The Sun. — London, England, 1863-12-26 00:00:00

Mr. Bruce, M.P., and his Constituents, Mr. H. A. Bruce, M.P. for Merthyr, has this week met his constituents at the Temperance-ball in that town ; Mr. W. Harris, the High Constable, took the chair, and the room was filled. Mr. BRUCE, ore rising, was received with loud cheers. He said it was now two years since he had the honour of tnee'ing them in that h a ll. At the time when it was his usual practice to call together his constituents an important and laborious office was offered to him by her Majesty's Government. At that time also it had pleased God to afflict him with serious domestic trials, and he hoped they would excuse him on those grounds in failing to meet those engagements, which up to that time he had fulfilled satisfactorily to himself, if not to them. (Applause.) At the present time there was no cause to prevent his meeting them, and he therefore came to render, as the chairman had said, an account of his stewardship. The chairman had held out to him that among his constituents there were some who dissented from his opinions; as if that was a strange matter. He had never been led to expect unanimity of opinion among his constituents, and wished to be allowed a free exercise of his own. He would not weary them with going back over the routine of the two last sessions, but he thought it would be sufficient for all purposes to limit his remarks to the last session. There was the same Government in office. The same ruling principle was acted upon in both sessions. Of course, if he had given any vote in the session of 1862 in opposition to their views, but of which he could not then recollect, he hoped they would have the honesty to get UP and tell him so. (Applause.) The last session of Parliament had been charged as having been in soma respects an idle one. He could not agree with that statement. He personally had found it a most hlabo rious one. The duties of his office had generally more closely confined him than usual; but with these duties he could state that his attendance at the House of Commons was third in point of numbers. Although there was no great question brought forward during the last session in the shape of bills, 165 were passed, besides 38 private ones. He mast say that the expectations pervading the public mind of large and important measures being carried oat every session were impolitic. The Poor Law, the Muni cipal Act, by which cheap justice was brought home to the poor man ; free trade, and free trade not in corn only ; these, and many other measures, whose importance it would be tedious to detail, could not be carried out every session. Had no measure been introduced, the business of the session would have been completed. Of course, in these very changing times such an idea would be regarded as Utopian. But it was true that it was no longer possible to bring forward measures to improve the interests of importance which have been passed in former ses sions. At the same time, though few bills have been presented, of what might be called by some of national importance, questions of very great in terest had been discussed. The debates on interna tional law, as in the case of the Alexandra ; the question upon the subscription to the articles, the subject of charities, our relations with America, and one or two others, were topics of the highest national interest, and also the inquiry into our rela tions with America. All these topics were con sidered and discussed with a great deal of earnest ness ; and he thought, if they looked at these mea sures, they would consider that the House of Commons had no need to be ashamed of itself at anything which might have been said respecting last session. One charge had been repeatedly made in the columns of the limes, that the liberal party seemed to have deserted its colours ; that they have given up bills, and had failed to perform the promises with which they started; that they were responsible for the want of energy displayed during the session. He was sure they would agree with him this was not a fair re presentation of the matter. It was quite true that government went into office pledged to carry a mea• sure of reform of a wider character than that of their predecessors. The measure, when introduced, found much opposition, and it received very little support from the liberal party out of doors. The Reform Bill was lost, but there was no sympathy for it in the country. At the time when the first Reform Bill was propoied the constituency amounted to 1,000,000; of these it was believed only 500 be longed to the working classes. The proposition of the government during the last session was to extend the franchise to 400,000 more; this would have in cluded about 150,000 working men. The result would have been that the working class would have repre sented one seventh of the constituency. This bill, as might have been exp tited, met with strong oppo sition from the Conservatives, and the Liberals abandoned the bill because they feit they could not carry it. But when the bill was abandoned there was no expression of regret on the part of the country. When the Reform Bill was dropped the whole ccuntry was in arms ; there was tumult every where. He could put his hand on letters that had been sent to a relation of his asking him to head a revolutionary movement. The country was then in riot from one end to the other. On this occasion there did not seem the ghost of a feeling in its favour even among his own constituents, though Merthyr would h ave been benefittcd by the bill more than any other town in the country. He thought by so doing thei r constituency would have ben increased to 14,(X)51 4,000 of whom would have been working men, tat by this bill they would in a grea t mea sure Vtkpt ,kiting men. the representation into the hands o f thoueh n Ho did not support the bill, for tion of the Z 044 one who ad v ocat e d a f a i r representa classes, at the same time he con sidered they rk en in g 'l t not to swamp the whole of the CoEStitUeney. result would doubtless have been to put in t el he bato,% ot the working classes come y places enti, Bat w e h s e ir t e h d er it it it w w a o s uld pr h op av e e r o r not, had the country d been carried. Let this to t lZtry set their hearts upon and say that they are i a very Short t 'me that measure is sure to be carried. He questioned his memory in vain ; he ( . ;.id not remember any oneof his constituents ex- I pressing the slightest regret. that the bill w as aban ,h doned. At the same time e\ linjt r3' were accused o: not having brought forward any -- asur e making a radical organic change. It Was n•Qt the business of the Government to bring forward a q„etti° the y had no chance of carrying. anoth er instance of the strange fatality whicl P °ss essee this country at this time—he did not know that he „ ußir , to call it strange, for a ft er all it expre ssed a wide contempt of what had been done, for had the tou t . try set their hearts upon it the measure would have been carried, therefore the epithet strange Wa s rill ' - placed ; but that in all this there was something remarkable he could not hut express his conviction. He received a letter some time since asking him why he voted against the Irish Church Bill. His answer was that he did not vote against the bill, for the simple reason that it never came to the vote. At the same time, however much he respected Mr. I)illwyn, he should have supported the Govern ment, on these grounds was wrong to intro duce a bill there was no prospect of being carried, lao eever well he might be satisfied that the state of the Irish Church was a scandal to their coun try that could not be denied upon any single Principle of justice ; but the Government felt at the same time, in the present disturbed state of th e public mind, that there was no chance of dealing successfully with that question. He need rio t ask them if the y considered it fair that the endowments - nte which they believed were given to a whole People should be given to one man or to one The question would not bear the least examination. But when such a question was brought forward the Government were bound to consider whether if they , brought forward the bill there was and real chanc e of success. need not he not ask them whether they tho ught_ at.. any question of such a na t ur e relative to taheiaur_ehohc church would have been supported by g majority, It e the ti n history put