The Sun. — London, England, 1864-02-18 00:00:00

THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA. (From the Times Correspondent.) NEW YORK, Feb. 5. The Senate and the House of Representatives, though agreed that a conscription is necessary, and that the President has both the right and the power to call for all the men he needs, are not in accord open some of the most important portions of the machinery by which a conscription is to be enforced. The Senate., not having the fear of public opinion before its eyes—for its members are not elected by the people, but by the Legislatures of their re spective States—is in favour of the utmost stringency in carrying out the Act ; while the House of Representives, elected for a shorter period, and by direct vote of the masses, has a wholesome dread of the consequences that might befall if it legislated in a spirit hostile to the wishes or the prejudices of the multitude. The Senate, with the double purpose of procuring the largest possible number of men, and of extracting from the pockets of unwilling conscripts the largest possible amount of money, fixed the price of exemption at 400 doll., instead of 300 doll., and furthermore enacted that this commutation was only to exempt the payer from one Presidential call. In other words, the man who had been drawn and paid his money might be drawn a second, a third, or even a tenth time, if the President saw fit to make a second, a third, or a tenth demand upon the country for soldiers., and would have to pay commutation each time if he did not choose to face the dan gers of the bettlefield and do his part otherwise than by proxy in the extermination of Southern " rebels." Another provision of the Senate was that no conscript should be allowed to procure a substitute out of the classes liable to the draught, but only from the class of aliens and persons under 20 or above 45 years of age. The first two of these provisions were generally felt to be cruel aggravations of the inevitable torture of the draught, while the third was considered to place unaccossary difficulties in the way of those who were willing to pay their money. In that shape the bill came froM the Upper to the Lower House, where, by large majorities, it has been stripped of the obnoxious clauses. The price of commutation has been restored to 300 doll„ as it stood under the abortive conscription of last year ; the payment of that sum is to liberate the conscript for the full period of three years, or the war, and he who prefers to find a substitute may take him from among the class liable to the draught, and not to be compelled to find an alien or a boy under age to serve in his place. The Republican journals du not approve these amendments. They insist that the experience of last year is sufficient to prove that a large pro portion of the dram ;kited men will avail themselves of the privilege of exemption ; that each man who pays his 300 dols. will have in his pocket a certificate of freedom from military service for three years, and that it will take but a very small number of draughts or calls under these circumstances to rule the whole serviceable male population out of the lists. Unless the bill be restored to the shape given to it by the Senate, they fear that the conscription will be little more than an irritating nullity. They are un doubtedly right. The last conscription was next to a nullity, end the new one can be no better, and may perhaps prove worse, both in respect of the irritation it may cause and the small wool that may be yielded after the loud cry. Out of the 300,000 men called for last enamor, 75,000 were exempted for physical disability, 74,000 for alienage and other causes; 41,000 paid 300 dole. each and left the Government to find substitutes ; 34,000 took the matter • into their own hands and paid the market price for a substitute, whatever it might be ; 11,000 took the bounty and went to the camp, the field, cr the hospital ; and 65,000 . were either not procured at all or remain un accounted for. There is no reason to believe that the new conscription will be more successful, ex cept, perhaps, in the amount of money which it will extract from the pockets of the rich, or from the funds at the disposal of cities and counties, the inha bitants of which will prefer to buy off the poor rather than incur the risk of street insurrection, accom panied by murder and arson. Thus the chances of any considerable increase of the existing army are exceedingly small. This, however, might prove to be no real disadvantage if competent men were at the head of affairs. If that army, inclusive of the veterans who have re-enlisted under the cell of o:,t:.;ber last, amount to half a million of men, it is quite large enough for a man of military genius to handle, and for a wise administrator to provide for ; better than an army three times as large com manded by such officers as this war has produced, and controlled in its movements by the three gentle men who form the Military Council at Washington. A last resource, however, remains, which is to de clare the war a " holy war," and to preach a crusade for the extirpation of slavery, root and branch. I! is no longer sufficient that the nigger should be free, that he should be a soldier and a voter, but that he should be to all intents and purposes the social equal of the white man. Nay, more; it has been discovered by the advanced spirits of the party that he is in many important respects the superior of the whites, and that if the latter do not forget their pride of race and blood and colour, and amalgamate with the purer and richer blood of the blacks, they will die out of America and wither away in on prolific skinniness, meriting by their obstinacy and lolly the fate of the red man, whom they have either exterminated or driven into the wilderness. The first to give tongue to the new doctrine was the Rev. Theodore Tilton, the coadjutor of the Rev. Henry Ward ieeecher in the editorship of the Independent, who a few months ago declared in an assemblage principally composed of women—possibly all of the strong-minded order—that it was good for white women to merry black men, and that the " pas sional" and " emotional" nature of the blacks was needed to improve the white race. Mr. Wendell Phillips has often hinted the same thing, no doubt to the great joy of the stalwart negroes who have attended his lectures, if not to that of the shameless white women who have not thought it unworthy of their modesty to listen. The doctrine once broached has found believers and adherents, and a little tract called " Miscegenation" has recently been widely circulated, in which the whole sub ject it; discussed for the study of such Yankee girls as have exhausted the sensational novels, and of such Abolitionist preachers and lecturers es_ have net vet rison to the height of this black argument. When Dickinson repeated on Monday evening last, at the Cooper Insti tute, the lectu re which she delivered before the President at NVaelgngt , :n a fortnight ago, she was somewhat late i s maxima her appearance on the p l a tform, and to the audience (mostly Com posed of women), who were growing impatient of delay, the advertisement, and laudatory notices of this tract were handed round for their perusal—a circumstance which sug gested to many that the lecturer was either the autho r o f th e booa or pecu niarily interested in its sale. A few extracts from this work will serve to convey to European readers some notion of the fanati cism th at so easily t a k es root in America, and of th e ferme ntation of ideas, even of the most disgusting kiud, which may be made to prevail among a people in times of Soc i al and political revolution. The fundamental idea of the new Anacharsis Clootz, or worse than h e, who is guilty of the treatise, is this—" Whatever there is of power and vitality in the American race is derived, not from its Anglo-Saxon progenitors, but from all the different nationalities which go to make up this people. All that is needed to make us the fir. - se race on earth is to engraft upon our stock the negro element which Providence has placed by our side upon this continent. Of all the rich treasures of blood vouchsJed to us that of the negro is - the m ost precious, because it is the most unlike any other that eaters into the composition of o nEition:.‘l life. . . They (the negroes) are our mingling with them we brothers and sister& By become powerful, progressive, and prosperous; by refusing to do so, we become feeble, unhealthy, narrow minded, ririfit for the not?le r r offices of freedom, and certain of earl y decay. 