The Sun. — London, England, 1849-12-24 00:00:00

LONDON AND SOUTH-WESTERN RAILWAY. A special general meeting of the proprietors of this railway was held on Saturday, at the Nine Elms station ; Mr. Chaplin, M.P., chairman of the board of directors, in the chair. The advertisement convening the meeting having been read, the following report was submitted to the meeting : " The directors regret to have been obliged to trouble the proprietors by calling them together so soon after the recent special meeting of the 28th ultimo, bat the charges which were then preferred against them (though answered at the time apparently to the general satisfac tion of the meeting) have been since made the subject of so much positive mis-statement, and of so much mis representation, public and private, that their own feelings of self-respect, not less than a due regard to the interests of the South-Western Company, require that these ques tions should be set at rest at the earliest possible period. "The accusation was to the effect that the directors had, during the panic, when the rate of interest was from 8 to 12 per cent., granted loans to themselves, at a less rate of interest, out of the funds of the company to pay their own calls, in gross violation of their duty as trustees for the shareholders; and other charges more or less connected with this question have been subsequently added. " The special object of this meeting is to enable the shareholders to appoint a committee to investigate the matter; but the directors cannot consent, in the mean time, to rest silent under imputations directly affecting their character as honourable men, and they proceed, therefore, at once to give such explanations as the limit of a report will allow. "At the special meeting of the 28th ult. the state ments msde by some of the directors, in reply to ques tions put, without notice, were, in the absence of all means of reference to documents or books, necessarily incomplete. Divesting the subject, however, as far as possible, of any confusion which may thus hare been produced, it is thought that nothing will be omitted if the explanation be arranged under the following heads, viz.:— "1. Transactions as to the taking up, by some of the directors and others, of 15,000 new shares in December, 1846. 1 " 2. Loans made out of the company's funds. "3. The arrears of calls due by directors. " First.—ln regard to the new shares of 1846 7, it is necessary to call attention to the report of the directors at the special general meeting of 17th November, 1846. This report embraced recommendations to apply to Parlia ment, in the next session, for the various projects which were the subject of fourteen resolutions, all of which were passed unanimously by the meeting, the reception of the report having been previously moved by the chair man, and seconded, with expressions of approbation, by Mr. Sergeant Gaselee. These various projects, if all sanctioned by Parliament, would have occasioned an ex penditure of nearly 7i millions. " This report also gave a general indication of the terms on which it was proposed by the directors to raise the necessary capital, amounting to 6,028,0001 . , and the meeting unanimously approved of the terms, and referred it to the directors to carrying the details into effect. "Immediately after the meeting, the directors accord ingly sent a copy of such detailed plan to each of the proprietors, calling upon them to declare their option of taking their respective proportions of the New Shares prior to the 30th November. The twelfth clause was in the following terms, viz. : " That all the shares to be issued in pursuance of the above resolutions which shall not be taken according to the option offered to the shareholders, and all such of the said shares as shall become forfeited, shall be dis posed of by the board of directors for the benefit of the company.' " On the 11th December, 1846, the directors met, and it was reported to them that the following number of shares had been, up to that time, applied for, viz.:— Shares of 501., 76,014 ; shares of 40/., 8,998; whilst the number, which it will appear by the first clause it had been deemed expedient forthwith' to allot, were as fol lows:—Shares of 50/., 92,662; shares of 401., 12,000; and the deposits actually received were only to the ex tent of 63,850 shares, or upon about 20,000 shares less than those applied for as above. " Oa otrerving this result, it was evident to the direc tors, on whom rested the responsibility of having the subscription completed and the deeds signed and depo sited by the 31st of December, that an immediate and further allotment of shares was necessary. " The conditions on which these shares were originally issued offered no great immediate or prospective advau tages, being that 5 per cent. should be plod out of capital upon the amounts called up for six years, after which time they were to rank with the general stock of the company. These traditions were subsequently altered by Parliament disallowing the payment of the interest out of capital, and the shares (cut down from 501. each to 161. 133. 4d.) were afterwards registered as thirds, not entitled el either dividend or interest till after the Ist July, 1848, and then only to the ordinary dividend. " At the date in question the shares bore no morn than a nominal premium (10s. to 15s. per share), and left no probahility that any considerable amount could be disposed of on the Stock Exchange, within the very limited time then available, without injuring those pro• prietors wh3 had accepted their allotments, and the only course appeared to be, that the directors, with such parties as they could imme diately influence, should take up a further portion of the shares. After much reluc tance to incur so lerge an additional liability, this course was adopted ; but as the directors had already been subjected es the deposits on their own portion of the new scrip, and as the additional suns required were in some cases large, and as the parties were not to have possession of their scrip, a def'rred payment (with in terest), to such as found the immediate payment of the deposit inconvenient., became a necessary part of the ar rangement. The conditions on which the new scrip was alloted by the board, were as follows: " The d. ed to be signed by each party, for the shares taken. T7 - , - ‘nty -five per cent. of the amount of the deposit to to paid immediately, and security for the balance to be given; the company to retain the shares till payment of such balance; such payments to be made—one-half in three months, one-cleaner in four months, and one-quarter in five months, from Dec. 11, 1846. " No party to have his scrip (even if paid for) deli vered up in less than three months, in order that these allotments might by no possibility come into competition with those of the general shareholders for that period. - _ "Oa these'terms, 15,000 shares were accepted. Four of the parties paid their entire deposits immediately, and as respects the whole, the agreement was rigidly ad• hered to, except as to the precise dates of the payment of the stipulated instalments, the completion of which was in some cases allowed to be deferred. The whole, however, hr.s long since been paid up, with interest. It may be necessary to state here, that the Bank of Eng land rate of discount on the 12th December, 1846, was 3 per cent„ and remained at that rate till 14th January, when it became 31, and was not raised to 5 per cent, till the month of April, at which rate it remained till Sep tember, and that the parties were charged interest on their subscriptions, at the rate of 4 per cent., until 17th Ally, 1847, and at the rate of 5 per cent. from that date. "In the carrying out of this arrangement the cheques of the company were issued, when required, in favour of the respective parties:—ln some instances, merely to enable the necessary transfer to be made in the com pany's books, such ch.-quest never having passed out of the possession of the company, whilst in others the cheques were handed to the parties, paid by them to their own bankers, and chegnes drawn on the latter and paid to the company for the full deposit. In all these cases the transaction in the company's books has been denominated a loan, even where 'she parties never had the cheques in their possession, and the whole have thus been returned as loans in answer to an o-der !flack by the House of Lords in tle last session of Parliament, though, in the ordinary sense of the term loan,' it must appear wholly inapplicable to the circumstances of this deferred payment. After the above explanation, it may appear unnecessary to state that these transactions have no connexion whatever with the preference (7 per cent. deposit) shares, which were created a year afterwards; but the name of thirds' having been sometimes assigned to those shares, as well as to the issue of 1846, proprietors have con founded the two descriptions of shares, and it is therefore right to repeat that all the above matters had regard to the unprivileged shares of 1846.7, and not to the prefer ence shares of 1847-S. " The directors believe that this bare statement of the facts sufficiently disposes of the imputation, so far as this matter is concerned, of their having borrowed the money of the company to pay their calls during the panic, charging themselves with about one-half the current rate of iuterest; but the question still remains, were the shares thus allotted really disposed of with the view to the benefit of the company, or for the private advantage of those who accepted them ? It may be urged, that though the proprietors at large have unquestionably been benefited by the additional