to to the t was the operation o f that injustice so people of Ire land which had struck a black spot onu of England. He b ad answered the q him in the letter just by way of illustration, though he did not think he should have gone quite Bo far as Mr. Dillwyn ; but at the same time as a member of the Government he must say that there was not the slightest chance of carryi ng the questio n , . u. Cheers,) Whilst he was upon the a Nect of Ireland, 1 he could not avoid making a few remarks upon the effect of emigration on that country He could not conceive why people should be astonished that the inhabitants left a country where wages were 10d. a day for another country where wages were from 6s. to 7s. Was it to be wondered at that people desired to better themselves, and leave for another rather than starve in their own unfortunate country P (Applause.) They all knew that Ireland suffered from an over population. It had an immense amount of people. Ten millions depending upon a soil which was scarcely sufficient for their support in good seasons. In 1846, this country was visited with a blight upon its root crop, and since that period there has been a decrease of the population, from emigration and other causes. What had been the result ? The greatest beneficial change which he believed had ever taken place in any other coun try. Up to 1860 the principal change had been a diminution of the population, and an almost marvel lous increase in the value of property. Let him ask them" to consider what a great and silent revolution was going on there, and whether they did not think that in a few years Ireland would take that rank which was her inheritance (applause) both from the nature of the soil and the character of her inhabi tants. One of the evils they all knew which afflicted Ireland was the lawlessness of the inhabitants. While in this country all the people ranged them selves on the people were directly opposite. He held in his hand a paper relative to the decrease of the population of Ireland. In 1841 there were 8 millions of people, in 1851 it had fallen to 6,550,000, and in 1861 still further to 5,750,000. Bat with this decrease of crime ; ao closely were poverty and crime united. In 1851 the committals were 24,600. In 1861 they had fallen to 5,760; not one-fourth. Murder, as they knew, was at one time a dreadful feature in Irish history. The number of murderers punished in 1851 was 118 ; in 1861 these were re duced to 30. In these times there were also many cases of conspiracy. The number of cases occurring in 1851 were 10, in 1861 they hadlfallen to nothing. These things strongly illustrated the fact how closely poverty and crime were connected. They saw here that the population bad decreased 25 per cent. Property had he the same time increased 25 per cent, and crime had decreased 75 per cent. What was the cause of Irish misery ? It was the occu pation of small patches of land. In 1851 there were 301.000 of these pieces of ground, from one to five acres in extent. In 1861 there were only 81,000. Here they saw a gradual change going on, and he was satisfied that in the future they would find them by no means inferior to any of the agricultural parts of the British Empire. He remembered when he last met them, that Lanca shire and Ireland were the principal subjects which occupied the public mind. It was time to make a few remarks upon the patience with which the English people have borne their privations. Many persons believed then that the failure of the cotton supply would not only be the ruin of Lancashire, but the destruction of almost every other branch of trade. Now, after two or three years of this failure, instead of the country being less prosperous than formerly, this, in some respects, had been the most fortunate year that Eng land had ever known as a country. (Cheers.) There was great distress in Lancashire, no doubt, but in almost every other part there had been considerable prosperity, and yet at this time two of the greatest orators—two of the greatest statesmen—took upon themselves the trouble of informing the working classes that they were the most miserable, as a class, of any in a similar position in any other nation 10 Europe. There was one thing in which he should like to see English workmen improve, and that was in making the most of their wages, to learn to make their money go as far as they could. In this they might perhaps learn a lesson from their continental brothers. But to say that the English workmen was inferior to the continental one was opposed to his conviction, and must be so also to any one who had examined the question. The same persons asserted that an easy remedy might be found in altering the tenure of land. That was a subject that might meet with some objections ? Was it the desire of the working man to possess land. England steed in a peculiar position; it was the most thickly populated country in the world. The consequence was, that being full, it caused a competition for land. The alteration of laws would not reduce competition,but would serve to increase it. The possessor of land could scarcely realise more than 3 per cent. on land, and was it likely that the man who only possessed perhaps £2OO or £3OO would be content with 3 per cent. when by investing it in cottages he could rea lise 6 or 7 per cent. ? Some considered that if the law of transmission was swept away competition would be reduced ; but in fact this was not the point. The most important question was that the French law should be introduced into England. Then trans. mission of land to their children would be dispensed with, for it would be the duty of the Government fairly to divide the land among the chil dren. The first effect of this system would be that a number of persons now very miserable would be very much improved in their circumstances. But how long would that last? In England within the last ten years the population had increased 4,500,000, of which 2,000,000 bad gone to the colonies. He had not the census of France, to compare its increase with England. A Frenchman, writing about the condition of the French peasantry, gives us an in• stance of the miserable condition of their own peo ple in comparison to the inhabitants of this country. The greatest desire of the Frenchman was the peel session of land. What was the result ? He com plains that the conscription, which as they know prevailed over all classes of the people, had en feebled the people, that the stature was declining. He had read an account a short time ago upon hos pital management in England and France. The article was written by a French physician at Paris, and he asked how it was that English surgeons could perform operations in English hospitals which Frenchmen dared not attempt. Their hospitals were as good, as clearly, as well ventilated as those in England. In the Crimea England lost 25 per cent. ; France 70 per cent. If the people in Eng. were the miserable class persons would have us be lieve, how was it that the people of this country could bear this last trial of man's strength ?—that English people have so much more strength than the French, although they possess land, while the English do not ? He now came round to the Prison Ministers Bill. At present they knew that ever} prison in England and Wales bad a chaplain, and that chaplain was a clergyman of the Church of England, If the prisoner himself wished it—which w 4s not often the case, because prisoners were not a e ery relieious set—if be wished for the reli glees% C e' . he niu% onsolation of one of his own denomination t aek for it. The bill was brought in to enable justices tt. ,. . in their jail a number of prisoners o other a e ,: i ng 4 anations to appoint a chaplain of tha persausion. The number of dissenters in jail was v ery small—, v q ) Plause)—because they did not re cognise as belo nai _ , ug to their body any who had not at t a ched themselv e% some toke n of the ir :4 members, or had not given , pectability—while every dis reputable fellow was included in the list as belong ing to a They found there was n umber of p largetlie Church ri%o of E nailtd. , ners Roman Catholics. The Irish form a very larg e . pro onion ry P of the cri nainal They form 3 per cent. of the e ntire population, bat not that the Irish . a lv t a u s rally,b m population of this count ry ime l , tn l5 per cent of t w h e e remore they were stronger , surrounded with to them •ernptation criminal subjectpo pop that