The Sun. — London, England, 1855-03-07 00:00:00

. '~.:~ IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. SOUSE OF LORDS--(YESTERDAY.) The LORD CRANCELLOR took his seat on the wool sack at five oclock. PETITIONS. Lord LONDESBOROUGH presented two petitions praying for the total proh ibition of the sale of intoxi footing liquors. Lord LYNDHURST presented a petition from New -011;41e -upon-Tyne, against the resent system of promo in the army, and pray tion. in the army, aga:inst.floggitnog in g_ for a searching mcitnryiii the war. - Lord BROUGHA.Ni presented a petition from Pais- Vey in support of a vigorous prosecution of the war ; the Postitioners further prayed that the independence of Po wit; m ight be proclaimed, and that the aid of Hungary Id a Da ly o ught to be secured. L ora ' BERNERS Presented several petitions against the m a y,' z iooth grant. Lord LUCAN gave notice that, on Thursday , be should call the attention of the house to the land trans port service in the Crimea. The Earl of CARLISLE presented a petition from Yorkshire, in favour of a total prohibition of the sale of intoxicating drinks. LORD LUCAN AND THE GOVERNMENT. Lord LUCAN, approaching their lordships' table, said he regretted being compelled again to present himself before their lordships. Earl GRANVILLE interposed and said, if the noble lord intended to speak upon the same subject which he bad before done, he submitted that it would be highly incorrect in the absence of the noble lord the Minister o f War and the•Commander-in-Chief for him to do so. Lord LUCAN said he was in the hands of the house, And he felt himself fully justified in again presenting •:mud to their lordships' notice. The noble lord was ten about to enter into his case in respect to his con u ctin the Crimea, when Earl GREY apologised for interrupting the noble lord, lint said he felt strongly the inconvenience of the course he was pursuing. The noble lord came forward to read 'otters and public documents which were not thrown on their lordships' table. rod the noble s lord wished t o o have the documents puced, he hould make motion for their production, and when they were placed upon the table it would then be in his power to raise the w h o l e question.. The course he was now pursuing was contrary to the rules of the house. L o rd LUCAN said he had no desire to proceed irregularly. Earl GREY—WeII, then, make a motion. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE was sure the noble lard would see the inconvenience of pz %weeding as he was now doing. Lord PANMURE, who had just entered the house, a pologised for his absence on Friday when the noble lord addressed the house. Lori LUCAN hoped that his lordship would have yo objection to his reading a letter which he had re ceived from the noble lord opposite yesterday after noon. (Laughter.) He then read the following letter from Lord Panmure : "My dear Lord,—As I perceive that you had read an incomplete correspondence last Friday in the House of Lords, I think it right to forward to your lordship a copy of Lord Raglan's despatch, dated the 16th of December, and addressed to the Duke of Newcastle. (Signed) "PANMURE." X did not know of the existence of this paper, and for reasons best known to the late Government, or rather to the noble lord himself. It is a paper which I think ought to have been produced long since. Now, my lords, I hold this paper in my hand, and as I do not intend to offer a single word of comment upon it, I shall certainly read it, unless I am stopped by your lordships' house, and for this reason, because I think that I should not be acting fairly by the Government, or by Lord Raglan, if I did not take the earliest opportunity of putting your lordships and the public in possession of the facts of the ease. The noble marquis, to whom there is no peer more ready than I am to yield deference, says that so long as "I refrain from any comments I am justified in reading this letter." I shall take advantage of this per mission : "Before Sebastopol, Dec. 16, 1854. "My Lord Duke,—l regret to be under the necessity of forwarding to your grace the copy of a letter which has been addressed to me by Lieutenant-General the Earl of ,T, Akan. When I received it I placed it in the hands of jgadier-General Airey, the Quartermaster-General, and reciaested him to suggest to his lordship to withdraw the communication, considering that it would not lead to his advantage in the slightest degree ; but Lord Lucan having declined to take the step recommended I have but one course to pursue, that of laying the letter before your grace and submitting to you such observations upon it as I am bound in justice to myself to put you in possession of. Lieut.-General the Earl of Lucan complains that in my despatch to your grace of the 28th of October, I stated that from some misconception of the instruction to advance the lieutenant-general considered that he was bound to attack at all hazards.' His lordship conceives this statement to be a grave charge, and an imputation re flecting seriously upon his professional character, and he deems it to be incumbent upon him to state the facts, which he cannot doubt must clear him from what he re spectfully submits is altogether unmerited. He has re ferred to my despatch, and far from being willing to alter one word of it, I am prepared to declare that not only did the lieutenant-general misconceive the written instruction that was sent him, but that there were nothing in thatin struction which called on him to attack at all hazards, or to undertake the operation which led to such a brilliant display of gallantry on the part of the Light Brigade, and unhappily, at the same time, occasioned such lament able casualties in every regiment composing it. In his lordship's letter he is wholly silent with respect to a previous order which hail been sent him. He merely says that the cavalry was formed to support an intended movement of the infantry. That previous order was in the following words :—' The cavalry to advance and take advantage of any opportunity to recover the heights. They will be supported by infantry which have been or dered to advance on two fronts.' This order did not seem to me to have been attended to ; and, therefore, it was that the instruction by Captain Nolan was forwarded to him. Lord Lucan must have read the first order with very little attention, for he now states that cavalry was formed to support the infantry, whereas he was told by Brigadier-General Airey, that the cavalry was to advance and take advantage of any opportunity to recover the heights, and that they would be supported by infantry'— not that they were to support the infantry ; and so little had ho sought. to do as he had been directed, that he had no men in advance of his main body, made no attempt to regain the heights, and wa s so little i nformed of the position of the army, that he asked Captain Nolan where and what he was to attack, as neither enemy nor guns were in sight. ,This, your Grace will observe, is the lieutenant -general's oMlvn admission. The result of his inattention to the first order was, that it never occurred to him that the second was connected with and a repetition of the first. He viewed it only as a positive order to attack at all hazards (the word attack,' be it observed, was not made nag of in General Airey's note) an unknown enemy, whose position, num bers, and composition he was wholly unacquainted with, and whom, in consequence of a previous order, he had taken no step whatever to watch. I undoubtedly had no intention that he should make such an attack; there was nothing in the instruction to require it, and therefore I 4 conceive I was fully justified in stating to your grace what was the exact &nth, that the charge arose from the mis conception of an order for the advance, which Lord Lucan considered obliged him to attack at all hazards. I wish I could say, my lord duke, that having decided against his conviction to make the movement, he did all he could to render it as little perilous as possible. This, indeed, is far from being the case in my judgment. He was told that the Horse Artillery might accompany the cavalry. He slid not bring it up. He was informed that the French cavalry was on his left. He did not invite their co operation. He had the whole of the heavy cavalry at his disposal. He mentions having brought up only two regiments in support, and he omits all those precau tions either from want of due consideration or from the supposition that the unseen enemy was not in such great force as he apprehended, notwithstanding that be was warned of it by L'ird Cardigan after the latter had received the order to attack. lam much concerned, my lord duke, to have to submit these observations to your grace.. I entertain no wish to disparage the Earl of Lucan in your opinion, or to cast es slur upon his professional re putation, but having been accused by his lordship of hay: ing stated of him what was unmerited in my despatch, I have felt obliged to enter into the subject, and trouble your grace at more length than I could have wished in vindica tion of a report to your grace, in which I hail strictly con fined myself to that which I knew to be tree. I had in dulged in no observations whatever, or in any expressions which could be viewed either as harsh or in any way grat ing to the feeling of his lordship.