capital thus actually paid up, and though the transaction shows to the parties themselves a very heavy loss, yet the point of gain or loss does not affect the question. T . o all candid and unprejudiced minds, however, it will be sufficient to advert to the circumstances of the times, to the conditions under which the allottees bound them selves, and to the quotations of the Stock Exchange, to prove that for the liability they then assumed no rea sonable motive can be assigned but that by which the directors affirm that they were actuated—the benefit of the company. If the directors could have been influ enced by any lower inducement, they need not have waited till the close of 1846 for colourable excuses to , help themselves on occasions where profit was not distant or doubtful, but certain and immediate. In the• year 1837, w h en i t was necessar y t o ra i se ca• pital to finish the original line to Southampton, new shares were off ere d t o t h e propr i e t ors at 50 per cent. discount, and a considerable proporti on o f th e subscrip tion list remained unfilled. The directors of that day (several of whom remained in the board in November, 1846, and some of whom are still members of it) sub scribed for the deficiency in additi on to t h e proport i on of the new stock which they took up on their own account; the shares afterwards rose i n va l ue, and though the risk of the transaction was borne by the directors individually, the shareholders at large had the entire benefit of the profit (21,807/. 10s. 3d.), which was carried to the credit of the company. " In 1841, 1843, 1844, and 1846, new capital was suc cessively created for the purposes of those respective periods; on each occasion there were parties who (from one cause or other) omitted to accept of their prgor tions; on each occasion the beard had the opportunity of abusing their trust, and on the two most important 9c . - calions was distinctly invested by the proprietors wi th powers to dispose of the sh a r es not accepted ; but i n none of these instances, where profit was certain, did they exercise that power by allotting to themselves or others any portion whatever of the surplus shares, which have remained in every case the property of the oompany. " 2. As to loans made out of the company's funds to directors and others:— " Towards the close of 1846 it was evident that, for some time at least, notwithstanding the considerable expenditure going forward on works, a large floating balance would remain in hand, a portion of which the directors deemed it advisable to employ temporarily in loans at interest on security. In this manner, on the security of shares of this company amply covering the amount, various sums were lent between December, 1846, and February, 1848, to seven individuals, three of whom were directors; the total amount of such loans was under 50,0001., the rate of interest five per cent. With one exception, the whole of those sums were repaid with interest when required by the directors. The exception is that of a shareholder (not a director) largely interested in the South-Western Railway. The directors not being able to obtain re• payment from him at the stipulated period, did precisely as they would have done in the management of their own affairs, they obtained payment for one-half the amount, and took adequate security on real property for the remainder. " It may be here proper to remark that, in the occa sional disposition of balances in hand, the directors have been guided by no other rule than that of obtaining the highest rate of interest consistent with good security ; and whilst in the course of several years, the aggregate amount of interest thus earned must be considerable, no loss has ever been sustained by the company. The loans to members of the direction were certainly accepted at the time, under the belief that the accommodation was mutual ; but the directors cannot now be insensible to the objections to which such loans are liable ; for, how ever convenient and advantageous to the company they may be, as mere money transactions, every such advan tage is more than neutralised, if misconception and dis trust are thereby occasioned. " 3. The Directors' Arrears of Call :—lt may be well, at once, to state that it is understood that the remarks on this subject have been pointed exclusively at two mem bers of the board. These gentlemen (Messrs. Chaplin and W. Reed) have requested that there may be no re serve as to their names, or as to the circumstances under which these arrears have arisen. First, therefore, as re gards Mr. Chaplin : " It is well known that Mr. Chaplin has, for the last ten years, been a very large shareholder in the com pany, that he has, on all occasions, taken his full pro portion of all new creations of shares, besides, on some occasions, purchasing shares, and that his interest as a shareholder exceeds that of any proprietor. The ex treme confidence which led hint to risk so large a pro party in, and to bind his fortunes to this company, pre vented his being a seller of shares when he might have realised very large profits, and has always made him unwilling to diminish his interest at every succes sive period of decline in prices, whilst the repeated calls upon the large number of shares he held have conse quently brought upon him fresh liabilities. Mr. Chaplin was entitled to rely on his other large resources to enable him to meet those liabilities; but the circumstances of the times at the eud of the year 1847, followed by the French Revolution, have operated in rendering these re sources unavailable, without excessive sacrifice. "In the spring of 1845 Mr. Chaplin lent to the com pany the sum of 43,0001. at 31-per cent., which was placed to his credit in the ledger ; the calls up to the end of 1847 being placed to his debit there. Up to the 31st May, 1846, he remained a creditor of the company. " - The several calls and deposits for new shares at the close of 1846 brought a considerable balance against him, which was increased during 1847. The various sums paid in liquidation of these claims by Mr. Chaplin to the company during the distressing years 1847 and 1848, and to this date, amount in the aggregate to 106,2194 19s. 9d., leaving him still in arrear of call 48,2451., exclusive of the optional calls. Mr. Chaplin, at this time, is a holder of stock, upon which 194,5741. has been paid. " Mr. W. Reed's arrears of calls (exclusive of the optional calls) amount to 10,000/ ; they arise solely on 1,500 new shares taken up by him on the invitation of the directors in December, 1846, being a portion of the extra 15,000 thirds of 1846-47 allotted under the cir cumstances already explained. The whole of the calls on his other shares are fully paid. Mr. Reed was not then a director of the company. but became so in February, 1847. The remarks already made in re spect to Mr. Chaplin apply in some degree to Mr. Reed ; both have been long associated with the South-Western Company ; both have had a confident opinion of its resources, and both were peculiarly affected by the adverse turn of affairs, and especially by the unexpected revolution in Paris, in February, 1848, which se seriously injured railway pro perty in France; and it may be added, that both have been especially marked by the zeal and energy with which they have devoted themselves to the service of the South- Western Company. Taking all these circumstances fairly into view, the directors are willing to abide by the judgment of any unbiassed and honourable body of gentlemen, as to how far it was possible for them to regard these cases otherwise than as justly entitled to the same just consideration as was extended to the utmost to every other proprietor. To the same tribunal they are also willing to refer the general question, of whether in any degree it can be justly alleged in regard to the accusations brought against them, that they have sought their own individual advantage at the expense of the proprietors." The CHAIRMAN, in opening the proceedings of the day, entered into a lengthened detail of the history of the undertaking, and exhorted the proprietors to abandon the system of bickering, which had of late characterized their noceedings. Many circumstances had arisen to depress the value of their property, but he protested, upon his honour, that the directors had done all they could to overcome them, and advance the interest of the shareholders. The practice of cast ing obloquy upon the Executive of a railway had been too freely indulged in, and he was not surprised that his own board had come in for its share of abuse, but no matter whatever the imputations were that had been cast upon him and his brother directors, he could assure the meeting that there was not the sha dow of a foundation for them. lie admitted that their past policy had been some times faulty, but were not the proprietors, as well as the directors, as much to blame for this ? All the sehemes they had promoted, and some of them certainly were most de fective, and had turned out most disastrous, had been fully sanctioned by the shareholders after due delibe ration, and it was not till that approval was obtained that the director➢ ventured to prosecute them with energy. True, many of their calculations had been negatived by results, while many of their works had proved failures in a pecuniary sense, but that could not be charged as the fault of the directors. They re commended their plans and schemes, believing them to be for the interest of the proprietors; and if they had failed, which he certainly was not pre pared to deny, they ought not to be charged with having deliberately deluded the shareholders, but rather that they had simply committed