a t t o i o c n r nib Their poverty made them fall more easily, s. bill the Government was able to carry through, although there was some strong opposition. Among other bills to which his votes had been object e d were that of Mr. Somes' and the Oaths Bin . Formerly they knew that every man who refused to take an oath in a court of justice was liable to imprisonment. The Quakers, as a body, took a strict interpretation of the words, "Thou sh alt not swear," and refused to make any other th an an affirmation in a court of justice. The Moravians were determined to avoid taking the oath, and sub- tnitted to imprisonment rather than take the oath. In consequence of this a bill was passed excepting the Moravians and the Quakers. But there were a great many other persons who conscientiously ob jected to take an oath, and a bill was passed which allowed every person who had a conscientious ob jection to take an oath to make the affirmation. He was one who considered that every man should regard his word as sacred as his oath. The oath was a superstitious failing and net a religious feeling; but they knew there were large masses of the people wno attached a greater importance to the oath, and he thought any man must think twice before he took any step to do away with that sacred feeling that was attached to the oath, and his experience had led him to the con clusion that it was not expedient to do away with that form. The next objection was taken to his vote upon Mr. Somes's Bill. He had no doubt that the vote was unpleasant to a very large number of his constituents, because he had received 40 peti tionsin its favo ur . H e lik ed to stand well w i th hi s constituents, but he could not give up his judgment. He must exercise that judgment in voting for what he believed would best serve the interest of his country, and it was upon that principle that he re corded a vote which he then proceeded to justify. There were a great number of persons who, seeing existing evils, were always in a hurry to get rid of them, but do not always take the right road to do so. There was a great deal of drunkenness, especially on the Lord's day. They all knew that drunkenness was the parent of crime, and they all also liked to see the Lord's day reverentially observed. Mr. Somes's Bill was brought forward for the better observance of the Sabbath and the diminution of crime. He wished to be understood that he gave great credit to the promoters of Mr. Somes's Bill and its sup porters in the object they had in view. But what this gentleman proposes to do was, that because a certain number of men were in the habit of getting drunk, a body of men 50 times as numerous were to be deprived of rational enjoyment. Such priva tion in some places it would be impossible to act upon. In order to prevent one man from getting drunk, 99 men would be prevented from having their glass of beer. He had spent a large portion of his lifetime in London, and he had seen hundreds of persous at the dinner hour carrying home their jugs of beer. They would see thousands of persons strolling out on a fine day to some village a short distance from that great city, and they would expect to find some place open to receive them. This bill was, however, part and parcel of the great temperance movement, and he knew that all all such experiments to make people adopt a certain view had failed. Philip 11. thought he was right in adopting the strongest measure he could to prevent any one straying from catholicism, and he put to death a few of those of opposite opinions as a terror to others. There was a desire at one time to fetter the liberty of the press, because occasionally immoral and seditious works were published, but the experiment miserably failed. If, for the sake of preventing the drunken ness of the few, they prevented the enjoyment of the many, they were doing wrong. (Cheers.) It was upon that principle that he opposed Mr. Somes' bill. He did not expect universal assent even from some friends in that room he highly respected. If they differed from him, he respected their views. He had given them his reasons for not voting in s upport of the measure; it was for them to consi der whether his reasons were just. (Applause.) He had been informed that an answer he gave to a question had caused some dissatisfaction. Certainly there had been a considerable amount of misappre hension respecting it. For a certain amount of mis apprehension he was, to some extent, responsible. The subject was this. Sir Morton Peto asked a question of Sir George Grey respecting the mar riage by a clergyman of some parties who had pre viously been married by the registrar. The ques tion asked was—" Would the Government prose cute the clergyman under the statute 4th George IV., chapter 75, section 79 ?" In a letter sent to him It had been mentioned that he had been put to answer the question as Sir George Grey did not like to give the answer himself, and that the reason he gave the answer was that he was a high church man, and was closely connected with several cler gymen. The reason that he (the hon. gentleman) gave the answer was that Sir George Grey was very unwell at the time, and scarcely able to speak above a whisper. He, therefore, looked into the section mentioned, and found that according to the statute any person so committing himself was liable to penal servitude for life, as the clergyman had entered the names of the parties in the register as if they had not been previously married. It was clear in this case that there was no intention to vio late the register, and he answered.to that effect. What the clergyman intended to do was to cast a slur upon the previous marriage, and he (the speaker) said at the time that he had shown a want of good taste and feeling, but he could not consider there was anything in it to justify transportation. He was ignorant at the time, nor did he know till after the session, that there was a more rec,nt statute, and in this the offence was very reasonably made a misdemeanour. The law allowed marriages to be celebrated in the church that had been previ ously celebrated before the registrar, but in these cases the names were not inserted in the register. There was no question therefore that this gentle man's offence was a misdemeanour. At that time he was ignorant of the latter statute. He hoped it would not occasion them any surprise that the Under-Secretary of State did not know by heart all the statutes. In the answer he gave he did not think he bad cast any slight upon the Dissenters. If there was one thing for which he bad struggled it had been to do justice equally to all. He had not confined himself to votes, although they would find his votes upon the side of religious freedom ; but his words had been directed to the same end, and they should judge by his actions whether he had not always respected the religious feelings of his neighbours. The hon. gentleman then entered into a lengthened explanation with regard to the foreign policy of the Government. 'though he respected the Poles, it was impossible that the British Go - vernment could maintain any other than a neutral position. He regretted the war in Japan, but he said that could not be avoidel An Englishman had been killed, and a lady wounded. The Japanese had been made to pay as indemnity ; and had been requested to give up the murderer. This they refused, and the Admiral of the fleet was ordered to seize three vessels. He did so. Ist passing back with his seizures he was fired upon by a fart; be had returned that fire, and in so doing had set fire to a town, containing a popu tion of 150,000 people. But though much was to be regretted in this, he could not see how it could have been avoided. He alluded to the war in America, and though he had read much, he could not offer an opinion as to whether the South had a right to secede or not, but under the present deve lopment of the armed resources of America, he thought it better, putting the question of slavery on one side, that she should be divided. He was not going to enter into the question as to whether these separate States have power of indepersdent govern ment. As to what were the terms of the Union, it was never definitively stated. There were argu ments used, that the States had power to secede; and, on the other side, arguments to show that they had not. Some men said that the end of slavery would be more quickly attained by the success of the South than by the