The Sun. — London, England, 1854-03-15 00:00:00

10 0 hote . l ' here 0 . 1 n Wl' ver the hange,' w hie° and in sed to being ;atom b back ectioa , a bill 40 84 hole. 1 that unlev! 14 P oi , jail, ga le. les read fiber of ;ays ilia )ry, and of an )ops for 'ft With- The • :•enewed Places, over to b is ad; claimed to, and finding to the ral per' at tool; ha, heir gran d 31ebra? slave 1 0 cl to at tS 011 comers) [ace. Liid 11 35 is from as been and to ining .11 As rest' Luse h e cularlt 1 by all detri' his un -1 even• ) steps ple t° How Less 1.0 ie pre' caus e 'our 1# rough' a keep' Syria; would Audi° ,e mos", s 1310° , tn, and two. ledvi ort ,*t • 41, , .4(1," SUN OFFICE, Six o'clock. TADCASTER RACES. (THIS DAY.) (BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.) STEEPLECHASE. • Dian Maley 2 Won in a canter by eight lengths. The / folio wing also ran : —Blue Bonnet, Priam g. Juan, St. Mark, and Mary Barnton. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF COMMONS—(THIS DAY.) The SPEAKER took the chair at 12 o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS. The following bills were considered and ordered to be read a third time :—Amicable Society Assurance ; Hat field Chase Warping and Improvement ; Liverpool Im provement ; and Warrington Improvement and Market Bills. PETITIONS. Several petitions were presented against the opening of public-houses on Sunday, and against making grants to institutions like Maynooth. Mr. FORSTER and other hon. members pr esented petitions from various bodies of workmen in the Pot teries, and from other districts emplaning of the truck system. PAYMENT OF WAGES BILL. On the motion for the second reading of this bill, Mr. HUME said there was no necessity for the bill, and contended that it was impossible to legislate effec tually upon this subject. The truck laws were always evaded, because the workman as well as the master con nived at it, and passing bills like this only raised hopes that never could be realised. It was surprising to see the amount of ignorance that prevailed, both in and out of doors, on this subject. The capitalist was the greatest friend of the working man, but the operative classes seemed to entertain,a different opinion, and the only effect of bills of this nature was to foster that delusion. He therefore made a last appeal to the house and the Government to lend them no fur ther countenance, as the truck system was already stringently prohibited by law, and had been so prohi bited since the reign of George I. ; but it had been sys tematically evaded with the countenance and connivance of the workman himself. It was useless, then, to pass such bills, and he should resist the motion for the second reading. Mr. CRAUFORD moved as an amendment—" That before any further legislation on the subject of the pay ment of wages be sanctioned by this house, a select com mittee be appointed to inquire into the operation of the laws affecting the relations of masters and workmen, and to report whether any and what amendment may be requisite in those laws." The lion, member reviewed all the past proceedings of the house in connexion with this question, remarking that it was fully twelve years ago since it was investigated by a Parliamentary committee. The evils of the truck system was then fully developed, thouvh the committee did not recommend further legislation ; but during the last twelve years the whole of our commercial system bad undergone a change, Free trade had been almost uni versally adopted with reference to trade and commerce, while at this moment a bill was before the house for ex tending the free trade principle to labour ; and since it was just possible that the evils reported twelve years ago could no longer be insisted on, they ought to have another Parliamentary inquiry into the matter before the house agreed to any fresh legislation upon it. Mr. L. HEY WORTH seconded the amendment, be lieving that at this particular moment no more impor tant question could be pressed upon the attention of the house than the laws relating to masters and workmen. Mr. DRUMMOND said this bill had nothing to do with determing the rate of wages. The simple case was this—a mass of helpless labourers complained that they were defrauded by their masters, and they came to the house for redress. The truck system, in fact, defrauded them of a portion of their fair earnings ; and although this was not a time for using language which could set the men against the masters, it was yet not an inopportune moment for removing the manifest injustice which the former complained of. There was no such thing as the truck system known in agriculture, it was confined almost exclusively to the m inufacturing dis tricts, where the masters boasted of carrying the aristo cracy on their backs. The truck system was nothing more than the free trade of the masters for the robbery of the workmen, and, inasmuch as the real object of this amendment was to perpetuate the abuse, he should give it his decided opposition. Sir J. WALMSLEY believed that great abuse existed, and that many masters resorted to truck, to the great injury of their workmen, whom they made to pay touch higher prices for their provisions than were demanded by the ordinary dealer. ' In the hosiery district this evil prevailed to an alarming extent, and he hoped the house would feel it to be its duty to interfere and remove the injustice. Mr. BOOKER, being a large employer of labourer s, believed that further legislation was necessary on this subject. The truck system was an abominable system, and for the sake of the honest trader, as well as the in terest of the workmen, it should be put down by the strong arm of the law. Mr. BRUCE supported the bill in the hope that it would allay some of the angry feelings that unhappily prevailed at this moment amongst the work ing classes. The truck system was one of the evils they complained of, and since their complaint in that respect, at least, was a just one, it was the duty of the house to legislate for its removal. The existing law was defective, because the fines which it imposed upon the truck master were too small. For the first offence it was 101. ; for the second, 20/. ; and it was only made a mis demeanour, carrying a fine of upwards of 1001. on con viction for the third offence. Now, the change pro posed by this bill would make the fine for the first offence not to exceed 201., but the second offence would be treated as a misdeameanour, liable to the 1001. fine, and that, he thought, would be sufficient to check the evil. Mr. BRIGHT had observed an inconsistency in the course of the hon. gentleman the member for Hereford shire. He suggested this bill, notwithstanding that be had always been the advocate of a great national truck shop. (A laugh.) He had heard fifty speeches from the hon. member in favour of the 27,000,000 of people in this country being compelled to go to the Herefordshire and other farmers for their food. With regard to the bill itself, he was satisfied it would increase rather than diminish the ill feeling that prevailed in the manufacturing districts, because it would set loose a band of hungry informers, but there was no necessity for the bill. The extent of the truck system was vastly over-rated ; if it was not, and if it was carried to the length which some hon. membersrepresented, the workmen had ample power within themselves to put a stop to the grievance without coming to the house for assistance. He argued that the truck system could not be wholly stopped by legislation, but it was an error to suppose that it always operated oppresively upon the workmen. (Hear, hear.) There were instances where the existence of a truck shop in a manufactory was highly advantageous to the workpeople. There was nothing inherently wrong in the system itself ; but injustice did occasionally arise from the manner in which it was carried out by the master. No legislation could prevent the use of the system by the honest employer, because when his workmen found his efforts to provide them with cheap and good provisions was decidedly for their profit, they would connive at an evasion of the law. The bill, therefore, would be simply useles. Mr. FOSTER, who had charge of the bill, conjured the house to pass it, as the truck system invariably assumed the bad features which the honourable member for Manchester treated as the exception and not the rule. The system injured alike three parties—the workman, the independent shopkeeper, and the money-paying mas ter ; and since the bill was not based upon any ne w princi ple, but only amended the law as it already existed in the Statute-book, the house ought to have no difficulty in adopting the second reading, after which the bill would be referred to a select committee. Lord STANLEY objected to the bill on three grounds, he believed that it was unsound in principle, that it was unnecessary, and that it would be quite in operative if it were passed. Mr. MOFFATT opposed the bill, on the ground that, while it would do no gond for the workman, it would considerably advance the interest of