—l have, Sac. " RAGLAN. " To his Grace the Duke of Newcastle." Now, my lords, nearly at the same time at which received this letter, I received another from the Gene ral Commanding-in-Chief, in answer to an application Which I had forwarded te the noble lord : "Horse Guards, March 5, 1855. "My Lord,—l have had the honour to submit to the General Commanding-in-Chief your letter of the 2d of March inst., reporting your arrival in London, and re questing that your conduct in ordering the charge of the Light Cavalry Brigade at tha action of Balaklava, on the 25th of October last, and writing the letter you addressed to Field-Marshal Lord Raglan on the 30th of November, 1 17 be submitted and investigated by a court-martial. lat directed by the General Commanding-in-Chief to sta_____t• in reply th a t, a ft er a care f u l r eview o f th e w h o l e cor .hrwP°er m l.enee which has passed, he cannot recommend to Jel , t7 that y our lordship's conduct in those transao tiop,sishhould,be i nvest i gated b y a court-mar ti a l . ve honour to be, my lord, your lordship's most obedient, servant, rc Lieutenant-Gsneral the G. A . WETHERALL, A.G. "l a ying read this letter, wi l th eated Earl of L existence uali of which I was not acquainted until ay afternoon , my case appears so entirely altered, th at Commanding-in myself ohliged day m anding-in- Chief, to read this letter to the General Which I have delivered to him this " Hanover-square, Ma rc h h --I have the honour to a c knowledge the re . " Sir, f your letter, infor min g me that the Commander- i n -chief cannot recommend that my conduct should be investigated by a cowl-martial. U ntil this day I have been kept un. informed of the letter from Lord Raglan. It appeared to have been addressed by his lordship to the Minister when forwarding mine of the 30th of November last. This letter contains entirely new matter, and is replete with new charges reflecting more seriously than before on my pro fessional judgment and character. There is now imputed to me, and for the fint time, inattention to, and neglect of, another order, and, again, a total incapacity to carry out my instructions, and to avail myself of the means placed by his lordship at my disposal. Charges so grave, and of a character so exclusively professional, can not, I submit, be properly disposed of without military in , vestigation. I find myself, therefore, compelled to express my anxious wish that the Commander-in-Chief would be induced kindly to reconsider his decision, and consent to my whole conduct on the day of the action of Balaklava, on the 25th of October, 1854, being investigated by a court martial. " I have the honour to be, sir, your mast obedient ser vent, " LUCA.; Lieutenant• General. " To the Adjntant•GeneraL" I will not depart fictal wy tuldertalrjng by addi n g one • 4,, .. ~_~~ THE SUN, LONDON, W_EDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 7, 1855, word more, except to thank your lordships for the man ner in which you have listened to Fee. Lord PANMURE—With reference to what has occur red, I wish, on the present occasion, only to explain ene point. The noble earl says that the correspondence ought to have been laid on the table of your lordships' house long ago. I have stated that lay reason for not pro ducing the correspondence was this—that the noble earl was on his passage to this country, and that when he arrived in this country, if he desired that they should be placed before the house and the public, no man would less stand in his way than I should. I thought that it was just to the noble earl to let him arrive in this country, and express his opinion on the subject. This was my only reason for withholding the correspondence. I now hold it in my hand for the purpose of laying it upon the table. The Earl of LIICA.N was understood to move that the papers should be printed. ---- • TRADE WITH RUSSIA. Lord BERNERS moved for the returns of lead and other articles contraband of war exported from the dif ferent ports of G reat Britain and Ireland to foreign ports since the declaration of war ; and of the imports into Great Britain and Ireland of Russian produce in neu tral vessels during the last year. The noble lord said that he moved for these returns in consequence of the representations which he had seen in the public papers, that not only were munitions of war sent from this coun try to Russia, but that these munitions of war were autho rised by the Custom-house and higher authorities. Ho did hope, for the credit of the Government and the honour of the country, that this statement would be con tradicted by the noble lord opposite. He must, how ever, say that he had used his utmost endeavours tod in the truth of this paragraph, which appsae a morning paper. He ha d traced the paragraph, and found that the author of it was the editor of a paper at Hull. The paragrap h in question was as follows : " Shipments of Lead to St. Petersburg.—Last week 50 tons were shipped from Hull, via Memel, to be taken thence overland to Russia. We understand that the Custom-house authorities refused to pass the lead, as an important munition of war, but that a telegraphic mes sage was received from London authorising them to for ward it, and it was accordingly done." He (Lord Ber ners) trusted that the person in the Custom-house or in the Treasury, be he of high or low rank, would be called to account, because he bad acted contrary to the interests of the country, if not to the law of the land. It was highly necessary that the country should not be charged with the exportation of munitions of war, as well as with sending large quantities of gold. The editor at Hull also stated that he could name several shipments of lead during the summer to Memel up to the 30th Nov., when they were prohibited by the order in council. The head of a large firm in Liverpool mentioned in their report that shipments of lead had taken place to Memel, and he found also that another firm stated that the exportation of iron had considerably increased during the last year. The question of allowing the exportation of munitions of war from this country to foreign countries certainly in volved important questions and interests, and he trusted that he might be allowed to ask her Majesty's Govern ment for an explicit avowal of the commercial policy which they intended to adopt both towards the nations with which this country was at war, and towards those nations with which it was at peace. Tallow and flax had also greatly increased; and there was an increase of wheat during the first eight months of the year, from 1,600,000 to 3,000,000 quarters. It was a most mis taken policy which induced Admiral Dundas to destroy the forts of Odessa and preserve the wine and oil in store ; for the Russians had been enabled to fall back upon Odessa, there to recruit their strength and harass our forces in the Crimea. He bad but one other re mark to make as to the proportion of Russian pro duce received by Great Britain. It appeared, from the last reports to which he had access in the library of their lordships house, that Great Britain received from Russia 9,600,0001. worth of their exports, being equal to 38 per cent. of their whole produce, that France rc ceived 8 per cent., and Turkey 5 per cent.; that, in short, the allies received more than half the whole exports of Russia. Was it not, therefore, the duty of this country to cripple, as far as possible, the traffic with Russia ? The noble lord then moved for returns of lead, and other articles contraband of war, exported from different ports of Great Britain and Ireland to foreign ports since the declaration of war; and of the imports into Great Britain and Ireland of Russian produce in neutral ves sels during the last year. He asked for the last return because, though the exports from Russia had been less, those from Prussia, the German States, Holland, and Belgium had enormously increased. Earl GRANVILLE, who was very indistinctly heard in the gallery, said he had no objection to give the re turns moved for under certain modifications. With re gard to the export of lead from this country to Russia he had to state that at the beginning of last year, and before the beginning of the war, there was a proclama tion prohibiting the exportation from this country of arms, ammunition, and naval and military stores. When the war was declared it was resolved to limit the prohibition to three classes of article:, viz., (1) arms ; (2) gunpowder, saltpetre, and brimstone ; and (3) ma rine boilers and engines. In the month of October, in consequence of information received, additional restric tions were imposed upon blue lias and upon cement. It was with very great doubt that this order was made, be , cause a prohibition against the import of lead to Russia could hardly be of any use, for the lead that went to Russia came almost entirely from Spain, and passed through Prussia and other neutral states. From infor mation just received from Lord John Russell, it would appear that Prussia had renewed her promises on the subject of contraband trade passing through her do minions, and had expressed an intention of rendering more effectual the means in her power of preventing such traffic. As to what were the intentions of her Ma jesty's Government with reference to neutrals, the Go vernment had no intention of changing the orders in council originally made. He believed that, if there were any two points on which the Emperor of Russia relied more than on others for the successful prosecution of the war, it was that England and France could not remain together in an unruffled alliance, and that we should get into quarrels with the principal neutral states of the world. It was quite clear that it was a wise course to make to neutrals the concessions that had been made. Not a single observation had been made upon it in their lordships' house, and only one in another place, where also the hon. and learned gen tleman who made it was totally unsupported. He could safely say, with regard to the returns of the Beard of Trade, that the principal articles of commerce had won derfully decreased. He would not go back to the orders issued during the last war. The practice of that period if now adopted would not have prevented Russian pro duce from coming to this country, because, by the very simple process of selling it to a neutral, the right of stopping it might be evaded. The noble lord had quoted a series of figures to show the little