reunion. There were, they knew, in the Southern States extensive tracts of cultivated swamps where no European could live; and was it likely that the South would give up cul tivating those tracts? He also spoke strongly against those who violated the laws of this country, and cast a doubt upon the good faith of her Govern ment, and thus endangered a rupture by such pro ceedings. It might be that the evidence in the case of the Alexandra was insufficient. It might be that the judges, who were then considering the question , as an infringement within the meaning of the Act, may pause; but did any person doubt that she was built as a vessel of war ? Then there were the steam rams. The question respecting them was, for whatetstuir)e of ower were they intended ? There might be . somet.l3 Government, difficulty in proving that point. As regards the justness of the war, he gave no opinion. Arguments on both sides were strong, one thing, athey bringw ou would intonot owish-n implicatetaondhe v t e mpt by the acts of those who, it must be said, wer e violating the law was one the nativ es b rought on them s. reee Schleswig-Holstein questeionn,epxatsetioeugchfreedmutpboan the t to the war in New Zealand. H e regretted that it was simply anothe r c h apter in uni versalthat when the civili se d and the 11 - s w e a le , s b , h u a t ins it was r y THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 26, 1863, civilised met, the uncivilised went to the wall. It seemed to be the rule in such cases that might made right. The strong race succeeded. They saw in their own history the British yielding to the Saxon, the Saxon to the Norman, and however much they might regret the extinction of the Maori rac , he was sorry to say that these people appeared to bring this result upon themselves, and like all other uncivilised nations, firing on their own extermination. "1 have now," he said, passed in brief review the principal events of last session. I was going to say that I was alarmed at the statement of the chairman at the opening of the meeting, that this was to be an exception to all others in respect to the harmony of our discussions, but I have been accustomed to discussion, and I believe that the reason that I stand well with the electors is that I respect difference of opinion. (Applause.) The hon. gentleman resumed his seat after an address which had occupied nearly two hours in delivery, and much applause. After a few minutes, Mr. JONES, of Thomas-town, rose and made some observations in favour of Mr. Somes's Bill. He was glad to hear Mr. Bruce make a few remarks upon the desirability of the working-men making the most of their money. He had often advo cated to them the desirability of their making the most of their money. He was glad to notice that Mr. Bruce had slightly changed in his opinions in respect to the teetotallers. He called them now excellent people, but formerly he called them superficial observers. After a short time he that would be drawn still closer to t afterwards remarked that Mr. Bruce had formerly stated that drunkenness was only e perhaps f ter rational recreation. This was iollowed by strong thoughth m. He a w h cries of "No, no." He considered the closing of the publio-houses on Sundays would be the greatest blessing that could fall upon the land. Mr. W. GOULD advocated th e b a ll o t. _ _ Mr. T. COOPER made a rather amusing address in Welsh on the misappropriation of charity funds for educational purposes. Mr. W. DATfEs, a workman, from the body of the meeting, spoke,very eloquently at times,against the truck system which existed at Aberdare. He said they had put the truck master into the County Court, from that court the case had been removed to a higher court, where they could not follow it. He was glad that he worked for men that paid him in the coin of the realm ; but there were many as good workmen es he who had to submit to the truck, who, when they received a £1 order would take it to the cashier, but they could draw no money, they must take it to the big store, where that was reduced in value ss. There were instances of great privation caused by this system, and he asked the tradesmen to support such men as would seek to abolish the obnoxious system. The Rev. Taos. JENKINS also made some obser vations in favour of Mr. Somes' Bill, adducing the success in Scotland of the Mackenzie Act, and its effect in the diminution of crime. Mr. BRUCE rose to reply. He stated first that the success of the Mackenzie Act was not so great as would appear, that though criminal cases o❑ the Monday were reduced, the amount of crime in Scot land had not decreased. He also considered that it was the custom to observe the Sabbath in Scotland more strictly than in England ; that beer was not drunk there so much as spirits were; that spirits would keep but beer would not, which if purchased on the Saturday would be flat on Sunday. There was also a great deal of private drunkenness in Scot land on the Sabbath. Mr. Bruce alluded to the de crease of the amount of spirits used in this country. He also noticed that there were petitions from New castle, Halifax and Sheffield, against the bill. One was signed by 10,000, another by 20,000, and the third by 24,000 people. He told Mr. Davis that the remedy for the truck system was in the hands of the workmen ; the system was illegal. They could summon the master for wages, when the order for goods would not be considered pay ment. In this opinion he was supported by the opinion of a very eminent legal gentleman ; but they must not go and fire a shot here and there, they must go on with a systematic course ; and only when the law was found to fail must they appeal for stronger measures. With regard to the charity question, he felt sure, after the able re marks made by Mr. Gladstone some time since upon this question, it would not long remain in its present position. A vote of thanks and an expression of undimi nished confidence in their representative was adopted. Metropolitan Board of Works AnnuaL Report The following is an abstract of the report of the Metropolitan Board of Wurks of its proceedings for the yEar The Northern High Level Main Drainage—The sewer, commencing at the river Lea, Old Ford, extends to Hollo way, eight miles in length, and nearly 10It in diameter; is completed, at a cost of £181,722. Acton Branch—This sewer ex t en d s f rom A c t on -b o tt ®m to Notting-dale, 1 mile and 2,070 ft i n l eng th, a b ou t 4ft i n diameter ; is completed, at a cost o f £9,820. Ranelagh Overflow Sower —This sewer commences in Knightsbridge, passes under Hyde-park and Kensington gardens, 1 mile 4201 t in length, about 9ft in diameter; is coin, leted at a cost of £31,580. Southern Outfall Sewer—This main drainage extends from Halfway reach at Crossness along the Erith 'Marshes, through Woolwich and Greenwich to the Deptford pump ing station, a length of nearly 7i miles , lift Gin in dia meter, is completed at a cost of £310,684 2s 6d. Northern Out fallWorks—These works form the outlet for the whole of the sewage north of the Thames. They extend from Barking Creek to Old Ford, 14i miles in length. These works are formed principally upon arching or solid embank ment passing over the Lea, six other streams, and over two li nes o f railway. These works are nearly completed, the contract being taken by 1%. Furness for £615,000. Middle Level North Sewer —This work extends from Old Ford to Kensal-green, passing for nearly two miles under houses. It will ba nearly 121 miles in length, half of the work being excavated by tunnelling. It varies from 4ft to 12ft. in diameter. The work is taken by Messrs. Brassey and Co. for ;£329,800, and is rapidly progressing. Western Area Sowers —These works are intended for the interception of the drainage of Fulham and Hammer smith, about 41 miles in length, and the contract for them hasleen taken by Moxon and Co., for £56,740. Southern Outfall Works—These works comprise two contracts—one for engines for lifting the sewage to heights varying from 10ft to 34ft. This contract was taken up Watt and Co. for £44,900. The other contract was for the construction of engine and boiler houses, sheds, reservoirs, &c., and was taken by Mr. Webster for £300,000. These works are nearly completed. Deptford Pumping Station—This work is also divided into two contracts. The engines were taken Ly Messrs, Slaughter for £22,300, and the boiler-houses, chimney shaft, coal-sheds, &e., were - taken by