'I he author marriage cites various writers to show that people ere attracted by their opposites ; that the intellectual noise. does not seek for intellect in his wife, but for rfEction without much in!ell€ ct ; that the dark pref e r the b'o . ^clo the short the tall, the lean the plump, and vice versa. He then goes on to prove, with an unction which might almost make one suspect him of being a rnauvais farceur, why it is that the American white race must intermingle with the American black race, or die out. The white people, he says, "are perishing for want of flesh and blood. They have bone and sinews, but hey are dry and shrivelled for lack of the healthful juices of life. The cheeks are shrunken, the lips are thin and bloodless, the under jaw narrow and retreating, the teeth decayed and painful, the nose sharp and cold, the eyes small and watery, the complexion of a blue and yellow hue, the head and shoulders bent for ward, the hair dry and straggling." This is his pic ture of the men; that of the women is scarcely more flattering. " The waists of the women are thin and pinched, telling of sterility and con sumption ; the general appearance gaunt and cadaverous from head to foot. You see them," he adds, " with eye-glasses and spectacles, false teeth, artificial colour in the face, artificial plump ness to the form;" while the social intercourse of the sexes he describes as being " formal, ascetic, and un• emotional." " How different," he says, "is an assemblage of negroes ! Every cheek is plump, the teeth are whiter than ivory, there are no bald heads, the eyes are large and bright, every face wears a smile, every form is stalwart." In short, he says that American white men need contact with healthy, loving, warm-blooded natures to fill up the lean in terstices of their anatomy, and that such natures are only to be found among negresses. It is possible, and highly probable, that the author himself is one of the lean, gaunt, bloodless Yankees whom he so eloquently describes, and that, failing to find a wife to his mind among the strong-minded ladies of whom Miss Anna Dickinson and Mrs. Beecher Stowe are the types, he longs for a more congenial partner from the Southern plantations. " What," he in quires, "does the Anglo-Saxon (American) look for in a lovely woman ? Her cheeks must be rounded and have a tint of the sun, her lips must he pouting, her teeth white and regular, her eyes large and bright, her hair must curl about her head and de scend in crinkling waves; she must be merry, gay, full of poetry and sentiment, fond of song, childlike and artless." "The most beautiful girl I ever saw," he adds," was a mulatto. She was a ripe and com plete woman. Her complexion was warm, and dark, and golden with the heat of tropical sans ; her lips full and luscious, her cheeks perfectly moulded, her hair curling and black as the raven's wing." It is just possible that this lean Yankee—if he be one, and have the means to maintain a wife—might find a suitable one among the Caucasian race in Europe, if he were to try, especially in England and Scotland, without resorting to negresses or mulatto girls; but there is no accounting either for the vitiated taste of sane men or the vagaries of mad philosophers. But not for his own individual plea sure does the American Clootz urge his plea of more than brotherhood with the people he loves. It is for his country, it is for the cause of progress, it is for the world, it is for Christianity, that he pleads for amalgamation with a race which, with his purely (or impurely) animal instincts, he believes in al. physical attributes to be so superior to his own. " Our prejudices," he says, "are dying out and Nature is asserting the unity of all men. The negro declares that he loses the white man, and the pro gressive party of the North asserts the rights of the negro. The leaders of progress, among whom we quote Wendell Phillips and Theodore Tilton, urge miscengenetic reform (amalgamation of the races). The American people are ripe to receive the truth. The Southern people feel the mag netism of association with a Tropical race. Toe mothers and daughters of the slave-holding aris tocracy are thrilled with a strange delight by daily contact with th,-ir dusky wale servitors. . • • Through the fiery gate of war they (the Americans both of the North and South) are being led to deliverance from old prides and pre judices; and, indeed, the instinct of the white man has responded to the call of the negro for fra ternity. There were wants in his nature which only the negro could fill. There were defects in his phy sical organisation that only the negro (i e., the ne gress) could supply. It is a mean pride, unworthy , of a Christian or enlightened community, that should lead any to deny this. The success of the anti-sla very party has proved it, so that denial of the prin ciple is denial of facts universally known. Tnsy have touched a chord that has vibrated with a sweet, strange, and marvellous music, awakening slum bering instinc's in the heart of the nation and the world." Tne author's politics are as decidedly black as his heart's affections. "It will be a sad misfor tune," he says, "it this war should end without a black general in command of a white or mixed body of troops. 'We want an American Toussaint L'Ou verture to give the black his proper position on this continent, and the day is coming ! People say the rebellion is at an end ; but that is not true. The South will fight to the last ; but it is in the eternal fitness of things that they should finally be subdued by the black soldier." After that the lands of the South must be divided among the negroes, who are its only loyal population." Were the ideas of this fanatic confined to himself they might excite laughter, disgust, or contempt; but when expressed in modeater and more guarded language by M r. Phillips or M r. Tilton they elicit the approval of crowded audiences of educated Ameri cans, of whom a large preponderance are white women. The madness of the hour in this distracted country receives a new but unfragrant illustration. If this he done in the green leaf, what shall be done in the dry ? And through what new phases of insa nity must the Americans pass before the strong con queror, booted and spurred, with a sharp double edged sword in his iron grip, shall come at the call of the timid majority to rescue them from the shameless fanatics and the cruel bigots who would drive them to destruction ? French Photographic Society, The sitting of this society, which was held on Friday Last, presented some points of interest, An apparatus was presented, by which a coilodionised plate might be sensi tised without touching it with the hands, it being held in a kind of vice and dipped into the nitrate contained in a com partment below, adjoining which there were four other compartments for the hyposulphite and other liquids. The society then proceeded to vote the regulations for the exhibition to be held this year in the Palais de l'ln duqtrie, conjointly with that of Living Artists; after which M. Liebert, a Californian photographer, exhi • bited an apparatus of his own invention, by which enlarged copies may be obtained with great ease and in the course of two hours under the worst circumstances. The apparatus consists of a cubic box in front, which receives the light through a large meniscus, whereby it arrives condensed at an objective, which re-expands it, casting the image on a sensitised sheet of paper stretched on the base of a second box of the form of a truncated pyramid, and situated at the distance of about a metre from the objec'ive, contrivances being of course adopted for extending or contracting the distance. The system rests on a support provided with means for altering the inclination, and also for turning the apparatus horizontally so as to follow the sun. A member of the Society made some ob jections to the system, contending that without the aid of a heliostat the rays of the sun could never be correctly trans mitted through the centre of the objective, and that conse quently the image obtained must become indistinct or double ; to which objection M. Liebert replied by produc ing a large photograph, about 40 centimetres in height, and not presenting the slightest defect. This practical illustra tion of course silenced opposition for the moment, and a commission was appointed to examine the system and to witness its practical working. After this discussion, a he liostat was produced, constructed on a principle which the i nventor thought calculated to prevent any error of angles . receiving the rays of th e su n, by means of an excentric motion, correctin g th e diff erence between the angle at the wa t t; re ot the e ar th an d t h at on the surface, Th e mac hi ne provided with a vertical and an oblique motion, but we could not discover any Ir)rizlntal one. M. Leon Foucault, an authority in the matter, questioned the gentleman who presented the apparatus o but could receive no sati n the inventor. r:taheet principlessatisfactory 8 ro: theitsc o p n e s r t s r o u n c ti a o a n . , / dressed not being ,ur I [A DVERTlSExzwr.)—}lolloway's Pills.--Indigestion.