certain independent shopkeepers, and enable them to keep u p p rices. Mr. BOITVERIE said the real object of this bill was to stop the modes by which the existing law was evaded, and as it was one of the first duties of the house to stop fraud, he insisted that they had no alternative but to pass it. He was ready to support the amendment as a separate and distinct motion, but to accept it as a sub stitute for this bill. Mr. PACKE reminded the opponents of the bill that if they wished to be consistent in their opposition, they should move the repeal of the existing Truck Act. For his part he should support the bill upon the obvious ground that the workman was entitled to a fair day's wage for a fair day's work. Sir B. HALL had but too often witnessed the evils of the truck system in the mining districts of Wales. and he had no hesitation in saying that it acted as an oppres sion upon the workpeople, which the house was bound to remove by legislation. Sir G. GREY said it appeared to him that Parlia ment having sanctioned the principle of the Truck Act, the house ought to have no difficulty in adopting a bill for its amendment, so as to render it efficient and com plete. Now, there was no doubt that the existing law was evaded by the collusive payment of wages ; and as the first clause of this bill would remedy that defect, he was prepared so far to support the bill. H e was , however, decidedly opposed to the remaining provisions of the bill ; and if they were to affirm the whole of the bill before they had an inquiry, he must oppose it. It seemed to him to be useless to adopt its provisions first and then to have an inquiry to see if they had done right. It would be much better to have the inquiry first, though at the same time he was bound to confess that no legis lation could be devised that would not be evaded in some way or other. Mr, FOSTER said all he wanted the house to do was to affirm the principle of the bill, and leave it for a com mittee to decide how it should be carried out. Cul. BLAIR declared that the effect of the truck sys tem was to enslave the workman, because the master always took care to have him in his power by keeping him constantly in debt. Mr. CHEETHAM assured the house that the truck system did not prevail in Lancashire. The house then divided, when there appeared— For the second reading 166 Against it —llO The amendment was accordingly negatived, and the second reading of the bill having been agreed to, it was ordered to be referred to a select committee. FRIENDLY SOCIETIES BILL. This bill was passed through committee pro forma, and ordered to be recommitted this day fortnight. FISHERIES (IRELAND) BILL. On the order for the second reading of this bill, Mr. BUTT moved that the bill be read a second time this day six months. Sir J. YOUNG- strongly objected, on the part of the public, to the provisions of the bill. After a few words from Mr. NAPIER, the motion was agreed to, and the bill was thrown out. EXCHEQUER-BILLS BILL.. The Exchequer-bills (1,750,000) Bill was read a third time and passed. BANKRUPTS. Mr. IV. WILLIAMS moved fora return of the num ber of bankrupts in the year 1852 ; of the amount of debts proved under, and the' amount of debts owing to, the estates of the said bankrupts, stating the amount of such debts sold, and the amount collected by the official assignees.—Agreed to. FREIGHT MONEY. Sir G. B. PECHELL moved for returns of the several sums of frei9;ht money received by the Treasurer of Greenwich Hospital since the 17th day of February, 1852, with the date of such payments, and whether on public or private account ; and of the name of the ship or vessel in which the treasure was conveyed, and of the captain or officer commanding the same. THE SUN,? I .LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH' 15 5 1854. SHARE MARKETS. (THIS DAY.) BRITISH RAILWAYS. 100 8i RAILWAYS. Aberdeen . Analog Nottng. Bost. and Eastn. Junct !Belfast & Ballymena 1 Birming. Wolverh. & Stour Valley Birkenhd. Lancsh. 151 Cheshire Junct Closing Prices this day. 4i - 4i 8i - 9 12 —lO dis; Do. Chesh. & Birk., £5O and £25 Cons. Do., £20... ..... Blyth & Tyne original .£25 (issd. at £45) Bristol and Exeter—. Caledonian 16 18 63 -- sAd' 100 100 all all all 91 - 93 541 - 551 15 - 16 9 • ,11 50 50 20 20 Chester & Holyhead. Cork and Bandon Cork, Black, & Pass Cornwall Crieff Junction Dublin&BelfastJunc Dundee Perth &Aber-, deen Junction Do. New .42 - u 7i - 8 East Anglian Do., (XlB E Eastern Counties Eastern Union, A Stock 16 -17 i -- 36 - 40 24 - 26 'Do., B. Stock.... 'Do., New A East Lancashire 61 -- 63 58 - 60 Edinburgh & Glasgow Edinb. and Peebles Edin. Prth. & Dundee Forth & Clyde June. ;Glasgow &S. Western Great Northern Stk. 'Do., A. Stock Do., B. Stock 23~ - 24~ 91 92 79 81 124 - 126 91 4-- 93 77i - 781 Gt. Sth. &West.(lre.) Great Western Irish South-Eastern Lancaster & Carlisle Do., Thirds 90 -- 93 12 -- 13 u 11i - 7 12ip 64 -- 64 7i -- bid 100 174 114 all Do. New Thirds Laneash. and Yorksh Do., Fifths D 3., Wst. Riding Un Leeds Northern all 8; 100 100 Liv.Crsby.&Southpt London & Blackwall Lend. Tilb. &Sthend. Lond. Bright & S.Cst. Loud. and N. Werth. Do. Fifths 812s1 100 - 42A 34 all 100 • 100 474 17!, all 100 all 5?: 1/ 2/ 2s 100 100 100 100 St. 10 St. 25 20 20 50 20 212 s 16 ' 100 8 100 20 17 all all 14 Do.lo/.5h.,M&8...0 Do. Eighths LondonandS, Westn, Do., £5O. . Do., £4O Lndndrry& Coleraine LndndiTy. & Ennisk. Nlauch.Shef.& Lincln Do., Man. & Lin. Uu Nlidland 100 Do. Birning. & Derby G. West. (In.) Do. Half Shares Newcastle & Newmarket Do., Bury Extension. Nwpt.Aberg. & Hrfd Newry & Enniskillen Newry Warrenpoint and Rostrevor Norfolk Northn.Counties Un North British North Devon, No. 1. Do., No. '2 Do., A A Deferred Do., 6 B Guaranteed North London 13 . - iii 811. 81 par 4 p 98 99 101 - 1016 par 4 d 78 80 11. 10 il 10 9 d 21i - 22 CO -60 A, 33 - 35' 4 d par 54 2 —2; 6 - 8 46 - 48 3g 3kri 33 ... 31 8 10 11 - li 6 4 - 7 52 - 55 # - il) 6i - 5,i(11 71 - 7t 31 - 33 88 90 54 - 56 58 - 60 55 60 3 2 d, 16 17 8 12 13 3i 3ad 14 16 62i —63 i 34 35 2 ld 4 5 29 - 31. . Business done this day. 22 li 91 if 55 17 12A4 xd 24 G 91 2 80 t 1 . , 125 z „ 78g 7i 8 , 64i 4 i ixd B.i i 984 i 7i 8 1011 1 11 11i 601 f GO 21 - 154 15i - 5 24 - 26 5 - 6 6 - 7 33i i 62 34i 3 67 68 8A -- 8d 44 4 d 474 -- 15 i 1 i ~ 68 fl 11.8 If 48 PP 10 7 Antwerp&Rotterdam 31 —3 d 5 3 Belgian Eastn. June. . . ... 1 20 8 Beziers to Graissessat 44 —31 d 20 2s. Bombay, Baroda, and Central India,Scrip id 4 p pm ... Central of Italy — 20 . all Charleroi & Erqueliu — 176 all Demerara 20 14 Dijon and Besancon — p 20 8 Dutch Rhenish 3l 3 d 20 all East Indian 2i — 3 . p 20 • 2 Do. Extension 1 5 all Gt. Indian P en i nsu l a 1 a p 20 10 ad. Junct. of France . . 25 10 Grd. Trunk o f C ana d a . 4i 4 d 100 30 Do. Debentures — 100 all Do. do s— 3d 264 20 10 Gt. Central of Francc 2i —2l d 201 all Gt•Westernof Canada Shares 22 23 224 Do. Bands (Ist is.)'s7 9 llp 201 151 Hamilton & Toronto 11 —2 p 174 100 all Do. 6 per cent. 20 5 Lake Coast. & Basle 5 all Lucca. & Pistoj a 5 p.c pref — dis 20 15 Luxembourg 7 61 10 10 Do. (Railway) 4l 4i 5 2 Do. Pref 1 5 3 Do. (Canal)... 1 11 10 5 Do. 6p. ct. pref._ 20 8 Lyons and Geneva 20 12 Lyons & Mediterran 20 10 Madras d id 331 331 Maria Antonia 10 all Do. do. New 20 2 Melbourne Dk. dr Ry 20 all Namur & Liege (with interest) 7 74 20 all. Do. (ex interest) •• 16 all Northern of France 291 —3O 291 30 Do. 201. 3 p. c Bds. 20 all (finy. B. dr Ams. Shs.) 10 all NorwegianTrunkPref 7); 84 20 10 Paris and Lyons l2 —l3 p 22i 40 all Ditto Bo ads 10 all Paris and Orleans 43 20 all Paris and Rouen 34 36 20 all Paris and Strasbourg 28i - 291 29 20 10 ParisCaen & Cherbrg. •pm 104 101 Quebec & Richmond ...d 20 all Rouen and Havre 20 9 Royal Danish ld par 5 2 Royal Swedish — d • 20 all Sambre and Meuse... 8 81 6 Do. 51 p. cent. Pref. 20 6 Southern of France.. —pm 20 6 St. Andrew's and Quebec (A) si all West Flanders . . 3t —4l 10 all Do 5. per c. Pref ... d 20 10 Western of France 3 —31 p 10 7 West. of Switzerland d 20 2 Wiesbaden — 20 15 Zealand MISCELLANEOUS 5 all Aubin Coal and Iron _. . . 25 17l Australian Agricult. 39 41 20 14 Australsn•Pcific•Mail ... 12i 131 10 8 Australn. Royal Mail 2g 10 4 Berlin Water Works . . 50 381 Brit. American Land 76 77 76 5 1 Brit. & Coln. Smeltg. and Reduction Co . • 100 32?, Canada 75 80 5 5 Crystal ralace 6l 64xn G 1 1 xd. 5 4 Do. New 4 2 'Crystal Pal. of France 20 3 Eastern Steam — 25 20 Electra Telograph(A) 17* 25 all Do. (B) — 1 1 Electric Teleg. of Ir. 15 14 len. Steam Navigat. 20 18 General Screw Steam 20 76 Irish Beetroot Sugar 20 10 Magdalena St. Navig. 1 all Nat. Pat. Steam Fuel 10 3 Netherlands Laud.... 1 2 1 N. S. W. Coal & Inter Steam Navigat. . 1 all N. B. Australasian... C0....1 14xd 1 A Do. New — 20 10 Nrth.ofEuropeSteam . . 5 all Peel Rr. Ld. & Minrl. 