an error of judgment. Now, he put it to the shareholders, did they think men of character and station like those on this board could be guilty of the offences which had been laid at their door? Why, leaving out of the question station and character, the stake they held in the concern was too large and extensive to admit of their trifling with its affairs ; but it would be useless their attempting to recover their lost posi tion unless they had the confidence of the great majority of the proprietors. The public would have no faith in the undertaking while they con- ' tinued to disagree in the manner they had done. Something, therefore must be done to get rid of the stigmas which had been cast upon the board of di rectors, and, as there was no foundation whatever for them, he and his colleagues thought that the best plan of disabusing the public mind on the subject was to have the matter fully and impartially in vestigated by a committee of shareholders. He had therefore to move, in conclusion,, that a committee be appointed to investigate the charges and statements made against the integrity of the directors at the last special general meeting, and any other charges affecting the honesty and probity of the directors the committee might think fit to inquire into. Lord AfostLEr had much pleasure in seconding the resolution, being quite confident that the result of the investigation would satisfy the world that the imputations which had been made against the board of directors were wholly and entirely groundless. Mr. JourisoN wished to know what proportion of the falling off in their receipts arose from bad times, what proportion was from the depression in the money market, and what proportion arose from the reduction of charges ? The CHAIRMAN was not in a position to give these proportions, but he did not think any great falling off resulted from the reduction of charges. The charges were reduced in 1846, but they were now at the maximum. Mr. HANWICK did not think it necessary, after the report, and the candid statement of the Chairman, to have the proposed investigation. The majority of the shareholders, he was convinced, were fully satisfied that the depression of their property resulted from untoward circumstances, and not from any breach of faith, cr misconduct of the directors, and would therefore, with the permission of the meeting, move as an amendment a vote of confidence in the direction. Mr. Snow cordially seconded the amendment, and protested that it was not only unfair to the directors, but highly injurious to the company, that these un founded charges should be so unscrupulously in dulged in. Mr. KAYE, of Manchester, was not satisfied either with the report or the statement of the Chairman, who, be thought, had good cause to say, "Heaven save me from my friends ! " The Chairman, had, however, no sooner told them that it wa sneces sary for the interest of the company, and indis pensi bly necessary for the vindication of his own character, that an inquiry should be had, tharfup jumps one of his friends and says, " Pooh ! pooh! we don't want it." He, for one, however, did want it, and until the investigation had taken place neither he nor his fellow-shareholders in Manchester would be contented to allow the present board to retain their existing position. Lord MORLEY entreated the mover of the amend ment to withdraw it, and allow the committee of inquiry to be appointed. The directors were anxious that this course should be adopted, and he trusted the original resolution would be agreed to, and any new charges reserved for the committee. Mr. HAIewIcK declined to comply with this re quest. 144, liAza bon proceeded to enter into some details THE SUN, LONDON, connected with the loans that the board of directors had made to themselves and others, out of the funds of the company, which it would be seen he had collected from a Parliamentary return, and called upon the auditors to give some explanation of the circum stances under which the loans were made. He con cluded by stating that at a meeting of the Manchester shareholders, those whom he now represented came to the following resolution :—"That any investigation to be satisfactory to the shareholders at large, as cal culated to re-establish confidence in the board of di rection, must be full, searching, and impartial, em bracing all the affairs of the company and ma nagement and proceedings of the directors, and must be conducted by shareholders of known and acknowledged character and station, wholly un connected with and un'nfluenced by the directors, and that the directors ought to pledge themselves to give in person such information as may be required of them, as well as to produce and show without any reserve all books and accounts under their care and control." Mr. R. D. MANGLES, M.P., wished to say a few words, and they should be but a very few, as his time was valuable. He had come there to investigate charges of fraud against the directors, and he pro tested against all idea of their going into investigation of the past policy of the company. Mr. KATE protested that neither he nor his friends had made any charges of fraud against the directors. Mr. R. D. MANGLES, M.P., was not present at the last meeting, but he certainly understood that the charges were charges of fraud. Now the Chairman had admitted that his board had fallen occasionally into error in prosecuting some of their undertakings; but he asked at the same time what other railway board in the kingdom had not committed similar mistakes ? The Hon. Gentleman might have gone further, and asked what body of railway shareholders was there in the country that had not fallen into error ? Why, he remembered the day when the shareholders were loud in throwing out taunts against the directors for not proceeding fast enough with now schemes and as for the advice that came from Manchester, let them remember this—that not a bankruptcy had taken place of late years hi the north which was not attributable to the bankrupts having entered too largely in railway speculations, and he therefore could not help feeling that this advice came with a bad taste from the Manchester proprietor. A PROPRIETOR here rose to order, but before he could utter a single word, the vast majority of the meeting rose en manse, and set up a deafening cry of " Turn him out." The proprietor, however, stood his ground for some time, but to no purpose; the yells and shouts ultimately beat him down ; and Mr. MANGLES proceeded with his address, observ ing that the present policy of railway shareholders reminded him forcibly of the conduct of a child, who, when he ran up against a chair, turned round and pummelled it. He protested against their entering upon the sea •f general policy. The question must be narrowed into a personal one, and in order to come at once to it, the best thing they could do was to agree, without further delay, to the original resolution. Mr. Sergeant GASELEE, amidst renewed confusion, claimed the right to address the meeting, but it was some time before he could obtain a hearing. At length silence was restored, when the Learned Sergeant was understood to say, that both the statement and the pamphlet of the Chairman were capable of refutation. He would not, however, endeavour to enter upon it then, but leave it for the committee to dispose of all the questions that had been raised, either for or against the directors. Let it be distinctly understood what the ,directors were charged with. Those who im pugned the past policy of the directors, did not attribute the falling of in the receipts to the carrying out of extensions to the south, but to their wasteful expenditure upon the Waterloo bridge, the Windsor and Brent ford, and such like lines, and if the directors could succeed in satisfying the minds ef the committee upon the points connected with those lines he and those who acted with him would be the first, not only to support a vote of confidence in them, but to vote each of them 2,0001. a year for life if the share holders so wished it. The CHAIRMAN having heard patiently the state ments against him and his brother-directors, now wished to explain to the meeting the animus which had characterised the proceedings and actuated the feelings of the committee appointed at the last meeting. Mr. Kaye, not content with looking into his (the Chairman's) own private affairs as disclosed by the books of the company, had the indelicacy to go to his bankers and question them as to the cash balance he had in their hands on the occasion of their .paying to the company on his account a sum of 50,0001.—. (Shame.) But that was not all. lie understood that the committee entered upon a lengthened inves tigation upon the pass-system, but, not content with the pass-book, they sent down an especial commission to Basingstoke to examine the station -master there upon the subject of his (the Chairman's) family pass ing along the line free.—(Shame.) Now, he put it to the meeting, were such men fit to govern this company ? _ Ain LOCKE, M.P., the former engineer of the com pany, amidst some confusion protested that the statement of the chairman was unfounded. He had sat on the committee referred to, and he had no hesitation in stating that the statement he had just made as to the pass system was entirely unfounded. The fact was there had been whisperings out of doors as to the manner in which the Chairman distributed his passes, and the investigation referred to by him was insti tuted by himself, and at his own request, to get rid of the insinuations that were indulged in out of doors.