The Sun. — London, England, 1863-04-29 00:00:00

PARLIAMENT -*- HOUSE OF LORDS—Last Evening. The Lord Chancellor took his seat at the usual hour, PRIVATE BUSINESS. The Fiint, Holywell, and Mostyn Roads; Southampton Port, Harbour, and Pier ; Caledonian Railway (Improve ments) ; London and Brighton and South-Coast Railway (Dorking to Leatherhead) ; and the Maidstone Water bills were read a second time. THIRD READINGS. The following bills were read a third time and passed, viz. :—The Launceston and South Devon Railway, Dare Valley Railway, Glasgow Gas, Leyland and Farringdon Gas, Hereford, Hay, and Brecon Railway, Aylesbury Markets, St. Asaph Roads, and North Beverley Gas. THE ALKALI WORKS REGULATION BILL. This bill was read a third time and passed. LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT (1S58) AMENDMENT ILL. This bill wa s rea d a thir ß d time. NEW ZEALAND BOUNDARIES BILL. This bill was also read a third time and passed. OFFENCES (SOUTH AFRICA) BILL. This bill was read a third time and passed. THE GALWAY CONTRACT, The Earl of HARDWICKE asked h€r Majesty's Go vornment whether the contract for the conveyance of her Majesty's nails between Galway and America was to be simply a resumption of the old contract, or whether it was intended to introduce any and what modification therein ; and also whether the rate of speed originally stipulated was slid to be exacted, and also whether a copy of the contract would be laid upon the table of the ILusa of Commons before the introduction of the estimates for the mail packet service. Lord STANLEY of ALDERLEY said he was in the same condition as he was before, as he had not received any official intelligence relative to engaging the ships. H© might, however, say that the same requirements as before relative to the speed and ships to perform the service would be required, and a copy of the contract would be laid on the table of the house before the estimates were taken. TILE METROPOLITAN RAILWAY. Earl GRAN VILLE referred to the following motion which stood upon the paper in the name of Lord Strath eden, namely :—" To move a humble address to her Ma jesty praying her Majesty to appoint a commission to inquire whether it was desirable to provide within the limits of the metropolis any additional termini or extension of railways already existing, or to pro vide any connection or communication between such rail. ways ; also, whether it was desirable to allow any additional railways to be made within such limits, and if so, in what manner, and with what restrictions, the several works should b 3 carried out. The noble earl said it would be very inconvenient to move for the appointment of a com mission whilst there was a committee sitting, to which the subject might be referred. Lord STRATHEDEN thought that good might have resulted from his motion, but he should not act is opposi tion to the opinion of the noble earl. The Alarq - uis of CLANRICARDE said complications were arising in Dublin similar to that in London, and he thought the expression of their lordships' opinion should ,apply to Dublin also. Lord REDESDALE said he was quite aware of the state of Dublin, in consequence of the Dublin and Kingston and other railways, and was of opinion that some interfer ence was required. The motion was then withdrawn, and Their lordships adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS_Last Evening. The SPEAKER took the chair at the usual hour. THIRD READINGS. The Norwich Poor Bill was read a third time. The following bills were considered and ordered to be read a third time :—Blackfriars Bridge—Exeter Gaol— Great Western Railway (Branch at Great Bridge)—lnver. news and Perth Junction and Perth and Dunkeld Railway Companies—Seaton and Beer Railway—Ware, Hadham, and Buntingford Railway. PETITIONS. Lord FEILMOY, from Marylebone, against the amalga mation of the City with the Metropolitan Police, and praying that the metropolitan districts might have the government of their own police; Mr. J. J. POWELL, from Gloucester, signed by 900 inhabitants, against the sale of intoxicating liquors on the Sabbath. RAILWAY BILLS BILL. Mr. WHALLEY postponed the second reading of this bill until to-morrow fortnight, as the committee up stairs had not yet brought its sittings to a close. FACTORY OPERATIVES. Mr. FERRAND gave notice that on Thursday next he should ask the President of the Poor-law Board whether the number of those factory operatives who had never applied for out-door relief were included in the number of unem ployed cited by him in the recent debate, and whether there was any return of the unemployed married women. MEDICAL OFFICERS (INDIA). In reply to Mr. BAZLEY, Sir C. WOOD said that the warrant of 1860 did no. profess to make the two services identical. The question with respect to the medical officers was then under discus sion. There was a difference of opinion in India on the subject, and a medical commission had been appointed to report upon it. Until, however, the Indian Board received the decision of the Secretary at War upon the matter they could not well determine what course to adopt. CAPTAIN COLES'S PAMPHLET. Mr. ADDINGTON asked the Secretary to the Admiralty whether his attention had been directed to a pamphlet pub.. lished by Captain Cowper Coles, R.N., purporting to con tain a correct statement of the comparative expense of build ing iron ships of war to carry broadside guns, and ships of war with the same weight of metal fitted on the cupola sys tem ; and whether the statement therein contained was ac cepted by him as correct? Lori C. PAGET said he had read the pamphlet of Capt. Coles, and found it a very interesting work. He should be sorry to guarantee that this gallant officer's assertion with respect to these ships were correct. Very probably he had taken great pains in estimating the figures upon which his conclusions were based, but he (Lord C. Paget) knew full well that many estimates which had been made on this and kindred subjects had not turned out correct. CRIMINAL LUNATICS. Gen. BUCKLEY asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the building intended for criminal lunatics was ready; and whether those criminal lunatics now confined at the private asylum at Fibherton, near Salisbury, amounting to the number of 284, were likely shortly to be removed to the new asylum ? Sir G. GREY replied that he was informed that a large portion of the new building was ready, and 100 criminal lunatics would shortly be received. He could not say when it would be ready for the reception of a larger number. The first inmates would consist of persons from Fisherton. lONIAN ISLANDS. Lord R. CECIL asked the Under Secretary of State for wa►, when certain returns, ordered at the beginning of the se. sion, concerning expenses incurred at the lonian Islands, will be laid upon the table. Lord HARTINGTON replied that the returns rested with the Colonial office, but he believed that they wculd be supplied in about a fortnight. AMENDMENT OF THE LICENSING SYSTEM. Mr. LAWSON asked the Secretary of State for the home Department, whether her Majesty's Government had abandoned the intention of introducing a bill for the amendment of the licensing system during the present session. Sir G. GREY replied that he had been in communica tion with some of the parties who take a deep i n t erest in the matter, and he regretted to state that the result did not leave room to hope that a satisfactory and acceptable mea sure could be successfully passed during the present session. ARMY (DISTINGUISHED SERVIC E , COLONELS). Gen. LINDSAY t h en rose t o mov e 4 That an humble address be presented to her Majesty, praying that she will be graciously p l eased to appoint a Roya l Commission to inquire into the claims of 21 officers of the army, who were promoted to the rank of colonel in 185 5 and 1856, as Aid es-de -Camp to the Queen, and for distin guished service in the Crimean war, who, by a recommen dation of the Royal commission of 1858, which had reference to another class of officers, have b een deprived, to an undue t exten, of the position they attained by the promotion conferred upon them ; and to report to her Majesty whether they were entitled to any redress ; and if so, to recommend in what form such redress should be accorded to them." The hon. and gallant member went at much length into the voluminous correspondenc e on the matter, and cited the sentiments of Lord Herbert and Sir G. c. Lewis in support of the claims of those officers. The in quiry lie proposed would bo limited to the claims of those officers who were lieutenant•colonels before June, 1854, Ile brought the case forward as one of public duty, Col. NORTH seconded the motion. Lord HARTINGTON opposed the motion. He fully appreciated the services of the distinguished officqrs spe c tied, and considered them well deserving the promotionl they sought. The commission of 1858, composed of corn )etent authorities, after a careful investigation, finally dis used of the claims of the officers, and no good could now .rise from re-opening the matter. Sir J. PAKINGTON said the warrant issued to carry ut the report of the commission of 1854 was not in accord nce with the views of that commission. It was no light latter that officers who had gallantly served their country ith such distinction should feel themselves aggrieved by ie conduct of the War Office. All these gallant officers •ked for was inquiry, in order that Parliament might know Nether the injustice the sr complained of was well •founded r not. General Peel, Lord Herbert, and Sir G. C. Lewis ad recognised the claims of these officers. The War Office ow said it was inconvenient to disturb the harmony of the rmy list, but he believed the officers of the army would other that were done than that those deserving officers 1 121_11d suffer injustice. (Hear, hear.) tiXTON spoke in support of the motion. Sir F, fermi t "" 1 11, as a member of the Royal Commission It,s e, x: r i l s u ei r a L e t_h_e necessity of further inquiry. rA4 l , 4l4 ' l V_lso spoke in favour of the motion. 