4 1 d 50 all Peninsular & Oriental 55 6 50 30 Do. 2 all Portland Iron Co I ?21) 100 60 Royal Mail Steam 1 all Scot. Austral. Invest 14 lip 25 25 South Austral. Land 36 38 1 all Submar. Telegraph all Do. Registered. I 1 100 284 Iran Diomom's Land 124 —_- 131 13 LANCASHIRE NEW MORT-TEN PER CENT. FOR EVER ! The English, as we are told on every side, are an eminently sensible, practical, reasoning, and rather dull people. They calculate when they are told to believe. They detect an imposture at a glance, and see through a superstition as they would a trick at cards. How their ancestors ever came to worship stocks and stones, to offer human holocausts in vast wicker images, or to think the mistletoe of the oak more sacred than that of the appletree, passes comprehension. At all events John Bull, even in fustian and shirt sleeves, is too wise for all this now. He understands steam engine and looms, can calculate percentages, strike an average, and do a sum in Rule of Three. The day-school has banished false religions to the bats and the owls, and the only fear is, that with so much education to be got for the asking, and so many substantial comforts to be earned by common industry, reli gion of auy kind should be voted a superfluity. Nevertheless, it is in this England whereof to write that Joanna Southcote and Thom were indigenous; where mesmerism, table-turning, and spirit rap ping have spread to all classes ; whence tens of thousands of Mormons are going off to the Salt Valley; where almost anybody, if he give his mind to it, can gain converts to anything. Fanaticism is not to be eradicated by figures, and railways them selves subserve, in the pride of might, to the most perverted forms of the spiritual element. So we are not surprised to see the growth of a new supersti tion, a new craftsman's idol. The operatives of Lancashire have discovered a new religion, and are performing pilgrimages worthy of Juggernaut or the Holy Coat of Treves. Their spiritual zea l carries them beyond the vulgar considerations of comfort or economy. Monster trains con vey them to the places where this new-born piety may be refreshed by the exhortations of suitable preachers and the devotional hymns of the new worship. Under the cold blue sky they listen with edifying submission to the pious raptures of inspired teachers. Fathers, mothers, children flock to the festival. The aged forget their crutches and the sick their pains in this holy ardour. And what is this new Gospel which has illumined the dark ness of Lancashire, and made it the Galilee of this land ? Prepare yourself, gentle reader, for this new and astounding revelation of the Divine wis dom and mercy. The awful truth which has broken through the darkness of the ages, which has pene trated every heart, and warmed every soul in the industrious north, is the eternal and immutable necessity of Ten per Cent. more wages. It is a sober and a portentous fact. From all Lancashire, by ordinary trains and by special trains, there assembled last Sunday, which appears to have been adopted by the new religion for its day of worship, such a congregation as never was seen at Hoghton, we presume one of the high places of the Ten per Cent. divinity. They who could not come had sent their Peter's pence in the shape of more than two thousand pounds. Their preachers proclaimed a new era, heralded by myriads of conversions. Preston is the favoured city of this new church, and it may almost vie with Rome or Nauvoo in the amount of contribu tions poured in by the devout Lancastrians. "Let thousands more be rolled in," exclaimed one pious man, " for every man in this assembly must know the great fact, that money is the sinew of war." Certainly if Ten per Cent. more wages is a Gospel from Heaven, the sinews of war may be consid ered a great fact. The creed is developing. But why should it not embrace all England, all classes, all employments, and all relations ? Who does not want Ten per Cent. more wages ? Who will not acknowledge that money is the sinews of war ? The millowners themselves may embrace the new faith, for they want Ten per Cent. more pro fits. The clergy may sit under brothers Lawless and Cowell, for they want Ten per Cent. more rent charge and surplice feei. All the functionaries of the State, all the Army and Navy, want Ten per Cent. more pay. We fondly hope we have our selves been instrumental in procuring a boon to the common soldier equivalent to about Ten per Cent. Let us be enrolled among the apostles of Ten per Centism. The doctrine is easy, the bur den is light. You have only to believe that your soul is safer with 225. a-week than with 205., or with 1101. a-year than with 1001., and that the man who will not give you the larger sum instead of the smaller is a son of Belial. The beauty of the doctrine is its universality, for who is there who does not want more money, more rent, more tithes, more salary, more commission, more profit, more allowances and pay in one form or another ? Master and man can worship at the same altar, even if their prayers seem commercially incompatible. But let Heaven settle that difficulty, and let the operative on the one side pray for Ten per Cent. more wages, and the master for Ten per Cent. more profits, out of the same order. But is there really no remedy for this delusion ? Do we witness the veritable beginning of a new religion, the only bond of which shall be a common interest in an increase of pay ? Surely there are gentlemen and there are clergymen in Lancashire who can teach these poor dupes something better than this, and inform them that to offer public worship and sing hymns for triumph in a struggle for Ten per Cent. more wages is not one jot better than falling down before a stock or a stone. True, two shillings a-week more wa7es may present itself in a more lovely form than a grim figure, all eyes, mouth, and nose, with dog's teeth and matted hair, like the dogs of the South Sea Islanders. Two shillings a-week may stand for more bread, meat, and beer ; better coats, shoes, and stockings, a larger house, and so forth. But, nevertheless, comforts and luxuries mount up into a very sorry idol. If operatives may meet by tens of thousands on a heath and sing hymns for boiled beef on Sundays, then their betters with equal piety may offer up anthems for turtle soup and iced punch. No one can say how far devotees will go when they once place their affections on creature comforts and a handsome percentage. Certainly all this spurious zeal looks ill for the religion of the north, and for the influence of those whose duty it was to set the example. Is it true that Moloch has been worshipped so long and so ex clusively by his more fortunate followers that the golden contagion has spread, and the money making, money-spending millowner, now finds him self crushed by the converts to his own faith ? The Roman critic observed, that when Homer's chiefs went mad, their followers suffered. Is there no such madness, no exclusive worship of s. d. in Lancashire, that has at least infected the silly multitude, and sent them worshipping the god of their bettws ? We should be better satisfied of the result if we saw something done by those who alone can do it to strip this selfish agitation of its fanatical guise. To ask for Ten per Cent. more wages is allowable, and even laudable ; to insist on it as a divine right, and to invoke the favour of Heaven on the demand, is simply blasphemy. Surely there are people in Lancashire whose sacred profession, whose high social position, and whose affectionate relations with those whom they em ploy, will enable them to address these fanatics with effect. If there are none such, and the mul titude of Lancashire are really like sheep without a shepherd, whose fault is it but theirs who, being placed by Heaven in a place of high moral in fluence, have thought of little else but getting their own Ten per Cent., their 100,0001. ?—Times. IMPE RIAL PARLIA DENT. HOUSE OF LORDS-(YESTERDAY.) DISCLOSURE OF CABINET SECRETS. The Earl of MILMESBURY referring to the ac cusation made by the Earl of Aberdeen last night, that the Cabinet secrets which had been published in the Times newspaper, had been communicated to that jour nal by a gentleman who had been appointed to a clerk ship in the Foreign-office by hi►n (the Earl of Malmes bury), but who had since been discharged, said that during the whole time he had been Secretary for Foreign Affairs, he had only nominated four gentlemen to junior clerkships, of whom three still held their situations. The fourth must, therefore, be the individual against whom the charge was made, but, instead of being dis missed, he found on inquiry that he had conducted him self to the satisfaction of his superiors, and had left in consequence of his marriage with a lady of considerable fortune. He had further to state that a noble viscount had this day communicated with Mr. Delane, the editor of the Times, who said that this gentleman had never given to the newspaper any information of an official character while at the Foreign-office, or since he had left it. Under these circumstances, he trusted the noble earl would retract the accusation which he had made. The Earl of ABERDEEN—I am very happy the noble earl has made this statement to the house, for I am very desirous that this matter should rest entirely on the most accurate foundation. My