 0 17 10 0 - , 0 0 100 0 0 .10 p ct. 15 0 0 14 0 0 - illtdaon's Bay - Stock. - - liumesrford - Leedon Institution - - - - London Reversionary 4% per cent. 15 00 I a'l - Russell Institution - - 12 10 0 Pric , l'sPatentCand.Co 10/. per cent. 20 0 0117 10 0 25% Reversionary Int. Soc. 441. pr cent. 100 0 0 ;100 0 0 - Royal Mail steam.... 4/, p. share. 100 0 0I 60 0 0 - south A ustral ian..... 6/. per cent. 25 00 I all 38 Trust and Loan Comp. Upper Canada .... - - - - LIST OF SCOTTISH COMPANIES' PRICES. Dividem. Amount Name of Company. per of Paid. Price. Annum. Share. X s. d. £ s. d. ?tank of Scotland -•• 71. per cent. 100 0 0 100 0 0 173110 British Linen Company 8?. per cent. 100 0 0 100 0 0 201/ 0 Caledonian Bank City of 01asgow Bank Si. per cent. 10 0 0 10 0 0 10115 s Clydesdale Bank .... 541. p cent. •2O 0 0 10 0 0 12 Os mmercial Bank .• 71. per cent ..5 0 0 0 1 00 0 0 200/I's ' Eastern Bank.... •• - 61. per cent. 25 0 0 10 0 0 10115 s Edina) & Glasgow .... 341. p cent. 5 0 0 5 0 0 41. 14e Exchange Bnisof Scot _ - - - National Bank ...... 64 percent. 'lOO 0 0 0) 0 0 165108 North of scotland Bank el per cent 20 0 0 210 0 11. Ins Royal Bank of 0 cotl. .. 51. per cent . 1,0 0 0 100 0 0 12511 Union Bank of Scot... 8/. per cent. 100 0 0 50 0 0 40! o.s Western Bank •• .. -.• U. per cent. 50 0 0 50 0 0 77110 e •111anee Fire and Life B4l.pr cent. 100 0 0 11 0 0 19112 s British Guarantee .... V. per cent. 10 0 0 2 0 0 11. Os Caledonian Fire Incur . 101. per cont. 100 0 0 10 0 0 251 Os City of Glasgow Life , 61. per cent. 25 0 0 2 0 0 41. 11 s Colonial Life ... .. Edinburgh Life Incur 6/. per cent. 100 0 0 15 0 0 25/10 s Eng. & Scot, Lass Life 01.ptrcent. 50 0 0 3 5 0 144 7, Life ssoc. of 3.,14L.And 61. per cent. 10 0 0 110 0,5. O s National Fire and Life 61. per cent. 10 0 0 1 0 0 11/. 131 North British Basun Scottish Union Insrnc. 741. precut. 20 0 0 1 0 0 ,u, !Is Standard Life •• .... -. 51. per cent. fso 0 0 7 0 4 171 Ca United Dep. Assurance 5/. per cent. 10 0 0 1 n 0 v - SUNDICRLAND.—FLOG GING A SOLDIER,—MucIa public feeling was excited by the news that a soldier had been flagged in the barracks here on Tuesday last, and upon inquiry this was found to be true. It seems that a few weeks ago a young man, a bottlemaker at Southwick, had enlisted in the 85th here, but becoming tirel of the everlasting drill, he at last suddenly threw his musket down upon the ground, d—g the whole army, from its head, the Queen, down to the humblest recruit. A court-martial was summoned at Y, - ,rk, and the mutineer sentenced to receive fifty lishes, and undergo a term of six months' imprisonment in gaol. The first part of the sentence was cal-lied out on Tuesday, and the second will ere this be gone on with. [ADVERTISEMENT]. —llOl it) way's Pills an Effective Medicicine for Epilepsy and Apoplectic Symptomr.— Mr. Smithson, it retired publican, residing at Arbour terrace, Norwood, who was of a very full habit of body, suffered to a fearful extent from an overflow of blood to the head, giddiness, and every symptom of apoplexy ; so bad at times that it was considered unsafe to trust him alone. His medical attendant failed to do him any good ; therefore as a last resource, he began to take Holloway's pills, which he continued regularly for several weeks, and they have been the means of restoring him to sound health, feeling now as light and buoyant as a youth,—Sold by all dealers in medicine, and at Pro fessor Holloway's establishments, 244 Strand, London, and $O, Maidendane, New York, PRICES OF. SHARES IN RANKS, ASSURANCE, AND OTHER COM From, the Ofteica List. YUBLISIIED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY EVENING, LONDON, FRIDAY, DEC. 29, 1854. GASLIGHT AND COKE COMPANIES-. . _ Dividend Amount I Name of Company. per of Paid. I Price. Annum. Share. 