effect produced by the blockade. He had not been able to follow the noble lord very clearly through his observations ; but he could safely say, with regard to the return of last year, taking both the increase and the decrease, that the average amount of the imports of the principal articles of Russian commerce had decreased. There had been a marked de crease in every one of the articles. He was not aware of any article of importance in which the decrease was less than 40 per cent., and in some cases it was as much as 60 per cent. There was no doubt that, in the Black Sea, the Baltic, and the White Sea, the blockade from various causes had not been so effectually and con tinuously carried on as it might have been. However, the blockades, such as they were, had certainly effected serious damage to Russian commerce. The Russian manufacture of cotton goods bad formerly been so cre ditable as seriously to threaten our own. One result of the blockade had been entirely to stop that Russian manufacture by stopping the imports of fuel. The trade of Russia bad also been seriously diminished by there blockades, as was seen by an article recently published in the Revue des Deux Mondes, written by an eminent French ex-Minister of Finance, describing the disastrous effect of the war on the finances of Russia, and the dan ger of the expedients to which the Russian Government had been reduced in order to meet those financial diffi culties. That article was so severe that a semi-official reply to it came back from St. Petersburg, and that re ply began by the admission that it was incontestable that the Russian cotton trade was in a state of suffering. The noble lord was therefore mistaken in supposing that the blockade had been totally ineffectual, or that we were inflicting a maximum of injury on ourselves and a mini mum only of injury on Russia. The real effect of the blockade was that, while we deprived ourselves only of our Russian trade, we deprived Russia of almost her entire trade. In answer to seine further observations made by Lord BERNERS, Earl GRANVILLE said that certainly the importa tion of Russian articles was increased last year, but the amount of those articles coming from Russia and Prus sia was very much decreased. Lord COLCHESTER did not clearly understand whe ther 01 , not the export of lead was now prohibited ; but he thought the noble earl had not explained why, when the export of nitre was prohibited by the orders in coun cil, the export of the material for making balls were not prohibited at the same time. He thought that if the present policy of England with regard to neutrals were carried out under all circumstances it would not be felled to answer. In countries like France, Spain, or the United States of America, where there was a vast extent of seaboard, there could be no effectual blockade if trade were allowed in neutral vessels. Earl GRANVILLE made some observations, which were totally inaudible in the gallery. The Earl of HARDWICKE said it appeared to him that, from the very commencement of the war, the naval power of this country had been neutralised. When the votes of thanks were passed in their lordships' house, he took occasion to observe sarcastically that, now that votes of thanks were given, they would hear no more of the non-blockade of the Black Sea. There was a mystery in reference to the Black Sea. He believed the de foaeeirocotuehrtsiontfehooSielebbainlasolis tco t tkn o e 3,, p d, do by y;sh but there ete been rhGeeo mainly maintained in s( on sequence of that non-blockade. He would say no more e the war, nothing d v w i e d a r n s t a i e n n k u t o t i t h n i a c t , b o o e f n n t h o t enh duct various n P n a t P f had more tended to strengthen the blockade had h powers of the enem y than th e manner i n w hi c h th e After seine furtdrone gone about. the motion, as mo dified, O w N a l s A a N gre c ed AT t o . H toy i rrrvi:i i ajesty'sfor the ItLAND. e The Bishop of EXETER then rose copy of any case and q uestion s proposed by Government to the Irish law officers of the Crown the year 185 2 , relative to the construct ion of thestatu i t n e 10th Geo, IV., cap. 7, sec. 26 ; with the answers to the same by the said Irish law officers. Also, copy of any case and questions p ro p osed by her majesty 7. Government to the Irish law officers in the last and present years on the construction of tho said ~=;., section of the said statute ; with the answers thereto t given by the said Irish law . officers. And also, copy of a proclamation by her Majesty, bearing date 15th June, 1852, warning Roman Catholic ecclesiastics of the un lawfulness of wearing their ecclesiastical habiliments saving in the usual places of religious worship or in pri vate houses. He said these were documents of a nature it was not usual to move for ; and he should not have departed from the usual couxse in the matter, had it not appeared to him that there were very extraordinary anomalies in the case in question, which required to be explained, and which did not admit of explanation with out a direct reference to the answers given by the law officers of the Crown. Bafore he went to the matter in hand, he hoped he might be allowed to state the history of the matter, as it had already been disclosed in that house in conversations on previous occasions. To go no further back than 1852, when the noble earl oppo site (the Earl of Eglinton) was Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, he collected from a statement made by the noble earl, that he, ,the noble earl, had received accounts from the south-west of Ireland which stated that a Roman Catholic bishop in one quarter of Galway bad given notice to his clergy to attend in their sacerdotal robes and to make a procession. On this the noble earl, as he (the Bishop of Exeter) bad understood him, took the opinion of the law officers of the Crown, who told him they considered that procession illegal. But the noble earl was not satisfied with that. He ... sough - . the opinion of the Attorney and Solicitor-Gene ral for Ireland, and from them he received similar assur ances that there could be no doubt that such a proces• sion was of an illegal character. On that the noble ear' stated he had directed a letter to be written to the bishop, pointing out to him the illegality of the measure, stating he was ready to believe the notice was given without any idea of its illegality, and trusting there would be no occa sion for any interference. He understood the noble earl to say that the bishop returned a reply indicating an in tention of not pursuing that illegal course. But in England there seemed to be grounds for inducing her Majesty's Government of that day to issue a proclamation declaring the danger to individuals who offended against the parti cular clause of the statute of 1829 which forbade ecclesi astics to appear in sacerdotal habiliments except in their usual places of worship and in private houses. That proclamation pointed out the great importance to the peace of the country that the law in that respect should be observed, aid it, in the most conciliatory as well as prominent tone, announced the intentions of the Govern ment. That proclamation was issued in June, 1852. An unhappy example of the necessity that existed for it, and of the wisdom of those who issued it, soon after occurred ; he meant those Stockport riots, which they had all heard of with such extreme disgust. It was not to be supposed that he aished to charge the Roman Catholic clergy of Stockport with having disturbed the peace of the town by appearing ii public in their robes of office. It was not so. (Hear, hear.) The Stockport riots proceeded from religious animosities on both sides, but were rather to be ascribed to the faults of the Protest ants than to those of the Catholics. Those riots afforded an illustration of the necessity of enforcing the law. At Stockport that law had been proclaimed ; and though the clergy of the town abstained from appearing in procession in their robes, yet such was the soreness of Protestant feeling in relation to those processions, that an unhappy outbreak occurred, which terminated in loss of life, to the shame of this Christian country. If such was the case, without the provocation of a direct viola tion of the law, what would be the consequences if un fortunately the Roman Catholic clergy should report that they were guilty of no offence if they did appear in the streets in the habiliments of their office, and even if they daily went about their duties pubicly ;n that dress I In 1854, after the proclamation of 1852 had been made and had been observed so faithfully by the Roman Ca tholic clergy of England, a change took place in her Ma jesty's councils ; and then it appeared that a Roman Catholic bishop in the south of Ireland, he meant the Archbishop at Tuam, in the month of August, 1854, put forth a manifesto in which he called upon his bishops and clergy to meet him in their robes of office, and to hold a provincial synod at Tuam. The bishops and clergy obeyed that manifesto. The proclamation of John of Tuam was held to be more powerful than that of her Majesty ; and the question now was whether John of Tuam was to announce the law of the land in Ireland or her Majesty, speaking by her proclamation. This took place in the autumn of last year. As soon as the present session of Parliament commenced a noble baron took occasion to call attention to the matter, and to ask if Government had taken any steps with refer ence to it. In consequence of that question it appeared that questions were• put to the Irish law officers to which there were answers given, and to which answers he should now take occasion to refer. On Tuesday, the 27th of February, the noble earl the President of the Council stated to their lordships what was the fact, in the following words, which he extracted from the usual sources of information. Earl GRANVILLE