Messrs. Aird and Sun for £113,136. High Level SJuth Sewer—This sewer extends from the pumping station at Deptford Creek to High-street, Clap ham, with a branch to Dulwich. It is about 91 miles in length, the sewer varying from 4ft to 10ft bin. The con tract was taken by Messrs. Lee and Boules for £217,000. This work is completed. Northern Outfall Reservoir-1 his contract comprises the erection of penstock houses, cottage, culverts, reservoir, and other works, extesding over nearly 11 acres, and the reservoir will receive the whole of the sewage of the northern area of the metropolis,where it will be stored until the ebb of the tide, when it will be discharged at the bottom of the river, about 300 ft distant from the river bank, so as to be conveyed down the stream. The contract was taken by Mr. George Furness for £164,000. Southern Low Level Sewer—These works commence at High-street, Deptford, passing through New Cross, Cam berwell, Kennington, Battersea, and Wandsworth, termi nating near Putney•bridge. The length will be about 91 miles, varying in diameter from 4ft to 7ft Sin. This con tract was taken by Mr. Webster for £214,000. Bermondsey Branch Sewer—These works extend from near Deptford Creek, and terminate near St. James's Church, Bermondsey. This line is nearly 2i- miles, vary ing in capacity from a single sewer, sft 3in, to 7ft in dia meter. The contract for this work was taken by Aird and Son for £107,000. The Fleet ,-, ewer—A work of considerable difficulty has been executed during the year, which was a reconstruction of a portion of the Fleet sewer, arising from the damage done to it by the Metropolitan Railway Company during the formation of that part of their line near Victoria-street, Clerkenwell. The cost of this work amounts to £24,928 16s Bd, and application has been made to the company for payment of the amount. _ _ Thames Embankment—The board has obtained powers for making an embankment, to commence on the northern side of the Middlesex end of Westminster-bridge, to termi nate near the eastern boundary of the Inner Temple, to be continued thence by a viaduct to the western side of the northern end of Blackfriars-bridge ; to make an approach r oad from the embankment, C(>l4lllllll,lcAting with Surrey- street, Norfolk-street, and Arundel-street ; to make a new street from the embankment roadway near the east side of theMiallesexend of Hungerford-bridgetoWellington-street, Waterloo-bridge, and also short streets to communicate with Viliicrs street, Buckingham-street, and Cecil-street, and new streets near George-street, Adelphi, and from the em bankment at Whitehall-stairs to Whitehall, opposite the Horse Guards. The first portion of the embankment has been taken by Mr. Furness. Deodorization of the River,—ln consequence of consider able fall of rain it has been found unnecessary to incur any expenditure under this head. U tilization of the Sewage.—ln consequence of the report of the committee of the House of Commons to inquire into the best means of utilizing the sewage of the cities and towns of England with a view to the reduction of local taxation and the benefit of agriculture, the board invited applications for taking the sewage, and it is hoped that the information which has been obtained would assist in the settlement of this important question. Subterranean Survey—The subterranean survey is be ing reproduced, of which 169 sheets have been completed, and the rest are in progress. New Covent- garden Approach—This communication ex tends from the western-corner of Long-acre and St. Martin's lane to King-street, and affords the means of egress from and approach to Covent-garden Market and the thorough fares immediately adjoining. It is 140 yards in length and 50ft wide. Victoria Park Approach—This improvement commences at Mile-end-road and terminates at the East India Dock road, Limehouse. It is 1,162 yards in length and 70ft wide. The expenses were £41,390 17s 3d. Receipts and expenses—The receipts during the year were £1,125,610 19s Id , the payments during the same pe riod, £1,115,610 7s 4d. Metropolis Gas Acts—The Board have erected two per manent gasmeter testing offices,one in White Lion-street, Spitalfields, for the eastern division;of the metropolis, and the other in Castle-street, Southwark, for the southern die. trict. A site for a testing house for the western district has been obtained in Great Smith-street, Westminster. During the past 12 months the number of gasmeters stumped was 29,327, and the fees received in respect of the same £976 7s. Finsbury Park—The Board have selected for Finsbury Park a site immediately adjacent to the Seven Sisters-road, at Holloway, bounded on the west by the Great Northern Railway, and on the east by the Green-lanes. It contains about 120 acres, and from its character was easy of adapta • tion for the purposes of a park. Safe keeping of Petroleum—On July 29,1862, an act was passed by which licences for keeping petroleum were re quired to be granted by the Board ; 13 applications were made, of which two were granted and 11 not granted Lines of Frontage of Streets—During the past year 382 applications have been made to the Board, of which 277 were granted and 105 refused. Formation of Streets—For the formation of now streets or the regulation of width of others there were during the year 135 applications, of which 117 were granted and 18 re fused. The report thus concludes —ln concluding the report of their proceedings the Board would advert to the great improvements which will be accomplished under the Northern and Southern Embankment Acts and the Act for the formation of the new street to the Mansion-house, but there will still remain to be executed many others of vital importance to the metropolis. 1' he opening up of new lines of thoroughfares, the abolition of toll. p.ty ing bridges, the for mation of public parks and the preservation of open spaces, are works to which the best energies of the Board will have to be devoted, but they are still of opinion that for these other means than those derived from direct taxes now ought to be affjrded, and they can only again express their earnest hope that the period is not far distant when such additional means will be placed at their disposal. They cannot also but observe with great satisfaction the increased confidence reposed in them by the Legislature and the public. They trust they are justified in the conclusion that, from the ad ditional duties with which they have been charged, the Me tropolitan Board is accepted as the body to which are now confided all matters affecting the general interests of the metropolitan ratepayers. Terrible Fire in Birmingham—Six Lives Lost. BIRMINGHAM, Friday. Shortly before Christmas-day dawned upon the sleeping town, a fire broke out which has resulted in the loss of six lives. The first house in Little Hill-street, abutting on the Horse Fair, is the Hill-street Tavern, kept by Mr. George Gameson. On Thursday night, when the customers had left, the following were the occupants of the house : George Gameson, landlord; Mrs. Gameson, his wife; Mrs. Bradley, an old lady who came that evening to spend her Christmas holiday ; a general servant (name not ascer tained) ; a nurse girl named Spratt, aged about 12; and Mr. Gameson's six children, varying in age from 2 years to 17. Between 4 and 5 o'clock on Friday morning some persons in the street discovered that Mr. Gameson's house was on fire, and the flames were ascending from the upper windows of the house. The fire had evidently originated in the lower part of the house, in one of the back rooms. A few per sons crowded to the spot, and the alarm was at once given to the fire and police offices. Tho fire escape was the first to arrive, and was immediately got into use. The engines arrived soon afterwards, and got into play, but the fire had made great headway before they commenced work, and the house is completely gutted, though the outside stands fair and un marked, with the exception of some broken windows. The house has a ground floor and two storeys, the first floor front being occupied as a club room. Pending the arrival of the fire escape, some men had scaled the walls, and gained the leads over the bar windows. The landlord had by some means got out of the house, and was frantically calling on the people to aid in rescuing his wite and children. When the fire escape came it was reared against the upper windows of the house, and some men who had penetrated