lords, you will recollect that the noble earl who introduced this subject last night gave, in no very obsc,ure terms, an intimation that he imagined I was the source whence this information was derived. Rejecting that insinuation in the most peremp tory manner I possibly could, I certainly did state that it was probable—but I did not make the assertion or ex press the belief—that the Times newspaper had derived its information from the gentleman to whom I alluded. What I had heard' was this, and what I repeat is, that that gentleman did talk of this correspondence, and of his knowledge of the contents of this correspondence which has been communicated to the Times. lam so certain of this, and, though he certainly did not men tion it to me, I have heard it from so many different quarters that I am quite satisfied to refer it to the gen tleman himself. If he says that he did not mention the existence of this correspondence and the nature of this correspondence, then I will confess that I have been more deceived than man ever was. But I refer it en tirely to his own statement, and I am sure, because I have ascertained from quarters that I cannot possibly doubt, that it was mentioned with so little hesitation or con cealment, that the gentleman himself will avow that he has referred to the correspondence in question. Now, I never stated that the Times newspaper received it from him, but in the heat of the moment, and in reference to the insinuations of the noble earl, I certainly did refer to a quarter from which it might possibly have come. What was stated in one society might very well be known in another ; and, after all, the noble earl (Derby) stated last night that he was aware of the cor respondence at the beginning of the session. (Hear.) How did he learn it ? (Hear.) Certainly not from me. But I may say that I think it was an act of imprudence on the part of this gentleman to talk in the way he did about the contents of this correspondence, which he cer tainly had cognisance of c o n fidentially; but, after all, I made no charge, and I repeat that I believe the gentle man himself will not deny what I have stated. (sear.) The Earl of MALIIESBURY—The noble earl has stated that, from his own knowledge, he feels certain that this gentleman has divulged secrets which he ought to have kept to himself ; but I do not quite understand the noble earl, because he says to-day he has heard this from so many quarters that he can have no doubt upon the subject. As to the gentleman referred to, from the noble earl's own statement last night, it must have been only to-day that the noble lord has learnt his name— hear, hear)—because he distinctly told us last night, when I asked his name, that he did not know. (Hear.) Now, the noble earl must have been completely ignorant of the gentleman against whom the charge was made, as he did not even know his name. All I shall say is, that it is a most extraordinary thing that the noble earl should have heard a statement of such importance as that a clerk at the Foreign-office had divulged a State secret, and yet that ho should not have heard his name. (Hear.) It is only to-day that he has discovered who the gentleman is. [Lord Aberdeen here made an observa tion that was inaudible.] But the noble earl told me last night he did not know the name of the gentleman who had been a clerk at the Foreign-office. I cannot help making the remark, that the way in which the noble earl has brought forward this subject is not one that does honour to your lordships' house. If any gentle man was guilty of a scandalous breach of duty, as charged by the noble earl, he should have been dismissed at once from his situation by his superiors in office (hear, hear), and he ought not to have been shielded by any member of the Government. I must say that the manner in which the noble earl brought forward this subject, and the manner in which he has closed it, is not an honour to your lordships, or your lordships' house ; and I may add, that this is the first time I have witnessed anything of the kind since I became a member of your lordships' house. (Hear.) The subject then dropped. TESTAMENTARY JURISDICTION. Petitions were presented against the Testamentary Jurisdiction bill by the Earl of HARROWBY, from the College of Advocates ; by the Bishop of Sr. ASAPII, from 17 or 18 registrars, who, he stated, did not object to the bill in toto, but to certain of its details ; and by the Marquis of CLANRICARDE, from a large body of proctors. The LORD CHANCELLOR, in rising to move the second reading of the Testamentary Jurisdiction bill, said that when this bill was read for the first tune he drew s.) largely on the attention of their lordships that he did not now feel warranted in entering into detail as to the contents of the bill. On the first reading he en tered fully into the nature of the evils to be remedied, and the attempts that successive Governments had made to effect this ; he had also laid before their lordships the recommendations of the last commission, and how far he coincided with or differed from those recommendations. Their lordships were pleased to receive the announce ment of this bill, not only with kindness and attention, but with very general approbation ; and his noble and learned friend, who objected to many portions of the bill, therein differed also from the recommendations of the majority of the commissioners. That which had been received favourably by their lordships had not been received unfavourably by the country in gene ral ; but it could not be supposed that this subject, amid the exciting events of the present time, would arrest much public attention ; but there were persons whose attention was necessarily directed to it—he meant those whose interests were, or were supposed to be, affected by the proposed alterations. He might venture to say that, had the bill not been regarded by them as entitled to the favourable reception of the Legislature, their lordships' table would have been covered with pe titions against the measure. He had, however, kept his attention alive to this, and was not aware, with the ex ception of the petitions of this night, that any others had been presented to their lordships. Let them examine into the nature of the objections of these petitions. In the first place, there was that presented by the noble lord from York. All attempts to effect legal reform must necessarily be attended with loss to those who had profited, not improperly, by the system which it was proposed to alter, and there was, perhaps, no place in the kingdom on which the present measure would have a more injurious effect than on York ; he was therefore not surprised that a petition should have been presented to their lordships from that city. This petition, if he understood it, proposed that their lordships should con tinue throughout the kingdom the system of district registrars for contentious as well as non-contentious business. Were they to have district courts for con tentious business without an adequately learned and in telligent bar and judge, such a system would but lead people into difficulties, and was one which he thought no one ought to venture to propose. Lord Lyndhurst, he thought, had made such a pr o p osa l, b u t , as i t was received with universal disapprobation, it was dropped. The next was a petition presented by a noble lord from many of the leading merchants of the city of London, who did not propose, as in the first petition, to continue, or merely to have a redistribu tion of the districts, but they proposed an entire alteration of the present system, and to have a Court of Probate. He did not know whether the noble lord was present when this matter was discussed ; it was then thought that no more inconvenient mode of dis posing of the matter could be adopted than to constitute a new court, which would be occupied for 60 days in the year, and that further occupation should be tried to be made for it by thrusting on it the decision of other mat ters which had no relation to the subject-matter of its jurisdiction. The petition proceeded to state . that put ting these matters in the Court of Chancery involved them in those delays proverbial to that court. He might be thought a silly person, but he believed that at this moment in neither of the superior courts of Westminster was business more speedily despached than by the Court of Chancery. There were, of course, cases which could not be so, such of those of complicated accounts or trusts which from their nature were to endure for 20 or 30 years, and unless they lasted for this period the Court would not be performing its duty. It seemed to him that the apprehensions of these petitioners were found e d on th e erroneous—he was going to say vulgar notion—that everything was slow in the Court of Chancery. The con trary of this was, however, nearer the truth. Another petition had been presented from the College of Advo cates, who founded their objections on the fact that, ac cording to the present constitution o f th e i r b o dy, ques tions of international law were nearly