would himself state what he said upon the occasion referred to. It was that the law officers of the Crown in Ireland, having differed in opinion, the question was referred to the English law officers, who were of opinion that the prohibition in the statute did not apply to the secular or working clergy, but only to the regular clergy. The Bishop of EXETER was confident that the noble earl had repeated his words accurately, but he must say that ho bad not the slightest trace in his memory of any mention of the fact that the Irish law officers differed in opinion upon the subject, and his own recollection was fully borne out by the newspaper reports. But the cir cumstance of the Irish law officers having differed in opinion was a strong reason why he should press his motion, unless, indeed, the Government were prepared to ray that it would be attended; with i nconvenience to the public interests. Since the proclamation issued by her Majesty- in 1352 had not been withdrawn, he thought it would have been but fair to the country if the present Government, after they had formed an opinion as to the state of the law different from that entertained only two years ago by all the then law officers of the Crown, and after certain forms had been waived that if they continued to do certain acts they would render themselves liable to heavy penalties, as well as violate the peace and safety of the country, had sent forth a new proclamation declaring their intention of acting upon the novel and somewhat extraordinary opinion expressed by their law officers. The noble earl the President of the Council admitted that there was a difference of opinion among the law officers of the Crown in Ireland. Now the Roman Catholic Relief Act left the recovery of penalties in the hands of the Irish Attorney- General. It was of importance, therefore, to ascertain what was the opinion of that gentleman on the question submitted to him by the Government, and, as the other law officers seemed to differ from him, .it was desirable that their lordships should know in what that difference consisted. On Friday last the noble earl was reported to have said, "That there had not been any doubt upon the subject, but that an opinion had been given to the effect that the prohibition of the act applied not to the secular but to the regular clergy." They were now told that there had been a doubt ; which seemed to hies to be a strong reason why he should call for the production of the opinions themselves. But the noble earl did not stop there. Afterwards he said, "It did not seem to him that the words ecclesiastics from appearing in the habi liments of their orders' could apply to ecclesiastics who belonged to no order." Teat brought him to another p eint of the case. In 1852 the law officers of the Crown in Ireland were all clearly of opinion that an offence against the law had been committed ; but in 1854 there was no such unanimity—some holding that the law was violated at Tuam, and others that it was not violated ; while the noble and learned lord on the woolsack re cently expressed his views of the question in the follow ing words :—" There appeared to be good ground for believing that there was no prohibition against a Roman Catholic priest wearing his ecclesiastical habiliments in going through the street." He considered that the ha biliments of a priest were not tee same as the habiliments of any one of the orders of the Roman Catholic Church. The noble and learned lord subsequently added, "As this was a highly penal statute, the rule of law was that it should be construed very strictly," an expression by which the noble and learned lord meant, not that great acuteness should be exercised in order to find loop holes for the escape of offenders, but that the statute should be construed, in the words of Mr. Baron Alder son, "according to the plain, literal, and grammatical sense of the words." Now, the twenty-first section of the statute was expressed thus :—" Be it further enacted that it any ecclesiastic, or any member of any of the orders, communities, or societies hereinafter mentioned, shall after the passing of this act exercise any right or cere mony of the Roman Catholic religion, or wear the habit of his order, save within the usual places of worship of the Roman Catholic religion, or in private houses, such ecclesiastical or other person shall, being thereof con victed by due course of law, forfeit for every such offence the sum of 501." There could be no mistake as to the meaning of those words. Their lordships would observe that there were two classes of persons any individual be longing to either of which might incur the penalties of the statute. The two classes were Roman Catholic ecclesiastics and members of religious orders. There were also two separate acts prohi bited by the statute ; the first, exercising any rite or ceremony of the Roman Catholic religion in the pub lie streets ; the second, wearing ecclesiastical habili ments. New, the construction for which he contended was this—that, according to the plain, literal, and gram matical meaning of the words in the 21st section, if either of the parties referred to was guilty of either of the prohibited acts he was liable to the penalties of the law. (Hear.) It was in vain to say that the statute could only be violated by a member of the monastic order. Lord LYNDHURST said he entertained the greatest respect for the law officers of the Crown, and he cer tainly should not by any voluntary act of his own put himself in opposition to them. He felt also another diffi culty, which was, that it was possible the construction of this act of Parliament might come judicially by way of appeal before their lordships, and he thought that at least every lawyer in that house ought to be careful not to prejudge a question of this nature. (Hear.) Upon the present occasion, therefore, he should merely state the case, which was a very plain one, leaving their lordships to draw conclusions. He understood it was stated in a former discussion, that the law officers of the Crown had given an opinion adverse to that stated by the right rev. prelate. That statement he knew from the best autho rity to be incorrect. The law officers of the Crown had net given an unanimous opinion upon the subject. They were divided in their opinion. (Hear.) How the parts were cast he knew not, and therefore he could not apply the ordinary rule of ponder e nett numero Let them con sider for a moment what opinion the former law officers of the Crown had expressed. In 1852 the opinion of the Fish law officers of the Crown was taken upon the con struction of the statute, and he understood that Mr. Napier and Mr. Whiteside, gentlemen of great learning and intelligence, gave an opinion decidedly in opposition to what was stated to have been the opinion of the pre sent law officers. In addition to that his noble friend Le_ . €(l Egliaten bitted a proclamation directed against the proceedings they were now considering. That proclama 1 tion could not have been issued without taking the 1 opinion of the law officers of the Crown upon the subject, nor would it have been issued had there been the slightest difference of •pinion between them. Therefore tto law officers of 1852 differed from the law officers of 1855. It was not for him to interpose himself in such a conflict to bring himself within the wind of such a commotion. Every statute was to be construed according to its gram matical construction, and with respect to the meaning of the section quoted by the right rev. prelate no reasonable man could for a moment entertain the slightest doubt. He was himself satisfied that the prohibition was directed, not only against the members of monastic orders, but likewise against all Roman Catholic ecclesiastics, whether secular or regular. No doubt that was the grammatical construc tion of the words to which he had referred. Did not every one know that the ecclesiastics of this country, and of the Roman Catholic religion, generally were di vided into orders distinguished from each other ; orders which had been in existence from the time of the Apos- ties, and were referred to in the ordination service in our Prayer-book— those of bishops, priests, and deacons ? Were not these words sufficient to satisfy the grammati cal construction of the sentence ? and if so, and there was no inconsistency in so doing, the house were bound to give effect to it. These orders were referred to again and again in the canons and also in the acts of Parlia ment. The act of Elizebeth, for instance, stated that no one should be promoted to the order of priest or deacon until he had S ubscribed the Articles of the Church of Eng land. The Irish act, which bad been referred to, and which was made in par/ materia, strongly confirmed the view which he was advocating ; for it was beyond a doubt that in that act the word "orders" was applied as well to the secular as the regular clergy of the Roman Catholic Church. Another rule to be attended to in construing statutes was to consider what the evil to be obviated by them was. Now, there could be no ques tion that the object of the 10th Geo. IT., which was passed at a time of great contention, was to prevent any circumstances arising to increase that irritation ; and it was then thought an act of wisdom and prudence to endeavour to do this by preventing any public dis plays of any kind. But how imperfectly that object would be attained if they confined the operation of the act to the prevention of a few monks walking about in the vestments of their order, and, on the other hand, permitted processions of the bishops and the regular clergy, which were described as most gorgeous in their character He said nothing upon the policy of the act. An act of Parliament might be very expedient when it was passed, and yet it might be very rash and imprudent to attempt to enforce it after a long interval. He hoped