into the upper storeys commenced to get out the bodies. Old Mrs. Bradley was found under tho bed in her room, with two of the children. They were all horribly burned and charred and had been dead for some time. Two other children were also dead, Lesides the nurse-girl. Ont of six children only two were saved—John and George Gameson. They are very badly injured, and when our hurried inquiries were made it was considered very doubtful whether either of them would recover. Mr. and Mrs. Gameson, and the elder servant, escaped unhurt. The bodies were removed to the Acorn Tavern, opposite, kept by Mr. T. Biigga. They present a most horrible spectacle, wrapped in bed-clothes and other coverings hastily snatched up by the rescuers, and lying in the horribly grotesque distortions of violent death. It appears as if the old lady bad nor been in bed, for she was partially dressed. In each case the flesh of the victims is burnt up until their limbs only resemble sticks of charcoal rather than the remains of humanity. The eldest daughter of Mr. Gameson was a fine grown girl of 17, and now she lies a charred mass of ruin sickening to see—the only part of her body comparatively uninjured being her rich brown hair falling in wild dishevelment over the blackened re mains of her body. The following is a list of the victims : —Mrs. Bradley, an old lady ; Amy Spratt, aged 12, nurse; Matilda Gameson, aged 17; Emily Gameson, aged G ; Betsy Gameson, aged 5 ; William Gameson, aged about 2 years. ANOTHER ACCOUNT. A man who was present on the spot when the fire broke out, and who remained till all was over, states that the fleet alarm of fire was given by two young men who used to fre quent the house, and wio happened to be passing up the street at about half-past four o'clock. The landlord,who was sleeping in the back bedroom on the first floor, got out by the window. He had nothing on but his shirt, and seemed to be half mad as he ran about the street, calling for some one to help to save his wife and children. A crowd soon collected, and a young man brought a ladder, by which Mrs. Gameson was enabled to get out at the window. Nothing could be done fur the other inmates, who were all sleeping in the attics, as the fire had taken the stairs, and thus cut off all access to the upper part of the house. The servant girl jumped out of the window, and before doing so was heard to say, " Jump for your life, Tilley," to Matilda, the eldest girl, but the latter was afraid to do so. When the fire engines arrived the house was one mass of flame from floor to roof. There was a fair supply of water and a stream was soon being thrown on the burn ing building both from back and limit, but it was nearly an hour, and in the intense excitement of the moment appeared to be many hours, before anyone could go into the building. Many people volunteered to do so sooner, and the landlord had to be held back by main force from rushing to what would have been a certain death in a hopeless attempt to save his children, but those in authority on the spot refused to allow it. When the firemen could go into the building the attic rooms presented a horrible sight. The bodies were much burnt and charred, but from their appearance there is reason to believe that the unfortunate people had died from suffocation before the flames had reached them. The first body brought down was that of the old lady visi tor, and then there was the baby, the girl Amy, the little boy, Betsy, and Matilda. It is easy to understand how flab fire originated. There is nothing left of the furniture of the back parlour, which is directly opposite the staircase, from which it is only divided by a narrow passage. When the people went to bed,a good fire was left in this room, and a large kettle full of water was placed on the hob, so that there might be warm water, ready when they came down in the morning. It is evident that the fire must have begun in this room, and at once been conveyed the whole height of the house by the stairs, which acted as a chimney to it [ADVERTISEMENT.] --Holloway's Ointment and Pills. — Unerring Precision.—When the health is breaking down from the continuance of some weakening discharge—whe n ulcers refuse to heal, and extending mischief is threatened, then is the time to try the potency of Holloway's howling ointment and purifying pills. No treatment for giving ease and safety to a cure can be compared to th is. The oint ment cleans and cools the foulest and most angry sores, diminishes the inflammation, reduces t he swelling, prevents the growth of proud flesh, and spares both pain and danger. Hundreds testify from tl.eir own person al experience to the unvarying success attending the use of Holloway's medica ments in cases of ulcerated logs, enlarged veins, scurfy skin, and swelled ankles. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS, HERALD.—Notwithstandieg all that has been written in the recent controversy upon the law of entail and primogeniture, we are not aware that anything has been put forward on either side ex planatory of that law. It may be useful, therefore, toinquire what its effects really are, and what would be the consequence of repealing it. Now, the law of entail does not, as a great many even educated people and nearly all uneducated people suppose, enable any man to tie up his land in his family for ever; that law has been abolished for centuries. All that the law now permits is, that a man shall tie up his property to a tenant for life, and after his death to his sons successively, till the first son entitled shall attain 21. That is the utmost limit; for after the death of the tenant for life the son then entitled may, on attaining 21, cut off the entail, sell the land. and do what he likes with the money; or keep the land if he likes, and do what he likes with it. Nay more; if the tenant for life is living when his son attains 21, the two, if they agree about it, can cut off the entail, and sell the land or divide it into as many shares as they like. So much for the terrible law of entail. As to the law of primoge niture, it is simply that, if a landowner dies intes tate, and under no other circumstances whatever, the land goes exclusively to the heir-at-law, a con sequence which every man may prevent, and which nine-tenths of all landowners, and ninety-nine hundredths of all considerable landowners, do pre. vent by making wills or settlements. How, then, it would be asked by the anti-entail school, does it happen that estates are perpetuated in the same families for many generations ? Simply because the owners of considerable estates almost always like and choose to resettle their estates, when they might sell them or subdivide them. Landowners have a fancy for making what is called " an eldest son" —or, in other words, they do not like their land to be divided. Their taste may he very bad ; it might be more patriotic—though we do not at all concur in the opinion that it would—to subdivide their land among their children, and so on from generation to generation till we should reach the blessed millennium of every man owning, as lord in fee simple, his acre or his half-acre of land. We are not going to discuss this question of political economy. M. Chevallier, no mean authority on such questions, has discussed the effects on agricul ture in reference to the law of France, which forci bly subdivides land ; and we will leave that ques tion where he has left it. But be the choice and taste of English landowners good or bad ; be their consequences beneficial or the reverse, it is the choice and taste of English landowners, as a body, to keep their lands together as much as their circumstances will permit. On what ground then should that choice and that taste be forcibly in termeddled with by Icw ? It is said the result of entail is frequently s ,:,ffering any privation to younger children. Equal;l7 so is extravagant living on the part of any pa."ent yet scarcely even Mr. Bright and Mr. Cob den would on that ground ask for an act of 1-i'rliament to confine the expenditure of every man within a fixed limit. Then it is said that during m:norities the result of entailing is to suspend the powL'r of improving land, and to cause inconvenience tenants; but that is the result of every minority, whether under an entail or otherwise; and yet Mr. Bright would scarcely propose that a man should not be allowed to leave his property to children be cause they are under age. The great