-- In all cases of indigestion, prod uc i ng weariness, low spirits, palpitation, and feverishness, these famous pills should be resorted to as the gentlest and surest corrective of the sto• mach, and the best antidote to its ailments. These pills dispel the curse of dyspepsia; everyon e a f fl i cted with it may rejoica at the sale and satisfactory results which can be secured at PO small a charge as the purchase of a box of c o mmenced a course HollowaY 8 pills. They purity, strergthenn young peroons. , and remedy im perfect Thousands development otsu fie r eortswhogrowthe a a; u d a l health y i of Holloway's pills, have admired their restorative power over themselves, and afterwards recommended them with a becoming confidence which has neNer been betrayed. RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE, the report. He said the proposed bill for the division of the stock into two kinds of shares would be an advantage to the shareholders, as it would enable them to dispose of a part of their stock, and to retain that which would have the usual dividend, with all the contingent advantages which the company might receive by improved traffic. With respect to the London and North-Western and the Midland companies becoming joint lessees of the Lancaster and Carlisle Rail way, he thought such an arrangement would be of advantage to the shareholders in the North-Western Company. Mr. BURKILL seconded the adoption of the report, and the motion was carried unanimously. The dividend recommended in the report was declared payable ; Mr. Alcock and Mr. Burkill were re-elected direc • tors, and Mr. R. Frost was re-elected auditor. The proceedings closed with a vote of thanks to the chairman. LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE. The half yearly meeting was held yesterday at the com pany's offices, Manchester; Mr. W. Wickham, M.P,, pre- THAMES TUNNEL. sided. The report, an abstract of which has appeared in The Sun, was taken as read. The CHAIRMAN said the revenue of the half-year was £971,508, as compared with £903,991 in 1862, £982,760 in 1861, and £1,031,631 in 1860. There had been £8,701,215 passengers, being an increase of £768,099 over 1862, of £310,634 over 1861, and of £306,050 in 1860, when the com pany's revenue had arrived at its highest point. Of mer chandise, minerals, and coal there had been moved 2,886,483 tons, being in excess of 1862,299,548 tons—of 1861, 178,192 tons—and of 1860,230,376 tons. But with all this increase the receipts were still £60,000 below 1860, owing to a large portion of the more valuable traffic being displaced by coal and other minerals, and owing to the passengers travelling a less average distance than in 1860. The receipts per ton were in 1861 5s 31d-1862, Sc 31d—and 1863, 5s ld, the dif ference between this year and last occasioning a loss of £18,500. The oatlay on the renewal account had been con siderably less than the previous year. The directors asked for a larger credit for the coming half-year, that they might be prepared for the great influx of traffic which might be ex pected when the American war ceased. The rolling stock was now moving 10 per cent. more than the busiest year prior to 1863. With regard to the company becoming their own insurers, it need not perhaps be said that in the last 20 years the company 's losses by fire at their stations had not amounted to an aggregate of £5,000. It would have been more satisfactory if the applications to Parliament for new lines could have been delayed until the trade of Lancashire was in a more satisfactory state ; but, having given a pledge to Parliament last session that if the line from Chorley to Blackburn was thrown out the company would be prepared to submit a line in the session of 1864,the directors had had the county surveyed, and were now prepared with a line which passing through very rich coal and mineral fields, was likely to be a valuable adjunct to the company's system. It was important that the shareholders should have an interest in the Methley Rranch Railway, which would supply large quantities of coal to the Wakefield and Goole line. The proposed extension of the Great Eastern Railway to Askern would afford a most important outlet, more particularly for coal. The necessity for increased station accommodation at Manchester, Liverpool, Halifax, Bradford, Normanton, and other important towns had become so pressing that the directors had had to give Parliamentary notice for some extensions, and for the making of a short branch line at Ardwick, as well as for the improvement of the Victoria station. The Ovonden Valley line at Halifax would com municate with a number of large manufacturing concerns whence much traffic originated, and it was necessary the company should have an interest in it. Therefore it was proposed to subscribe to the undertaking a sum not exceed ing £30,000. Docks at Fleetwood had long been contem plated and a company was being formed to carry out the pro ject. The directors, believing the company's traffic would be largely increased by their formation, now recommended the shareholders to subscribe £50,000 towards the making of the dock, and also to forego any claim for interest or dividend until the other shareholders received a dividend of 5 per cent on their share capital. The chairman concluded by moving the adoption of the report. Mr. G. WILSON (vice-chairman) seconded the motion. The Rev. Mr. BURCIIELL objected to so large a sum as £25,600 being carried over, after the payment of the 44 per cent. dividend, to the revenue account of the next half-year. It was a much larger amount than either the Midland or North-Western were leaving as a surplus, and ho moved as an amendment that the dividend this half-year be at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum. The amendment was seconded, Mr. J. FIELDEN wished to know how much more money the directors were going to ray out on the Halifax station. He thought too much had been expended there already. While there were wooden huts for station houses on some parts of the line he did not think it wise that money should have been laid out for ornamentation at Halifax station. He also objected to the company paying £50,000 on the pro posed docks at Fleetwood, and especially until they had some security that the docks would be completed without calling upon the company for a further sum. Mr. WILSON said, in answer to Mr. Burchell, that the company would require £5,000 of the surplus after paying dividend to form an insurance fund. To pay per cent. more (£ l 5,000) would, under such circumstances, leave too small a surplus, and as from the prospects of the line after the cotton crisis was over they would probably be able to pay much larger dividends, he thought it was better to keep on the safe side for the present. In answer to Mr. Fielden, ho said the expenditure at Halifax was for increased goods traffic accommodation, and with regard to the expenditnre at Fleetwood, it would only be equal to £2,500 per annum, in return for which they wuuld get an increase of traffic over the line. He entered into a statement showing that the dock company had made a good arrangement for land with Sir H. Fleetwood, and contended that, looking at the large population of Iceland, it WAS good policy to encourage the formation of docks and do all they could to foster the traffic between Ireland and this country through the port of Fleet wood. On a show of hands the amendment was negatived by a majority of 40 to 36 votes, and the reports and accounts were adopted. Resolutions were carried declaring a dividend of 41 per cent. per annum, re-electir.. , retiring directors, empower ing the directors to spend £120,000 during the current half-year on new works, re-electing Mr. Wrigley as auditor, and setting aside £5,000 for au insurance fund. The meeting was then made special, and resolutions were passed regulating the manner in which the directors should retire by rotation, and authorising the exercise of the borrow ing powers of the company fur sums of £'36,000 and £50,000. TH. SUN. LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 18, 1864. of December last amounts to £555,000, and 6n the new branch capital account to £6,573, A special meeting of this company was held yesterday at Radley's Hotel—Mr. F. L. Wollaston in the chair. Mr. Curtis (the solicitor) read the heads of an agreement between the company and the East London Railway Com pany for the sale of the tunnel to the railway company for the sum of £173,600, and it was stipulated that £lOO,OOO, being part of the purchase money, should be paid to the Public Works Loan Commissioners in discharge and satis faction of the debt of £250,000 due to them from the Thames Tunnel Company. The agreement was to remain in force until the end of the Session of 1865. The CHAIRMAN moved a resolution approving and con firming the agreement. Ho said that the East London Railway Company had already complied with the standing orders, and if the Bill passed in the present Session the company would not require the tunnel