4 " totireest#4 the habitual fatten.- ence by that house with the detailed management of the army, because it was not a part of the constitutional func tions of the House of Commons, or that there should re • main on the public mind any circumstance that might give rise to the opinion that injustice had been done to any class of deserving men. (Hear.) He ventured to suggest to the hon. and gallant =lnter to withdraw his motion, and thereby avoid committing the house to ar y interference in the detailed:military administration of the army, and that being done, he (Lord Palmerston) would engage on behalf of her Majesty's Government that a commission of inquiry should issue. (Hear. hear.) The Government had no de sire to shrink from inquiry. Mr. DISRAELI, whilst agreeing with the noble lord with regard to interfering in the detailed management of the army by that house, contended that they had a right to bring forward any matter of grievance, and that in address• ing the throne in connection therewith, they were acting in a perfectly constitutional manner. lie thought, under the circumstances, that the gallant member might leave the matter in the hands of the Government. Gen. LINDSAY accepted the proposition of the noble lord, and withdrew his motion. COLONIAL MILITARY DEFENCES. Mr, A. MILLS rose to call attention to the correspond ence which has recently been laid before Parliament be tween her Majesty's Government and the eilorernors of Canada and of New Zealand reopec.ively, concerning the military defences of those colonies, and to move an address for copy of all communicatians which had passed since the commencement of the year 1863, between the Secre tary of State for the Colonies and the representatives of the Crown in the British dependencies respecting the mode and cost of their military defences. As regarded Canada, a commission, consisting of eight members, of whom seven were Canadian•, had last year recommended that a militia of 50,000 men should be maintained in the province, independently of a reserve force. The Parlia ment of Canada had, however, refused to sanction that bill ; and the total force actually maintained at that moment was no more than 1:5,000, under one fourth of that recom mended by the commission. The reason assigned for that was that the Canadians did not consider themselves in peril. Well, but if they were not in peril, for what purpose were from 10,000 to 12,000 Imperial troops quartered in the pro vince ? The cost of the Imperial army in Canada for the year 1862 could not have been less than £1,000,000; whilst the contribution of Canada to her defences was no more than between £60,000 and £70,000. Then, turning to the case of New Zealand, he found that the charge for the maintenance of the army there was £520,000, while the contribution of the colonists to the defences of the island was only £lO,OOO. He considered it was high time Chet both the Canadians and the New Zealanders should bear a much larger proportion of the military expenditure necessary for the defence of the two colcnies, and that the people of this country ought no longer to be taxed for purposes purely colonial. Mr. 'WILLIAMS thought the facts which had been brought before the house by the hen, member were of the greatest importance, and ho had no doubt if the matter were thoroughly investigated, th it it would result in a saving to this country of three millions sterling. lVhenever the United States had any quarrel with this country the threat of seiz . ng Canada was always resorted to. Mr. C. FORTESCUE said he agreed in much that had fallen from his hon. friend who brought forward the motion with regard to the Government of Canada. It was evident from the papers which had been laid before the house that the Canadian Government had a very inadequate sense of their duty as to the defence of the province in the event of any danger occurring. The house would see that an opinion to this effect had been frankly conveyed to the Government of Canada with all the weight and autho rity whioh the Home Government possessed. But while he said this, he did not wish the house to underrate the exer tions which were made by the Government and people of Canada. Too little had been done, but still something was done, and something more was in process of accomplishment. The latest advices represented the volunteer system as being carried on with great activity. Sone 35,000 volunteers were under training, and that number was rapidly increasing. In addition to that, successful attempts had been made to render the rural militia of Canada fit for service in any emergency that might arise. The real difficulty in military organisation arose in the rural districts, where, owing to the intervals that occurred between one settle. ment and another, and the population being thinly scattered over a large area, it was found difficult to bring bodies of men together for the purposes of drill and military training. But what had been done and was doing was this, that the officers and non-commissioned officers of the Canadian militia in the rural districts had formed themselves into a drill association, and no officer was allowed to remain on the list of the militia without qualifying himself. His noble friend at the head of the Colonial Office had in courteous terms acquainted the Government of Canada, that nothing would tend to place the defences of the province upon such a footing of security as a measure of direct taxation. (Hear, hear.) He now approached the vexed question as to the proportion which the colony should bear in the payment of troops and the means of defence. It was impossible to lay down any definite rule on the subject; but it was important to bear this in mind, that, while the mother country allowed the greatest possible freedom to Canada as regards all mat ters of internal policy, still, as regards external affairs, such as war defences, and the like, there was but one Parliament —that of the mother country—and but one Government— the Imperial Government—to whom all questions of peace and war, and all the external affairs of the whole empire, alone belonged. (Hear, hear.) It was impossible to ituirra fairly whether the present force in Canada ought to have been sent there or not without taking into consideration the prospect of war at the time the force was sent out. In Canada at that time prevention was better than cure. The main security which Canada had against aggression was the belief that war with Canada meant war with England. In time of peace her Majesty's Government thought that the Colonial Government was bound to defend itself; and he believed that, in spite of its past shortcomings, Canada would do its duty when danger arose. The case of New Zealand was a special one. When a war broke out there, it was not on a question between the mother country and the great Powers of the world. In that colony, Englishmen had settled in in the presence of a warlike race. Ten years ago they were given representative institutions ; and since then the policy was recognised that, if the colonial Government waged a war within her own frontiers, she was bound to carry it on at her own expense. The double Government in New Zea land had failed to protect this country and the colony from the dangers of a war, and her Majesty's Government were now leaving the colony to defend itself, making it, how ever, responsible for the repayment of the advances made fur the maintenance of a local force in the colony, and the construction of a military road which would be of lasting advantage to it. He regretted that the correspondence with regard to the other colonies was not in a state consistently with the public service to produce to the house. Mr. AY rouN expressed his regret that her Majesty's Government had changed tts colonial policy. Canada was well able to defend herself with her two millions and a half of population, 1,900 miles of railway, 7,000,000 of im ports and expotts, and a revenue of £1,900,000. The expen diture of Great Britain for her naval and military force was 