objection, how ever, made to the law of entail—and that is its real sting—is that it tends to accumulate too much power in few hands. But the same might be said of the absence of any restriction upon the accumu lation of money. A lord with 120,000 a year in land is no doubt a very powerful person. But so is a cotton spinner or a banker with half a million of money, and yet though the Bright school appears to think the law of entail should be abolished, in order to prevent lords having £20,000 a year of landed property, we never heard that they propose any direct or indirect limitation of the fortune that a cotton spinner may acquire, nor any compulsory meddling with his right to settle or will it as he pleases; and unless they can show some very good distinction between money and land, some good reason why merchants should be at liberty to keep their fortunes in brick and landowners should not, their warfare against entailing seems unfounded. But there is another thing to be considered. Sup• pose the power of entailing and the right of primo geniture were abolished, while the taste of land owners continues the same, what would the aboli tion do ? Just nothing. Instead of entailing, a man would by settlement or will give his eldest son his land absolutely after his death ; and the eldest son would repeat the proceeding with his eldest son, and so on, and the land would remain undivided as much as ever. So that really one must go the length of saying that, for the benefit of the corn • mon wealth, we will abolish the right of every malt° . give his property as he likes, either during his life or after his death ; we must make, as the French law does, a compulsory division of land on a man's death, if the object is to prevent the supposed evils of lands being kept together in masses. Of course, if that were the law as to land, it ought equally to be the law as to money, for there can be no good reason why a man should do as he likes with his money, and not do as he likes with his land. Both money and land, in different ways, confer power on their owner; the mischiefs arising from that power are just as much mischief with regard to money as with regard to land. We do not apprehend, however, that either the prophets or the alumni of the Bright school would like to be told, " when you die you can only leave half your mill and machinery and half your money as you like—the other half must be divided equally be tween your children, whether you like it or not." One word more, and we have done. It is quite a mistake to suppose, as Messrs. Bright and Cobden so often appear to do by their speeches, that the desire of creating entails is a purely aristocratic disease. Nothing is commoner than to find entails of very small estates in the hands of quite humble people. A man with a few freehold cottages almost always gives them by will to his eldest son, or dies intestate, so that he shall have them; he has no mare notion of splitting up his humble landed estate than a duke or a lord has, and as strict an entail as we ever saw was made by a small country tailor of land worth about £6OO. ADVERTISER.—The Duke of Cambridge, in dis tributing the prizes to the cadets at Wcolwich, addressed to there young gentlemen some observa tions which indicate on the part of his Royal High ness a due appreciation of the important duties he had undertaken to discharge. He reminded the young gentlemen who were about to receive com missions in her Majesty's service that they must not consider their education completed—that when they left those walls they would enter on a career which demanded of them to continue their education and endeavour to keep pace with the spirit of the age. It was essential if they desired to be really efficient officers to make themselves acquainted with the improvements and discoveries that were con stantly arising. He knew many officers who had made themselves truly scientific after obtaining their commissions, and he hoped that the cadets present would on a future occasion emulate their example. We regard this utterance from the illus trious Commander-in-Chief as highly appropriate to the position of the officers in the British army in the present day. There have been periods when this address might have been regarded as a well-merited censure on too many of our British officers rather than as a word of encouragement to our cadets. Per sons who were gentlemen by virtue of their rank were singularly in need of learning, but remarkably in disposed to labour for its attainment. Very scant were their libraries, but quite large enough for men who never intended to read, whose days were spent in the routine of the parade ground, and in lounging idleness, while their nights were consumed in the orgies of the mess, The Royal Corps of Engineers being excepted, it would have been difficult to find any class of gentlemen who were less acquainted with the discoveejes of science, or who knew the value of a book, except as the means of whiling away the hour in which they were waiting for dinner. We have raached a much b,:qter era, and one in which his Royal Highness is fully justified in epeaking of highly scientific officers 'Cho have N b v e ; a ra , n:sgdftohragvei nnotgsltenacdoiens-n -come so after obtaining their commissions. their have in our army gentlemen, who, besides knowledge of the subjects essential to their fags_ Pe sion, are distinguished for their scienti „,___ of ments, and for their literary emineneeite inAL"'-'2" them holding high positions although in tinguished authors of their day ; rough favour tributed largely to various sy ture. It is not now as ea . adsepita was a ments of iiiera to find their way into the glad to find that some circumstances s into positions they pushed themselves were very r s 1 t. haveis.h army , th we should be unworthy to fill, and- all circumstances every where an d in . epees the standard perso ß n t was] raised much• of attainment above its present low level. It may be hoped that while the stan dardis being elevated in the civil service appoint ments, the military service will partake of the im provements which have extended in every direction sin ce the competitive examinations were com menced. The timely observations of the Royal Duke are the more deserving of attention from the fact which we noticed a few days since, that our military, as Well as naval strength, is not now to be measured by the amount of our brute force, but by the extent of our attainments in the science of war, fare. The mind, the science, the inventive skill of the great European Powers have the elements now actively employed in guiding them in the pursuit of ascendancy, and there can be no doubt that in ------- any great struggle that may hereafter arise, the superiority will be on the side of that nation whose military and naval science has acquired the greatest development. As we have said in reference to out naval rivalry, the b,•.ttle is fought in the dockyard and in Vie gun foundry. So we may say in referenc.a to armiqs, that the foundations of victory are la v a in the military school and in the studies of o fficer . f and those who are assisting to give effect to theft ideas. 'We shall not be understood to deny the necessity of personal courage and bravery in O ur officers and men, as without these qualities rile, most powerful implements of war would be forgeu, in vain. We know the value of the prudence and spirit . which distinguished every general by v7 11°131 , a victory has been gained, and we know too rlly bravery has always proved as necessary as We suppose, too, that we may be, in any fuL ll " engagements,. somewhat on a car, in these respects; with any nation with whom we may into collision, or anticipate defeat as inevirs llle. All these things we assume when we are 81)6 01 ,1 of the necessity of military skill in our army; but all these things being present, personal courage'', good generalship, and numbers equal to the eng e g to ment, it still remains true that we must exPe et . a i s fail if our skill in the art of war and its mate e r l "„, should prove, inferior to that of the enemy. 