for two years. The agreement was confirmed, and a vote of thanks to the chairman concluded the proceedings. WEST RIDING AND GRIMSBY. The half-yearly meeting of this company was held yes terday at Wakefield, Mr. Winn in the chair. From the reports, read by the secretary (Mr. West), it appeared that satisfactory progress was being made with the line, and that it would be completed during the year, as stipulated by the contractors. A railway had been pro jected in connexion with the Great Eastern Company for extending the Great Eastern system from Cambridge to the West Riding and Grimsby Railway, near Owston, and the parties promoting the Bill sought for running over the line to 'Wakefield. The project was fraught with obvious ad vantages to the West Riding and Grimsby Railway, and a valuable exchange of traffic would result in the event of the line being constructed. The line was progressing satis factorily towards completion. Several parts of the line ware being ballasted ready for the permanent way. The CHAIRMAN moved the adoption of the report, which, having been seconded, was carried without any discussion, The three retiring directors, Messrs. A. Harris, Wright, and Foster, were re-elected, and a vote of thanks to the chairman terminated the proceedings. BRISTOL AND EXETER. The report states that the terminable 41 per cent. prefer• ence stock now comes into account, and the receipts on capi• tal account to the 31st of December stand as follows : Debentures, £559,774 ; perpetual 4 per cent. preference stock, £1,067,405 ; terminable 41 per cent, preference stock, £ ' 267,`200; and original stock, £2,022,460, showing, as compared with the previous half-year, an increase of £251,653. The average rate of interest on debentures has been reduced from 4.110 to 4.109 per cent. during the past half-year. The expenditure on capital account during the half-year amounts to £15,416. The ordinary traffic receipts are somewhat less than those of the corre sponding period of the previous year. In the total receipts from all sources there has been a decrease of £lO6, while in the total expenditure of all kinds there has been a reduction of £1,638. The accounts of the half year (including balance of £1,596 brought forward) show a total revenue of £183,201 and a total expenditure of £37,378, leaving a balance of £95,826, out of which preferential and other charges for interest, amounting to £11,752, have to be paid. This leaves a disposable of £54,073, out c f which the directors recommend a dividend at the rate of 5 per cent, per annum on the original stock, carrying forward a balance of £3,511 to the current half-year. TEWKESBURY AND MALVERN. The Government inspector has just completed an inspec tion of this new line of railway, which has been long in a forward state, but owing to some requirements with refer ence to si,gnals and the bridges over the Severn and Avon rivers, has been delayed completion. The bridges were tested, four engines being drawn over them, and the result was pronounced satisfactory. The Tewkesbury and Eve sham Railway will be completed in about two months, and then a new route will be established from Ladbury, Here ford, Malvern, and Tewkesbury to Evesham, Oxford, and London, by which a saving in mileage will be effected. NORTII-WESTERN. The half-yearly meeting of this company was held at Leeds yesterday. The report stated that the dividend to be de clared was at the rate of £3 per cent. per annum, the sum of £12,414 being available for that purpose. By the terms of the lease granted to the Midland Railway Company, the dividend for the year commencing January 1, 1864, would be at the rate of 3! per cent., plus one half of the net sur plus, if any. Since the Midland Company took possession of the lino in 1859 considerable additions had been made to the permanent works, including enlargements of the har bour works at Morecambe, extensions of sidings and en largement of platforms and station accommodation at all the stations along the line, the laying of the second line of rails between Wennington Junction and Ingleton the erectiun of permanent station buildings at latter place, and the strengthening of 49 miles of single line by fish jointing, extra sleepers and fastenings ; and the cost of these works had been added to the capital account, the interest thereon being paid by the Midland Company. The directors had introduced a bill into Parliament in the present session for authorising a division of the ordinary share capital of the company into stock—viz., an A stock, to consist of £171,336 (being three-fifths of the whole), which would be entitled to a perpetual preferential dividend at the rate of £5 per cent. per annum, and a B slock, to consist of £ 314,224 (being the remaining two-fifths et the capital), which would take a dividend of £1 5s per cent., the surplus profits arising under the lease, and all other contingent advantages which might accrue to the company. The CHAIRMAN (Mr. 11, Alcock) moved tho adoption o SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. TIMES.—The House of Commons never appears to so little advantage as when it is executing the delicate and invidious task of acting as judge in its own cause. Assemblies are not free from the weak ness of egotism any mere than individuals. There is the same disposition to make the best of every thing they do, and to slur over and extenuate faults and shortcomings, of which every candid person is more or less conscious when he attempts to estimate his own conduct. On Tuesday night the great and important question of the private business of the House of Commons was brought before the house by Lord R. Cecil. The opportunity was ill-chosen. A motion of the most momentous consequence was introduced in a thin house, and the possibility of any satisfactory result was at once prevented by moving that motion as an ameiglment to a proposition, not very important certainly, but to which nobody had r , y objection. The debate which followed the question thus strangely raised did, it must be admitted, bring out very forcibly the main points of th© subject, and also illustrated very clearly the real difficulty, which undoubtedly is the indisposi tion of the House of Commons to part with any portion of power or jurisdiction, even after it has been conclusively proved that it cannot exercise it for the public good. There was a manifest indis position to admit the grievance to its full extent, and an equally manifest determination to refine away the proposal for a remedy. The principal objections to the present mode of conducting private business are but too well-known. They are so over- whelming that the continuance of the system from year to year is perhaps the very best in stance that can be given of that tenacity of life inherent in English abuses. In what other country was it ever thought necessary that, before people could be allowed to execute great public im provements, they should prove a complicated stare of facts, and that when this had been done they should immediately be c ailed upon to prove them over again before a second tribunal ? What would be said if no man could recover a debt till he had obtained a judgment in two independent courts of law, or obtain relief in equity without proving his case to the satisfaction of two successive Vico-Cnan- cellors ? Then, as to the tribunal, can anything be more monstrous than that we should go on piling decision upon decision and precedent upon prece dent without making the slightest approach to wards settling the principles upon which matters of such immense importance to the community and to all concerned are to be decided ? A decision in a court of law is very often obtained with so much expense, delay, and vexation that it can be regarded as little short of an unmixed evil to the litigants, vanquished and victo rious. But it is a great good to tho community ; it binds future decisions, and prevents future litigation by giving those who are in a similar position to the plaintiff and defendant a rule by which to guide their conduct. The decisions of a committee of the House of Commons have no such effect. Nobody knows on what ground they are arrived at. The decision of one committee does not bind another, and often in adjacent rooms contra dictory conclusions are drawn from the same state of fects. As nobody is certain, so nobody need despair. The decisions of one session are good for that session and no longer, and the same attempts are renewed from year to year, to the infinite vexa tion and oppression of such persons as are interested in opposing them. Mr. Massey says, in answer to this, that even the Courts of Westminster-hall occasionally differ from each other. They do so. But how vast is the distinction between the cases The differences which exist between Courts are differences as to the application of well-known principles of law to a new state of circumstances. The differences which exist between committees