— (Hear, heer.) Now with regard to the immediate question under discussion, he would at once state that he did not believe the resolu tion moved from the chair would be pro ductive of no good, nor would it result in clearing the characters of the directors. He was free to admit, with the Chairman, that he had frequently advised policies that had proved most suicidal ; and with the same frankness he would confess that he had no confidence in the existing board. He did not mean to impute to them any misconduct— they had been only guilty of errors of judgment, like himself, but in the altered circumstances of the time and the undertaking, they were not fit men to manage this great company. What he wanted was a thorough change; but no personal inquiry of this sort could produce that change; and if the directors, for whom he entertained the highest respect, were really desirous of receiving the confidence of their shareholders, and the respect of the world, they would at once adopt the course he:had suggested. The CHAIRMAN accepted the explanation of the Hon. Gentleman, and expressed his deep regret at having misunderstood the matter relating to passes . After some further discussion, Captain MOORSOM, who stated that he represented 34,0001. worth of stock, announced his intention to vote against the original resolution, believing with Mr. Locke, that the only method to establish the stability of the company was a thorough change in the system of management. Mr. Horse was at a loss to know what charges had been made against the directors. He certainly had heard none, and he, therefore, could see no reason for inquiry. Mr. SMITH replied, that at the last meeting the directors were charged with misappropriating the funds of the company during the panic, and that was the charge to be inquired into. Mr. BAKER, who was accused of making this charge, repudiated anything of the sort. He made no charge, he simply asked the Chairman, at the last meeting, whether it was true or not that such and such sums had been appropriated in such and such a manner. Mr.! Under-Sheriff Wsun supported the original resolution, believing that the directors would come out of the inquiry with clean hands. After some further discussion, the amendment was negatived, and the original resolution carried by a large majority. The re% election of the committee was then entered upon. After a good deal of discussion, a resolution was passed appointing the committee, to consist of the following gentlemen :—Mr. H. Currie, M.P. ; Captain R. D. Mangles, M.P. ; Mr. Sergeant Clarke; Mr. Hutchins • and Mr. East. Mr. D. W. Wias then moved a vote of thanks to the Chairman, which was agreed to, and Mr. CHAPLIN having briefly acknowledged the compliment, The meeting then dispersed. THE CRYSTAL CURTAIN AT DRURY LANE THEATRE. —The interior of old Drury was brilliantly fitted by Mr. Frederick Gye for Jullien's masked ball. The circle of chandeliers low down and beyond the central light, and the garlands of flowers suspended by butter flies, which filled the upper part of the house, produced a charming effect. What we have to notice, however, as new in decoration, and it is scarcely possible to go anywhere without finding something which may be use fully mentioned to our readers, is the " chrystal cur tatn," as it was called, which fringed the upper part of the proscenium. This was formed wholly of chandelier d rops, or spangles, with gas in devices behind, and when we mention that its width was 42 feet, and that it descended 16 feet at the sides and 11 feet in the middle ; it will be seen that it must have swallowed up an enormous num ber of them. The ground-work took as nearly as pos sible 100 to the square foot, but adding the drapery, lines, tassels, &e., which were formed by other layers on the surface, and then the fringe, which was repro rented by a quantity of " lobs," as they are called, com monly uied to surround war-light lustres for chimney pieces, the number cannot have been less than 80,000. It seems that Mr. Gye obtained the greater number of them from Bohemia—finding they could be had cheaply there—without any precise intention, but simply with the idea that by different arrangements they might be made useful in decoration, and this was his first and very successful §ttempt with thopu—The Builder. MONDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 24, 1849 [The following appeared in our Third Edition of Saturday :—] FRANCE. The National Assembly voted on Friday the Bill presented by the Minister of Finance granting the three provisional twelfths of the budget by a majority of 453 to 158. SWITZERLAND. The Federal Assembly of Switzerland elected, on the 17th inst., M. Druey (of the canton of Vaud) President, and M. Muntzinger Vice-President of the Federal Council for the year 1850. AUSTRIA. A mutiny is said to have broken out in one of the Austrian regiments in garrison at Comm. The Austrian Government since the conquest of Hungary has lowered the pay of the soldiers, which has occa sioned much discontent in the army, and in the Houh and Deutschmeister Infantry regiments, composed of Viennese. This discontent broke out in murmurs and complaints, which were con , idered a sedition. Three men were summarily condemned to be shot. At the hour fixed for their execution the whole regiment broke out into mutiny. An officer of the staff and several superior officers were killed by the exasperated soldiers. The regiment has been ordered into Lower Austria. PRUSSIA. Intelligence has been received from Berlin to the 19;h. The Ministry had received from both Chambers the revi,ed draft of the Constitution. There are several points on which the two Chambers have not been able to come to an agreement. These differ ences, it was believed, would be arranged by the Government itself. At the close of the sitting of that day the Secon d Chamber was adjourned for the Christmas holidays till the 4th of January. The Rolner Zeitung of the 21st inst. contains a lengthy dispatch, which the Prussian Cabinet ad dressed to the Austrian Government on the 12th inst., in which it is stated that such is the organiza tion of the Prussian league that it contains the germs of further development ; that by means of voluntary adhesions it is calculated to embrace the whole of Germany ; and that it would place an alliance with the Austrian States in the place of the former federal union. • IRELAND. (FRom OUR CORRESPONDENT.) DUBLIN, FRIDAY EVENING.—There bas been a fierce discussion in the corporation these two days, on a motion of Mr. Reynolds, M.P., for the reduction of the town .clerk's salary from 5001. to 2501. per annum —that functionary at the same time to give up his entire attention to the business of the office. This would be putting on the screw to some purpose, for Mr. Ford, the town clerk, who holds no less than eight situations, gets the business of town clerkship performed for 1001. a year, and pockets the other 4001. The "discussion" to day approximated very closely to a pugilistic contest—five or six members essaying to speak at a time, and all sorts of pugilistic gestures exhibited by the disputants. Of course, Mr. Reynolds' motion will be defeated for this reason : he is a director of the Hibernian Bank, to which establishment there are but very few of their Honours unindebted for accommodation. The Protection movement is still reacting. At a meeting called for Tuesday by the landlords of Long ford, and presided over by the High Sheriff, a son o f Baron Lefr o y, one of the judges, the a ssem bl e d mag nates were completely foiled by an amendment pro posed by a gentleman named Fleming, to the follow ing effect : __ Resolved,—That the first and mo;t important step towards enabling all classes of the community to m ee t the difficulty of the present times rests with the landlords of the country, who, by a promptand sufficient reduction of their rents, combined with the privilege to their te nants of a long and secure tenure, can at once promote the improvement of their own estates, the employment of the labouring population, and the welfare of all." This amendment, which was received with im mense cheering, was seconded by the Rev. Mr M'Gaver; and the alternative being given to Mr Lefroy to put it or leave the chair, he adopted the latter course, when it was carried with tremendous acclamation, all the Protectionist landlords quitting the Court-house. The truth of the matter is, the farmers of Ireland are willing enough to go with the landlords in an attempt to re-impose a tribute on the manufacturing industry of England ; but they must have a rid pro quo, and that to such an extent as would involve the loss of many landlords' rights of reversion. Thus selfishness combats with selfishness ; and the bitterness between both parties is becoming daily more intense. The tone of some Liberal journals: which had been wavering has become far more firm against any food- tax, from the events of the past week ; and even those which had declared for " some protection," give it up as hopeless, and revert to the only other mode of relieving Ireland a sweeping reduction of the rack-rents. Amongst the reverses of fortune which improvidence and bad times have proluced, there is scarcely one more striking than the cast of a western peer whose ancestor came to this country under William the Third, and whose magnificent mansion, built at an expense of some one hundred and twenty thousand pounds, now stands tenantless, except by the keepers of a receiver. The late owner is about to emi grate to Australia ; and I understand so reduced is this once princely family, that the young ladies have been compelled to enter other houses as governesses, &c. Another instance is that of a baronet, ostensible owner of a large property, being a poor-law collector on his own (formerly) estate, and another baronet is acting, at this moment, as turnkey in Cork gaol. THE FUNDS, DEc. 21.