exclusively confined to them, and it was said that if this bill deprived them of one branch of their profession, it would make it un profitable--drive them away—and then there would be no body left devoted to the study of the international law. He considered that there must be some fallacy in this — for the international law could not be an exception to everything else in the world - if there was a demand for it, this country wou ld b e a bl e t o pro duce those willing to devote themselves to the study of it. The petition I presented by the right rev. prelate from various regis trars, objecting to certain details in the bill, would meet with consideration in committee. His noble friend (the Marquis of Clanricarde) had presented a petition from the proctor::, complaining that it would affect their in terests. With respect to this, he must repeat the ob servation he had already made—that in all legal reforms there were necessarily some whose interests were af fected, and it was difficult to speak of givi ng compensa tion to practitioners, when their practice was affected only because matters were put on a b e tt er f oot i ng f or the public. He considered, however, as t h e bill wou ld allow proctors, under certain advant ages, to en t er i nto partnership with solicitors, that thi s wou ld m i t i gate th e evils which they complained of, These were the only EXPIRING LAWS. Mr. G. BERKELEY moved for a select committee to inquire what temporary laws of a public and general nature are now in force, and what laws of the like nature have expired since the last report upon the subject ; and also, what laws of the like nature are about to expire at particular periods, or in consequence of any con tingent public event ; and to report the same, with their observations thereupon, to the house :—Mr. Wilson, Mr. Bouverie, Mr. Attorney-General, Mr. Solicitor-General, Mr. Osborne, Mr. Freshfield, Mr. Rume, Sir J. Young, Mr. Fitzroy, Mr. Hayter, Mr. Peel, and Mr. Cardwell :—Power to send for persons, papers, and records. Three to be the quorum. Agreed to. The other orders were then disposed of, and the house adjourned at a quarter-past three o'clock. STATE OF TRADE. (From the Manchester Guardian of this day.) MANCHESTER, March 14.—More favourable advices from this country, together with rather smaller receipts than had been looked for, are stated in the American ad vices to have given additional strength to the previous advance of lc. to gc. per lb. from the lowest point in the price of cotton at the various markets. Generally, too, freights were higher, being at New Orleans, where the rate of exchange ranged 7to 71. In tone and spirit, the market is worse than it was last week, and the business effected has been more inconsiderable than on any day for some weeks back. It is difficult to judge of prices ; they have been so little tested by offers. We do not think buyers have found a greater giving way, as com pated with last Tuesday, than bd. per lb. in yarns of the lower and medium counts. In goods of all kinds prices are again somewhat against producers. But, although spinners and manufacturersare becoming more anxious to take orders, they do not add to the depres sion by any undue anxiety to effect sales. Much sur prise has been occasioned by the failure of the highly respectable firm of Messrs. Gladstone, Bond, and Co., merchants of this city. HALIFAX, March 11.—There have been very fear buy ers in our piece hall to-day. Yarns are pretty much as they have been of late, and the wool market is very languid. ROCHDALE, March 13. —The flannel market to-day has been extremely flat, and the amount of business trans acted has been very limited, with little or no change in prices worth notice. The wool market has been quiet, and prices stationary. HUDDERSFIELD, March 14.—Business is generally considered quieter than usual at this season, but that is easily accounted for in the unsettled state of our rela tions with Russia, and the high price of provisions at home, the latter of which, under any c i rcums t ances , would exercise a depressing influence on the manufac tures of this district, which are consumed for the most part in the United Kingdom. MARLBOROITGH-STREET-(THIS DAY). ASSAULTS ON THE POLICE.—Henry Berry was placed at the bar before Mr. Hardwick, charged with assaulting police constables Hawkes, 144 C, and,Gibbs, 37 C, when in the execution of their duty. Hawkes stated that about five o'clock on the previous afternoon he was on duty in Walker's•court, Little Pul teney-street, when his attention was attracted to the prisoner, who was creating a great disturbance, to the great annoyance of the inhabitants of the court. Wit ness went up to him and civilly requested him to go home, when the prisoner rushed upon him and kicked him several times on his body, and before witness could seize hold of him he (:efendant) got his finger in his mouth and bit it severely, and had not further assistance at that moment arrived no doubt the prisoner would have seriously injured him. Gibbs, 37. C, west to the assistance of Hawkes, and helped him to secure the prisoner. The latter kicked witness three or four times, and his conduct was so ex ceedingly violent that it took four constables to convey him to the station. The prisoner, who pleaded drunkenness as the cause of his having so misconducted himself, was fined 405., or in default, to be committed for 21 days. SHOCKING OCCURRENCE IN LAMBETH. —Yesterday morning, between 4 and 5 o'clock, a painful degree of excitement prevailed in the immediate vicinity of the Lower-marsh, Lambeth, in consequence of the following occurrence, which will no doubt terminate fatally : From cargful inquiries made, it appears that a master tradesman, named Spilens, living at - No. 22, in the Marsh, had from time to time missed sundry pairs of boots, shoes, and other property from his house, but he was unable to tell who was the thief until yester day morning. In order to catch the party Mr. Spilens was recommended by the police to secrete himself in some part of the house, so that he might keep a good look out. This he did for two nights in succession without finding any one attempting to commit a felony ; but yesterday, at the hour above-named, he noticed a lodger, named Jones, descend the stairs, and having taken two or three pairs of boots off the hooks, he ran up stairs to his lodgings with them. Mr. Spilens at once followed Jones to his room, and was expostulating with him respecting his dishonesty, when he ran to the mantelpiece, seized hold of a razor, and cut his throat almost from ear to ear. Mr. Spilens at once called for the assistance of the police, and then went off for Dr. O'Shea, in the Westminster-road, who promptly at tended, but such were the serious injuries the unfortu nate man bad inflicted upon himself that there appears not the least chance of his recovery. He was, there fore, removed on a stretcher to the Westminster Hospi tal, where he remained last evening still alive, but was not expected to survive the night out. LAMBETH BATHS AND WASHHOUSES cOMFANY.—An extraordinary general meeting of shareholders in the above company was held on Monday, at the offices, Westminster-road, Lambeth—R. Taylor, Esq., in the chair- - -for the purpose of empowering the directors to borrow the sum of 2,5001. The chairman explained that the power to borrow the money had been given them at the meeting held on the 11th of January, but some doubts having been expressed as to whether a 'sufficient number of shareholders were present to jus tify their obtaining the loan, another meeting had been called, in order that everything nrght be done legally, and to the satisfaction of the shareholders. Mr. Peto, their landlord, was to lend the sum required at 5 per cent., payable in six years, the payments to commence one year from the time of lending, and they had not the slightest doubt of their ability to do this, and still leave the shareholders a handsome dividend. With respect to the baths, the directors were pushing forward the works, and had fixed upon the first week in April for opening, when they would be completely finished. A resolution empowering the directors to borrow the sum of 2,5001., was then put, and carried unanimously, and the meeting adjourned. NEW YORK MONEY MARKET.