it would not be taken that he gave any opi nion as to the propriety of enforcing it now, for he did not know enough of the actual state of Ireland to en able him to do so. (Hear.) Earl GRANVILLE protested against the imputa tions which had been cast upon the Government be cause they declined to act in opposition to the opinion of their own law officers. The LORD CHANCELLOR said that it must be a matter of extreme difficulty to any of their lordships, and more particularly to any of the law lords, to give an opinion on the construction of a penal clause which might be brought judicially before them for their de scision. He wished to recall the recollection of their lordships to the fact that when the subject was under discussion on a previous occasion he did not commit himself to any positive opinion upon it, but merely stated the grounds on which he thought that the clause was open to different constructions. Now, his noble and learned friend had told them what orders generally meant, but the real question was what it meant in that clause. Now, the words of the clause were, " orders, communities, and societies hereinafter mentioned," which were communities and societies of the Church of Rome bound by monastic and religious vows. Nor was it so clear as his learned friend supposed that both verbs in the sentence must apply to both nominative cases. On the other hand, he thought there was good ground for contending that the clause must be construed dis tributively, and that it referred to priests exercising the rites of the Church and monks wearing the habits of their orders. It was quite clear that, if, instead of a penalty of 501., this clause made the offence embraced in it a felony, and punished it with death, then the courts would hold that it must be construed strictly ; and with out pledging himself to a positive opinion on a question which might hereafter come before him inhis judicial cha racter, he must again say that he thought there were very strong grounds on which it might be argued that the ordB in question only applied to the regular clergy of the Roman Catholic Church. (Hear, hear.) Lord ST. LEONARDS would not shrink from giving an opinion on this question, because when he was in office under the noble earl below him (the Earl of Derby) he was obliged to come to a positive conclusion with re spect to what was the correct construction of this sta tute, and to stake his reputation as a lawyer and a states man upon the soundness of his interpretation. Nay, more, he had been obliged to give effect to his opinion by the issuing of the proclamation to which reference had been made. He felt, therefore, no difficulty in giving his opinion now as a member of their lordships' house, nor should he feel any in correcting that opinion, should be convinced by arguments addressed to him in his judicial capacity, that he was mistaken in his view of what he believed to be the law of England. Now, in order to see whether the word " orders" could be con fined to the monastic orders, he would first call their at tention to the Irish act, the 31st Geo. 111. ; and when they found, as was the case, that the very Nerds of that act, about the meaning or the application of which to the regular clergy, were transcribed into the 10th Geo. IV., and then applied to the two classes of the regular and •saelae alaree, noulsl not see how any man, Ca pable either of reasoning or of en lerstawding grammati cal construction, could feel any difficulty in coming to the conclusion that these words applied to Roman Catho lic eccle-iastics generally, and not merely to the mem bers of the regular order. The policy of the law was in conformity with that which he believed to be the sound grammatical construction. The policy of the law before this act was passed was to prevent any public displays that were likely to give rise to irritation, and the policy of this act was to enforce that prohibition, and even to carry it further than before. And why so ? Because this country, being determined to allow no more Jesuits or mem bers of any other monkish order to come over, yet re solved to allow those now here to remain, and this act was intended to apply to them while they remained. The intention of the Legislature was not to put an end to Roman Catholic establishments, but it was desired to exclude the monkish orders. Could it then be main tained that this act was only to apply to that body whom it was intended for the time to come wholly to exclude from the kingdom, but was not to extend to those who were allowed to remain, and form a permanent part of the community ! It was impossible, in his opinion, to do so ; and he could only say, in conclusion, that, having read the clauses over frequently, he had been unable to bring himself to entertain the slightest doubt that the words so often quoted referred both to the secular and the regular priests of the Roman Catholic Church. The Bishop of EXETER said that after what had been said of the inconvenience of producing the opinions of the law of f icers of the Crown, and also after the speeches which had fallen from his two noble and learned friends (Lord Lyndhurst and Lord St. Leonard), he would not press the former part of his motion, but would confine himself to a motion for the pr eduction of the proclama tion issued by th e G overnmen t of the noble earl opposite (the Earl of D e rby). The motion, thu s amen ded, was agreed to, and their lordships adjourned at eight o'clock. HOUSE OF COMMONS—YESTERDAY. The SPEAKER took the chair shortly before four o'clock. NEW MEMBERS. Sir C. Wood, Mr. V. Smith, and Sir G. C. Lewis, severally took the oaths and their seats on their re-elec tion fOr Halifax, Northamptonshire, and New Radnor PRIVATE BUSINESS. The Lancashire and Yorkshire and Blackburn Rail ways Bill was read a second time and ordered to be committed. PETITIONS. Mr. MITCHELL presented a petition from a place in Cornwall against the sale of intoxicating liquors on Sundays. Mr. THORNELY presented a petition from the licensed victuallers of Wolverhamton praying for the repeal of the Beer Act of last session. Mr. HORSFALL presented a petition from Liver pool against the opening of the British Museum and the National Gallery on Sundays. Sir J. WALMSLEY presented a petition from Lei cester, against the sale of intoxicating liquors on Sun days. Mr. WATSON presented a petition from the post masters of Hull, praying for the repeal of the mileage duty. Mr. COWAN presented a petition from the Scottish Trade Protection Society, in favour of Lord Brougham's bill for the registration of Bills of Exchange. Sir J. TROLLOPE presented a petition from the licensed victuallers of Lincoln, praying for the repeal of the Beer Act of last session. Mr. SPOONER presented a petition from the Pro testant Association, praying the house to insist upon the immediate production of the Maynooth report, and pray ing for inquiry into the circumstances under which the Pope's legate became possessed of the evidence taken before the Maynooth Commission. Mr. A. PELLATT presented a petition from the manufacturers of Southwark and Bermondsey, complain. ing of certain clauses in the Nuisances Removal Act, Mr. M. GIBSON presented a petition from Man chester, in favour of the bill for the repeal of the Newspaper Stamp. Mr. LAYARD presented a petition from Newcastle upon-Tyne, praying fora searching inquiry into the con duct of the war. Mr. PHINN presented a petition from Bath, praying the house to extend the same measure of justice to Poland as it had to Turkey. NEW WRIT. On the motion of Mr. HAYTER, a new writ was or dered for Portsmouth in the room of Lord Monck, who sinoe his election had accepted the office of a Lord of the Treasury. PAUPER CHILDREN. Mr. MILES wished to ask the President of the Poor Law Board whether any communication had taken place between the President of the Privy Council and himself, relative to the el ucation of children receiving out-door relief ; and, if so, whether there was any objec tion to lay such correspondence before the house ? Mr. BAINES said there was a correspondence on this subject in the possession of the Poor Law Board, and there would be no objection to produce it. Mr. MILES next asked the President of the Poor Law Board whether any communication had taken place between himself and the Emigration Commissioners relatiye to the Act paned by (f New South %lee Legislatur,i, 16 Vic., c. 42, s. 7 and 8, whereby the Emi gration Con nmissioners were declared competent to engage any boy or girl, of and above the age of 13, from any parish or bi iard of guardians, the parents or guardians of whom si tould be willing to contribute towards their passage to L'te colony, the colony paying a sum not ex ceeding 8/. s terling towards the passage money ; such children, npo n their arrival in the colony, to be appren ticed to prope r employers under certain conditions. Mr. BAINT.ES said there had also been a correspond ence on this subject, and if the hon. member would move for it there would be no objection to produce it. SANDHURST COLLEGE. Col. NORTH gave notice that, this day fortnight, he should move an address to the Crown relative to the Royal Militstry College of Sandhurst. POLAND. Mr. PHINN postponed his motion relative to the restoration of Poland until this day fortnight. COFFEE FOR THE CRIMEA. Col. NORTH wished to ask the Secretary of the Treasury upon what days the following ships laden with roasted coffee for the Crimea sailed from England : Sydney Hall, steam-transport, Adelaide, steam-transport, and Lady Eglinton, steam-transport? . _ Mr. WILSON said the first sailed on the 2d Decem ber ; the second, on the 29th December ; and the third, on the 41h January. Colonel NORTH asked the Under Secretary for War if he was aware that green coffee was served out in the hospital at Scutari on the 17th day of February. Mr. F. PEEL was not aware of the circumstance ; but up to the middle of