17s. per head, whereas in Canada it was about 4d. Great Britain expended more on the defence of Canada than did that colony for itself. The number of troops in Canada was too small for any effectual purposes of defence ; and if war occurred additional troops must be sent out, or the army would be humiliated by being obliged to abandon that ter ritory or be annihilated. Some of the Australian colonies had voted large sums for their defence compared with the £50,000 raised by Canada. If a war broke out with America this country would have to drain its homo garrison for the protection of Canada—an event which no government:could contemplate with satisfaction. He believed public opinion was favourable to the continuance of our connection with our colonies ; and he was anxious it should be maintained, from its being advantageous to this country in a commercial point of view. The Government was pursuing a perilous course towards Canada. Mr. ADDERLEY was of opinion that the papers showed that we had come to a crisis in our relations with our colo nies, and that the Government had looked the matter boldly in the face. We had now arrived at what he called the third phase of our colonial government. In the first we left the colonists to themselves, only imposing restrictions on their commerce which :we thought at the time advantageous to ourselves, but at which they revolted. The next phase was when we attempted to govern the colonies from Downing. street ; and the third phase was when we restored to the co lonies complete self-government, with constitutions more free and democratic than our OWD, yet retaining in our hands their protection and defence. That was incompatible and the consequence was, that the Government at home and those in the colonies were at issue and diametrically oppose was iht a he fallacy. power opposed to each other. The argume nts of the colonies th a t The they argument a m c e l h a t i mt uponthat th e us f foreign theirgn policy w defence as of the home Government, and that therefore the colonists were entitled to thruw the whole cost of wars upon the English taxpayer had not one shred of soundness about It was certainly no justification for Cana d a mere ly present. it. ing 15,000 volunteers as its quota towards the. defenceso that part o f th e empire. He entirely agreed with the for mulae laid d own by one well acquainted with the subject, who said that every soldier sent to Canada represented 100 natives, who would recruit the defences of the colony if the soldier had not been sent. The hon. member proceeded to criticise the position of the question in New Zealand, and denied that the Constitution Act of 1852, in transferring to the colonists the management of their own affairs, had re served to this country the native policy. It reserved it to the Crown, and not to this country or to the home Govern ment. He cordially approved the course which the Colonial Minister had taken with reference to the colonies. He only regretted it did not go further, and had not been adopted long ago, and he trusted that the House of Commons would support that Minister without fear in the opposition they would be sure to receive from the colonies until they saw that this country was earnest in its intentions. Mr. C. BUXTON knew no subject which was more de serving of the immediate attention of the House of Commons than the defences of Canada. Undnnbtedly the chance of England going to war with what was formerly the United States of America was quite as great as was her cha nce of going to war with any other country inthsewh a war,orld,anidt though every one must profoundly deprecate such could not be denied that a feeling of the greatest irritation Epglitad prevailed smug the people of the Nerthern THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, APRIL 29, 1863 States, while it was much to be feared that this feelinh would be greatly inflamed by the remarkab'e p 'eches which had been recently delivered in that house. Under these circumstances, nothing could be more shortsighted than to leave Canada in a defenceless condition, and so they had to alternative but to keep up a large army there, and spend vast sums in fortifications. At the same time, as re garded the general question, he was glad to hear the an nouncement of the Under-Secretary that evening that the Government were about to start upon a new policy, and that they were about to withdraw the troops as much as possible from the outlying stations of the Empire. Mr, MILLS expressed himself quite willing to withdraw the motion if he received an assurance that the correspon dence would be produced as soon as it was completed. Mr. C. FORTES _ UE said there was every disposition on the part of the Government to disclose all the informa tion which might come into their hands on tho subject re ferred to by the hon. member; but at present there was no correspondence in a sufficiently complete form to produce. The motion was then withdrawn. THE CONSTRUC I lON OF IRON-CLAD SHIPS. Sir J. ELPHINSTONE moved an address to her Ma jesty that she would be graciously pleased to appoint a royal commission to consider the mode of construction and form of the iron-clad ships which are to compose the future navy of England ; to report on the ships presently built ant building, and the amount of dock and basin accommodation required for their use at home and abroad, The hon. ba ronet said there had been three reconstructions of the navy in his time, but that which was now going on was by far the most formidable of the three, while the responsibility of the undertaking was cast on s department confessedly overworked, Under these circumstances he came to the house to ask for the appointment of a council of able men selected to advise the Admiralty with respect to the re sults of the great ex periments which had been carried on during the last few years. When the right hon. member for Druitwich (Sir J. Pakington) was at the head of the Admiralty, he assembled about him a council very much of the character he was now contending for, and the result was a determination upon the forms of the Warrier and Black Prince—ships which, as models of form, could not be ex celled. He went on board the Black Prince on her recent return from a cruise of eight ur nine months, and after in specting every part of the ship, he came to the conclusion that a more extraordinarily durable structure he never looked upon. It was as t the form of these ships that men were at issue. They sailed very well before the wind, but their extreme length and very limited powers of steerage stood in their way in action. The manoeuvre of " wearing" was practised on various occastons_by the squadron at Las • bon, and in one instance there was an interval of seven miles between the first and the last of the ships when they came round. It was impossible to get these ships to the wind, and it had become necessary to fit them with auxiliary steam power for the purpose of working their helms, which could not be got to work at an angle of more than 37 deg. without danger. These long ships were rigged with three masts ;'and while they continued to build their ships of such an unwieldy size, the stature of the men who were to work them remained the same. It passed his comprehension how the class of men employed on board these ships could furl the heavy sails or do anything smartly aloft. In his *pinion, it would be a better arrangement to have four masts instead of three. Another objection to these ships was the great diversity of size. It should be borne in mind that nothing was more important in a fleet than equality of size. (Hear, hear.) It would probably be found that, while such vessels as the 'Warrior and Black Prince would sail fourteen knots an hour, others would hardly attain a speed of nine knots. The Secretary to the Admiralty had lately given them a statement of what was doing in the dockyards of France, and he believed she was doing no more than acting up to the programme which had been drawn up on the subject of the French navy. With regard to America, the naval administration had been completely unrestricted in the construction of iron ships, and yet, with all the skill of her naval engi neers, they had not succeeded in building one serviceable iron-clad ship. He had seen a very full description of the American iron. clad vessels in a French publication. They were divided into eight or ten different classes, and varied in tonnage from 4,000 tons to 700 or 800 tons, and they were of every variety of speed and construction. And yet, in the recent action which took place at Charleston, nine of these vessels were defeated, one was sunk, and the others got off with difficulty. He wished to direct the noble lord's attention to one of these ships, which more nearly resembled the Warrior, because she refused to answer her helm, and became unmanageable. The hon. baronet then directed attention to the great advantage of having a small class of gun-vessels, which, in the event of the large vessels becoming unmanageable, and therefore