—The commercial ad vices from New York continue to indicate a recovery in the tone of the stock and money market, although the recent rise had led to some sales for realisation. As compared with the corresponding period of last year, the imports since the let of January show an aug mentation of only 5 per cent., while the exports have increased 60 per cent. The supply of specie in the banks was therefore proportionately larger. The de mand for European goods was active, but an erroneous impression appears to have prevailed for some time that large quantities would be sent to New York at a sacrifice from France and England on the commence ment of war, and the dealers had neglected to keep themselves in stock. Under these circumstances in creased orders may soon be looked for in our manufac turing towns, where a falling off in American purchases has been noticed during the past month or two. In that case a moderate resumption of specie arrivals may also be expected. The present steamer, after some weeks' cessation of remittances, has brought 32,0001. BUSINESS OF THE PORT OF LONDON --In the general business of the port of London during the past week there has been considerable activity. The number of vessels reported inward was 162, being an increase of 22 over the previous week. Of grain there were re ported 36,265 quarters, including 22,047 quarters of wheat ; of flour, 18,529, barrels and 7,539 sacks ; of tea, 49,721 packages ; of sugar, 919 hogsheads, 246 casks, 943 cases, and 32,116 bags ; of coffee, 81 casks and 274 bags ; and of rice, 7,411 bags. The number of ships cleareeroutward was 103, being an increase of 23 over the previous week. Of these, 23 were in ballast, and 12 for the Australian colonies. ROUEN.—The letters from Rouen mention that the market for manufactures exhibited a slight improvement, a favourable change in the weather having stimulated business. 'Do. New £lO.. N.&S.Wstru.,Hamp-, stead, and City Jn North Staffordshire !North Western N. & S. Westru. June Nuneaton, Hinckley, and Leicester Oxford, Worcester, & Wolverhampton Portsmouth !Scottish Central ,„ IScottish Midland Shrewsbury &Biimg. Do. L. & N. Western Guaranteed Si Gek Shrewsby. & lierefd Shrewsby. & Cl.estei (N. W. Min 3., Do. Halveso. 6 Do. Oswestry Shropshire Union Do. A, B, C,& D,fully paid up at per cent South Devon South Eastern 'South Wales . S. Yrksh. liv. Dun Do Staines, Wok. & W ok I Stockton Sz.: Darling. Stockton & Hartlepl. fall Vale . Do. £lO shares. Do. Pref., No. 1. Phames Haven Dock and Railway Vale of Neath Waterfd. & Kilkenuy Waterford&Limelick West Cornwall West End of London and Crystal Palace 11 1 West London Wimbledn & Croydon York Newctl.&Berw. Do. Extensions Do. G.N.E. Purchase York & N. Midland , FOREIGN. LITERATURE. Our Cruise in the Undine. By the Captain. John W. Parker and Son. A cray, rollicking narrative this that might have been fathered (for its fun) upon Harry Lorrequer. How many readers remember the " Log of the Water Lily ?" As many, we wager, as glanced through its pages —pages full of shrewdness, frolic, and adventure. Scarcely a less number will bear this pleasant journal in remembrance. Journal we call it—not in the spirit of our designation, but in obedience to the christening authority of the titre page—according to which it appears to be set forth that the volume is in reality what we have here termed it, being a " Journal of an English Pair-oar Expedition." The expedition, in fact, through France, Baden, Rhenish Bavaria, Prussia, and Bel gium, of three illustrious personages hight—the Captain, the Doctor, and the Professor. Three as merry, lighthearted, jovial companions as one would ever wish, for their own sakes, to be brought more frequently together especially if we have, after such times, a record of their sayings and doings as lively as the one here particularised. Assembled together they were for tunately in the present instance intent upon carry ing out the proposed pair -oar expedition. So in tent upon it they apportion their various duties and officers during the excursion. The Brown, Jones, and Robinson of the trip were, as we have thus designated mysteriously—the Captain, the Doctor, and the Protessor. The Professor was to have the entire management of the funds and of the provi sions—in other words, he was to be at once trea surer and procurator. The Doctor was to keep a sharp look-out after the knapsacks, et cetera—in other words (saving his presence), was to be guard and watchdog combin e d. Th e aptain, as his title implied, was to take charge of the boat, and to attend to the responsibility of its navigation— being, in other terms, formally installed a sort of a grand naval commander-in-chief. Thus prepared for the difficulties to be encountered by each, the three adventurers start upon their paddling cruise about the inland survey of the Continent— comfortably but lightly equipped, and having wisely supplied themselves with a first-rate boat from the Lambeth yard of Messrs. Noulton and Wyld, the eminent boat-builders. Starting from Newhaven, they cross over the channel to Dieppe, and so on, by Rouen to Paris. From the French capital they proceed to Melun, to Corbel'. and to Montereau. Thence they advance a l ong the cur rent of the Yonne to its junction with the Arman con. Traversing which river, and passing through Dijon, they arrive at Dole, and so on by the north east till they reach Besancon. A little higher up they float along the Rhone and Rhine Canal, and pause for a while at Strasbourg. North wards thence along the glorious Rhine, by . Mannheim, by Worms, by Mainz, then turn ing slightly in a westerly direction by Co blenz and by Bonn, on to Cologne. Further along they are at Aix-la-Chapelle—then at Liege, then at Mechlin, then through Ghent and Bruges to Ostend, at which place they enter deeper water and a stronger craft, and so in a few hours across to Dover, and so homewards. Everywhere the reader is with them, from Newhaven all the way round to Dover ; and if he opens the book a stranger to the Captain and his little crew of a brace, meaning those game " boys," the Doctor and the Professor, he (the reader) closes the volume only after having secured to himself (in his own mind) a new and threefold friendship. The Captain especially proves himself, from first to last, the blithest of blithe companions. Take the followinc , as illustrative at once of his style and his character:— " It was necessary to keep a continual look-out for `breakers ahead,' and we were every moment obliged to alter the direction of our course, there being no main channel. Now we are sweeping down a rapid so shallow that we can see the bottom, and rush past the trunk of an old tree, which itself, far from appearing to be sta tionary, seems as if it was being pulled up against the stream by some invisible power ; now we reach the end of the shallow, and the water is boiling and bubbling about us in all directions, and the sharp-crested little waves come rattling against the side of the boat like so many undertakers at work. And again, at another time, when we got into rather deeper water, where there was less turmoil, we were able to paddle or even float with the stream. " It was on such a bit of water as this that we were quietly resting on our oars and enjoying our pipes, the Doctor, as usual, 'when there was no work to be done, lying at full length in the bows, and the Professor puzzling his brains about the different changes of money we should in all probability meet with, when the Cap tain, suddenly hearing a much louder noise than was at all ordinary, and standing up, discovered that we were making straight away for a waterfall, about a half mile distant. Oars, all!' he cries ; 'put your backs into it, and keep her steady whatever you do ;' for he was obliged to stand up, that looking well ahead he might determine what course to follow. So, pulling the rud der hard up, and steering for the opposite bank, we managed, after a few dozen strokes, hard pulling, to avoid the fall ; although; even then, we were not the boat's length from one end of it. As we swept down another channel, and got a full view of the danger we had escaped, the Professor could not refrain from a shout of mingled pleasure and surprise. Had the boat gone over, she must have been inevitably smashed to pieces, for the fall was one of about ten feet, and there was an immense body of water rushing over at a fearful rate. " The Coxswain was often greatly puzzled to decide which stream to follow, or on which side of an island or sandbank he should steer ; and down about the mouth of the Elz, a small river which runs from Freyburg, the shallows were frequent, so that we seemed quite to have entered a maze of them. We were in a fair direction for avoiding one of these shallows, and the Coxswain pad, as he thought, a clear run, wrien another, at a small dis tance further on, made its appearance. For a moment he could not think what to be at ; there was not space to pull across it, as he had managed the first, for had this been attempted we should have been carried upon the shallow broadside on,' and rolled over and over like a barrel, whilst it would have been madness to have at tempted the sheer impossibility of pulling against the stream. So, making the best of a bad matter, he fol lowed the counsel of the Cornishman, who, seeing the lamps of a mail coach comi ng d own hill at a rapid pace, while he in his single gig was ascending, and fancying them both dangerous-looking articles, thought the best plan would be to draire raight 'twix 'em,' which we did accordingly in regard of the shallows. Fortunately for us, the issue was in our case less disastrous, for he, poor man, was very much injured, and his gig of course smashed to pieces, whilst we, after floating down a little w ay, only scraped the boat keel along the gravelly bot tom, until we gradually came to a