January no coffee had been dis tributed. _ _ CRIMEAN MEDAL. Mr. STANLEY asked the First Lord of the Treasury, or Under Secretary for War, if it was intended that the Crimean medal shall confer two years' additional service, or any peculiar advantages similar to those conferred by the Waterloo medal in 1815 Lord PALMERSTON, in answer to th• question, said undoubtedly these actions were actions in which the brave troops of the country displayed as much valour as ever was evinced in former actions, but, nevertheless, although medals had been prepared for these actions, it was not intended to accompany those medals with the privilege of counting these actions as ten years' service. The battle of Waterloo was quite exceptional to these actions or those in the Peninsular, because it decided, as it were, the fate of Europe. ARMY REFORM. Mr. HUTT said, seeing, by official correspondence, that when the Duke of Newcastle found it necessary to recall Lord Lucan from the command of the British cavalry in the Crimea he was compelled to obtain the interposition of Lord Hardinge for that purpose, he wished to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether, among the improvements in the administration ef the army which he promised to the house on his accession to office, he proposed to empower the Secretary for War to effect such changes without the intervention ef the Horse Guards ? Lord PALMERSTON said there was not any inten tion to make any alteration in the subordination of the army ; the staff appointments would still remain in the hands of the Commander-in-Chief_ THE CAPE. Mr. LIDDELL asked the Colonial Secretary if any report had been received of a fresh outbreak of Kafirs in the Cape. Sir G. GREY replied in the negative, but, by the last de'patch from the Governor of the Cape, dated the 30th of December, the Kafire had assumed a very hostile position on the eastern frontier of the country. CORPORATION OF LONDON. Mr. LABOUCHERE reminded the right hon. baronet the Secretary of State for the Home Department that the report of the commissioners appointed to inquire into the state of the Corporation of London had been some time in the hands of the Government, and he wished to know if Government contemplated bringing in a bill to reform the corporation. Sir G. GREY said a bill was in preparation founded upon the report of the Commission f, q. the Reform of the Corporation of the City of London, but it was not de sirable that the bill should be laid before Parlia,trient until the measure of Sir B. Hall, for the better govern. ment of the metropolis, had been disposed of. RECORDERSHIP OF BRIGHTON. _ _ Mr. CRAUFURD moved the appointment of a select committee to take into consideration the case of the ap pointment of Edwin James, Q.C., to the office of Re corder of Brighton, the said Edwin James having been refused admittance to the Bench of the Inner Temple, on account of his conduct in respect of certain transac tions connected with the election for the borough of Horsham in 1847. The hon. and learned gentleman entered into au explanation of the circumstances attend ing the election in 1847, from which it appeared that Mr. Jervis, the son of the then Attorney-General, was returned for the borough, but upon petition he was un seated, and it was alleged that Mr. James was impli cated in the affair in this manner : it was said he nego tiated a compromise whereby the bribery charges against Mr. Jervis were withdrawn in consideration of his un dertaking to pay over a sum of money to the parties who made them. The charges were withdrawn, but the consideration was never paid. Subsequently two qui tam actions were brought against Mr. James and Sir John Jervis, the Attorney-General, for bribery, but they broke down upon a technical point of law. Immediately afterwards Mr. James was called within the bar, and Sir Joha Jervis was promoted to the Bench. Mr. James then applied to be elected a bencher of his Inn, but the benchers called upon him to give some explanation in reference to his conduct at the Horsham election. That explanation ha gave, but it was not de smed satisfactory, and therefore his application to be elected as bencher was either rejected or withdrawn. Now, comparing this case with that of Mr. Stoner, he could not understand upon what g round the Government could defend the appointment of Mr. James, and acting upon the precedent of the Stoner case he called upon the house to institute an inquiry into the cir cumstances attending the recent appointment of the Re corder of Brighton. Sir J. WALMSLEY seconded the motion. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL believed the hon. and learned gentleman had brought this motion forward from the purest and loftiest of motives—(a laugh)—but he thought the hon. and learned gentleman might have ab stained from attacking the Chief Justice of Common Pleas. He asked the house whether the case made out against Mr. James was worthy of a moment's notice, because all that he did in connection with the Horsham election was not in his professional capacity, but in the charac ter of a private gentleman. Nor was his conduct in con nection with that election t minted with abuse, while with regard to the case laid before the benchers he believed the benchers of the Inner Temple determined that it was one in which they could not in terfere. The benchers of the Inner Temple were elected by ballot, and ten black balls defeated a candidate. In that way Mr. James had not been elected a bencher, butsurely that was no reason why he should be excludedfrom office, seeing that there was no imputation whatever against either his private or public character and honour. He knew several other honourable men who had attained the dignity of Queen's Counsel without being elected a bencher of their Inn, but all that might be beside the question. He would stete that the Government were quite ignorant of the fact that Mr. James had been re jected ; they had no means of knowing it any more than they had the means of knowing whether the learned gen tleman had been rejected by any particular club or not, and he therefore hoped the house would not for a single moment entertain this proposition. (Cheers.) After a few words from Mr. I. BUTT, who opposed the motion, Mr. ATHERTON, as a member and bencher of the In ner Temple, declared that no sufficient reason had been idiown to justify the house in adopting the motion, because it implied no censure that a gentleman had not been elected a bencher. The benchers claimed the absolute discretion of electing or rejecting Queen's Counsel, just as they thought proper, without being responsible to any one for their decision, and hence the objection of the hon.- and learned gentleman to this appointment was; illusory. (Hear, bear.) Lord PALMERSTON repeated what he had stated on a former occasion—namely, that he used his best exertions to select the most competent person for the office out of a large number of candidates who sought the appointment. The preponderance of the profes sional testimonials were in favour of Mr. James, while the majority of the Town Council of Brighton memorialised the Government in his behalf. His appointment pro ceeded upon public grounds alone. After a few words from Sir J. DUKE, who spoke to the ability and integrity of Mr. James, Mr. CRAIIPURD replied. Sir J. WALMSLEY said he seconded the motion at the request of the hon. and learned gentleman who bad moved it, but after the explanation he had heard he must decline to vote for it. (Hear, and laughter.) The motion was negatived without a division, the only " aye" in its favour being that of the hon. and learned gentleman who had made it. Mr. I. BUTT moved that the motion should not be entered upon the journals of the house. Mr. CRAUFURD objected to that motion, and de clared his intention to divide the house upon it. The question was then put, and there being only a solitary "No" against it, namely that of the hon. and learned gentleman, there could be no tellers appointed for the " Noes," and thereforeithe motion was declared to be carried. MASTERS AND OPERATIVES. Mr. MACKINNON called the attention of the house to the inconvenience now felt in the country from the want of equitable tribunals, by which means any differ ences between masters and operatives might be satisfactorily adjusted, from which also other ad vantages might be gained in disputed claims. He alluded to the fact that there was a growing feeling in the country in favour of councils of arbitration for the adjustment of disputes between masters and men, but that at present the English law did not formally recognise any such institution. His proposal was thus to legalise them, and he contended that they would be extremely beneficial in preventing a recurrence of those scenes which had so lately taken place at Preston ; whilst at the same time it would conduce to the interests of invention by protecting patents from piracy. At present the only appeal in the case of disputed patent was to the Court of Chancery which involved great expense, and was consequenCy beyond the reach of a poor man. With this view, therefore, he should move that an hum ble address should be presented to her Majesty, praying that the necessary information as to the "Conseils dos Prud'homrnes" in France might be obtained by a commission, or otherwise, in order to bring before the house the operation of those institutions in that country, which were analogous to those be proposed to introduce into England. The motion baying been seconded, Sir G. GREY said there could be no doubt as to the importance of any measure which could be adopted by which differences between masters and um could bo MNiiMi satisfactorily arranged. He did not, however, think 1 that there was any necessity for the appointment of a committee or commission to inquire into the subject referred to by the hon. member, as the fullest and most complete information