—Three per Cent. Consols, for opening, 1164 * ; Three-and-a-Quarter per Cent. Stock, 96i; Hibernian Bank, 25; Dublin and Belfast Junction Railway, si; Great Southern and Western, 30; Mining Company of Ireland, 5; Dublin and Belfast Junction, si; Midland Great Western Railway and Royal Canal, 23g. FROM THE LONDON GAZETTE OF FRIDAY. CERTIFICATES GRANTED. H. Solomon, J. Smith, and J. D. Galer, Birmingham, grocers and tea dealers, Dec. 19, H. Solomon, a certifi• cate of the first class, and J. Smith and J. D. Galer, a certificate of the third class, three months from this d a t e —T. V. Bowater, Birmingham, factor, Dec. 19, certifi cate of the second class—H. Green, Liverpool, iron monger, Dec. 13, certificate of the first class, after 21 days from Dec. 15—G. Smith, Liverpool, merchant, Dec. 20, certificate of the first class, atter 21 days—J. Ashworth, Bury, Lancashire, gardener, Dec. 18, certi ficate of the first class—J. Parr, Manchester, cotten and woollen card manufacturer, Dec. 18, certificate of the first class—W. Maude, Bolton-10-Moors, innkeeper, Dec. 18, certificate of the first class—W. Amos, Whitstable, coal merchant, Dec. 19—L. Guilleaume, Berners-street, Oxford-street, manufacturer of arti ficial flowers, Dec. 17, certificate of the second class—H. Paterson, Notting.bill, livery stable keeper, Dec. 13, certificate of the third class—C. Abbott, Lower Edmonton, market gardener, Dec. 19, after six month;—J. Ford, Richmond, victualler, Dec. 18, certifi cafe of the third class—J. Delf, Drury-lane, linendraper, Dec. 18, certificate of the third class—H. Regless, St. Martin's-lane, Charing -cross, woollendraper, Dec 18, after 2l days—J. Mallett, Tiverton, Devonshire, grocer, Dec. 20, certificate of the second class—J. J. Cartwright, Wakefield, Yorkshire, corn merchant, Dec. 18, certificate of the first class, after 21 days—R. R a by, P res t on , Lan cashire, hatter, Jan. 11. PARTNERSHIPS DISSOLVED. W. Hyde and R. Holdsworth, Liverpool, shipbrokers —J. W. Browne, H. Williams, and S. Branscombe, Liverpool, bide factors—Mary Bessell and E. L. Allder, Chertsey, Surrey, linendrapers—J. Fiora and I). Christie, Manchester, merchants—A. Alker and S. Alker, Wigan, Lancashire, linendrapers—W. P. Mar getson and E. Phillips, London-street and Wapping wall, Middlesex, provision merchants—E. Busby, Susanna Clack and Mary Clack, Oxford-street, ladies' ready made and child-bed linen warehouse keepers—Mary Ann Bates, Margaret Bates, and D. A.'Cooper, Huddersfield, Yorkshire, watchmakers—S. Stewart and A. B. Wilson, Clement's-lane, engineers—W. Porter and C. Porter, Stone, Staffordshire; joiners and builders—Mary Anne Gaskill and T. H. Scales, Sunderland, milliners —J. Griffiths and W. Griffiths, Bristol, carpenters—J. Brooks and T. Birch, Chorlton-upon-Medlock, Lancashire, common brewers—R. H. Right and J. S. Benifold. Brunswick-place, City-road, schoolmasters—J. Rice and Mary Ann Thompson, Brighton , child-bed linen and juvenile clothing makers—A. Luck, J. Bouch, and T. Coath, Bread-street, Cheapside, Manchester ware housemen (so far as regards A. Luck.) INSOLVENT PETITIONERS. Thomas Worington, Burbage, Leicestershire, grocer. William Cooper, Barnard Castle, Durham, cabinetmaker. John Ridehalgh, Halifax, woolcomber. Joseph Itideh a l g h, Halifax, coal merchant. Joseph Mallinson, My tholm, Yorkshire, butcher. John Thacker, North Kyrne, Lincolnshire, farmer. James Griffiths, Hereford, milkman. Wm. Henry Maddocks, Weymouth, theatrical manager. Thomas Ramsden, Oldham, hairdresser. William Smallridge, Bristol, beer rt tailer. Simon Jones, St. Alban's. William Moore, Brislington, Somersetshire, keeper in attendance on insane persons. James Hamer, St. Thomas-the-Apostle, Devonshire, tinman. SCOTCH SEQUESTRATIONS. J. Findlay, Coatbridge, grocer, to meet Dec. 28 and Jan. 18, at one, within Drummond 's Hotel, Airdrie. P. Buchan, Peterhead, printer, to meet Dec. 27 and Jan. 17, at one, within Hendry's Star Inn, Stirling. 11. Gair, Tullich, Ross-shire, former, to meet Dec. 27 and Jan. 24, at twelve, within Munlochy Inn, Munlochy. A. Smith, Dumbrockfield, StrattibLne, Stirlingshire, bleacher, to meet Dec. 27 and Jan. 17, at three, within the Red Lion Inn, Falkirk. P. Hughes, Newton Stewart, draper, to meet Dec. 26 and Jan. 16, at twelve, within the Galloway Arms Inn, Newton Stewart. A. Burnes, Montrose, writer, to meet Dec. 27 and Jan. 21, at two, within the Dritieh Hotel, Dundee, PRICE OF SUGAR. The avierage price of Brown or Muscovado Sugar, com puted from the returns made in the week ending December 18, 181'9, is 255. sd. per cwt. LAW INTELLIGENCE. COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH, Dec. 22. (Sittings at Nisi Prius at Guildhall, before Mr. Justice ERLE and a Special Jury.) HAYWARD V. COOMBS AND ANOTHER. This cause, which commenced on Thursday, con tinued on Friday, and was terminated at a late hour hour on Saturday evening. The main question at issue, it will be recollected, was whether the late Mr. Saville Godfrey, formerly of the firm of Godfrey, Searle, and Co., boatbuilders, was of sound mind from the 11th of January, 1843, to the 25th of April in the same year, when he executed certain deeds, the cause of dispute in these proceedings. The following brief summary will give a complete idea of the case. It appeared that the plaintiff by marriage was re lated to the deceased, who retired from business in the year 1825, having made a considerable fortune. lie was a bachelor, and the father of the plaintiff was his nearest relative. One of the defendants, Amy Sarah Coombs, was the sister of the plaintiff's father. In 1827 Mr. Godfrey went to reside in the family of Coombs, and he was extremely partial to Mrs. Coombs. Mr. Godfrey made his will on the 18th of February, 1842, and by that will he bequeathed his furniture to Amy Sarah Coombs, but he left the rest of his property to three trustees, who were directed to pay the rents of two-thirds of the property to Amy Sarah Coombs tor life, and to her husband if h e su r v i ve d h e r, w ith remainder to the children of that marriage. The testator directed the other third of the rents to be paid to the plaintiff for life, and to his wife, if she survived him, with remainder to the children of the marriage. In default of issue of both marriages, the property was devised to the heirs of the testator. In the year 1845 a writ de lunatico inquirendo was issued against him, and the jury foand that he had been of unsound mind from the 29th of April in that year. On the 28th of May, 1846, the testator died, at 74 years of age, and it then appeared that the deceased had not revoked his will, but that on the 15th of April, 1843, he had executed four leases of property, producing 3201. a year; and it was alleged that he had, on the 25th of Ma'y, 1843, invested 1,0001 stock in the joint names of the defendants. It was now contended that, at the time Mr. Godfrey had done these acts, he was not in such a state of mind as to make them valid—that his manners had changed in the early part of 1842—that his mind was then affectel by delusions of the most extraordinary kind, and that he continued in that state until his death ; that he was quite unable, in the year 1843, to manage his own affairs, and that he was induced to execute the several instruments now at tempted to be set aside, by the influence which the defendants exercised over him. Mr. COCKBURN, Q.C., for the defence, addresed the jury, and said he would prove, by indisputable testi mony, that the deceased, Mr. Godfrey, was of sound arid disposable mind, capable of managing his own affairs, within the period of the issue, which the jury had now to try, namely, from the 11th of January, 1843, to the 25th of April, in the same year, and that no undue influence had been exercised over him, by the defendants, to induce him to execute and sign the deeds in question. He would show that at the time he executed the will (which was not disputed), 1842, and prior to that period he had had conversations re specting the disposition of stock, and those deeds under which it was transferred, and that in executing them in 1843, he but carried out that intention. They had it in evidence that he was subject to fancies before the year 1842, at least before the date of his will in that year; yet that he was of sound mind when he made his will, was not disputed. Seeing that per sons who were afflicted as Mr. Godfrey was, with a softening of the brain were, according to the medical testimony, favoured occasionally with lucid intervals, and of sound and disposable mind, was it not, he (Mr. Cockburn) would ask, as likely that he was so at the time in question, in 1843, and that he then knew what he was doing, as in 1842, when he made his will, which was not disputed, and prior to which he was proved by evidence to have fancied that the Chartists meditated setting fire to property, and to have closed his shutters in apprehension of an event which at the time had no foundation. On behalf of the defence, the Learned Gentleman called witnesses, and amongst them Mr. Witt:mil, who had been in the habit of seeing and constantly con versing and transacting business with the deceased, and they all concurred in stating that his mind was perfectly strong and healthy until the year 1845 ; that at the time of executing the documents he perfectly well understood what he was about, and was then a shrewd and intelligent man. Mr. Sergeant WILKINS, in reply, made an ener getic speech, and availed himself of every circum• stance in the evidence to show that Mr. Godfrey was not of sound mind at the time in question. He therefore urged that the verdict ought to be for