1 er allow their rifles and their cannon to be o f 8101 3 8 again coin range than our own ; if we should employ all, sea 'Warriors less strongly clad; if on the fi 6l " we c o should be found relying on weapons which ll e he become in any degree antiquated ; if we should "as engaged in our experiments when the enemy on successfully concluded his, we may c alculat e „ - , defeat and disaster as certain. We have there, l % s to . regard the address of the royal Duke not only co . a wise and excellent recommendation which We e in th ' s heartily . commend, but as a fair exposition 01 d ' h t qualifications which the officers of oar army to possess.. We are as a people concerned bitter on this subject. We know by recent and yell bit r e experience what it is to suffer the loss of our 10 ,„,„ countrymen, to have the flower of the British at7i'd mown down or left to perish from sick of the se disease, in consequence of the inefficiency of t." - i g to whom the conduct of our war with Russia f a r entrusted ; and if we are to maintain an army the defence end honour of our nation in the fll t !; ; we must have for its officers gentlemen who assn the profession not for ease, or honour, but from oir enthusiastic 1' love of its duties, and who spend tr ir t time in diligent studies, that in the day of a o ' they may discharge those duties with effect. COUNTRY MARKETS. LIVERPOOL—T HURSDAY. both At this day's market we had a fair attendance be st. of millers and dealers, with a moderate business i 5 which remains steady at the decline of 2d per coital. tears , holders of flour would be glad to make a further elieected, cession to promote business. Indian corn totally nee — and 3d down. All other articles a dull sale. KEFIELD—THITRSDAY. de i tt The show of grain to-day was moderate. The to „,, wheat limited, and last Friday's rates were rather to io' Barley in slow demand. Averages for the Week : Wheat . 991 qrs., at 448 l Oats — — s Od Beans — _... .5 Od Peas 8ar1ey......... 652 --33 s 30 - Rye — —B 04 STAMFORD—THURSDAY. ~ 0 0. rfg White whCat, 42s to`.44s ; red, 36s to 40s per 3 0 8 ,. q r. Barley, malting; 1348 to 36s ; grinding, 29s to 32 8 I ) , e ' p et Oats, 20s to 24s rr 24 stone. Beans, old, 40$ to 448 ' qr. ; new, 34s to 365. LINCOLN—' A fair quantity of wheat 01 with a moderate business, at White wheat new, 44s to 483 Red do. 3Bs to 42s Old white —s to —s Red do. —s to —s Barley, malting 33s to 38s •THURSDAY. i offer at our market t0419P is to 2s per qr dearer. Barley, grinding., 28s to Oats, old, ...... 24s to 2,, New do .......... 20s t 0 Beans.. .......... 40s to 4.4 ' I B eans , ne w ...... 37s to 401 RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE. TRAFFIC RECEIPTS FOR THE WEEg• Miles Opened. iceeFipto."4 18 62 ' 18(53. A 1 0 1 . 82 P Belfast and N. Counties 136 1 36 2,-4 5 9- Belfast and County Down 49 49 642 1, 890 Blyth and Tyne 2B 28 1,2 55 0 2 ,04, 6. 2 ,c Bristol and Exeter l2ll 1214 . 15,ev„,", Caledonian Cockermouth& Workington B4 84 41 299 Cork and Bandon 2O 20 2 352 152 Cork, Blackrock, Sr Passage 6l 61 124 01 Cork and Youghal 32 321 379 2 43 C ornwa ll 56 534 1,350 1 '47 Deeside 17 17 218 7 6 4 Dublin Si. Bell ast Junction... Dublin and Drogheda 75 63 1,604 1..‘„1 Dublin and Meath Dub. & Wicklow and Wextd 9ll 484 2 , 079 1,4 2/ Edinburgh and Gilasgow 1694 1694 7,284 &rig Furness, &c Glasgow & South-Western Gt. Eastern,Nrfk.,&E.Union 663 644 30,261 2 ,,'211 Great Northern 353 3 51 33,262 29' 1B Great North of Scotland 5B 58 1,495 '425 Gt. Northn. & Westn. (Irel.) 7ll 711 550 8.5 i" _.„ 9t.Southn. & Westn.(lrind.) 3731 329 7,7 74 , r / Great Western 10564 10321 59,33 0 E' i `t3 Inverness & Aberdeen June 864 86 4 1,026 ...- Inverness & Perth Junction 1194 - 1, 098 047 Irish North-Western 145 145 1, 692 , 3 1,61 4 Lancashire & Yorkshire 402 3954 3 5,624 14 8 Limerick and Ennis... 24.1 241 154 174 Limerick and Foynes 264 264 1- 4 511 Llanelly 461 461 485 9 2 023 London & North-Western London and Blackwall 5l 51 1,66 818 03 London & South-Western Lond. Brighton, &S. Coast 261 2411 15, 85 3O' London, Chatham, & Dover 72* 724 1,4,, `" , 17 " Do. Metropolitan Extension 104 51 875 33 4 1, 9 10 Lond., Tilbury, & Southend slan.,Sheffield,&Lincolnsh - 1 05 ' . , ~33 ~ ,q j Manch. S.J um& Altrinchani 94 94 ~- -5 La' Maryport and Carlisle 3,41 .., Metropolitan - 3,936 40, 340 Midland (incl. N.-Western) 641 6141 42, 42 „ 8 , 4,6 1 ! slidland Gt.Westn. of 'rind 2591 1921 4 .9f,,'"' 1, 5 ,' 3 ,': Monkland 7ll 711 I, "°' 2, 1 "'" Monmouthsh. Rail. & Canal 44 44 2,97 3 North and Dundee British, Ldin., Perth 414 4101 11,70' ~ 1 54, 2 5 o.se, ~a N-Eastern and Stock. & Danl 1095 1077/ 64,9" 3Pi North London 9 9 3,35 4 7,9 6 a North Staffordshire 254 252 8,8 33 o`' Oswestry and Newton 5O 42 1,112 85 4 Rhymney l9 19 950 2, 0 ,,1 3 St. Helen's Canal &Railway 52 52 2,13 4 4,7 a Scottish Central Scottish North-Eastern l3B 1324 4,91 0 3 1. - , Somerset and Dorset 66 391 658 3 37 , South Devon . . 751 754 3. 593 18, 1 .0 South-Eastern 306 306 49, 0 5, 1 ' 1 Taff Vale 57 55 6,005 I,Bl' Ulster Vale of Clwyd Vale of Neath 324 254 2, 329 3 55 Waterford and Kilkenny 3l 31 302 LO3l Waterford and Limerick 77 77 1,1 4 - I r .1 , West Cornwall 271 271 73 8 . 35 9 ', W.HartlepoolHarbr.&RaiL 52 52 3, 705 46 ' W'haven,Cleator,& Egrmnt 7 7 55 2 6 3 ' Whitehaven Junction l3 13 945 75 0 Whitehaven ez Furness Jun 35 3.5 93 2 9 15 , FOREIGN AND COLONIAL. Antwerp and Rotterdam s2i i 67 13% 52 ~- 3?, .4 Austrian B2B 828 32, 219 ., 2,4 Belgian Eastern Junction 26 201 •i''' 2,t4 Bombay, Baroda, & L en. India 1854 164 2,46 7 ,. i,9`,7, Buffalo and Lake Huron id 161 1614 2 .L 9 n u 4.,., 5 1 9 Detroit and Milwaukie lB9 189 5, „' - 'n 3,'„. Dutch Rhenish lOBl 1081 3, "" .... Railways. 1863. 1862. Eastern Bengal - Eastarn of France - 1167 1081 58,.4,79,21 -• 52, - East Indian Grand Trunk of Canada lO9O 1090 21,822 A 3,9 Great Indian Peninsula s3Bk 495 8, 068 . 3 , 9 7/ Great Luxembourg 134 134 3,607 4 68 Great Southern of India ... 4 79 79 652 ~,, E 73 Great Western of Canada 345 315 12,9 75 ',3 - ,i 4 Madrid, Saragossa &Alicant, 650 490 14,710 -'1,671 Northern of Canada ... ..... Northern of France 697 698 8 91 Norwegian Trunk Ottoman Paris, Lyons, & Mediterrn lBO5 1676 136,682 _,,016 Paris and Orleans 1614 1434 6.1, 50 °° .., Pernambuco 774 -- 518 61$ Royal Danish 69 6 9 1,315 i'eti Sambre and Meuse 6B 68 1,345 .‘?„ 49.331 49 .- South Austrian fie _, Southern of France ..... . 4 770 680 Victorian 196 i 516 68 Welland ............... 25 25 969 92 8 West Flanders 75 8 1 5 3 39,438 31,82 9 W. and N.W. of France . 932 Horniman's Tea is choic e and strong, 'moderate in price, and wholesom e to use. These advantages have secured for this Tea a general preference. It is sold packets by 2,280 Agents. Births. LF toh t f h e 2 3 2 . d 4 l t vi h n; n a st, at Spring-lodge, SYdrell. barn , the wife 24th inst(l...' Fawcett, Esqof daught e Westminster, of G. W. M. Liddell, Es a , atin liolder# ness, in the East Riding Sutton House , of the hceoautant,y daughter.of Surrey,Y ork, the TABOR.—On th e ,O. a daughter. the Nil fl e 0 the Rev. 8 ,.T the Hon. TALBOT.-0 a 2lst inst., at 10, Great George-str' T~►LBOT, — Qn the f Mr. Jon .Gilbert Taibot, of • daughter. COOPER-ANDERSON,—On 3larr t i h a e g 2 e 4t inst, , T. Cooper, of Canterbury, to Miss Mercy Anderson' Blean, near Canterbury. 0%1 WALKER-PETO.-OR the 22d inst., at St. Matth , Brixton, William John Pilkington Walker, E sc ilter Stockwell-green, Surrey, to Fanny, youngest dau,F 6 o o of the late John Peto, Esq., of Larkhall-lane, CloP in Lordont Itori Deaths. , , gt Oil BUTCHER.—On the 23d inat., at Richmond -ready PA-- George Butcher, Esq., age 81. ; 01 0 ' CHAPLIN.—On the 23d inst d , at Tathwell Hall, L.lle shire, Fredk. Chaplin, Esq., aged 61. tIO COULCHER.—On the 19th inst., at Wattisfield Rector.' Rev. George Coulcher, age 58. I 100 EDWARDS.—On the 19th inst d , at 8, Belgrave - r oaL, Edwards, builder, aged 58.. rjotl ei HARRIS.—On the 18th inst., at Radford, Devon/ '— Harry Butted Harris, K.H., age 75. r , nr attil l POLLARD. —On the 21st inst., at d ; Southlando) Wm. Pollard, Esq., aged 76. ........- London: Prind and PuNished by wILLIA3IA-?4, - ip of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at THE SUN Oinc e „.osl‘ Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the blidellevex.—Saturday, December 20, 1803. 11 -1 ' 7 0f.ret of vale clrp e t Mena ( Mich Wells rninst t. Ai ,vrrex brldgc6i -__. T' To 1-.1( Whi anx First r.!). Coorr, staj Geol.; St. 11 1111 111 , ) P. ,T . Lot Th n , AY ] uarrie *Rue, ro *Rid 'Sam Jame kesel In eo•op wilns ojne T h i di SCO a pr( CaPit ( PM(' D an, frOrv. N 0 W,ll Pr ( el) al of th, In be re Ate, able • any, Ge Cons a7re( ghat( I re q Lot re; CI fors NEs Ti M n Beale l'a stree burl 'n PAr 7 .A9 ANI (;.A In lib c Pc the J. S. in,