existed with reference to these in stitutions in an official edition of the French laws, which he should be happy to place at the disposal of the hon. member, if he had not already seen it. (A laugh.) with respect to any further information which might be required, it could easily be obtained through the noble lord the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, who would make application to the French Government, if such a course were considered necessary. Looking to the jurisdiction exercised by these bodies, he thought that they would be ill suited to the manufacturing and trading population of this country. He was willing to lay before the house all the information the Government possessed upon the subject, and he trusted that that would satisfy the hon. member. (Hear, hear.) Mr. INGHAM stated that there existed at Sunder land a voluntary association for the settlement of dis putes between the master shipwrights and their men, and it had been found to be productive of much good. Mr. WILKINSON thought it exceedingly inexpe dient to appoint any such bodies as those which existed in France in this country. Tho courts of arbitration, to be worth anything, should have power to enforce their awards ; and even if that power were given, the duties of the courts could not be exercised with advan tage to the public. Lord ROBERT GROSVENOR, explained that in the case of the Conseils des Prud'hointnes they only de cided cases which were brought voluntarily before them, both parties giving their assent, and agreeing to be boned by the award. He hoped that his right hon. friend the Secretary of State would turn his attention to this question, and that his hon. friend the member for Lymington would not rest till he brought it to a satis factory issue, if not in this session, at least in the next. It was a fact well worthy of particular note that,in these tribunals in France, in ninety-seven cases out of every hundred the disputes were arranged amicably. Mr. MACKINNON said be was willing to withdraw his motion on the understanding that when he had ob tained the information in accordance with the recom mendation of his right hon. friend the appointment of the committee would he assented to. If his right hen. friend would tell him that when he came again he would allow him to move for the committee, in that case he would withdraw his present motion. Sir G. GREY said the object of this motion was to obtain information respecting the tribunal of Prud'hom mes in France. He could give the hen. member the law at present from official documents, but with respect to the state and operation of the law the Foreign Mi nister would obtain from the French Government such information on the subject as could be granted. The motion was then withdrawn. THE ATTACK ON ODESSA. Mr. SCOTT postponed to Thursday next his motion for copies of any instructions with respect to tho attack on Odessa, given to the Commander•in-Chief in the Me diterranean and Black Sea, and for copies or extracts from correspondence referring to that attack. BURIAL GROUNDS. Mr. A. PELLATT rose to move for a select com mittee to inquire into the operation of the acts relative to interments in parochial burial grounds and proprie tary and other cemeteries, and was proceeding with his introductory observations, when An HON. MEMBER moved that the house be counted. Thirty-seven members only having been found present, the house was adjourned at a quarter past seven o'clock to this day. HEALTH OF LONDON DURING THE WEEK. (Front the Report of the Registrar• General. ) The winter's cold has passed away, but its effects still appear in the registers, on which, during the week that ended on Saturday last, the deaths of 1,560 persons ar e in scribed. The deaths in the last seven weeks have been 10,968, and have thus exceeded the weekly averages of the year round by 2,288. If we revert to the six cold weeks, when the mean temperature was 23.4 deg., the varying influence of cold on life at different ages becomes more apparent than it was in the calculation that was based on five weeks. Thus, after deducting the average deaths at each age, an excess remains referable to the extreme cold in the num bers of 419 under the age of 20, of 200 at the age of 20.40, of 392 at the age of 40.60, of 752 at the age of 60-80, and of 205 at the age of 80 and upwards. The cholera in six weeks of 1854 was four times as fatal as the cold in 1855, and although its fatality in creased as age advanced, it followed a different law ; thus in 10,000 living at the age of 20-40, the epidemic cholera was fatal to 24, the cold to 2 ; in 10,000 per sons of the age of 40-60, cholera was fatal to 39, cold to 9; at the age GO-80 the proportions to the same number (10,000) living were—cholera 64, cold gl ; at the last age ($O-100), the proportions changed to cholera 90, cold 207. Thus as, age increases the system rapidly I.ses the power of producing internal heat ; and the resulting fatality by the reduction of temperature is doubled every nine years after the age of 20 to 40. In what way is cold fatal ? The returns show that in London its effects are concentrated 011 the lungs, which exhibit the various forms of congestion of blond in their texture, from pneumonia and bronchitis to pulmonary apoplexy. The average deaths from pneumonia, bronchitis, and asthma in six weeks are 951 ; the deaths from these causes rose to 2,349 in the six cold weeks. Influenza, hooping-cough, croup, ani a few other diseases of the zymotic class ; mortification, cancer, scrofula, apoplexy, paralysis, epilepsy, heart disease, terminated fatally in proportions above the average ; so did consumption, but to a slight extent only, The cold therefore brings quickly to a fatal end many chronic diseases which it does not induce. The moon was at the full on Saturday (March 3); the barometer was low (29.358 in. mean of the week) ; the mean temperature of the air was 49.8 deg., or nearly 1 deg. above the average, 9 deg. above the freezing point of water, and 14 deg. above the mean temperature of the previous week ; the dryness or the excess of temperature above the dew point was 2.1 deg. ; time wind was S.W., and travelled at a daily rate rising from 50 miles on Tuesday to 255 miles on Saturday. The sky was often overcast, and eight-tenths of an inch of rain fell in the seven days ; electricity was active and positive. Last week the births of 833 boys and 888 girls, in all 1726 children, were registered in London. In the ten corresponding weeks of the years 1845-54 the average number was 1551. ' MORTALITY IN THE METROPOLIS. NUMBER OF DEATHS FROM ALL CAUSES REGISTERED IN THE WEEK ENDING SATURDAY, MARCH 3. Zymotic Diseases Diseases of Uncertain Seat Tubercular Diseases Diseases of the Brain, Nerves and Senses Diseases of the Heart and Blood-vessels Diseases of the Lungs and other Organs of 151 63 Respiration Diseases of the Stomach, Liver, and other Organs of Digestion . Diseases of the Kidneys, &c. Childbirth, Diseases of the Uterus, &c. Diseases of the Joints, Bores, and Muscles Diseases of the Skin, &c. Malformations Premature Birth and Debility Atrophy Old Age Sudden.. Violence, Privation, Cold, and Intemperance 4O Causes not specified 31 50 92 DEATHS FROM ALL CAUSES Population Deaths in corre- Deaths Enumerated, spending week In the 1851. of 1854. Week. West Districts North Districts 490,396 Central Districts 393,256 East Districts 485,522 South Districts Totals Males Females 1,135 1,560 748 812 BIRTHS IN THE WEEK. Males Females Total 1,726 ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE. . 263 . 43 234 . 433 MIDLAND CIRCUIT.—LEICESTER, Maitca G. (Before Mr. Baron Alderson.) Cornelius Aslter (an herbalist, aged 57), was indicted for the manslaughter of Elizabeth Fletcher. This case caused great excitement throughout the town and county, and during its hearing the court was crowded to excess. Mr. Adams and Mr. Bell conducted the prosecution ; Mr. O'Brien the defence. Elizabeth Mackley deposed that Elizabeth Fletcher, the deceased, was to have rejoined her husband in Ame rica in April, after a separation for two years. In January witness perceived that deceased was pregnant, and the latter communicated her intention of endeavour ing to procure abortion, saying she would rather die than not succeed. On Monday, Jan. 29, witness went with deceased to• the shop of prisoner in Ilighcross street, Leicester, and after that prisoner came to see de ceaEed at her own house, and in the presence of witness operated upon the misguided woman for the purpose of procuring miscarriage. [The details of the treatment of deceased by the prisoner were of a most painful and re ♦olting character.] Prisoner told witness it was the first cage he had had which had gone wrong. Deceased continued in great pain till Tuts lay, Feb. 13, when she died, a qualified surgeon, Mr. C. R. Crossley, having been called in. Mr. Crossley deposed to making a post mortent exami nation of deceased, in company with two othn,r surgeons. She died from peritonitis. Found the; fcetus in the bladder, which was ruptured. The injury could not have been the result of accident, and might have been caused by prisoner in the manner described by witness. For the defence, Mr. O'Brien addressei the jury at length, urging that prisoner was kept in ignorance of the fact of deceased's pregnancy, and was treating her for other purposes. The jury found the prisoner guilty, and he WM son• tow:v(1 to 14 yoari traw3Putaitiont NORTHERN CIRCUIT.—DuTHAY, DSO P 1 A STRANGE CASE. Margaret Gellilind, a married woman, wa5.,,,,00 with the manslaughter of her infant child) x',`,lo Gellilind, at the Belmont Railway-station, on Toy September last. Mr. Seymour prosecuted ; the Hon. -I fende. d ° This d was a very affecting case. Gellilindtine' are Irish people, and the husband workedi bourhood of Durham last autumn. Soine io i„ e , arisen between them ; in fact, the husband a" 01 child was not his, and it was arranged that the .4i and child should go back to Ireland. Oa the 01 :" 6 1 of the 18th Septhimber, the prisoner and an oldit of the name of M'Minnus, proceeded to the rit. 1 : 1 :40 1 tion to go to Liverpool. They were accompani old P woman's son and the husband of the Whilst on the platform she asked WlVlinne e if 1/ , 4 11 0 take the child and give it to her husba nd after ' . 