stationary, could sail close to them, and from points of im punity discharge 3001 b. shots at them. He next referred to an imprudent paper, which had been issued by the Govern ment, casting reflection on the building of the ships in private yards, and observed that while he upheld the prin ciple of the Government building wooden ships in their own yards, in preference to private yards, from the fact that their stocks of timber was always superior to the resources of any private establishment ; yet, in the matter of the building of iron ships, he thought there should be no objec tion to having them built in private yards until such time as the Government had sufficient dock accommodation of their own. No one who had carefully inspected the iron ships which had been built in private yards could deny that they were models of naval architecture. He begged to sug zest that the Admiralty should avail fun invention of the double screw, which was a very great imirovement. The double screw gave a vessel extraordinary facility in turning, in going ahead or astern—in short, such advantage as a man with two arms possessed over a man having but one arm. There was another point which he wished to press upon the Government, and that was the necessity of providing increased dock accommodation. At present they had not a dock in the world out of England with the exception of one at Bombay where they could dock a frigate, It was important the Government should turn their attention to this subject ; for in the event of a war the want of dock accommodation would prove a serious impediment. The number of transports would keep the mercantile docks in continual employment, and they would not be available for the large iron ships of the Government. The hon. baronet concluded with a protest against further proceeding in the present mode of iron ship-building, without first calling together the greatest practical autho rities of the country, and obtaining their opinions. Lord it. MO.NTAG U moved as an amendment that, with a view to provide for the economical construction of ships for the royal navy, of the most suitable forms and materials, the Board of Admiralty should be empowered by Parliament to introduce, into the public service a class of persons equal in education and position to the military cadets of Woolwich, who might (subject to conditions, ultimately fulfil the duties of Royal naval architects. Mr. W. S. LINDSAY, having corrected several mis takes which he said occurred in the course of the debate said the Warrior had hitherto laboured under the defec. of not turning quickly to its helm ; but a letter which he had from Captain Cochrane this morning showed that this was likely to be got over. He would read an extract from the letter : "You will be glad to hear that we shall be ready for sea in a few days. We have been fitted with hydraulic steering gear, by which one person will be able to steer the ship, and to put the helm over with the same facility at full steam as at slow. We shall be able to turn the complete circle in six minutes, which is a feat never yet accomplished by a vessel of its size." The cupola ship was a more efficient ship than the port -sided ship ; but in it there was one defect—the liability of the gun to get jammed on the pivot as the ship listed. In the attack upon Charleston, the Ehot from the forts, as it appeared to him, did not go through the turret towers, yet the force of the shot was such as to jam the guns against the pivots and so render them unserviceable. He did not think that we could learn much from the attack on Charles ton, because the vessels that were in action were very dif ferent from our own, but they offered remarkable resistance to heavy shot, some of them having received 90 shots and yet cane out of action. 'We had no reason to be dissatis• fled with our armour plated ships, which were superior to any in the world. His only complaint was that they cost a great deal of money. He thought it would not be advisable for his noble friend to press his motion. Ho condemned the Admiralty for trusting to tho opinion of on© man in matters of shipbuilding, and recommended a board of five or six to watch improvements and report thereon to the Comptroller of the Navy. Lord C. PAGET—I think it would bo very unadvisable to intrust the department of shipbuilding to such a board as my hon. friend recommends. We have already got the Controller of the Navy, with a staff of assistants, who has charge of this department. This debate is a fair illustration of the difficulties attendant upon shipbuilding, and ought to convince the house that the proposal of the hon. baronet to refer this matter to a Royal Commission ought not to be agreed to by this house. lam quite aware that upon many questions, such as the pay of the navy, the manning of the navy, or ha r b ours of refuge, the labours of a Royal Com mission are exceedingly valuable. But what commission could make a rep or t o f any value on the construction of ships i During the Ad m i ra l ty administration of toy right hon. friend (Sir J. Pakington) the question of shipbuilding occupied a great deal of their attention, and the Government appointed a body of gentlemen of high talent, of whom my right hon. friend the member for Tyrone (Mr. Corry) was one. That committee, which was very lik o a commission, made inquiry into the subject of shipbuilding. They com pared the French navy with that of England; they com tphaere ci d e t v h e e r n F na r e e n n c t h w dockyards o w s i a t w o a w n e d s t t h h e e y e e e a e m e e toot. what was called the reconstruction of the navy. I mein to impute no blame to my right hon. friend, but according to the ltheins • o i lights h h t a s t w t we shipsno w possesswoh lwould h ave t expenditure was iron cased ships. (Hear, hear.) That vas en teredini was a member, and byeaesht sums better t expended n. expended in nd ed ill t t o , b v y er t y he m G u overnment of which my right h or o t n. o f f ri t e h n i d s Committee. By thelitimecontinued they consequenceb y reportedthe ofgrtheaet Governmentrep progress that had fol lowedbeen made in other directions, and to-morrow, if a commit tee or commission were appointed, before they could get in telligence or evidence on which they could found a report, it might turn out worthless, because from day to day the Admiralty are making new experiments. Only yesterday an experiment was tried, which, if it succeeds, will alter the ootabtructicaa or rather the framework--tho upper works—of our armour-plated ships. Take another example, any corn mission appointed a few sic:aths ago, would have recom mended us to build turret ships, but what is the news we get from Charleston ? We have nothing official as yet, but such information as we have is rather against turret ships. It is therefore quite impoirble for any inquiry to do justice to the subject or for a cournission to make any report that would be of any assi tame to the Admiralty. We are all of the same mind; we want o construct a navy of the greatest possible efficiency, and v.erthy of the power and dignity of this country. But there ere not two people who agree either as to the class, the form, it the armament of ships. My hon friend opposite would sae, for example, of the Warrior that she is tonong and too bit, and that she would be damaged by smaller and handier slips constructed at much less ex pense. We aro now ascernining what is the smallest class of vessels to which armote-plating can be applied. Indeed, with regard to armour-plated flips the Government are en gaged in carrying on expriments in every direction. We have got an Armour-phte Committee—a most valuable body, upon a most important branch of the business, and one which requires the undivided attention of scientific men, because upon the hen plates, their capability of re sistance and their fastening, the whole of the efficiency of our armour-plated vessels depends. (Hear, hear.) 1 could not discaver in my hon. friend's observations and real grounds of complaint against the Admiralty; neverthe less I have no doubt that these discussions are extremely useful, because they call the attention of the Government and the public to the various improvements that may be made in the construction of our vessels. There is one matter which may turn out to be of great importance— namely, the construction of twin screws. My hon. friend assumes that a construction of that kind has no defects. My own belief is that in some class of vessels it may prove to bo a very valuable invention. But the Admiralty cannot order vessels of that construction without awaiting the result of the trial of the ships which are now being constructed upon that principle. With regard to the old floating batteries, my opinion is if you were to lengthen them you would make a very bad job, because, in the first place, their state is not very satisfactory; and in the next, I would defy any practical nasal man to make anything out of them. My hon. friend speaks of putting three masts into those very long ships, but