the plaintit Mr. Justice EaLB summed up the case, and stated that two questions were submitted for the considera tion of the jury —first, whether, on the 15,h of April, 1843, when certain leases were executed, Godfrey was of unsound mind, so as to be insufficient for the governtnent of himself and his property ; and, secondly, whether, on the 11th of January, and on certain other days in the year 1843, when Godfrey bought or transferred certain stock, he was of unsound mind, so as to be insufficient for the government of himself and his property. The jury were at liberty to find any one of these transactions valid and the others void, if the evidence should lead them to that conclusion. There was no questi in that admitted of greater gradation than the question of soundness or unsoundness of mind. It they were of opinion that he had mind enough to know and will the act, they would, he supposed, be of .opinion that he was of sound mind, sufficient for the government of himself and his pro perty. The party who sought to impeach these acts had the burden of proving the unsoundness of mind. The Learned Judge then read over the important parts of the evidence. The jury retired, and eventually returned a verdict for the defendants on all the issues. COURT OF EXCHEQUER, Dec. 22. (Sittings at Nisi Pries, at Guildhall, before the LORD CHIEF BARON and a Common Jury.) The Court was occupied during the greater portion of the day with the esse of "Johnson •. Boulcott," which pos3essed no feature of interest, the only question being as to 1611. which it was alleged be longs d to a bankrupt estate. The Learned Judge thought there was no evi dence to go to the jury, and accordingly a verdict under his direction was found for the defendant. ♦SPBEY e. DELAIIAY. The plaintiff was an attorney and solicitor, carrying on business at Furnival's Inn, and the defendant was a gentleman residing in Hertfordshire, and the action was brought to recover 300/. upon a mortgage dated 25th November, 1842, and interest at the rate of 51. per cent. The defence was that the deed was for 4001., while, in reality, the debt was only 300/.; and this being so, it was contended that the deed was a corrupt bargain and con trivance to get more than 51. per cent, interest, and thus to avoid the operation of the usury law. The CHIEF BARON, in summing up, said there could be no doubt that interest above 5 per cent. was illegal where the security was upon land, but the present deed was free from any defect whatever, and no evidence had been given of usury, therefore their verdict ought to be for the plaintiff. The jury accordingly returned a verdict for the plaintiff-3001. debt, and 1051. interest. Mr. Watson appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr. Cham bers for the defendant. MURDER IN HARLEY-STREET. MARYLEBONE POLICE-COURT. COMMITTAL OF THE PRISONER. Sarah Drake was finally examined -. onSaturday before Mr. Long, on the charge of having destroyed the life of her male child, aged two years ; and in consequence of its being understood that her final examination had been appointed for this morning, the avenues to the court were thronged at an early hour with a somewhat large concourse of people. The prisoner having been placed in the dock shortly before one o'clock, Mr. Herring, her attorney, addressing the magi strate, said that in consequence of what fell from his Worship at the last examination, on the subject of his having an opportunity of perusing the letters to which reference was then made, he had had that opportunity, and he begged to inform his Worship that Sergeant Whitcher had paid him every attention in examining those letters which he considered ne cessary or material, a s a ff ec ti ng th e interests of his client. He wished also to state, with reference to the proceedings of the day, that by the advice of the counsel who had been retained on her behalf, he would reserve whatever defence she had to urge. 11r. Long—Under the circumstances I think that that course is the proper one. What is the amount of the debt owing to you, Mrs. Johnson ? [lt will be remembered that it was Mrs. Johnson who had had charge of the child, and her claim was for the care exercised by her towards it.] Mrs. Johnson—The amount is 91. 75., your Wor ship. Mr. Herring—Sergeant Whitcher and myself have looked over the things belonging to the prisoner as well as we could. There are a great many al ticks of various descriptions, but they consist mostly of wear ing apparel. Looking at the value of them, and con sidering what they are, as your worship has asked Mrs. Johnson the amount of her claim, I may as well state at once that, though not legally bound to pay her the money, I will myself pay her 4/ at my nflice, upon the delivery of the property. lam glad to have to say that Mrs. Johnson has expressed her entire ap proval of the offer, and I am satisfied that ail who have any feeling in this business will contribute to make up the balance to her. Mr. LONG—Mrs. Johnson has acted very properly in the affair, And I cannot entertain the slightest doubt that means will be forthcoming, out of which Mrs. Johnson will be paid every farthing. In the first place, however, we must ascertain what you can pay her. Mr. Herring—l will pay her the 4/. at my office, sir. Mr. Lorio—l will not lose sight of your case, Mrs. Johnson, and I have no doubt that the remainder of your claim will be made up. Of course you will be paid your expenses, and in the end I tt ust—indeed I do not doubt—you will find that you have not sus tained any loss. Nothing now remains for me, I believe, but to ask the prisoner one or two questions, which am bound to do in every such case, under the provisions of a recent Act of Parliament. Ad dressing the prisoner, the magistrate then pro ceeded :—llaving heard the evidence read (the depositions were read on Saturday last), do you wish to say anything in answer to the charges? You are not obliged to say anything ; but whatever you do will be taken down in writing, and may be used in evidence against you hereafter. The prisoner answered, in a low tone of voice— Everything is in the power of my attorney. The Chief Clerk—Do you say that everything is in the power of your attorney ? The prisoner—l do. The magistrate then fully committed the prisoner to Newgate for trial • and the proceeding s , w hi c h l aste d a few minutes only, terminated with his expressing once more his satisfgetion at Mrs. Johnson's conduct in this melancholy affair. GORHAM v. THE BISHOP OF EXETER. (From the Western Times) The argum-nts on the case of the Rev. George Cornelius Gorham versus the Bishop of Exeter have been brought to a conclusion, ant the High Court stands adjourned for judgment on Monday. The exciting topics of the locality prevent us from taking that review of the proceedings which the importance and gravity of the case would demand. The ques tion is one of the gravest that has ever come before a judicial tribunal, not so much for the facts in dis pute as for the consequences likely to follow. Mr. Gorham, as our readers well know, is a most learned and pious clergyman, a man of high attainments, and of the strictest probity from his youth up. Fearless in character, honest of purpose, a profound divine, and a determined controversialist, he was the very last man that our right reverend and respected dio cesan should have grappled with. The old gentle man, however, a glutton at disputation, seems to have been unable to let the chance escape him of having a row, and although he had at the time a great case of controversy actually in hand—namely, whether it was for the public benefit that his perversion of facts should be proved—still, that was not enough for him—he could not let the opportunity slip, and he WS3 soon up to his neck in the hot water of the Baptismal Regeneration " row." Mr. Gorham was presented by the Crown to the living of Brampford Speke. He had to give up St. Just, and thereby to sacrifice some 2001. a year to accept it. The bishop offered no ob jection to the change, but, as we have heard, rather encouraged the rev. gentleman to proceed therein. At a later stage in the proceedings he expressed a belief that he had a right to examine the rev. gentleman. This, it was reported at the time, he did not appear to press, till the rev. gentleman intimated a doubt of his power ! That was sufficient. " Then I will examine you !" and as we have heard and believe, this great controversy, which has occupied the tri bunals from Doctors' Commons to the Palace of West minster—was precipitated, not so much through a care for the principle involved, as to vindicate the official power and prelatical dignity of our right rev. friend. A most worthy beginning, truly, of a question which is to rend the Church asunder. We pass over the harsh and unfeeling conduct displayed by Bishop Phillpotts towards his worthier brother, and shall leave the case itself at present, merely adding that the question really is whether the Articles of the Church are to govern the ritual, or whether the latter is to prevail over the law of the former, and thus contra vene the foundation of the Church as by law esta blished. Bishop Phillpotts' love of strife has done a pretty thing for the Christian Peace and Protestant Faith of this realm. (From the Hull Advertiser.) The decision of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, in the case of the Rev. Mr. Gorham against the Bishop of Exeter, is looked forward to with immense interest by Churchmen of all classes. We are under great apprehension that it will satisfy no party. The real question is, whether the Church of England holds the doctrine of baptismal regenera tion ; but the one which will be decided is