0 0 0 had started. He refused to do so. But as the Ido in motion she held it out of the window, and M trbei! seeing that it was likely to fall ran to catch it. 0 00 band, however, pushed his) aside, and the vival hold cf the child which was tied up in a bni ld ; e? on the platform, and rolled over on to the raj t , train passed over one of its legs, and crushed it ti ° oll/1 0, The train was immediately stopped, bat nn iA making inquiries if any one had lost a eh der soner kept silent, and it was not until the hns"listßk up that she was dragged out and tak en int°"4lo The poor little child, which was GOY 6" WebsOi died shortly after the accident, and the prisonerto in custody since. As there did not appe ar t° l 4l or any intention in the mind of the prisoaerno dropped the child out of the carriage winc l° % 0 °I to leave it with her husband, under the dig lordship the jury acquitted her. COUNTRY 41-4RS.ETX LivERPOOL—MABcg 1 0 1 The Corn Exchange this morning was more d og tended, and the indisposition towards trartioe than we have lately experienced. The r et t, c Bl o ° may be formally quoted at 4d to 6d per buir, belt and 2s to 36 par barrel and sack on flour. import of Indian corn goes into store, * l3 av clanged triflingly. No alteration in barlel_,o Oats deelined ld to 2d per bushel, a,ndoatnlew per load. IPSWICH—RivaI 6 . {lO ~n The supply of wheat offered for sale so l _,, m i trade was rendered heavy by the stagir, de of/ London yesterday, but the growers slloFie u t . 0 01fV, not to force away their corn, and we L1 00 " - T107 per qr. difference upon last week's barley appears now to be giving over—prices paratively only being offered for sale. low last week's rates. We saw no beans °" PER QIIARTER. I ding 0 11) Wheat, red (old) 62s to 66s Barley, gr- 11 , 6 100 Ditto (new) —s to —s;Beans ..... • ... 0500 Ditto, white (new) 68s to 72s'Peas ........... .... . 0 j1: Ditto (old) Barley, malting 29s to 31sjFlour, per 1 5 ' AVERAGES FOR THE WEER ENDING vAi 0 6 " Wheat Oats Peas Beats Barley A r --.... FITT 1' LL—MARcia 6. . 8 t To-day's market was all but a holiday t.IO L 05 . ' orli factors alike indisposed to operate, the ' ° lti sn iiiii if stances willing to give way is, while the 1 :0 i 53 reduction ; business was consequently a l t poo P oPi/ in foreign altogether postponed. Spring c° , f ith ta , pressed. Linseed and its products, along 00 1 ‘ 0 1 ,or is produce, suffer more depression than grailh o ot 0 1 4 are difficult. Bones in good demand, Orli f; ba t 1 / 0" X II i Or 0 /* Wheat, English, red 64 to MPeas, greY ~I # , -. Ditto white 7O to 721 Linseed, DoCKA A 'Ato' Dantzic and Konigs- IDitt o Peter , r ~ berg Pomeranianand Ham - angel -lifir a dd burgh 68 to 70 DittoKoul „.0 IC Danish,Holstein, and Memel ..•''' gp,p Friesland 65 to 66 VW m l O ll lOO4O Russian and Odessa 60 to €5 Lins e ~.---- 11.myr4 Oats, English Ditto Danish. Ditto Friesland 26 to 2ti R.apeseed ..... 1 Ditto Russian 26 to 2S Rape eake0ii.;11.....;61 Barley, malting Ditto grinding ' 27 29 , Ditto to 29,Ditto feral:loloff Beaus 44 1;B o , Gu o a n e s. o ............ ..„. I . 2 Ditto foreign Peas, white and yel. 40 to 40ye Meal •"'' ---------.---.-- -- ' 4 ,00 , _yens, ~i 0 COURSE OF RXCHANGE- -). " ~..',i, -Amsterdam .... ........ 11 1614 Gibraltar ••"::•••:,,,..: /, Ditto, three months .. 11 18 1 ,E Legi•orn •• ...' ,t A Rotterdam ............ 11 184 Genoa .... • ....,'" r 4 Antwerp .... ...• •• .... 25 32%, Milan •• " • ,.•' .. ,' ' l'e Brussels .............. 25 32V, i Venice.. •• •• „..../: Y:0 :lamburgh .......• - 13 6 1 ) ; : Naples • • '''..•/, A AI tona .. • • ....., „ _ 1 Palermo • • •:.,,,',,,', 7, Pari5........ •••• •• • • 25 15 I Messina •• ' „..,.. I' Ditto, three months .. 25 42% Lisbon •• ''....••':.,: , Marseilles ............. 25 42%1 Oporto •• • •" . ...„.4 I Boardeaux ... ~ .. ~..., ___ I wo jane ll9 • 5. ..• • t or , Ft ankfor t-on 11 aine .... 118% Buenos AY T,,, d e „. i Berlin ................ New bin „ 0 .4 Vienna...........• .... 12 42 Philad el s t b o r 101 l Trieste ................ 12 46 " Ic- 601,1 I D i l l.' I Petersburg ............ 35N Foreifrui oo d co . Madrid ... .. .. .. .. .. 49' Portlie vo lts , . •.; ,„ Cadiz "'••• • • • • tlarceloua ........... er in bars • 5evi11e...... ...... • • •,. — 51° ,1 Ipoti; Egypt (see Als,-,) France ........ M 80 N Twice drily .• • • • Gibraltar ..........4 4,7, 17,20, 27 o f n ' Greece (see India) Greytown• ..........M i 2nd & 17th of nu 3n ,:Do ts B%, Hamburgh ..........Ni Tuesday & Fri"? anOn'' , flavannah . .. M 2nd of the montr. .15•00f,•04 Rolland ............ MDaily.... • • •• • '4 l 30 0 1 ° ,0, flonduras . . India (viaSouthampt.)M 4thl & 20th of 111 1; polS:.•' India (via Marseilles)MothBc2sth of Men vo r 0:: 4 0i• lonian Isles (see IndlaP, 17, & 27 of 0 • 1° ' . ooll P ot , Ireland M & Isi ; Twice daily •••• • gou ty" Li5h0n..............M r 7, 0, 17, Sc 27 of T1 * 9109 91' Madeira ............A1 9tll of the ton ) 15 Iladelra .. .... - ..1•2;23d of month "'• g oo ° Ilalta (see India) Malta ..............N 4, 18. &28 of in°ll.ll° o fil Mauritius (see India) - A nti ) ,„0, - . , 00000 0 Ilauritius ..........N 14th of the u• - , b , mot.' Mexico ............ M 2nd of the 11 10 , n ` nr y of Naples ...... ........N sthlsth2sthcattb „Or., New Granada ...... Ai i 2d & 17thof to ° ' . lf , '"pis New Zea1and .......... , By private OOP :. '• of Papal States ........N sthlsth2sthoftn°o." 0070 Peninsula ..........11,11/thl7th27l llo°l° o o,,O,o' Peru ............ ~ M2d & 27th of n• v • ~,, Port Natal ..........N .133 - private shlP';' or ° Sicily ..............N 5th15th25th01010.,..p. Tuscany .............IS,stlllsth2sthofino'" Venezuela ..... —.lll '2d is 17th WOO Van Diemen's LAIC, (see' Australia) .. West Indies ........m I2diz 17th oi m On 0 1 th e et' sOl d' et ti l. alk When any of these dates fall on a 0 - e ff, l spatched on the following day. with thi s ielt , Southampton), and the Malta, both of> , 41.‘ preceding day. . vo . ..-• , /0 1 .,ti A O ..,,,,OP: 02 4 v,, F - 1, TYE LATE Eso.trz FROM N .lOl - it we' thrp sitting of the Court of Alders/101' b s t Y 0 b , - derman and Sheriff Muggeridg e t l e t i f eft t bet ty o S f twe of the convicts who bad It 4 t o see h od pro, 1 from New,gaLe, had been cap tu r . .. 4 ( 0 6 „ see' Bell alias Spiess—was still at Jar Il k 1 it right to mention, that n eitber,,oa l 400 , •1 1.- h ese been taken by the police lot' -re . ward had been offered for their ap p had also been offered for Bell' ---.....---......--- . . a i 5. ~.. I 1 1° B VA ':. On the sth inst., at LiMiehatongoe°2:itil° llife ofir 00 0/ 11. Carr. wr 0. It OF A DACIC}..-1 we/ On the 6th last., wt 3, BOutagal i f ir o Mrs. Henry Chater. 0 0 47 r m ARR. r ob, r o CA fo ' On the 3d inst., at Maryllboneioge os o. pit lo L 1 1 burns, Esq., M.A., Queens C .. 1 vu ' lc r i% 0 0 1 only daughter of the late Madnol.st. 00.6001440 On the 24th ult., by license, s_ sip ith , ," tio Clarence Rhind, fifth son of Pet% Loo missary of the Royal ArtilLerY.T'itaion Or e ,41 of Mons. Gouriet, of the Royal ' r e c' . o°:eii' 6 D/I D' P . ' 0 " o r lil r ' toO s tio t wife if , .gb.,,,e , 4. Oa the 4th inst., Ann, the ‘ , 6 2, elecr, i ce, ~.ovr pir of Charter house-square, :V", h il er ter„, r )oo 3 ' d i On the 6th inst., at 2:St• 0 .-' c ' tip per 1 . , f r , Thomas Turner, Est., of 13 `' , o f , 49. London, aged 71. Es o q• n , t a h g e ed 4t s h o. inst., Mr. IT a nirl:llt:::°lll7l;'.rd:lti° Di l' On the sth inst., at Gesden-hcot.°' cr ee l ,10 0 ' On the 2d inst., at the RnYi l „ yea 70. w ill' Dornford, Esq., Lieut. Nice , l'' T ' ° Thow"' . f o llgi/ 0 On the 28th ult , at . _ ii, ?for ,4 1 , 'nixie, Esq., of GarboliiishansoloA' ___, -- ov- P Alf ------------ tv 0 co o" LoolDNooN. :11P2r,insttedranadn,drPriuubte—vigr:176_at 2 , 4l , 4 :: i ts p il io ot Strand, is the Precinct of_tfu ' I ' D 06. AriciAlestsc, W ocluodtb iw' SEA 13 0 RATE M AILS. (N signifies that the mails are sent fl'os, tliCs dpAD A t h a) r# )5 , the night—and H by the morning --- a :, r , I °l k 4 Day whe n roa.lt . rr LH - - ° rat„, t , COIN: TRIOS. in General :NV , • 5/0 1 Office, Loudon.° Di-, - , , '..rr•erica(byßrit.paclt)N Every Friday •• • 11°---_ ,,01 , t mericit ( by United Sts iCerr packet) ..........N .... •• •• • t ...0 101) tmerica (by U. States 50tP - 7. packet) .........N kustralia (via South- . so uth ampton) ..........M. w. Ditto (via Marseilles ) N ........ .D° ~.10, Ditto (via Cape of (. toed •• •• •. •• .• otto Hope) ...........,14 titr 'l ..... ••• • • • ~,,,do ,f 4 Africa ( West Coast) ..Nl33d opte month ~ Nit ..:or , 5 , 14, 9, ,&30of n, p 0..,,,,,, Alexandria ..........3i r 4th & 20th of ram:: ScTosur ~, Bahamas ....... .... Ai ,17th of the merit! 5 0 , 0 400 Belgium ............N1: 'ailY • • • • • • • • • • • ' D,,,1itt02, , Brazil ............ _l+ , 4 i 9th of the month.• '',. 0 0. 1 ." Buenos Ayres .. .. .. .. 31 .9 t.n of the month.. ;",.100 Cape of Good Hope ..N ' ."- „ft Cape of Good Hope ..N1 , A,,et.W . tt Cape de Verds ...... NI 9th of the month .o.- 0 , Ceylon (see India) l i tl s Ceylon .. .. .... .... .. N ~,, go otllVil Channel Isles ........N I I ..kfon.,Wed.,&rr.• - '• ..,- t itA Chili ' •-"••• • - .. - I V 14 & 170 o r moot' w - 0 , , Chins 'Once a month •• • ' ovett;lo Constantinople .......t 8,13,18,23,We 050' ;,'„,id ) ••' i Constantinople .... tent & 20th of m°('7,kor " Cont. of Europe M tt N i Twice daily • • • • • • . fr ..'.s a l Egypt (see India) 1 o' . PIO ? r ((V', 11 ;( 4 0 'l C* 4 , krN 1 44i r -"11; B YttZ tp . tti t It