I think he might have learned at Portsmouth that we are putting five masts into the Northumberland and vessels of that class. Again he says, " Build your iron ships in your own dockyards." When he said that, I looked to wards my hon, friend on this side of the house (Mr. Lind say), and also to the hon. member for Birkenhead (Mr. Laird), who seemed to look blue at that recommendation; Duc neither of those hors. ai uticusvu aNYcarod 50 agree Iti that proposition. For my own part, I should be sorry that the Admiralty should never employ any of the great shipbuilding establishments of the country. We don't think it at all advisable that our dockyards should be considered as the only places where wo could build armour plated ships; or, on the other hand, that the Govern ment should be thrown entirely into the hands of contrac tors. (Hear.) There is a juste anthem. It has been said that it was matter for regret that the Achilles should have been built at Chatham. But I challenge my hon. friend the member for Sunderland—now that we have got our dockyard accounts in as good a state as his own can be—for they are no longer under the Controller of the Navy, who is a spending officer, but under the Accountant-Gene ral, who is a controlling officer—to show that our shies built in the dockyards are so expensive. (Hear.) He says the Achilles will be found to have cost vastly more than any of the armour plated ships built in the merchant yards. Now, we will remember that when the accounts are closed, and we shall see whether it is so or not. (Hear, hear.) My belief is that she will be found not to have cost much more, if any more. My hon. friend proposes that we should go to a large expense in docks and basins. (Hear, hear.) Well, I must say I admire his modesty in not having alluded to Portsmouth, because I think he must have been disappointed that the Government had not commenced a basin there. The remarks which have been made about the want of dock accommodation in foreign stations are quite true. In the East and West Indies, China, and North Ame rica, there is a great want of dock accommodation ; but her Majesty's Government have not lost sight of that. We have not thought fit to propose to Parliament the construction of a dock at Hongkong ; but a very intelligent gentleman has undertaken to build one which shall contain the 'Warrior, upon obtaining an advance of money from the Government upon certain fair conditions, and my belief is that we shall have a dock constructed there available for the Warrior. In like manner, at Bermuda, where one of those docks is wanted, I have very little doubt, should I continue to sit on this bench, that it will be my duty to propose to Parlia ment to vote a sum for that purpose. But we have taken a very large sum—no less than £lo4,ooo—this year for docks and basins—for two docks at Portsmouth, one at Davenport, for enlarging the basin there, for the Chatham basin, and the Malta dock. We shall have the dock at Malta on very cheap terms, because the Maltese Government are going to share the expense. Under these circumstances I think the house will see that it is impossible for any com mission to take away from the Government the responsibi lity of keeping this country at all times in a proper posi tion as a great maritime Power. (Hear, hear.) That is our constant business, it is for that we are paid and for which we are responsible, and I do trust that the house will not now or at any future period do anything to set aside the responsibility of the Government upon this point. (Hear.) The observations which have been made by the noble lard the member for Huntingdonshire (Lord R. Montagu) upon ie., ces. ..2 4,,,t4.• 4., ..cav wvaulay us attention. That was a most valuable institution. A great class of young naval architects was trained there, and when they had finished their education it was found that the Govern ment had not the means of employing them all upon high wages—for they would not accept any but high salaries. The result was that when they had completed their train ing at the public expense they were spread about the world, and it was thought that the Government would not be justi fied in keeping up that expenditure. The school was after wards revived on much the same plan, but again fell to the ground. My noble friend the Duke of Somerset has felt very much the want of some satisfactory arrangement by which we should obtain scientific architects for the benefit of the public service. (Hear.) Various proposals with tha t object have been put before him. The right lion, membe r for Droitwich was good enough to call on my noble friend and make proposals, when I believe he was received in the most friendly manner, and assured that any really tangible scheme submitted to him would be attentively considered. In whatever way the end in view may best be attained, whether by the establishment of a school for the benefit of the shipping interest generally, to which some assistance might be given by the Government, whether by founding scholarships at the University, or by any other means, we are fully sensible that a great want exists in this respect and any scheme which promises real and permanent sus teas will meet with our earnest attention. With that assur ance I trust that the noble lord will not press his amend ment, As to the motion of the hon. and gallant gentleniou, I think it would be very unadvisable that the subject which it embraces should be referred to any commission. The Go vernment have the means of obtaining information from all quarters as to the best contrivances for the building, mast him or arming of ships, and I sincerely hope the matter will bo left in their hands. (Hear, hear ) Sir F. SMITH said we had not either economical con struction nor the best mode of construction. He suggested forming master shipwrights into committees to give designs for the construction of ships. The house wanted some as- surance that a different course would be pursued in the future to what h td hitherto been followed. Sir J. ELPHINSTONE, in reply, said that the noble lord had admitted that the Government had no dock accom- modation in any part of the world. He had not altered his opinion as to the best solution of the question, but he would withdraw his motion. SEWAGE OF TOWNS COMMISSION. Mr. K. SE YMER moved that the analysis of evidence appended to the report of the select committee on sewage of towns in the session of 1862 be cancelled, on the ground of an irregularity in the proceeding of that committee in excluding all debatable matter from the report of the com mittee, and producing it all in the analysis of evidence. The hon. gentleman quoted from the report and analysis in proof of the proposition. Mr. PAGET seconded the motion. Mr. BItADY opposed the motion, and contended that there were three propositions which could not be contro verted—First, that the agricultural interest suffered from the want of good manure ; secondly, that that want had been partially supplied by artificial manure; and thirdly, that it was not for the interest of the trade that any change in Ihe present system should take place. The hon. gentleman then proceeded to criticise the report of the royal commis sion, and remarked especially upon that part which alluded to the unknown process of applying manure all the year round. Mr. AYRTON supported the motion. Sir G. GREY thought that there was some mistake in he manner in which the hon. member for Leitrim em bodied his views on the report, and recommended the ana lysis to bo cancelled. i. r. BRADY consented t) withdraw the analysis. The motion was agreed to. BAKEHOUSES REGULATION BILL. The report as amended was considered. ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN (IRELAND) BILL, The Lords' amendments to this bill were considered and agreed to, with the exception of one, which was rejected on a division by 21 to 20. WAYS AND MEANS. The report on ways and means was brought up and agreed to. In answer to Mr. L YOON, The CHA.NCELLOR, of the EXCHEQT3ER said he could not state what would ho the amount of the tax on club-houses. The Consolidated Fund (£20,000,000) and the Exchequer Bond (£ 1 ,0000,000) Bills were read a second time. The house adjourned at five minutes to two o'clock. AMERICAN MAILS. —The following steamers are due this week :—The City of New York, from New York on the 18th inst., is due at Queenstown this morning; the North American, from Portland on the evening of the 18th, is due at Moville or Greencastle this evening:; and the Africa, from New York on the 22d inst., is duo at .Queen. 