the right of the Bishop of Exeter to compel an ordained priest, previously charged with the care of souls, to undergo a fresh examination before presentation to another living. The opinions of laymen upon such questions are of very little moment; but it has often struck us as exceedingly strange that there should be any doubt among well-read men as to the baptismal _doctrine hell and professed by the Church of England in her Canons and Articles. It goes hard with us to take the same side as the Bishop of Exeter, but upon the doctrine of Baptismal Rege neration, " Our Henry," as the Western Times familiarly designates his Lordship, is truly orthodox. We know that there is a large party in the Church who hold the same opinions as Mr. Gorham, and it is a singular fact that among them are the present Archbishops of Canterbury and York, but that does not in the least affect the vital truth of the question. Whether the doctrine of the Church of England upon Baptism be Scripturally right or wrong, is a matter with which in these columns we hare nothing whatever to do. We pre sume not to meddle with the religious convictions of any Church, or any member thereof; but we feel no difficulty in giving our opinion as to the exact doc trine taught by the early Fathers of the English Church, and set forth in the Canons, Articles, and Book of Common Prayer. INDUSTRIAL PAUPER EDUCATION. (From the Hall Advertiser.) The eloquent Rector of Althorpe, in Lincolnshire, the Rev. James Aspinall—whose name stands on our list for a bishopric--came well to our assistance at the annual soirée of the Beverley Mechanics' Insti tute on Wednesday, upon the important question of industrial pauper education. Though the social obligation of.bestowing a careful course of industrial training upon pauper children may come " self recommended" to such excellent Christian clergymen as the Rev. Mr. Aspinall, we can assure him he would find the proposition the reverse of general, if he were called upon to propound it before the sapient board of guardians charged with the management of the poor of Hull. We are therefore exceedingly grateful tor the assistance which he has rendered us, by volunteering his powerful support of the principle of industrial training for the pauper children of this district. Nor would we be selfish in this respect. We can assure our Rev. Friend that he cannot render a more important service to society, and more especially to the more helpless of his fellow-crea tures, than in opening the eyes of many of the best supporters of mechanics' institutions to the importance of training up pauper children in habits of industry. The subject in his hands would prove a most attrac tive one. Touched by the Ithuriel spear of his genius, the truthfulness of it would glow with an effulgence which would attract thousands of in terested beholders. What a subject of local pride— of laudable congratulation, it would be to have an Industrial Pauper School in the neighbourhood of Driffield, capable of containing all the pauper children of the unions of Hull, Sculcoates, Beverley, Driffield, Bridlington, Patrington, and Skirlaugh! And yet when we proposed the establishment of such a school in the Hull board of guardians, we could only find twelve supporters out of thirty-five members present. From this Mr. Aspinall will see that the world is not so advanced in true knowledge as he gives it credit for—and that it is really a very important thing that such projects are receiving the support of su Christian philanthropists as the Right Hon. M. T. Baines, M.P., Lord Ebrington, and himself. Uncon sciously, perhaps. but at the same time most pro videntially, the Rev. Mr. Aspinall has opened for himself a new door of usefulness in connexion with the National Education Movement. W e entreat him not to close it again. The question of the industrial training of pauper children, on the scale of magnitude proposed by us, is one compara tively new. It is also one w hi c h he is singularly well qualified to adorn and illustrate in the happiest manner. " Suffer little children to come unto me, for of such are the kingdom of Heaven," was the admonitory language of the great Head of the Church, and ever beautiful in the mouths of the Christian ministry. We are glad that our friends in Beverley have had an opportunity of hearing one of the eloquent addresses of the Rev. Mr. Aspinall. They will now be able to judge of the class of bishops we should have if Lord John Russell were to consult us on the question of episcopal preferments. Instead of select ing men for mitres because they had written dull theological treatises, read by nobody—as the Arch bishop of Canterbury confesses he is in the habit of doing—we should select men for mitres who, in their path through the world, left a trail of moral and intellectual light behind them, as Mr. Aspinall las done, and is still doing. It really is disgraceful to a Whig Government to reimin apparently blind to the claims to promotion in the Church of such a clergyman. A MODEL CITY.---The city of Utica, New York, does not owe a angle cent. of public debt, and has mot.ey in Lack, besides taxes due and collectable. It h,s an abun.iant supply of water brought into the hou!',.t of the citizens, fresh from the nalunt:in springs. It is lighted by ees of pure and excellent quality; has the hest ap. painted and most effective fire department of any city of its size in Americo; and is the only , city in th e s t a t e which wholly escaped the ravages of the cholera last BUMM9L—New York Herald. TETE COUNTRY MARKETS. MANCHESTER, DEC. 22. - Throughout the week here nas keen an absence of activity in the derrand for (liar, but holders 111.4inv.; continued to exhibit much tirmo,,es, the previous currency was fully maintained in the moderate business passing. The same remarks apply to oa'meal. Into Liverpn - A and Runcorn the imports of oatmeal ram Ireland considerably exceed those of any preceding week during the present season; the supplies of oats hence are likewise liberal, and tctrably fair of flour. From abroad the arrivals of wheat and flour are large, but only moderate of other articles. At our maiket this morning no material change was observable in the state of the trade. The transactions in all articles were on a very limited scale, but there was no anxiety mani fested to press sales, and late prices were steadily ad' her , d to. READING, Dxc . 22.—Wheat, per quarter, 308 to 50. ; barley, 25s to 295; oats, It3s to t'Os ; beans, 30s to 335; peas, 308 to 325. Fat hogs, Sc to 8s 3d ; porkers, 8s 3d to 8s 6d per score. Poultry—Geese, each, 5s dto 61 Od; fowls, per couple, 3s Od to 3s 6d ; ducks, per couple, 34 Od to 3s 6d ; butter, per lb, Is to Is Id ; eggs, 10 to 12 for Is. DALE EITH, DEC. 20.—The relative weight per four bushe l s of the three prices of wheat were 18st filb, 17st 71b, and I7st 3119. Oats, 1 !st 10Ib, I Ist 121 b, and 10st 811) Barley, 16st 01b1 15st 91b, and 14st 9:b. Peas and beans, 19st 31b, 18st 71b, and 17st 71bz Qrs. Best. Current. Inferior. 283 Wheat .. . ..,..£2 0 0 £1 12 0 4:1 10 0 181)3 Oats 11;9 Barley 35 Peas and Beans 1 10 0 1 6 6 1 0 0 Average of wheat 34s Id. ABERDEEN, DEC. 21 —Grain—Oats 138 6d to 14s, 401 b per bushel ; oats, new, 00s Od to 00s; foreign oats, COs Od to ON Od per qr.; barley, 18s to 19s Od, 521bs per bushel; bear, 18s to 19s, 521bs per bushel ; wheat, 40s to 45s ; oatmeal, lls 6d to 12s tid per boll ; flour, 33s to 00s per sack. Provisions—Beef, 6d to 8d per lb ; mutton, ditto, 6d to 7d ; veal, ditto, 6d to 7d ; pork, per lb, 4d to 6d ; lamb, per ib, Od to Od; tallow, pe- stone, 4s to 4s 6d ; potatoes, per peck, 10d to ls Od ; hay, per cwt, Os to Os ; rabbits, each, 6d to 8d; hares, each, Os to Os Od ; grouse, per brace, Os to Os ; butter, peril), 7d to Sd ; eggs, per doz, Is to I, 2d ; cheese, per cwt, 18, to 235; hens, per pair, 35 Od to 3s 6d ; chickens, ditto, Is Sd to 2s Od ; ducks, ditto, Is 8d to 2s Cd ; ducklings, ditto, Os Od to Os Od; turkeys, each, 4s to 5s Od; geese, ditto, 4s to 4s 6d; butter for exportation (present cure), per cwt, 00s to 52s ; eggs, wholesale price, per dozen, Od to 7d ; 41b loaf, 6d ; 21b loaf, 3d ; pork, per stone of 14110 s 3s 6d to Os Od; poi k fine, small, 5s 6d to Os Od ; pork large. 3s 6d to 4s 3d; ship pork per barrel of '204 lbe, Os to Os. Meal—Oatmeal, is 2d to Is 3d; barley dust, 7d to Od; peasemeal, Is 94 to Os Od; sids, 6d to Od ; bearmeal, Is 9d to Os , flour, is 8d to Is 104 ; .barley, per lb, lid to 2d; barley lour, Is Id to Cs bd. H UNTLY, DEC. 18.—This being the day of a cattle market here, we had a gool many samples of grain shown, and several sales made, at the under-noted prices, delivered here, viz.:—Common oats, 401bs per bushel, 12s to 12s 61 per quarter; bear, 52 do. do. 16s to 16s 6d do. Oatmeal, per boil of 1401bs, 10s to 10s 3d. GLASGOW, DEC. 20.—At our market to-day the num: leers were —oxen, 798; sheep, 3,030. The supply of cattle in the market was large, which caused the sales effected to be in favour of the purchaser. Beef down fully 2a per cwt. on best quality. Best ox beef 48s per cwt., second quality from 42s to 44s per cwt. Bulls, cows, and interior animals, difficult to sell, and prices same as last week-30s to 40s per cwt. Sheep much about the same as last week. Best wethers Sid per lb., 4d to Ofd current, old ewes 3d to aid per lb. At the close of the market several lots of sheep remained unsold. DUBLIN, DEC. 21.—There was but a moderate supply at our corn market to-day, with a fair demand for every description of grain at prices of Tuesday, and in some eases distillers' oats and malting barley braught an ad- Vance of 34 to 6d. Rather more business was done in Indian corn, but without change in price. White wheat, 18: to 235; red ditto, 17s 6(1 to 223; barley, Ils 6d to 14s 63; oats (old), 9s to las 6d per brl.; oatmeal, 10a to lls 6d; seconds their, 12s 6d to 16s per cwt.; Indian corn, 26s to 30s per 4801bs. Coax, DEC. 21.