of the House of Commons are generally caused by the absence of any law at all. It is not, for instance, settled up to the present day in what cases competi tion gives a right of appearing before a committee to oppose a projected railway. Tne House of Com mons knows little or nothing of the proceedings of its cem mit tees. The committees know ju,t as little of the proceedings of each other, and each Bill is regarded as a purely isolated venture, controlled by no law, and regulated by no principle. On the members the effec - s of the system is equally unfor tunate. They are overworked in the transaction of business which does not legitimately fall within the duties of a central Legislature. They are wearied by speeches from counsel which they cannot cur tail , and by examinations and arguments which they cannot control. It is becoming every day more difficult to find persons to discharge this laborious and unsatisfactory duty, and although it has long been assigned to the younger or less pro minent members of the house, they are evidently anxious to escape a labour from which little is learnt, and from which neither position nor influ ence is gained. This is the state of the private busi ness of the House of Commons, and with such machinery it is about to meet the crushing amount of railway business appointed for the present Ses sion. Surely never were interests so vast so repre hensibly trifled with ? The position of a young civilian in India sent to administer between the in habitants such justice as occurs to him is painful enough, but that is a case of hard necessity, while our Parliamentary Committees are placed in nearly equal difficulty without any necessity at all There is not an evil we have enumerated for which a remedy might not be found, and we should have thought that all parties would be glad to be rid of a system fraught with so much evil and injustice to all concerned,—to those who form the tribunal us well as those who appear be fore it. This, however, is not the case. If it be proposed that the double inquiry should be saved by appointing a joint Committee of both Houses, endless objections are raised as to their respectiv' rights and privileges. If it be urged that a sepa rate legal tribunal might be formed to perform the duties now intrusted to a Committee, as is the case with Enclosure Acts, and that the duties of the House might be confined to affirming or rejecting the conclusionsof that tribunal, it is answered that if the Report of the tribunal is to be final, the House is deprived of its legislative powers, and if it is not to be final, there may be a double inquiry—one be fore the tribunal, and one before Parliament, and thus delay and vexation may ensue. Even if this were so, we should be prepared to contend that it would be better and more for the honour of Par liament to give up a jurisdiction which it cannot exercise with satisfaction to itself or the public than to cling to powers which its organisation renders mischieveus. But, in truth, this is not the case. Parliament ought by all means to retain that part of its duties in the despatch of private business which it is well calculated to discharge. It should lay down clearly and watch vigilantly the principles upon which private business is conducted, leaving the labour of ascertaining facts to some less important body. Parliament does exactly the contrary of this. It wastes the time of members in the attempt to mas ter and adjudicate upon details which a fee inferior tribunal could dispose of better than itself and it com pensates for this over diligence by neglecting to debate or consider those principles which it above all other bodies in the country is pre-eminently qualified to lay down. There are several ways in which this singular inversion of functions might be corrected. The tri bunal might be appointed to take evidence, leaving the Committee to form its judgment upon the evi dence so taken. Mr. Gibson says, indeed, that the tribunal would not know what evidence to take, but this objection, if it were valid, would be fatal to our whole system of administering civil justice, since we can never be sure that the f ull court will hold that not that the evidence taken in the inferior court was addressed to the wrong point. Bnt as . in a civil trial the adverse interests of the op a p n o t s e m e gj a a t rt'es ail afford in practice a sufficient will things material to be proved . be proved, so would . it be in proving or disproving the . preamble . of a . bill. We by no means wish to see Parliament divest itself of its powers of legislation in private business. We wish that the question should be sifted and reduced to its simplest expression before Par liament is called upon to deal with it, and that its interference should be confined to the correction, either by way of appeal or decision on evidence already taken, of any error which may have been committed by tLe tribunal below. For this duty a joint Committee of the two Houses is admirably qualified, and it would not be too much to expect that for such a Committee the House of Commons would be willing to spare several of its ablest and most experienced members. POST.—It is gr ttifying to observe that the French authorities in Mexico are accomplishing reforms which cannot fail to conciliate the population, when they contrast the system which is being in troduced now with anarchy of revolutionary demagogues and the tyranny of Ultramontane rule. To establish liberty and order where confu sion and despotism of the usurper or the mob reigned before, is as desirable as it is difficult ; and those least friendly to the interference of France must admit that a very important step in the right direction has just been taken. The French authorities had adopted measures framed to protect the rights of the possessors of Church property and the holders of the securities given for payment of such property. This measure of justice was not at all approved by the retrograde or Ultramontane party. The Supreme Court, under the influence and control of this party, refused to administer the law in cases where these rights were involved, so that there was a practical denial of justice. The Arch bishop intimated that it was his intention to frame and promulgate an ordinance which was to settle permanently the question of the rights of the holders of Church property, and of the securities given for payment. Upon this the Supreme Court virtually decided not to entertain the claims of such persons at all. This of course was a state of things that could not be allowed to continue by any civi lised Government, and accordingly a circular was directed to the judges reciting the ordinances and the laws upon which it was their duty to act, and requiring them to administer justice in the class of cases referred to above. The Supreme Court, how ever, still under the influence of the Archbishop, remained contumacious, and would not discharge its proper functions. As for the Archbishop him self, that dignitary issued a protest of a very pointed and energetic character against the just and reason able course taken by the Government. He did not, however, stop here. The protest does not appear, in his judgment, to have been sufficient. lie therefore proceeded, in conjunction with his bishops, to com pose a sort of bull of excommunication, in imitation of the bulls of the ancient Popes, for laying dis obedient countries under an interdict, and had it formally served upon the Government, after the manner of an attorney serving a debtor with a writ. This literary curiosity, which ought to be preserved in some museum devoted to the reception of such rarities, extends to the length of more than a couple of dozen sheets of paper, or, perhaps, parchment, and is based upon certain resolu tions passed at the ancient Council of Trent. It is most comprehensive and sweeping in its denunciations, and directs the pains and penal ties it recites against everybody of both sexes and all ages who may be, or have been in any way, directly or indirectly concerned in or accessory to the deadly sin of nationalising Church property. So scientific is its construction and phraseology, that nobody who has had anything to do with the enormity it anathematises can hope, so far as its interpretation is concerned, to have the remotest chance of escaping the whole concatenation of pains and penalties which it comprises. Indeed, it is doubtful if the entire population of Mexico, men, women, and children—of course with the exception of the Ultramontane party—are not consecutively liable under its damnatory clauses for sanctioning, in the sense of not opposing by force, the terrible sin which it denounces. But the wrath of the Ultramontane party was not yet exhausted or ap peased. They next bethought themselves of fol lowing up this parody of Papal bull of excommuni cation by a sort of rider, in the shape of a secular document, signed by all the judges of the Supreme