4 s. d. £ s. d. ! British .• •• •• .. •• •• •• I I Ditto provincial •••• 17. Bi. 20 0 0 20 0 0 21 Brighton .. •• .. •• •• •, • 51. 20 0 0 23 0 0 City of London .... •• 41. 10s. 100 0 0 150 0 0 , 100 Continental(3dCap.)... 4/. 10s. ,50 0 0 43 10 0 Equitable , ........ •• 1/. ss. 50 0 0 all 21 Great Central ....... 71 per cent. 10 0 0 all 11 Imperial ............ 101.8 c bonus.' 50 0 0 all Independent ........ 61. 40 0 0 PP L0nd0n............... 50 0 0 OP •-•• , Do., P,arl. Prefer ence 61. p er cen t . 1 25 0 0 ~ 25 Pce ix ............. 4/. per cent. 1 60 0 0 50 0 0 24N( Rateliff ....• ....... 51. 100 0 0 90 0 0 73 United General ...... 11. sa. 50 0 0 all 20 Westminster Chartered sc. per cent. 50 0 0 /0 38% Ditto, New ........ 51. per cent. 50 0 0 10 u 0 WATER-WORKS. Dividend Amount Name of Company. per of Paid. Price. Annum. Share. £ s. d. X s. d. East London Grand Junction Kent 4l. per cut. 100 0 0 79 Lambeth ........ •• New River Company • • 1 21. 10 x. ..,..... ~. 1.- t, e t -.-..4 lAA A - 55 ~... Kent 41. per cut. 1100 0 0 Lambeth ...... ••• • • • 1100 0 0 New _River Company .. Southwark & Vauxhall West Middlesex •• •• 21. 10s. IL per cnt. 51.105. pr ct. too o 0 DOCKS. Dividend Amount Name of Company. per of Paid. Price: Annum. Share. £ s. d. X s. d. Commercial .... 4l. pr cent. Stock. Stock. East and West India Si. pr cent. St oc k. -- ' East Country.. London .... .•• • • Ditto Bonds .. .. .. • 4l. per cent. St. Katharine outhampton Victoria ...... •... • BRIDGES. Dividend Amount _ Name of Company. per of Paid. Price. Annum. Share. £ s. d. £ a. d. lluinerford .... • • .... 12 Southwark ...... •• .. 100 0 0 Ditto New of 7% p.c. 70s. per cent. 50 0 0 Waterloo ..... ........ 100 0 0 4 1 Ditto Old Ann. of 81. 11. 14s. 60 0 0 31 Ditto Nw ditto of 71. 11. 10s. Od. 40 0 0 28 Vauxhall ............ 11. ss. 70 10 3 23 JOINT-STOCK BANKS. Dividend 1 Amount Name of Company. per of Paid. Price. Annum. ; Share. --.:. £ a. d. £ a. d. Australasia........... 6/. per cent. 40 0 0 all 81 British North American 61. per cent. 50 0 0 PO Commercial of London. 61. per cent. j 100 0 0 20 0 0 Colonial .............. 3/. per cent. 100 0 0 25 0 0 lonian .... ....... .... 61. per cent. 25 0 0 25 0 0 1 Lond. Char. Bk. of Aus. 20 0 0 all 0 217 London and County .. 61. per cent. 50 0 0 20 0 0 Londe and Westininstr 61. per cent. 100 0 0 20 0 0 42 London Joint • Stock ... 61. per cent. 50 0 0 10 0 0 —. Provincial of Ireland.. Si. per cent. 100 0 0 25 0 0 Ditto, New......... 8 / .per cent. 10 0 0 all National of Ireland.... , 41. per cent. 50 0 0 22 10 0 Nat. Provincial of Eng. 161. per cent. 100 0 0 35 0 0 Ditto, New ........ , 51. per cent. 20 0 0 13 0 0 Oriental Bank Corpora. 123. p. et.kbs. 25 0 0 all 33 South Australia ...... ,il/. p. ct.& bs. 25 0 0 ~, 42% Union of Australia.... 401. per cent. 25 0 0 25 0 0 68% Ditto .............. 