stand-still. The Professor was going to jump out, when 'Vast a bit,' said the Captain ; we sh all have some work to get you on board again. And altering our position in the boat so to weight her forward, she floated off again, but grated her keel all the way down the shallow." Cordially as we might have commended " The Log of the Water commend we now " Our Cruise in the Undine "---the soul of which Undine, by the way, was not created by Love (as with the Undine of Fouque), but by the author of the merry little volume before us-,...an archer stripling than Dan Cupid—this Captain of " ours " the brave, the gay, the warm-hearted GREAT BOAT RACE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP OF THE TINE AND 2001. - - I The great scullers' content, between Jas. Messenger, of Teddington, and James Candlish, of Gateshead, was determined yesterday (Tuesda.,, y) upon the Tyne, in the p re sence of a vast concourse of spectators. The event was one which had created, both in London and the north, the most lively inte r est, and very large sums of money depended upon the result. The celebrity of the men is so great, that this was considered by all the cognoscenti as not only deciding the aquatic mastery of the Tyne, but also being, in fact, the trial race for the championship of the Thames against Thomas Cole, the present holder of that proud position. The com batants of yesterday before contended, this last season, from Putney to Mortlake, when Messenger defeated him ; but as Candlish was known to be in any thing but first-rate condition, his friends thought that he would be successful if anotker opportunity for were, however, as the result competi -3' tion were afforded him; t he shows, Mistaken. They were evenly matched in weight and age, both rowing a trifle above lOst, Messenger having 61b or 7 1 b more upon him th an hi s o pp onen t. At Newcastle some money had be en l a id ou t a t even , , but as the day approached for the conflict, Messenger was the favourite. In the metropolis the thing was more decided, M e ssenger being a ll a l ong the f avour i te at a good price, and in many instances 7 to 4 being spe culated upon him. Messenger trained under the care ful management of Mr. Styles, of the Rose and Crown, Putney, until two or three days ago ; Candlish taking his exercise amongst his friends in the north. The race was appointed for an hour before high water yesterday, the boat moored o ff t h e M ans i on -h ouse distance beiisg from a to Scotswood. Messenger took the lead, and maintained it throughout, Winning easily by between 20 and 30 lengths. The time occupied was half an hour ; but this was owing to the roughness of the weather. CHILD MURDER IN THE CITY. —Last evening, be tween seven and eight o'clock, as Police-constable Graves was going his round up Bell-court, Walbrook, he found a bundle up the court in question, and on opening the cloth, which was tied tightly, was horrified to find that it contained the dead body of a chill, which was quite cold. He conveyed the wrapper and child to Bow-lane station, where he left it in charge of the officer at that place. A medical gentleman, who was called in to examine the body of the child, entertains but little doubt that it met with an untimely end. Information has been forwarded to J. Payne, Esq., coroner, who has ordered an examination to be made by the medical gen tleman, when the result will be known. The time of the learned coroners has lately been taken up with the increased crime of infanticide. _ _ CHINA.—The fact of the rate of exchange at the vari ous Chinese ports continuing without alteration in the face of the large specie shipments made f rom thi s coun try durin g th e past year has excited surprise. The de cline reported three or four mails ago still left a large prospect of profit on future shipments of silver, and hence such arrivals as take place from Mexico and else where are quickly absorbed at high quotations. TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES. SIR, —Observing in your paper of this morning a letter signed "H. Cadogan," in which a statement is made which, if uncontradicted, may induce the public and the shareholders of the company to believe that a lax system of management exists on this railway, I trouble you with the following remarks : Your correspondent makes the following statement : " The secretary to the company had, on his own au thority, despatched the train at 5 p.m., without (as I know to have been the case) being able to communicate this acceleration to all the intermediate stations on the line." Of course I cannot be aware of the source from which your correspondent derived his information. Whoever so informed him, however, has deceived him. The usual notice and instructions as to the departure of the special train in question were annexed to, and sent by the previous train, which started from Southampton at 3 o'clock, and no risk or danger whatever, therefore, could arise. With regard to the alteration of the time of depar ture, I have to state that it was made solely at the re quest and for the accommodation of the passengers by the excursion train, a very large proportion of whom were members of the House of Commons, desirous of getting back to London as soon as possible. The altera tion was announced in the docks, on the return from Spithead, and, with the exception of a few parties who were desirous of remaining later, and whose tickets were endorsed by myself for that purpose, was understood by the °facers of the company to have been acceded to by all the excursionists. I regret to find that your correspondent and a few others, amounting, as we are now informed, to about six in number, were not made aware of the alteration, and suf fered inconvenience in consequence. The company's agent informs me he telegraphed to London, in each of these cases, to relieve the anxiety of the parties who might be expecting them at an earlier hour. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, L. CROMBIE, Secretary. London and South-Western Railway, Secretary's-office, March 13. SPANISH DEBT.—The Spanish Financial Commission have advertised the 28th auction of the foreign redeem able debt on the 29th inst., for which purpose 375,000 reals have been asaigned by the Government, petitions against the bill, aud, under these circumstane ed he did not think he was anticipating too much when he ventured to hops that their lordship would give it a second reading. Should they do so, he intended imm e• diately to have it referred to a select earximittee, for, as he had been obliged to draw up the bill in a very sh ort time, ho thought there ware several of its details which might be altered, and clauses that should he added to it in committee. Their lordships would have an opp ortu nity, also, of considering in committee whether this mea sure should apply to both personal and real property, as recommended, and in his opinion wisely so, by the com missioners. (Hear, hear.) His lordship concluded by moving the second reading of the bill. Lord BROUGHAM said that, about 20 years ago, a measure, in some respect similar to the present one, had been submitted to the consideration of their lordships, one of the objects of such measure being the transfer of testamentary jurisdiction. Since that period, and espe cially of late years, lie was happy to say that the Court of Chancery had greatly improved, owing not only to the measures which had been introduced to reform its abuses and extend its usefulness, and to the increase of the number of the courts that were opened, but also, in a great measure, to the orders which had been drawn up and promulgated by his noble and learned friend (Lord St. Leonard's). He confessed, however, that he had some difficulties in seeing how in the Court of Chancery suffi cient time could be spared for and devoted to the effec tual carrying out of the extra amount of labour which this bill would entail, and he hoped, at any rate, that in order to lighten such labour oral evidence would be sub stituted in the place of written. (Hear.) As a pro o f o f the amount of time that was necessarily required for the consideration of business of this nature, lie might adduce the opinion of a very learned authority upon the subject (Sir J. Nicholl), who had stated that he was employed 60 days out of the year in the hearing of the cases in court, and 180 d ays out o f t h e year i n the consideration of th e same cases out of court, and at his own house ; making in all 240 days, or, in fact, the whole legal year, that he had found it necessary to devote to the conside ration of these cases. He hoped, also, that some pro vision would be suggested and carried out for the safety and protection of wills, many of which were now lost and destroyed, he would not say by fraud, but simply by accident, and many were almost necessarily deposited with persons who had no interest to keep them safe and produce them when necessary, and might have probably, on the contrary, every inducement to let them be lost, or at any rate take no trouble to produce them. (Hear.) He could