Court in their forensic capacity, in which these functionaries declared it to be their intention not to administer the unholy and unrighteous law at all. Matters were thus brought to a climax, and issue was joined between the Ultramontanists and the secular arm, who thus put themselves upon the country, as the legal term expresses it; and there is no doubt that the country will be well enough satisfied with what the Government has done. What the Government did was to issue a proclamation during the first days of the new year, explaining the state of affairs to the people, and also a decree dismissing the refractory judges of the Supreme Court. This measure seems to have been approved by the people generally. There has been no difficulty experienced in finding judges who underst Ind their duties, and that the interests of the nation are not to be sacrificed to the selfish wishes of the Ultramontane section of the clergy. The real secret of La Bastide's opposition to the policy of the Government seems to be that the arch bishops were twenty thousand pounds a year richer before the nationalisation of Church property took place. If this measure could be reversed, the re venues of the archiepiscopal see would be augmented to that extent. It is perhaps to be expected, human nature being what it is, even among such unearthly and celestial personages as the Ultramontanist clergy, that such a stake should provoke an obsti nate struggle for its recovery. Still, the interests of the nation must prevail, Besides, what was the use of 27 sheets of obsolete cursing, based upon a substratum of resolutions passed at the Council of Trent ? The day has gone by when people paid any attention to fulminations of this sort. The con duct of La Bastille is a sufficient explanation of his having been considered not a fit person to continue a member of the Regency. It is abundantly clear that no just and liberal Government of which such a man, so circumstanced, was a member, could be expected to work to the satisfaction of the more sensible and enlightened portion of the people, or for the real good of the country. The Mexicans now see that the French are their best friends, and that the system which is being caraied out is the best adapted to save their distracted country, It appears also that order is being restored throughout the land. The followers of Juarez have almost en tirely ceased from resistance. Campeachy has pro bably been captured ere this. There is no fear of the disturbing element which it was once thought was to be foreseen in the advent of multitudinous filibusters from the United States. The Federal Government cannot get men for its own defence ; and that the war next spring may become an offensive one on the part of the South appears to be the opinion of General Halleck, who recently ex pressed his apprehension that it would be " trans ferred to Northern soil." Besides, the North can not afford to ! uarrel with France, and therefore it is the intereAt of the Government to keep at home out of harm's way any filibusters who might be in clined for mischief. The difficulties in the way of helping Mexico to help itself out of the slough of despond into which a succession of rival usurpers and anarchists, with organised banditti for armies, had sunk it, were great indeed, and apparently in superable. But the miracles of perseverance are proverbial; and if the French, who have already done so much more than many thought possible, should be able—as it is to be hoped, and now in deed expected, they will be able—to restore that unhappy country to even an approximation to prosperity and peace, they will deserve the grafi , tude not only of the Mexicans but of the world. COTTON SUPPLY ASSOCIATION.—At the usual weekly meeting of the Executive Committee, held on Tuesday, a letter was read from St. Thomas,West Indies, stating that the cultivation of cotton is rapidly extending in that island, and that good results are confidently anticipated' Favourable accounts were also received of the crop now growing in Barbadoes. A letter from Demerara reports that the rains have destroyed an enormous quantity of cot ton, and that the planters by neglecting to gather it when ready have sustained considerable loss, but have been taught by their experience lessons which will be valuable for the future. A letter was read from Corrientes, in the Argen tine Republic, stating that there is great activity in the cul tivation of cotton, and that should the season be propitious not less than 300 bales would be produced in the province of Corrientes alone. The Government is rendering every facility, and proposals for establishing cotton plantations on a large scale have been made, which it is expected will be cordially adopted. Various measures arc in progress which are likely to prove highly advantageous. Letters accompa nying applications for seed were received from the Consul- General of Spain, stating that her Catholic Majesty's Go • vernment is most anxious to promote the cultivation of cot ton, and has directed its special attention to the plains of Motril, situated in latitude 36 deg. 40 min. on the shores of the Mediterranean, and proposes to extend its efforts to the neighbouring provinces and other 3 on the same coast. A commencement has already been made with good results, and further experiments on a large scale with various sorts of seed are contemplated. No effort will ba spared to insure success, and every assistance that the association can render will be gladly afforded. A letter was read from New York, stating that there is quite a demand there for cotton gins, and that they have been sent in large numbers to South America, the 'West Indies, Egypt, and other places, a fact which shows that cotton cultivation is on the increase in those countries. The opinion is confidently expressed that the changes occurring in the Southern States must tend to give permanency to the growth of cotton in every Other part of the world. A letter was read from Turin furnishing in teresting particulars of the Cotton Exhibition now open in that city, and it was resolved earnestly to request the pre sident of the association to become its representative at Turin during the Exhibition, in compliance with the desire of the Royal Italian Commission, This it is hoped will greatly encourage and stimulate the efforts now making to extend the growth of cotton in Italy. SIGNIFICANT OF THE AGE l—l a book called "The Science of the Soul," there is one erratum on a slip, and, says the Athenceum, while directing attention to this erratutn, we cannot pass it : " for God read gold." This is indeed an erratum in vogue, and a corrigendum too. The book certainly does not commit it ; the author seems a real earnest Christian. Persons in debt may obtain instant protection against imprisonment or seizure of their goods, and an entire release from all debts and lial;ilities without publicity, by application to Messrs. Marshall, co li c tors of the Court of Bankruptcy, Charges under £5 payable by easy instalments. Offices— (established 1830), 12, llatton-garden. City branch-0, Moor gate-street, Bank.—A.DVT. WEST HARTLEPOOL. The directors of this company state in their report that the revenue of the concert continues to advance satisfac torily. The total receipts for the past half year ending the 31st of December, show at increase of £9,879 over those of the corresponding half of 1862. The total receipts for the year 1863 amounted to £235,293, the gross expenditure to £119,005, and the net revenue to £116,288. The gross receipts for the year 1861 amounted to £216,662, the gross expenditure to £151,142, end the net revenue to £65,520, showing an increase in th 3 gross receipts in two years of £18,631, a decrease in the expenses of £32,137, and an in crease of £50,768 In the net revenue. The clear balance on the half year available for dividend, after providing for in terest on all the primary clarg,es, special debts, and deben ture loans, is £37,596, out )f which the proprietors of class A stock are entitled in th 3 first place to receive a dividend at the rate of 3 per cent. per annum. This will absorb £37,480, and the remaining £ll6 is too small to be distri buted between the holders of class B stock and the ordinary shareholders, but it will be carried forward to the eredit of these stocks in the company's accounts. The directors pro pose to pay the dividend on the class A stock on March 15. A considerable improvement took place in the coal trade about the middle of the half-year, and the company's col lieries have not only paid the whole of their railway dues, but have left a balance of £1,471 to their credit, in the hands of the trustees, which roust be applied in part liqui dation of colliery old debts. A. provisional agreement has been entered into for the dieposal of the Chilton Colliery, and it:now only awaits confirmation by the Court of Chan cery on behalt of the purclasers. Two other collieries-- namely, Page Bank and Spennymoor, are to be sold at New.