401. per cent. 2 10 0 Union of London ..... 8/. per tent. 50 0 0 10 0 0 Union of Madrid ..... 40 0 0 all CANALS. " _ ..., Names of 8 Dividend Names of c 4 Dividend Price. :-. per Companies. per Companies. 4 ei . pnum. Price. mAnnum. c/a ___ .£ ' I I .£ Islitn &Oldli 1 93 71. p. ct. 141 Nfacclesfield. 100 2/. 103. 51% Banisley• •• • ;160 1 1 Neath ••• • • • 100, 161. 150 Brkiik&Abrgllso; 4/. 60 Oxford.. •• • • lon, 13'. 110 Binniagharn 40t 4/. Peak Forest. 78 51. Os. 86 Coventry.... 100, 1 251. 209 Regent's.... 30 18s. 16 Derby ••• .. 1.00 1 6/. 84 Rochdale.... 85 1/. 108. 60 Ellsmre&Clis 69;2 3 4 p. ct. Somrset Coal 00 1 Grand.Linctn i loo4t. pr. ct. 53 Do. Lk Fa t l2 Do , 6 pr. Ct. 10 " 61. pr. ct. 11% Stant &Wore , 40 287. 425 ?rand Surrey, 100' 21. 10s. 48 Shrewsbury ' Grand linionlloo 11.0 s. 12% Stoarbridge.. , 12545 127. 285 Kennt & Avn 39 60. Od. 6% Severn and 1 ' . 7 28 Lancaster .. 100 Wye Rail. i 26 "" Leeds &Livrp 100 251. Warwick & i „, 20 Leicester.... 100 51. 59 Birming. 100 ``• Leicstr &Nth 83 41. 28,6 Warwick & 1 Loy.shboregh ,l 142 701. 575 Napton../ 100 31 * 10 Monmouthsh l loo Virorestr & / 78 31. 28 Nlntgmerysh [ IOC ' Binning. Mel tirlfwbry'loo Wilts & Brks —10 s. Od. COUNTRY MARKETS. CHELInSEOP,DL'—Dr,c. 29. The wheat trade was extremely dull, the choicest sant: alone beio , saleable, at last w ee k' s quo t a ti ons . SI" curn unaltered in value. Wheat, white, old, per a. qr. 62. s. 83 I Oats, 28 31 now 62 83 I Peas , , Pti Pm rtiidgo ....... 31 ij old 58 76 Whito .39 1 36 if new.... 58 76 B o ili ng 45 28 35 D un v 30 38 Beans, Tick 42 0 ...24 : , 1 Harrow ticks 41 0 ..70 74 Mazagan ..... 42 0 72 76 1 Ditto, new 37 it qr red, Barley Chevalier Grinding Malt Chevalier COLCHESTER— Dz.. 30. The supply of wheat not so large as last week, the t rsij o i was firm for all - dry samples; barley of fine quality OA be noted 1.3 per qr. dearer; other solts met a good dal, at full prices ; beans rather cheaper ; peas tie 'same 0 fore. Prices to-da,ywere as follow :—Wheat, white, 80A t O 9lO red, 72s to 78s ; barley, 34s to 378 ; oats, 28s to 34 , ; Mazagan, 42s to 45s ; middle and small, 44s to 48 0 ; 1 7 - white, 56s to 60s ; grey, 40s to 445. _ w ed Official Statement of the Quantities of Corn, Sco., in the port of London, from the foll ow i ng p o rto, the 24th to th e 30th Dec., both inclusive. ' '9 4 1 i 1 X 0 I _ 2 _ 33 0 46 416,!!!"1 Colchester Tiarvrich 52tY 260 - - '1.427 - 230 i - 82 258: 501 - Leigh lialdon KIRKCALDY—DEC. 30. To-day wo h a d ra th er a sma ll supp l y of whea t , but d of barl e y an d oa t s. S a l es generally slow ; and, althea 1 not much ch ange i n pr i ces, t h ey were the turn in 1 0 1" the buyers. Oats. f Bei 300 Od ?! 28s 6d I u$ 25s Od Whoat. First Second 74s Od Tnird 64s Od Earley. 39e Od 36. Od 33. Od COAL MARK Prices of Coal per ton at t. :ET.— JAN. 1. ,he close of the market. Wallsend, ke• u. d. Chilton Hartley l5 I liasting's Hartley l7 Hol ywell 2O Howard's West Hartley Netherton 17 f Longridge's Wst Hartley 18 0 North Percy Hartley _l6 Stobart's Hartley l5 t. Tanfield Moor l7 0 raufield Moor Butes 17 Walker Primrose 4 _ Redley . .................. Leverson 19 Bell's Primrose ........... delmout ... . ........ ;letton ...• •' 0 tiaswell 0 Kepler Grange tainbton .itewart's ................ Elunwiek ................. reed ................. . ........ South Durham .••)/ Lawson . ............... . ... Grey's West Hartley l7 Wallseud, &e. Acorn Close a 61 SEABORNE MAILS'. (N signifies that the mails are sent from the General V the night—and id by the morning —despatch.) Day when made u; Cleueral Pest- Office, London.-, From wt at Port Dtspatohed. COUNTRIES. inaerica(byltrit.pack)N 9.merleP. (by United Sts every Friday ... paA.:L.stj imerica (by U. State! Liverpool ... packet) , &uitralia (via South. Itlyerpool ...11‘r' ampton) Ditto (via Marseilles) Ditto (via Capo of 'Jan. 4 !Jun 9 Hope) •• •••• .• •• ••N &um., k 4V CS L C0L:130..1\ A.! andria .• Alexandria .. 31 Bahamas Belgium .. Brazil .. • • • • • • • • • • . • 31 Dec. 4 , 41 of the mouth.. 9, 24,k 30 of in. 2nth of inoi 17th of the month ) , Lity. .. 9th of the month.. 9th of the moues,. Buenos Ayres ........31 cape of uood Hope Cape of Good Hope ..N Cape de Vents .....N Ceylon (see India) Ceylon ..............N Channel Isles China (see India) Constantinople Censt.uitinople ........ 'out. of Europe M & N Egypt (see India) I3•uthauapton' 9th of the month Won ..Wed.,&Fll).. td k 17th of moat) 3,18,18,23,8;28 of n . tth 8t 20th of moi.. I' 'vice daily ..... ISouthampton Dover ..... M & N Gibraltar .. Greece (see India) i Graytown llamburgh Havannah aolland ............N honduras India (viaSouthampt.)M India (via Marseilles)N lonian Isles (see India) Ireland N Madeira Madeira liana (soo India) Kalb' Mauritius (ace India) Mauritius .......• •• "' Madoo 11111 . •1; ill OS ..11 Naples..•••• •• •• •• •zi New Granada Now Zea l and. .: -- - •• • 4 .„,. •• • • .....N t'eninsula ..........14 Peru •• •• •• • "...NI Pelt Natal ..........N Sicily ..............N Tuscany •• •• •• •• •• Venezuela Van Diemen's Land (se( Australia) West Indies rivice dai1y...... 4,7, 17, 20, 27 ofm 2nd &17th of mon. Tuesday & Friday 2nd of the montl 17th of the montl, tth fte 29th of mop 9 th& 25th of month i, 17, & 27 of moi Twice daily 7,9, 17, & 27 of rn. 9th of the. month 23d of month I. Is. &IS of mon, 14th of the montl. to l a the month.. sthisth2sthofmon. 2d 1 tutor month Ay private skip .. ithlSth2stholmon. thl7tll27thofinon. ld & 27th of moo. By prlyate ithlath2sthotreon, c , hl s f l, 2sthofraoi . 24&17th ofmonth When any of these dal spatehed on the following Southampton), and the DJ preceding day. 1 , 1 & 17th o month 'tee fall at a iunda . 1g day. with the eal kialta. both of whit' Plymouth .. Dover • • • • • • 3outhamp too Sduthamp LOD Dover ... . . •r mp mthaton Various ports 01 I goutlizumapton -zouthamp tun Southampton! Dover •• •• ••• 18outhampton o Dover •• •••• Dover ......r .uthampter, Southampton London • •• ••,y iotithamptrn Dover Southampton Pri ver 9u .... th•: D ‘, oover.. •• ** eff Holyhead ..• SouthaniPto„. Elouthiunpio• ICAYOrpqma .• • 'Dover •• b•-•••• gonthausPtan ' 74211 Dover • • •• •• goUthiunptoo Various ports Ow Dover .... •• 3outhasiptei loutharapto! Various poet 1 . Hover •• •• •• Dover ' SOuttussepton r gouthamptiO* ty, the malls wIIIL feepllon of tha t will bO &.W O WIND AND WEATHER 1IPO! Stations. Course of Wind. • Greenwich .... Loaibury . ....... Ipswich ............ N .W. Derby ............... S.W Stamford.,. W. Norman ton ......... S.W B urton - on-Trent.. N.E. Chesterfield ..... N.W. Nottingham Leicester... Lowestoft N.W... ...... Great Grimsby N.NT . Boston W. ........ Leamington Southampton N. W ......... Portsmouth Poole ............... W Dorchester W. Yarmouth . ......... N.W ' Brighton S. Leeds Wakefield ..., S. W Liverpool Bristol W. Plymouth Ta anton W. Bath Gloucester N.W Cardiff N.W Swansea N.W erford west ... N.W Manchester Bradford N.E. Stoke-on-Trent Hague S. W York Bangor W .... . . • ..... Carlisle Lancaster ......... Iv hi tehaven ...... N.W Marypor t . MONDAY, A ll ' State if Weatir P Stormy Unsettled. Cloudy. Fine—Very windy' Fine. Very windy. Fine. Rain. Windy. Windy —Cloudy Fine. Windy. WindY—Cloudl. Unsettled. Fine. Fine. Fine. Cloudy. Fine. Cloudy. Tory windy—Cogat Very w i n dy. Windy—Cloudf• WindY—Cloudy. Fine. Windy Snow. Windy—Cloud,. Windy. Windy. Fine. Cloudy. Very windy. Cloudy. Fino. Stormy. Fine. Rain. Windy—Cloudy. Windy. Cloudy, Cloudy. . 0 1 PARLIAMENTARY PETITIONS.— From a return .1, sued it appears that d ur i ng t h e b rief session ‘9'ol month 52 petitions upon v ar i ous su bj ects Were prelit4 to the House of Commons, those most numerously being against stoppage of wages for fines—one 1 01 % with 2,492 signatures—and for providing Bevis° tholic soldiers and sailors with the means of enjoyir benefits of their reli g i on e i ght petitions and 2,225 lo tures. SALE OF A RUSSIAN PRIZE AT LEITIL—LICIT.t o t CO.—Pursu an t t o t h e decision of the High Court °lO miralty, the sale by public auction of the Atlantic ‘ O ,l sian prize) took place yesterday afternoon in the house of this port. After a pretty smart comP! to l the Atlanti c was k nocked down to a Leith house sum of 2,240/. The effects of the supercargo of 0 , 8 ,0 vessel were a l so so ld i n the same manner. The 030 conducted by Mr. David Thom Leith, br o ker tf l il High Court o f Ad m i ra l ty, and by ' Wm. Pugh 0 8 ' Esq., collector ofIH.M. Casten's, Leith. BIRTIIB. OF ♦ BON. On the 28th ult., at Upper Seymour•street, Poj spare, Mrs. J. B. Gadsdou. , Or A DAUGHTICR. On the 31st ult., at Maidstone, Rent the wife of 31`31ahon, 14th King's Light Dragoons. MARRIED. On the 29th Nov., at the British Consulate, Pirxll l ior Wilkinson, jun., Esq., lI.M. Vice-Consul at Syra, 0 ,0 garet, daughter of Ch ar l es Colvile Ingate, Esq. of Ps On the 30th ult., at St. Margaret's, Leicester, Mr. 13 Ching, Parkhill, Clapham, Surrey, to Marian 5 ' 3 0 0 daughter of th e l a t e Benjamin Payne, Esq., of 'Bill Leicestershire. DIED, On the 28th ult., at Clervani Castle, Croft, th• DO * Lady Chaytor, aged 76. i t Ou the 24th ult., suddenly, at Ednionclthorpe, Lefe e ,4l shire, th e H on. Elizabeth G. Edwardes, second doll) of the late Lord Kensington. On the 26th ult., at Chelsea, Captain John D'Arcit merly of the 17th Lancers, aged 71. - -- --- - LONDON: Printed and Publi s h e d b y MURDO YOBIOI/ of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at The Sun Office, N°• if Pt Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the col ly Middlesex, Tuesi lay, .January . 2, 1605. isi. i .... , . I . ' t raj, bar aaa ( Mat ..Ikee `r en t • tkiß • and; • toos ; ZOZI .......... li • - P, t „ Ile t ii ' ' ?dm 041 hn :VT. ter kug .1 44, ocA une ,VA% --.: its t he ' l lnr,,, rt irr ertt al r 1' 0 , 4 4 With o i t : 4 7 4 11, 4 St I :08 .ep ol 'Te rrace kter eT b n 4t/tsii • .thi Fe nr Att ett - T