3tgw7l Qu Saturday THE INSURRECTION IN POLAND. (Flom the Special Correspondent of the Times.) CRACOW, April 20. Mr. Pope Hennessy arrived here last Friday from Vienna, after previously passing through Paris. Before the next morning nearly 700 persons had called upon him. Some left their portraits ; others portraits of relations whom they had lost in the in surrection ; many of the visitors came from the neighbouring villages, and deputations from various parts of Galicia sent messages or brought cards. On Sunday a grand banquet in honour of Mr. Hennessy was given at the Club, or " Ressource." Upwards of the 100 persons (nearly all attired in the ancient Polish costume, worn only on State occasions) sat down ; among whom were Count Adam Potocki and M. Kirchmeyer, members of the Galician Diet and representatives of Cracow in the Reichsrath ; Count Leon Skorupka, Deputy for the city of Cracow in the Galician Diet; Count Henry Wodzicki and M. Wieloglowski, also members of the Diet ; M. Bantkowski, late chief of Luagicwicz's S aff, and, until the insurrection broke out, Deputy for one of the districts of Posen in the Prussian Chamber, &e.; proprietors from Posen, from the Kingdom, from Lithuania, Vulhpnia, Podolia, and the Ukraine—in short, from every part of Poland— were present ; and Cracow in particular was repre sented by members of all classes of the community, including, of course, the adherents of " the Mosaic Confession." Long before the cloth was removed, and, in ac cordance with the Polish custom, on the production of the champagne, Count Leon Skorupka rose to propose the toast of the evening. Without the slightest foreign accent and in the most fluent manner he delivered the following speech in Eng lish : " Sir,—lt is my duty, as well as my right, as Deputy of this town which you honour with your presence, to be the first on this present occasion to bid you welcome. Ido it, sir, not only in the name of the inhabitants of this old ne cropolis of Polish glory and Polish power, but also, I will venture to say, in the general name of .my countrymen, who all would be happy to express their feelings of sincere gratitude to the man who first, in present circumstances, raised his voice in the Parliament of England in defence of our sacred rights. Your deep feeling, sir, for our cause, the powerful eloquence of your words pronounced in our favour, spread your name rapidly in the remotest parts of our country, and in our hearts the name of Hennessy placed itself by the side of the memory of that great and faithful friend of ours—Lord Dudley Stuart. Believe me, your task so honourably chosen will not be sterile, and already the general sympathies of the people of England stand as a proof that the principles of right and justice which you ac cepted to defend will sooner or later also prevail in the des tinies of our country, supported by the powerful action of your Government. My voice is unable to exp-ess rightly the strength of our feelings, and the number of persons here does not answer to what this town wished to do for your reception. But as, unaccustomed to speak your lan guage, I am obliged to limit myself to these few words, so their number is limited by the place itself, all our larger public halls being now given up for the use of our wounded brethren. Permit me in conclusion to drink your health." Mr. Hennessy replied as follows: "Gentlemen,—Though I regret I cannot speak in your native tongue, I shall not apologise for thanking you in the English language, for it is the language of a free people, ever friendly and now devoted to Poland. Nor can I be content with merely offering to you my heartfelt gratitude for this great and unexpected ovation ; I thank you also for giving me an opportunity, in this ancient and famous city, of reviewing your present situation. At this moment you are a nation. In the year 1862, and for many a year before, the world gave you much idle sympathy, and much of that barren pity it bestows on those whose doom is supposed to be sealed. In the year 1863 sentiment has given place to reality ; the world has been awakened to the accomplished fact of your existence; Europe is wel coming you once more into her fa►nily. For this great fact—that you are now a nation—Poland has to thank the Poles, Three months ago the insurrection burst forth ; day after day it gathered strength and sprek.d across the land, and at this hour the number of patriot soldiers at war with Russia and the area over which they operate are greater than they have ever been. Add to this, that the winter is passed ; that mutual confidence now exists between all sec- tiona of the national party, and that the Russians are pro posing terms and talking of concessions. Such are the results achieved in Poland by the Poles. Second only to these great events are the victories the Poles have won outside of Poland. In En gland we find public opinion pronouncing more strongly every day in your favour. What could demonstrate this more clearly than the four important and influential meet ings held on behalf of Poland in London, Liverpool, Man chester, and Sheffield ? In France the same unanimity of feeling is shown whenever the name of your noble and un happy country is mentioned—and the name of Poland is now nn c 1 ipa Tn T 40 1 3. two Poworo oaiab, ing in their views on all other questions, are yet agreed on the subject of Poland,—the Poles may reckon equally on the sympathies of the Holy Father and of King Victor Emma nuel. Sweden, bound to Poland by common traditiorls of liberty, has declared with one voice that it adopts your cause. In fine, wherever public opinion exists the word bas gone forth that Poland must be free. I, for my part, am against all compromise, and say, as I have always said, that the Poland you must have is Poland united, free, and inde pendent. I see around me many Deputies, but I cannot forget that they are Deputies in a foreign Parliament, When next I have the pleasure of visiting your beautiful country may they be the representatives of the Polish nation sitting in a Polish Diet." At the conclusion of the dinner Count Wodzicki, member of the Galician Diet, presented Mr. Hen nessy with a very handsome silver goblet studded with facsimiles of ancient Polish medals and coins, and bearing this inscription, " To Pope Hennessy, the sincere advocate of Polish rights ; grateful Cracow." M. Siemienski, a poet of celebrity, and one of the editors of the Czas, then came forward and re cited some verses, of which the following is a translation:— How shall we greet our guest of the great nation which rules alone o'er Neptune's realms ? Shall we welcome him with a golden honeycomb, as in the days of the Piasts, or with a gift of horses from the Hetman's stud ? Or shall we offer him the far-famed sword of Zolkiewski; or, lastly, admit him to the rights of tho country's nobility ? " H. " Thus in ancient times did the King and the National Diet greet envoys and visitors of mark. But since Poland has been stretched on the cross the Pole has become a stranger in his own home; and he has now no chargers to eller, he seeks in vain for swords, and the honey is all gone. The wasps have eaten it up I " 111. With what, then, shall we greet thee—unless with an old legend drawn from the people's Sibylline Books, and written down in the days when the nation rose with faith in the name of the Virgin and strove with arms against its enemies P It was then that an inspired bard, while bewailing the agony of Pt land, foretold its re demption. " IV. And though the legend itself is dark it speaks to us nevertheless of Albion, and tells how daylight shall first break upon us from her cliffs, and then the Turk shall water his horses under the walls of Cracow. Lo I beneath the funeral pall the heart of Poland beats once more. Guest, thou art surely the wished-for herald of the joyful Wings." Allusion is made in the last two stanzas to a popular legend, written by a Polish Cossack named Wernyhora in 1768, when the confederates of Bar rose against the Russian invasion which preceded the first partition. The prediction is to the effect that the first signs of the restoration of Polish inde pendence will come from England, and that then the Turks will water their horses before the church of St. Mary at Cracow. At present, if the Russians are not actually at the foot of this church, they can be seen nevertheless from the highest of its two lofty towers. The sky is now beautifully (dear, and from the belfry of St. Mary's any one, with a tolerably good glass, can see the Cossack patrons keeping guard outside the ruins of Miechow. During the dinner an immense crowd had assem bled in the market-place, which the wineows of the Ressource overlook, and the soldiers were called out to watch the proceedings. An enthusiastic cheer was raised for Mr. Hennessy, which was repeated with increased vigour when he appeared to acknow ledge it. Not only did the troops not interfere, but many of them—probably the Poles and Bohemians of the regiment—raised their hats and waved them in the air. The crowd was composed of persons of all classes, and, for the most part, of tradespeople, workmen, and peasants. April 21. The following order, addressed by the Governor of Galicia, Count Mensdorff, to all the principal functionaries or the province, has just been commu nicated to me:— " IMPERIAL LIETJTENANCY, LEMBERG—No. 662. " As the passage of men and transport of arms into the Kingdom of Poland, with the view of aiding the insurreo tigll; Rtill coutilawo, I cauot