• castle on March 15. One of the results of the development of trade at West Hartlepool has been a demand for sites for new works, and the board have sold 10 acres of the com pany's land for the erection of rolling-mills, and one acre for a foundry, and have leased a portion of ground in the harbour for a new iron shipbuilding yard, and they have found it necessary to construct a patent slipway for the ac commodation of ships frequenting the port. A demand has likewise sprung up for house property and building sites, and the board have, in consequence, been able to effect ad vantageous sales of other portions of the company's pro perty. To meet the large increase in the timber trade the directors have commenced the enlargement and improve ment of the timber dock and ponds at an estimated cost of £15,000. It has also been found necessary to add to the stock of merchandise waggons to meet the largely increased traffic in that department. The whole of the new deben tures have been issued at 41 per cent. The Clarence 6 per cent, shares, amounting tc .£101,480, have been all paid off. The capital account shows that £1,094,225 had been ex pended, leaving a balance of £t6,755. The revenue account for the half year ending the 31st December last showed that £126,036 had been received and £63,507 expended, leaving a balance of £62,529, BEDFORD AND CAMBRIDGE. An extraordinary meeting of this company were held yes erday at the Euston Station, Mr H. W. Wbitbread in the chair. The CHAIRMAN said the meeting had been convened, in consequence of the refusal of the London and North- Western Board to agree to the terms proposed by the direc tors of the company, to approve a bill which the directors had felt it necessary to introduce into Parliament for the purpose of protecting their interests. Considering the daily improving position of the line, and that the receipts were now 50 per cent. more than they were this time last year, with the certain prospect of a still further increase, the di rectors thought they were entitled to demand terms from the London and North-Western which would at least bring their shares into par. (Hear.) Nlr. INDatKnv, solicitor, then read the heads of the bill, which gave powers to the company to increase their capital by £50,000, in shares not to bear a higher interest than 6 per cent. The CHAIRMAN then moved a formal resolution approv ing the bill, and authorising the directors to continue the negotiations with the London and North-Western Com pany, with a view to an amicable arrangement. Mr. PALGRAVE seconded the resolution, which was una , nimausly adopted, and the proceeiings terminated. STOCKTON AND DARLINGTON. The half• yearly meeting of shareholders in this section of the North-Eastern Company was held yesterday at Dar lington, Colonel Stobart in the chair. The CHAIRMAN moved a resolution approving the report and the payment of a dividend in the ordinary shares of S per cent, per annum. Mr. J. W. Pease was re•elected a director on the North- Eastern Board; and Mr. J. C. Hopkins and Mr. W. C. Stobart were re-elected dim:tors of the Darlington section. The SECRETARY, in reply to a question, stated that the directors contemplated calling up £2 in April next on the 1858 :shares, and the same amount in July on the 1861 shares. This would be continued until 1865, when the 1858 shares would be all paid, and in the case of the 1861 shares until 1867. A vote of thanks to the chairman terminated the pro• ceedings. LYNN AND HUNSTANTON• The report of the directors states that the gross traflic receipts for the half-year ending the 31st of December amount to £1,212, and after payment of 50 per cent. to the Great Eastern Company for working expenses and the in terest on the debenture debt and other expenses a balance of £1,853 remains available for dividend. Out of which the directors recommend the payment of a dividend at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum, leaving a balance of £353 for the next acoount. CORK AND KINSALE JUNCTION. The hnlf-yearly meeting of this company was held yes terday at the offices, Gracechurch-street ; Lord Kingsale in the chair. Mr. 11. W. WOOD, the secretiry, read the report, which stated that notwithstanding the unfavourable season for railway traffic in Ireland during the past six months, and the undeveloped position of the railway, the directors had been enabled to pay out of the revenue earnings for the half-year ending 31st December last, all working expenses and interest on the debenture debt to that date, leaving a surplus profit of £3OO which they recommended should be carried to the credit of the next account. The board confi dently looked forward to a considerable increase in the re venue of the line next summer, when the several arrange ments now being carried out for the development of the traffic would be completed. The building of the Marine Hotel at Kinsale had progressed satisfactorily, an d th e directors were informed that the walls were now up to the level of the roof, that the building would shortly be covered in, and fitted for business as early as practicable. The board intended to issue, in the course of next summer, the 6 per cent, preference shires created in November last, and which would, in the first instance, be offered, pro rata, to the ex isting shareholders. All accounts between the contractors and the company had been finally and satisfactorily ad justed, and all outstanding claims defined. Considering the moderate east of the railway and the satisfactory agreement for working the line for 30 per cent, of the gross traffic re ceipts, the board felt satisfied that the undertaking must prove profitable in its results. The capital account showed that £62,738 had been received, and £62,660 expended. The revenue account showed a balance of £3OO, after pay ment of working expenses and interest on the debenture debt. The CIIAIR3IAN, in moving the adoption o f the re p ort, said he thought it would be deemed satisfactory , consider ing the short time the line had been opened for traffic. He had no doubt that the arrangements referred to in the re port would largely increase the receipts during the summer months. The fish traffic was now commencing, and they looked forward to a considerable item from that source of revenue. The traffic between Cork and Kinsale had amounted for the last six months to £2,000, or at the rate of £l,OOO a year, which he thought, under the circum stances, must be considered satisfactory, and as the traffic increased the result to the shareholders would be still more satisfactory. Sir C. HONEY seconded the motion for the adoption of the report, which was agreed to. The retiring directors, Sir C. P. Honey, Mr. T. Wink worth, and Mr. F. %V. Sedgwiok, were re-elected, and also Mr. C. Bell, the retiring auditor. On the motion of Mr. J. W. HOLLAND, the proceedings concluded with a vote of thanks to the chairman. MARYPORT AND CARLISLE. The report of the directors states that the traffic receipts for the half-year ending the 31st of December amount to £38,072, against £33,508 for the corresponding half of 1862, showing an increase of £1,564. The expenditure amounts to £14,851, against £13,057 for the corresponding period, showing au increase of £1,797. The receipts for the past half-year amount to £38,072, the expenditure, including rates and tazes, to £14,854, and the net receipts to £23,218. New coal pits have been opened at Itosegid and Aspatria, and a new seam has been sunk at the Bullgill pit, as the workings are extended, an increase of the local traffic may be expected. The increasing prosperity of the iron trade has given a considerable impetus to the iron ore and coke traffic. The balance for the half - y ear, after carrying £2,70.1 to the credit of the contingency account, is £17,751, which enables the directors to recommend a dividend on the ordi nary shares at the rate of 9 pe r cent. per annum, and on the preference shares according to their respective guaran tees. The expenditure on the old capital account to the 31st PARLIAMENTARY RETURN, A Parliamentary return was issued yesterday showing the charges incurred in he r Majesty's dockyards and at the Admiralty for w orks up on ships' services during the year ended the 31 s t Marc b last. To the acconets is prefixed a report thereon' from the Accountant-General of the Navy, dated the 12th of the present month. In the course of" report the .Accountant-General, after stating that` the stocks of timber and timber ma terials and store g in the several dockyards are to be valued on the ist of April next, continues As a further coeiw quence of Mr. Stansfeid's investigations into dock yard accounts and economy, an extension and fj ' modification have been made in the new regulatio n which have been framed for the preparation of thx dockyard and factory acc ounts of expen ses up u ships, services, and conversions, and which it