—We have a few arrivals of foreign grain. The supply of home grown is tolerably good, the receipts for the week amounting tot—whet, 2,837 brls at 16s to 22a per brl; barley, 2,997 brls, tBs to lis 84 per brl; oats, 6,181 brls at 7s to 9s 3d per brl. In the green market wheat has maintained its value. Barley, however, has rather given way in price, while oats have manifested an up war d t en d ency. We have had little business passing either in prepared Irish or foreign wheat, and prices remain without alteration from our quotations of last week. A. few parcels of superior grinding barley have changed hands at late rates, but malting samples are scarce and eagerly looked for. Owing to the high pretensions of holders, who are very firm, but little business has been done in oats, on which an advance of 3d per barrel was sought to be established. If the prices of last week were submitted to, a fai r amount of business might have been done. We quote prices 9s to 9s 33 per brl free on board. We have en, improved demand and exp e ri ence a very f ree sa l e f or a ll descriptions of foreign flour, but Irish continues to be neglected, and complaints respecting its working Val' ties rather increase than otherwise. We have no altera tion in prices. The demand for Indian corn has also improved, and more business has been done in the articho The enhanced terms, looked fur by holders, have, how' ever, tended to cheek business. We quote prices 61121 6a to 61 155 per ton. Indian meal is not a very free sale , Flour— First 12s 64 to 13s Od ; extra 14s Od seconds, lls to 12s 6d ; households Os to 104 6d; thirds, 7s to Si per cwt. Oatmeal 9s 6d to 105; Indian meal 6s 6d to 64 9d; wheat. meal. 9s 6d to los per cwt. Indiah corn 125 s Od to 1 . 275 6d per tote Bran 31 O. to 3/12s 64 per ton. Hay—Farmers 16s to 375; average 325; dealers 3 sto 40. Od; average 00s per ton. Straw—Fanner. 16s Od to 25s Od; avenge 245; dealers 25s Od to 28s 0 4 :4 average 00s Od per ton. Bread—Wheaten loaf 6d to bid ; household loaf 5d to 51d per 41b. Fresh butter, 8d to 9i per lb. Eggs —6s6dto 6s 8d per hundred. Coals Newport 155 ; Lydney 17s ; Landore 155 ; Best N e el" Culm 14s per :ton. Tallow 39s Od to 00s per evrt Whisky, 25 o. p., 5s 9d per imperial gallon. Meat —Beef 3id to sd; mutton 4d to sd; veal 4d to Od; pork aid to 4d; bacon 7d to 8d; sausages 5d per lb. Hops t , / ()s per cwt. Bangor slates 3125 6d to 315 s pet ton. Bark—Barbary 715 s to 8/ 5s ; Valonia 14/ to 04 French 715 a ; English 0/ per ton. Fleece Wool les to 123 per stone- Hemp 321 to( 01 per ton. Fish— Scotch herrings 18. to Ills ; red ditto 24. to 265 per barrel ; Newfoundland 9' Os to 11/ Pet ton. Timber—Memel, 85/ per ton; deals, first quality, lSi second quality, 16s per 100. Hides—Market 14s to 18 1; salted 14s to 201 per cwt ; calf skins 2d to 20 per iv' Potatoes, white lid to 9d ; Minions lid to 12d ; Guano — ; Peruvian, 111 10s; Ichaboe, 91 per ton; Tar—Archangels 19s per barrel. RAILWAY A.RKETS LI DEC. 22. STOCK EXCHANGE.—The transactions t -day were as fol' low.— London and North-Western, 110% Ditto, Nei Quarters, t_ls. 9d. p.— .itto, Fifths, p.—Midland, Ditto, Halves, 22% dis.—South-Eastern and Dover (N°' 4), 61. 83. 9d. MANCHESTER, Dsc. 22. STOCK ExcHANGE.--The transactions to-day were 'I follow :—Lancashirs and Yorkshire (West Riding Union) , 67§ dis.—Manchester and Birmingham, Quarters (0 ), P' —Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire (Grimsby 60 , - Shares , 71 , E—Ditto (121. 10s. Shares), 2n. —North tafford shire, 9 13-16 n. dis.—South-Eastern and Dover (No. 4) , Scrip, 6% _ BIRMINGHAM, DEC. 22. S mit Excrlims.—The only transaction to-day was -• London and North-Western, 111 1 ," YORK, DSc. 21. STOCK EXCHANGE.—The transactions to-day were al follow:—Great Northern, 7 1 4—North Staffordshire, 7 5 ,x! York, Newcastle, and Berwick (New_astle Extension) , 111. Bs. 9d. NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, Dec. 22. STOCK EXCHANGE.—The transactions to-day were 101 follow :--Caledonian, 11—Newcastle aid Carlisle, 66—North British, 31. ss. GLASGOW, DEC. 21. STOCK EXCHANGE.— The transactions to-day were ag follow: —Dundee and Perth, 10—Edinburgh and Perth, 9d.—Glasgow, Dumfries, and Carlisle, 4 1 4—Glasgow, Kir marnock, and Ayr, 4334. A SAFE BET FOR BOTH PARTIES.--TWO bloods re':, cently entered a tavern in Ne w Y or k w h ere t h ey ba d frequently resorted, and, calling for suppi r and twa, bottles of champagne, informed t h e i r h ost that they WI laid a wager of such a repast as they had ordered, $ 11 !: had agreed to refer the question to him. They bored he would wait for his pay until the decision, and then charge his amount to the loser. The landlord assented , and tbey sat down to a hearty supper. When they ba d finished, mine host had the curiosity to ask what via! the nature of the bet, and was not a little chagrino d when he received for answer th a t it or i gnate d i n a diag cute as to the direction the brick meeting-house steeple would take should it ever fall. The one bet it would fall 4. ast, the other west. ARTILLERY,ROYAL WOOLWICH, DEC. Captain A. Benu's Company, 2d Battalion, and Captain Gambier's Company, of the same battalion, arrived tq head-quarters hero yesterday evening from Dublin, V° immediately marched to barracks. Major Mee's Cow' party, Bth Battalion, at present at Dover, and Captain, Hill's Company, of the same battali on , at W ee d on a n d Pembroke, will be relieved early in the ensuing month , in order that the first eight companies on the roster for foreign serv:ce may be at head-quarters ready for em' barkation on the shortest notice. r ADVERTIS EMBN T.] A remarkable C ure i n H o bart Town- °I, by Holloway' s Pill s an d Oi ntment.— M a j or We l c h, Wellingt on -b r id ge , H o b art T own, writes that -Holloway'* Pills and Oint men t en j oy hi g h reputat i on i n Van Diemen Land ; he speaks of one man who for yeas had been under the treatment of the medical practitioners, and was discharge d from the hospital as incurable, and had become so miserabll emaciated and weak that he could only move about with th e assistance of persons supporting him. In this condition be commenced using these medicines, which have so eompletell renovated his health that he is now become a stout, healthy looking man, and his cure he solely attributes to the use 0 Holloway's Pills and Ointment. Sold by all d rugg i sts , an d s' , Professor Holloway's Establishment, 244, Strand, London. RIRTHS. On the 13th inst., at Cowes, the lady of W. Cass, Es 4" surgeon to the Queen, of a eon. On the 18th inst., at Sudbury Rectory, the Hon. Mrs. Cre E.,Anson, of a daughter. _ _ On the . 19th inst. , in Portland-place. the lady of B. Jell' nings, of a son. On the 10th inst , in Bruton street, Lady Burghley, of 41 son and heir. MARRIED. On the 20th inst., at St. George's. Hanover-square, Henry Richard Eyre, Esq., of Shaw-house, Berkshire. eldest 50 0 the late H. Eyre, Esq.,' f Botleigh-grange, theta. to Isabeil ls , C ttherine, eld es t di ug ht er o f th e l a t e C. G. P ac k er , Esq., 0 ` Springfield -place, Essex. DIED, At SevenoakP, on the 15th inst., the Rev. Thomas Hal Wh'te, M A., aged 51. Oa the 9th inst., at Brompton, Major-General Tolls° C. 11., aged 77. At Boulogne eur-Mer, in France, on the 19th inst., ag ed 69, Lady Ouseley, re!tet of Sir W. Ouseley. f her On the 2 ;th inst , at Grove-house, South Lambeth, ~,s •- -„ 1 u.s. aged 6 , ;, sister of the late C. Muss, E s q., enall paiiver to his late Majesty George IV. „ London: Printed and Publishld 1.7 MURDO YOUMr),loi No 112, Strand, Friater, at The Sn Office. NO fStrand, iC th. Precinc; e.# tho `ielrrr , n the oJradr Middleoez ; &lonian December 24, 1840. APl'] E The Admiral, DrPsent the 9th n ellquiries the said . Act in I do berth' Great (1 . the Lor WEDNtSI Shi p TOI the toren and inqui other ma by their ( hereby IT before•hii surreys, Wilt bv.nc The Lo notice, tl: ntended Spector,-' cuments As witi In the'rrld and 181 Compai On vj e of of this Co No. 73, Cl get of this . Dated I GC a take place 28th Deeel The Con 'with the other Gent Dinne Tickets the Oattuni and at the The fav( enable the tletnen The Men 3d January Portant buE o'clock pre, The trop Pay the al before the 2 for the info] went in the G" CAL Shares, and Western Wi Tho - 6i;e: Meeting, he Parliament on 25/. shay Western Wi r eliPective p of January 251 0 and the 20/. to eithe Londoa Western itai and Co. ; Sti South Wales: Liverpool Clieltenha Readin— Lon4ou T, Just publish HOST for 1 ; Strelt 'My Directo Directory ; Assur nitormaVon. dOn Direr•tor Ileralj, 231 241 ; Stu 14 —llll, 24th ill Path's Jeurr 41 t.; Era, 25 Kelly A . g ELF.G.I Rimm imna Work-boxes S ent on recei b oners, or of street, Soho. THE The First lathe Philos , 11 ,.1 the Even Views of Lo: a Deserip tl WI Lag's, at a Q views of the feets, are ski briElunt expe a 4 ,4 Diving ellinery, mod H Medal, ( mated to eve: A.ntum style The Bu The Pa Chester The Al of 0 shootil Loungi Autuni Ditto Ditto Black Dress Frock Youths front livissar Boys' J Men's The Cl teria The l'a The Eg Over The SI • style Antrim Does Best it Antuni Best IS Black I Superfi Men's Elegan from A Large ) The new 1 . trections for Warded, post . - - Notice—Th !th e 8042011. _Observe—A we aSure, If 11( MOSES I — ,,terE Farr 5 . 156, an " . "don ; all ( %stabilelnner C aution.—: Imp( kCseltood of 1 been roil , , (10 3' beg to a' .4 or oat of 1 Sheftieti 144 those w Or sond tc th e Branchl t o Taal! Xotic . °l 4lset Rai