noonamend 7O f3tr9 agl9 enough to use all means in your power to put an end to this troublesome agitation. " For this purpose local guards must be established every where, and orders are to be given to the authorities in every village to inform the chiefs of distracts, without de lay, of every passage or assemblage of strangers, wherever it may take place. The chiefs of districts will then, without delay, arrest all such persons, either on their passage or at their place of meeting. " In places where the authorities have no other aid at their service the peasants, under intelligent direction, may be employed. " The authorities must proceed to execute the presen order with energy and zeal, and all attempts to assist the in• surrection will prove ineffectual. " Lemberg, April 6." " MENSDORFF, We have beard to-day of one effect of this order. A number of pe , sants, under what Count Mensdorff would perhaps call " intelligent direction," stopped a lady travelling in Galicia, and searched her, for the purpose of ascertaining whether she was a woman or a man in woman's clothes. Galicia is now under the absolute, irresponsible government of the peasants, and the educated classes will have to thank them, and not Count Mensdorff, if outrages in the style of the massacres of 1846 are not committed. No head money, it is true, has yet been formally offered, but the peasants have not forgotten how liberally they were rewarded for the murders com mitted under the " intelligent direction" of the Go vernment now 16 years ago. Domiciliary visits continue to be made every night in Cracow. At all well-regulated hotels the proprietor knows beforehand at what time the police may be expected, and the waiters go round to the various rooms whispering in a mysterious voice, " Revision ! Take care of your papers." I leave the only paper the police have any right to trouble themselves about on the table, and go to bed. Between six and seven o'clock in the morning—as soon as the outer door of the hotel is open, so that people can get in without knocking—a party of Austrian police make their appearance, and demand admission into each room in succession. After seiz ing my passpoi t and examining the lithographed signature of the Foreign Minister in the right hand corner with great care, they exclaim, " Ail right, Sir Russell," and go away. So few English travel lers come to Galicia, and during the last two years such perfect liberty of locomation has been allowed, that none of the newly appointed local officials know what to make of an English passport now that the Government has once more returned to its ancient habit of regarding all strangers with sus picion. It is said that when Mr. Finkenstein passed the Galician frontier both the Austrian and Russian functionaries insisted for some time that he must be " John, Earl Russell, Viscount Amberley, a Peer of the United Kingdom," &c. Had they continued under this delusion it would not have saved him any the more from the ferocity of the Russian soldiers. The Marquis de Montbel, late an officer in the Zouaves of the Papal army, had some trouble with his passport yesterday, which led to the police hav ing some trouble with the Marquis de Montbel. M. de Montbel is a young man not yet of age, and I be lieve his father has requested that he might not be allowed to carry out his intention of joining the Polish insurgents. However that may have been, the police deprived him of his passport, sur rounded him, struck him, and endeavoured to arrest him. 40n receiving a blow, however, the young Zouave wrested a sabre from the hand of the nearest gendarme, and annoutsced his determina tion to perforate the first person who approached him too closely. The Commissary of Police now altered his tone, and promised to allow the French officer to depart in peace, if he would first of all lay down the sabre. " Pas si bete Vous me prenez petit etre pour un Allemand," was the reply; and M. de Menthe! kept his adversaries at bay until he reached the street, where he was re ceived by the Polish public with loud applause. The passport, however, was not returned, and M. de Montbel, who is naturally rather indignant at the manner in which be has been treated by t he Aust police, went this afternoon to Vienna, intending, it is said, to lay his case before M. de Gramont. The Hungarians have collected a considerable sum of money for the Poles, a portion of which has been spent on linen, lint, and arms. Inquiries instituted by the military authorities of Hungary led to no thing, as the arms, &c., had already been forwarded to Cracow. A letter from the other side of the mountains informs me that in the formerly Polish, now Hungarian comitat of Zips, three proprietors of Polish origin, Prokopovics by name, whose family was established in the province before the first par tition, have just been arrested for issuing an address calling upon the Hungarians to take up arms on behalf of Poland. There is an immense deal of sympathy, and even enthusiasm, for the Polish cause in Hungary ; but I am told that there is no orga nised plan for gathering subscriptions; that there is some doubt as to what ought to be done with the money when it is collected, and that numbers of persons who are anxious to join the ranks of the in surgents do not know where to get information as to the means of doing so. The Poles, as I have al ready remarked, are in no want of men—unless, in deed, they come ready armed, as the majority of the Hungarian volunteers doubtless would. But they stand greatly in need of rifles and ammunition, and, therefore, of money, for 'which—if enough be only forthcoming—rifles and ammunition can be bought anywhere, under all circumstances. COURT OF ALDERMEN. A Court of Aldermen was held yesterday in the Aldermen's Chamber, Guildhall. The Right Hon, the Lord Mayor presided. The Sheriffs' report on the condition of prisons stated the number of prisoners in Newgate to be 137, in the debtors' prison 94, and the City Prison at Holloway 437. Sir J. Musor,AvE said, in reference to the number of prisoners set forth in the report as being at pre sent confined in IfolloWay Prison, heshould besorry if any misconstruction should arise, and the public should imagine that the accommodation was not such as was desirable. The prison, it was well known, was constructed to hold 400 prisoners, whereas there was now 437 confined there, and some were obliged to be confined with the others. He thought the cause of so large a number should be made known, and he thought a return might be made, and laid before the Court at their next meet-. ing, of the number of prisoners last year in compa rison with the present, and their sentences, and the offences for which they were imprisoned. He thought the increase was in a great measure caused by the difference in the severity of the punishment of the prisoners, as, where formerly they used to be sen tenced to six and nine months' imprisonment, they are now sentenced to 12, 18 months, and two years for the same offence. Then, again, acts of Parlia ment were continually passing which enable magis trates to send parties to prison in default of penalties for various offences for the term of one, two, three months, as the case might be ; and he thought the public should see by what means the number of pri soners was augmented, and before any large sum was expended in increasing the accommodation it should he ascertained whether these severe penalties were likely to be continued. He concluded by moving that a return be made, and laid before the Court, of the number of prisoners confined in Hollo way Prison in the corresponding part of last and the preceding year, in comparison with the present with the terms of sentence and the character of their offences. The motion was seconded by Mr. Alderman CARTER. Some brokers were allowed, and, after some routine business had been gone through, the Court adjourned. The Emperor of the French has humanely put a stop to the ill-treatment of animals, which took place under the plea of requirements of science—nam:Ay, by dissection while the animal was alive. " Vivisection' , is, therefore, to be excluded from all colleges for the future. [ADvEausEmENT.]—Holloway's Ointment and Pills.— Alleviation and Cure.