relate hundreds of cases, in which wills had been lost through accident or carel essness, b ut he would content himself with stating two instances in which wills, supposed to have been lost, or not to be existing, afterwards came to light ; and the ch ances of destruc tion that these wills hadincurred would illustrate, he hoped, his meaning as to a safe place of deposit being required for such documents. The first case was one in which one of his noble friends, as heir -at-law, lost, and another of his noble friends, as devisee, gained 30,0001. a-year, and how the first lost it, and the last gained it, was by a will being found in an old rusty box in an old travelli ng carr i age , an d which, therefore, might have been lost by accident or destroyed from ignorance ; and yet upon which so large an amount of property de pended. The second case was one, also, in which some of his noble friends were concerned, and the sum in ques tion was no less than 160,0001. ; which sum would have been entirely lost to the purposes for which it was in tended, if the inquiries relative to the existence of a will with respect to it had been instituted in the winter in stead of in the summer. The will was searched for everywhere, but could nowhere be found, until, at last, it was discovered in a grate, and stuffed like a piece of waste paper through the bars, so, that, as he said before, if it had been winter instead of summer, in all probability when the fire had been lighted it would have been de stroyed. He could produce many such cases, but he thought that he had stated sufficient to show their lord ships the necessity for some place of safety for the de posit of wills. (Hear, hear.) There was one consequence attendant upon this measure, which could not be too deeply deplored or too sincerely regretted, and that was, the loss and injury it would inevitably entail on proctors and advocates—a class of men who had earned by indus try and zeal the honourable position which they held, and who were in every way deserving of the deepest con sideration. He hoped, with respect to this class of gen tlemen, that their lordships would not hesitate to consi der what might be a fair and honourable compensation to them ; and, in the consideration of the same, he had every reason to believe that their lordships would not allow these gentlemen to suffer an injustice out of any regard for what might be considered, but which never proved to be, an economy in such matters. (Hear.) After a few words from the Bishop of ST. ASAPH, Lord HARROWBY, and Lord FEVERSHAM, Lord ST. LEONARD'S said he was inclined to think that it would be very desirable if the business to be trans ferred to the Court of Chancery could be kept together ; and that it would not be desirable, if it could be avoided, to let every judge of the Court of Chancery have a por tion of that business, just as it might happen. He ap prehended, however, that it would be very easy to make arrangements in the Court of Chancery which might accomplssh all that was required. The judges of appeal did not appear to him to be very likely, for some time to come, to have any great pressure of business upon them. The number of appeals at present was very small, and there was no reason to suppose that it would increase. The great pressure which hail hitherto existed upon the Court of Chancery had been occasioned by business of a temporary nature. The Winding-up Acts, for instance, and railway bills had occasioned a very great resort to the Court of Chancery ; but that was fast disappearing, and lie believed it would be found that the Court, as now constituted, had more judicial power than was necessary for the transaction of its ordi• nary business. His noble and learned friend, in allu sion to a distinguished judge, had stated that he occu pied three days in considering cases out of court for every day that he was occupied in court. He (Lord St. Leenards) could only say that every other judge with whom he was acquainted never had, whatever might have been the pressure of business, a single day afforded him in addition to the days of sitting, but had to eke out the time as best he could from the hours of the night for the consideration of cases out of court. His noble and learned friend had likewise stated, that that excel lent person, instead of hearing the evidence in court, took it home and read it there. He thought that there must be a mistake in that statement, because anything more repugnant to justice, or that could prove more fatal to the suitor, he had never heard. (Hear, hear.) It was most essential that the evidence should be heard in open court and before the full bar ; and those persons very much misunderstood the objects and duties of a bar who,fancied that they had no weight and use beyond the addresses which they delivered to the court. He should not enter into the details of the measure. As at present advised, he was in favour of its principle and of the transfer to the Court of Chancery ; but it must depend very much upon its state when it should come out of the committee whether or not he should be able to support the details of the bill. He thought it was a most unwise step to bring real estate within the opera tion of the measure. He could not sit down without expressing his regret at the necessity for breaking into the practice of very learned persons whose whole lives had been devoted to their profession. (Hear.) A case of greater hardship could not be conceived, but at the same time he thought it would be utterly impossible for them to give advocates and barristers compensation in respect of changes in legislation which might lead to a loss of their practice. He would, however, suggest that some preference might be given to the present advocates by allowing them a right to preaudience in the Court of Appeal with regard to testamentary matters ; but this would be a subject for future consideration. Lord WYNFORD, who spoke in a very inaudible tone, said that he should have preferred the establish ment of a court expressly for this testamentary juris diction. The Earl of DONOUGHIIORE was of opinion that this bill would inflict great injustice on two most de serving classes of men—viz., the advocates and the proctors ; and he could not understand why this should not be a fit case for compensation. He offered no opinion with regard to the general scope of the measure ; but, if this change was to be introduced for the purpose of obtaining► a great public advantage, the noble and learned lord who proposed it was bound to see that he did not inflict a private wrong by means of it. After a few words from the LORD CHANCELLOR and Lord BROUGHAM in reply, The bill was read a second time and ordered to be re. ferred to a select committee. CONSOLIDATED FUND (8,000,0001.) BILL. On the motion of Earl GRANVILLE, this bill passed through committee. VENTILATION AND LIGHTING OF THE HOUSE. The Marquis of CLANRICARDE moved for the ap pointment of a select committee to inquire into the pos- sibility of improving the ventilation and the lighting of the house, and the contiguous chambers, galleries, and passages. The motion was agreed to, and the committee was nominated by the noble marquis. Their lordships then adjourned at 8 o'clock. HOUSE — ( R YE S S . TERDAY.) OFECXOCMISMN EXCISE COMMONS—(YESTERDAY.) RETURNS. On the motion of Mr. COWAN, the following re turns were ordered :—Returns of the number of officers of excise under the rank of a supervisor employed in England, Scotland, and Ireland respectively, in the year 1848, and subsequent years. Of the number of such officers removed annually, since the beginning of the year 1848 (in consequence of having been four years in one station), from England, Scotland, and Ireland, dis tinguishing to which of these kingdoms they have been re spectively removed. And an account of expenses incurred and paid to or on account of such officers, in cansequenoe of such removals ; distinguishing, as far as can be ascer tained, travelline• expenses from any other items. IRISH POST-OFFICE. Mr. H. HERBERT gave notice that this day fort. night he should call the attention of the huuse to the evidence taken before the committee which sat last year on the subject of postal communication with Ireland. JUVENILE REFORMATORIES. Mr. ADDERLEV asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he will introduce his bill for the promotion of juvenile reformatories. Lord PALMERSTON said that he had a bill in pre paration on the subject, and would not lose sight of it. SUBSTITUTION OF DECLARATIONS FOR OATHS. Mr. A. PELLATT, in moving for leave to intro. duce a bill to substitute declarations for oaths, sa id h e was anxious to remove an impediment in the way of c i v il and religious liberty, which impediment now existed in the law respecting oaths. He desired to bring in a bill for the purpose of enabling all who had comoienti our I II 0 AY.) iva ° .0 sot' c on' to bi g want to the solely ed. 113 11 wade ) sal such iaarY E f for f Y..) .01Y; Pan" -AO rivei an d Ber D,OO O brie, for neth 00 4, erei( po i , ins , You l viDg bo T ~., c F. ■ =