isPl° :l posed to bring into operation on t he Ist of AP next. The chief objects sought to be o btained Ir s these regulations are to ensure iv th e future prePra4 tion of these accounts that the ch ar g es should he rendered upon a uniform principle ; that all erode trary or percentage charges should be discontinue"' andthe expenses exhibited in th ese account' should represent either a direct or indirect charge against the particular ship or servic e, and thus aff'r upon all common points of agreement a compari° of the expenditure for ships building and raa° llfl : + ; d turing operations in her Majesty's dockyards that incurred in private trade. It is fu rther inten l —as a consequence of the valuation of the stock timber, timber materials, and stores in the sevela dockyards on the Ist of April, 1864—t0 keep a c an ; tinuous record of the value of the receipts and ise u i. e o of stock, so as, at the expiration of each year, t° l ' o enabled to show under certain general heads t i li o several transactions throughout the year, as theWel the value of the remains of stock at the end of e year. It only remains for me to observe tha t i til d balance-sheets of manufacturing operations and - a conversions of timber at tha several dockyards 811 4 steam factories at home for 1862-3 are in c ourse ''. f tabulation, and will be forwarded shortly to lo op Lordships for presentation to Parliament. -1%.;1t are being abstracted in such a form, and ri , rl Tp e e , such uniform classification of manufactured art`cal as will admit of similar operations at the ses' e d yards being compared as to gene ral results ; °Poi by the introduction into such balance she ets e d the rate-book prices of the articles manufactilro or timber converted, the cost of the convars`c;bo at each yard, can be compared with I to rates at which the stores and timber are iss ued be ships. The discrepancies, if any, which nvl be apparent upon such comparison will in fat ute te , materially adjusted by the correc tion of the r3tire book, now in course of revision, a nd b y its flit annual revision." COUNTRY MARKETS. ----.~ LYNN—TUESDAY. l OO The weather since the rapid thaw of last Satu:cl:los become open and mild. At to-day's market th r-‘,„pie: small show of wheat, which met a fair sale--drYn; pc at the prices of last week, and damp qual ities 6d tu 40 qr:ewer. to Spring corn unaltered in value. 36; ~_ ~,5 White wheat 42s to 48s i Barley .......... : 300 to ‘ 5, ltf,.d .. 39s to 44s I Grinding ...... • , o , to ,' , Beans .33s to 35s I Oats.. .......... •--$ -• t o New 3ss to 37s I Peas ............ HULL—TUESDAY. ;ad, Since our last the wheat trade has continued dePre'tOtt At to-day's market there was a fair show of Englit:re s' l3l which held firm for last week's rates ; in foreign t o ve"; nothing doing, holders not being willing to inak e o t $O7 sions. Barley, beans, and peas sold slowly, 19 t it 0 lower in price. Oats somewhat scarce, but limb 44s v 3 Wheat.... Old white.... per qr .. 428 Od to 0 0 Old red I, Od to ' , 39 , 01 New white .. ~ New red .... „ Barley.... English malting 27s od to 7 ', 6 00 Grinding r 2 s s 0 0 ad t° t ° 0 :1 ° 0 3 ,) Saal and Oderbruck Holstein and Danish 3os Od to ,3>ti 011 Grinding, Oats English, old 22s Od to oti to a 120 , 1 31 Archangel and Riga, per st Os o e ;3 Friesland and Dutch , Osl o to 0 ,13, Swedish and Danish OBl2O t°43s Beans ....English, ....English, old, per qr New pigeon New tick Egyptian 4 4: , '1 0: 2 2 s s s s s 0:01, to 33 3 1 . l a i! ' ; °6 OO l Peas Foreign boilers ... od to Grinding _ 32 : o d to 34 , Oz Tares ....Spring 3 A s s ° O ei c i i t it o °° .7"-' 67 ' 46 , tul O a Indian Corn Linseed, feeding crushing • 4O, Od -,40 0 Linseed cakes (Hull) 5 10 Foreign 8 15 oto 0 Rape cakes £9 10 0 0 t t 0 0 5(:) ,) io t t i 0 1 Bones --- MELTON MOWBRAY—TnESDNY• cheat, The following were the currencies :—New stoue;: 42s Od to 46s Od ; new red, 38s Od to 42s per d u as ot, 0 ; beans, 378 to 41s for old ; new sorts, 34s to 378 per t r. ‘ , l O barley, 34s to 36s for malting, and 26s to 2 9 s P e " o ld) i i ; o ri .2 ll B d s in g ; new oats, lbs . to 22s Od per 24 stone' M ONIIIO U T lI—TUESDAY. The local markets have been moderately durin the week, with an average bus'ness• IV,rriacil inquired for, and prices firm. Both malting sou grin barley in request, and the prices of last week W sc :. r 2 lei d a t t o tte : Wheat, white.. 5s Od to 5s 9d I Barley ..... t" ) Ditto red. .0s Od to Os Od I Oats .. • COAL 'lutes of Coal per Ton a s. d. Bates'sWest Hartley..l4 0 Bower's West Hartley.l4 Byass's Bebside West Hartley ...II 9 Lambert's West Hart- alte t ' the close of ra— Walls T]ad• .16 0 Maori ........... 0 Framwellgate..."' 19 0 Haswell ........... ••••.16 Whit wor th ..... •• '' IS a South Hartlepoo. 1..• • S " I 6 ool• . East Hartlepool • • ' . IS T r i m d w a Hart le p 0 H a rtlepool ...... " 6 • ' ' Kelloe ......... • • , 9 IS 0 Tuns t a ll .• ••. • • • 1„ 0 Hetton ........ •• ' 0 S o uth Belton ••• • • V 0 Russel's Il e ttou• • • ' •. 1 Gas 801) ........... • • 78 ; Bold, 49. ley 14 6 Walker Primrose 12 3 Hastings Hartley l4 9 Wylam 17 0 Holywell Eden Main 17 3 Walls End. Riddell Braddyll's Hetton 1S 0 l Ships at market Foreign Mail Packet 141 S MAILS DUE. Feb' I:i' Australia and Mauritius, via Southampton...o. '' . fel , . 6. via Marseilles ....... ' Isle' 0 , Brazil and Cape Verds, by British pac:ket..• • • ":fel ) . iS• Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. lieleaa.,,,yel,%/, China, Penang, and Singapore, via SouthaniPte'yeD• via Marseille,' ", is. Falkland Islands . •' ' fob' 15 , ......... . D. Gibraltar, via Southampton .............. ' ...Y e t , '/ 1 " India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southaniptol3' re 06 , via Marseilles••••feb• ,20. ' Fe l ' India (Bombay), via Southampton ........ ' ..,,,r 6 4 ' via Marseilles ........... • • ' ' P D: 1 " Portugal.... ............................ •" ' f, e e b, `29," Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton.••';',l; b , 1' Newfoundland Oporto and Vigo .. via Marseilles . ......::.:..,;: 0)3, ............. t .., ~ U. S. and British N. America, by Brit. packetke • b. 1 by U.S.es;t•feg. 1131. by Can ~•. •,( 14 0. 0 1 9: W.C. of Africa, Madeira, and Teneriffe ..... ''. ...; 1,, , 0 Bahamas, via New York .............. " . ....e ~9, Mexico ...................................... e V il , fel , ' All parts of West Indies, including Chili, x J ...„,,,,, California. and British Columbia.. ...... •",....<--- ____.--_---__--------- , lif ° Births. MILDMAX.—On the 16th inst., at 42, south -s tro" .0' I Bingham Mildmay, of a son. SCARSDALE —On the 16th inst., at Nediestort, of old? Lady Scarsdale, of a daughter. ,loacli,orpv STILWELL.—OR the 16th inst., at FairnoldCpvel" Surrey, the wife of James John Russell _ l eer of a son. t-t ev it' ) n a () Se t d a ft° SATTERTHWAITE.—On the 17th inst, at z , v, --2' t or- Hyde-park, the wife of Charles Sheridsa 04 Esq., of a daughter. id Marriages. O h 9. MAYBuRY—CRAWSHAY—On the 16th iiV-i a I , ,-- • 06 - - 4. tStiVoltro Church, Richmond-hill, August us to July YOrd Esq., M.D., of Richmond, Surreysh daughter of the late Richard CraW off a William i l y l o i a u m n a t;) , v 4., of R Tl Bll D a elt a—rk E . vA Ns . Cin the 17th ins t ' li . t. Sii ° ll6lt. ' l " j ci ti'll f tit''rg:.-11 " .;:i ~.,,Newland HousgeEe,sLvtaisnnocsno!En)f,,:tVo.,llVolialtr;. dElr4clel' t are ir : " ' "l3cP" ;in ter R i f Gordo-s4tl • 01' 0 BALLANTYNE.-0 agedn t h 6 e 6 D G e t h a t ins hs ;. , 3 0 1 3e oare' 11° 0 Ito 1 3a c o lleg India. 1 3 artleY' , I I : l, I o s N . : .r—d l: ; L tnr . LL.D., 1 1 t t e h inst Principal i tt o c t . i 1 vtliv r, 1:::`,7•1 BARTLEy.—On the 16th inst., Mr. hen r y yP. EOxsPtuov C uu Haines,r: lt L '. . ',s o rb , o l Curl!, Esq., of Trinidao,"‘V.l. o itbi A r e Hamin.—On at BLO'njer co:Voc,o,:ciroi 14th inst., at gainol ersOitli' vo. 0n. , , ' sq., aged i • -ns hill' Fe Oa NuTTING.—On. the 13th inst., at ...'1 0 ; . 0 moo, Thomas Nutting, Esq,, aged v."' ,iaegroc„' lb , PO_RTLOCK.—On the 14th inst., at o.tat:vrtoc" Dublin, Major-General Joseph 1054). / Engineers, LL. D., F.R.S., 8,'0., abed ---------- trand, ;J ;I : London: P'. at Prirized and Prl.,.ttslied Dy IE o il - of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at t he tl ° Mi IdlenX.---Thurs day", February 19, th, PreOinct Printer, cue litvoY4l, TRP,IIp, CO IA , t l7ll e~C .brat It ' po 13R, LI lil MA 14% 'Poral ; 4 1)1t 4 i , % tie 50,0 `'fit API ,„, otq,arril r) n , pct Ztq , t 11 g Kerr : Ntl,l7 reni iß"r,a ell • ei Srr Th e al " \ at The I.lt ti I‘, alk er I!, l *.ttwit Fief 11 ~. ~299j w p'tN•! 10Z, tiC4l :Y eeti Nee (W 1 . 11 1 1 14% 1 441 1 '°4l 4tc t Gh ee 6te'4Z.ra o 1 l u tbie and fir HkQihe hen , 11 ary ; 14 t hP 'try 0: 1 1 rtt t , 4 ) , qber 1,11) e Ne t t b a pr , t)i„ - *;,; I '4 t 1 t' 2 I F f Ct D 'rPe sksemen, it"'t • 'h I t'bY E n Att l d . I'l l 4. for m 1/4 (I,, c uT! tk t , k i ti r 40,