—The most loathsome sores, foulest ulcers, and most hopeless bad legs, assume a healthier ap pearance after a very few applications of Holloway's cleansing and healthy unguent. It promptly improves the aspect and soon reduces the irritability of old sluggish ulcers, which have fruitlessly exhausted the surgeon's skill and patient's endurance. By paying attention to the direc tions folded round each pot, the afflicted may easily and fearlessly guide their own ailments to a happy issue, and remove all further cause of trouble and anxiety. It is gratifying to watch the subsidence of inflammation and the gradual decrease of swelling which occur through the cool ing and sedative properties of this inestimable ointment aided by lielleway's pill s , , CITY COMMISSION OF SEWERS, Yesterday, at the weekly meeting of this body, held at Guildhall, Mr. De Jersey in the chair, a deputation attenaed with a memorial signed by 97 of the merchants, bankers, common-councilmen, and others in Cornhill and its neighbourhood, the name of the Lord Mayor being the first on the list, complaining that a public urinal was now being erected by the Commissioners of Sewers in the centre of the open space in front of the Mansion house and the Royal Exchange, and urging the commission to abandon the work. The memo rialists dwelt upon the unsightly appearance of such a place, its inconvenience to the public traffic, which was so extraordinarily great in that part of the city, and to the owners and occupiers of the adjacent property, and upon its being immediately in front of the Wellington statue. Deputy Harrison in presenting the memorial, observed that the pro posed place of accommodation was not only in front of the Mansion-house, but in close proximity to the Bank of England, the Globe Insurance office, and the bank of Messrs. Smith, Payne, and CO, In the course of a discussion which followed, the public necessity for such places was strongly urged upon the commission by Dr. Abraham, Deputy Obbard , and other members, and reference was made by the deputation to the way in which such accommoda tion was afforded in Paris and other continental towns without being unnecessarily obtruded on the public notice. Dr. Abraham reminded the com - mission that the obligation was imposed on them by Act of Parliament to provide such places for the convenience of the citizens, and urged them t o pro ceed with the work. On the other hand it was con• demned by Alderman Carter and Deputy Farrar as wholly oljectionable in such a public locality. Oa the motion of Deputy Harrison, the memorial watt referred to the General Purposes Committee to consider and report whether any and, if atilt what other place, could be found for the erection of a urinal in that neighbourhood. A petition watt next presented by freeholders, leaseholders, and le' habitants of Ludgate-hill and its neighbourhood, stating that they were painfully alive to the fact that, unless immediate steps were take to avert it, 3 viaduct would be placed by the London, Chatham , and Dover Railway Company across Ludgate-htlir under the powers obtained by their act of 1860; that accidents in that now over-crowded thorough' fare were of frequent occurrence, and that it re' . _ quired the utmost vigilance of the police to keep the traffic in proper order; that the headway of the pro' posed bridge was to be only 18ft, and they were col" fident such a bridge would be the cause of still more frequent accidents from the fact of trains passi n g so near the heads of horses in the roadway beneath' They also stated that at the present time Ludgate • hill required to be improved, but that a viaduct sa proposed would seriously interfere with any suc h improvement; that it would shut out from Fleet' street the existing view of the cathedral of St• Paul's, and that they were informed by eminent engineers that the railway might be conveyed un' der Ludgate-hill, by means of a tunnel. Bills, thcf said, were now before Parliament on behalf of the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway Conapanls to extend their time and to transfer the powers ob• tained by them in 1860 to a new company, to 130 called the Ludgate Station and Junction Railo9 Company; and that an opportunity — was thus afforded of making arrangements with the ca n : pany to carry out the proposed railway withou t constructing the obnoxious viaduct. The m e morial was referred to the Improvement Company. Dr' Letheby, the medical officer of health for the ego reported on the state of 191 houses that had boa inspected during the week, and he submitted a list of 79 places for sanitary improvement. He sub- witted a certificate of the indecent and utisvh°le' some overcrowding of the house, No. 5, Catherine' wheel-alley, Bishopsgate-street, and he also cer• tified that the two houses, Nos. 11 and 12, in Fir' ball-court, Houndsditch, were permanently oi l ' fit for human habitation. The mortality r e ' turns for the week are above the averse_ for the season, Last week there were 64 deat in the city, the average number for the correspac cii ing period of the last se v e n y ears b e i ng 59; 22 the deaths were among infants, and 13 among P et : sons of 60 and upwards. The chief causes of death were as follows :—Pnthisis, 8 ; tubercular diseaseei 4 ; pneumoni , , 2; bronchitis, 8 ; whooping-coug h ' 1 ; diphtheria, 1; measles, 5; smallpox, 5; sca rlet - fever, 5 ; diarrhoea, 2 ; and continued fever, 1 making together 12 deaths from tubercular disease' 10 from inflammatory aff ec ti ons o f the lungs , and 20 from diseases of a zymotic character. Fig- seven births were registered in the week. COUNTRY MARKETS. -4 , LEEDS—TUESDAY. There bas been a decided improvement in the tone dill: trade since last week, and a lair business done at is advalt i on late prices. Oth er ar ti c l es were qu i et, and unchangv iu value. MARKET HARBOR° UGH—TuEsDAY. e . White wheat, 49s to 50 s ; re d , 46 s to 48s per 36 ei°l/00 3 Malting barley at 35s to 86 8, per qr.; grinding, 28s t o 0 per 30 at, Oats, old, 265, to 28e; new, 22s to 25s per at. ; beans, 38s to 42s per qr. SHEFFIELD —TUESDAY, i g 6a Red wheat, per load of 3 imperial bushels...lss Od to A'' S ga White f, , New red f 9 New white „ ), Beans 7) f) Peas, per qr Grinding barley, per qr .... . ... ... . 41 2 2:. 56 0 858 sss s ss 0060 0 0 dddd d d : i t 000 o: 51 2 3: 66909 1 :6100 : 0 a dij Malting ditto, lf 34s Od to 385 Oats o d ' to Z's If 2210d Flour, is 7d to 23 2d per stone. LIVERPOOL —TUESDAY. At our market to-day there was a moderate busille lsls ; and wheat was 3d to 4d per cental dearer. Oats Id P e t bushel higher. For Indian corn the demand was brisk, e o Is per qr advance on the week. Barley, beans, and 1 3 _,, e3 ment saleable. Oatme a l 6d p er l oa d d earer. Anierlo' flour generally held for Is per barrel more money. MELTON MOWBRAY—TUESDAY. The following were the currencies :—New white 48s Od to 63s Od; new red, 43s Od t o 49s per 36 ston e ''.ston e ' '. beans, 40s to 41s for old; new sorts, 36s to S9s per 38 s fo t ' i ! barley, 35s to 39s for malting, and 27s to 29s per gr• grinding; oats, 23s to 30s Od per 24 stone. Foreign Mail Packet List. MAILS DUE. A.uKralia and Mauritius, via Southampton. MaY 4 9 ‘ . via Marseill es No ..'- Jrazil and Cape Verds, by British packet. MaY 4 ' Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena., May 2, China, Penang, an d Si ngapore, v i a Southampton.MaY 0, via Marseilles NO Falkland Islands„ Gibraltar,_ via Southampton May ''' India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampt on . May via Marseilles..., May - 1 1, India (Bombay), via South am pt on MaY 6 ` . via Marseilles May Portugal..., .. .. a isl M :y Y 4.1 4 : Newfoundland Malta, Egypt, and Aden, v i a S ou th ampton via Marseilles, ,Apr MaY 4.9," Oporto and Vigo U. S. and Briti s h N . A mer i ca, by Brit. packet.... API.' by U.S. packet.... 1 , by Canadian packet. May , o , W.C. of Afri ca , M a d e i ra, and Teneriffe MaY r ; Bahamas, via New York IM !, BY 'B, Mexico Ap r.,' . 8. All parts of W es t I n di es , i nc l u di ng C hili, Peru, t Apr. 9 - California, and B r iti s h C o l um bi a. . I _....1 Births. BRIGGS.—On the 24th inst., at Cath er i ng t on House,23°,o, the wife of Major Briggs, lat e Ki ng ' s Dragoon Wyk of a son, stillborn. IN l' NORBIJILY.—On the 25th i ns t ., at The Norest, near - 1a vern, the Hon, Mrs. Norbury, of a daughter. TREVOR.—On the 27th inst., at Richmond, Stara, the wife of Frederi c k G . Trevor, Esq., of a son. t he WYv.H.L.--On the 27th inst., at 18, Eccleston-scria re ' wife of M. Wy v ill, jun., Esq., M P., of a daughter. Marriages. tel, mENNIE—MusooLL.—On the 25th inst., at N etieli - ti oar l George Me nn i P Esq., of Ply mou th, t o harlotte, e e ' daughter of th e late John Driscoll, Esq., Plywouth• litoo ST ONOR — COULTHIIRST.—On the 22d inst , at Brettg,dot Hall,Yorkshir e , th e H on. Thomas Edward Stoner ,el t he son of Lord Ca mo y s , t o Catherine, eldest daughte r of late John Coulth urs t, E sq., of Gargrave Hall. Deaths. dies BINGIiA3L—On the 25th iust., at Friar-gate, DerhYt Bingham, aged 86. HAwKswok n.TH.—Ou the 27th lust ,at 32, tre et rer —.s Islington, John Hawks wor th , Esq , aged 79. C. 13. HASLEWOOD.—Drowned, on the 7th Feb., the Re v * r on Haslewood, M.A., Ch ap l a i n and Naval I ns tructor board H.M.S. Orpheus. Iszret t, JARRETT —At Sheri)Orno Hous© Warwick, John Esq., of Catnerto n House_, Some rse t s hi r e, aged 60 t . 13er' VERLANDER.—On the 2bth inst., at 26, Davis-sbree 9 4 or keley - square, Alice. relic t , of the late Jacula AIeS Verlander, M.D., aged 91. ,ors, London i Prn ted and Published by WILLIAM ANl3.l°' 11 2 of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at THE Sur: Office. n i pt Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, ill lIA9 C 9 ' 115 , 10,ViScd1.—Wc5415§07, APtil 3 9 i 413°1 ~' l `~ \.