The Sun. — London, England, 1845-02-17 00:00:00

Cbtrb Ntittion SUN OFFICE, Seven o' Clock. COMMITTEES on PETITIONS PETITIONS and PRIVATE BILLS.--(THIS DAY.) COMMITTEE ON PRIVATE BILLS. The Committee on Private Bills sat to-day, to ascertain whether the standing orders had been com plied with in the applications for private Bills for the different lines of railroad proposed to be formed, in the Sub •Committee Room, No. 6. The Committee declared that the standing orders had been complied with in reference to the following Bills : Manchester, Burnley Branch: and Oldham and Heywood Branch extension. London and South-Western Railway, (No. 1) Me tropolitan Extension. Ashton, Stalybridge, and Liverpool Junction Rail way (Ardwick and Guide Bridge branches). Leeds and West Riding Junction. West Yorkshire. Leeds, Dewsbury, and Manchester Junction Railway. Rich - mond (Surrey). MANCHESTER AND LEEDS LINE. Notices of opposition to this line was served on be half of Mr. John George Smith, of Yorkshire, on the grounds that the standing orders of the House had not been complied with, under several heads, to wit, that certain owners and occupiers of land, marked on the map, had not been served with the requisite notices, though they are owners of lands through which the proposed line is to pass : that the standing order, requiring that the petition should be presented t) the House three clear days before the first sitting of the Sub-Committee, had not been complied with, inasmuch, as the petition was not presented until Thursday last. The Committee decided that this latter objection was not valid. Evidence as to the validity of the other objections was then gone into. PUDSEY GAS COMPANY. The Committee also declared that the standing order of the House had been complied with in re ference to the Pudsey Gas Company's Bill. TATTERSALL'S.-THIS EVENING. SLY O'CLOCK. CIIESTER CUP. 10 to 1 agst Setniseria—taken 16 to 1 agst Era 18 to 1 agst Obscurity 22 to 1 agst Cataract 23 to 1 agst Celeste 25 to 1 agst St. Lawrence 25 to 1 agst Zanoni 25 to 1 agst \Vinesour 27 to agst Strathspey 30 to 1 agst The Pride of Kildare 30 to 1 agst Pug 33 to 1 agst Agriculture 50 to 1 agst Seaport 60 to 1 agst Foig-a-ballagh. DERRY. 10 to 1 agst Alarm 14 to 1 ast Cobweb colt 15 to 1 agst hedger 20 to 1 agst Pam—taken 25 to 1 agst Newsmonger—taken 30 to 1 agst Mentor 30 to 1 agst Old England 33 to 1 agst Miss Whip colt 35 to 1 agst Ironmaster 50 to 1 agst Annandale 50 to 1 ag,t Connaught Ranger 50 to 1 agst Fuzbos IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. (THIS EVENING.) HOUSE OF LORDS. The LORD CHNIKCELLOR took his seat on the Wool sack at five minutes past five o'clock. ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. Lord CAMPBELL laid on the table a Bill for the improvement of the administration of justice in Scot land in cases where parties got into debt and then re moved from the jurisdiction of the law in this country. He was happy to say that the Bill had been drawn by his Right Hon Friend the L'Jrd Advocate of Scotland.—(Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord also laid on the table a similar Bill with respect to Scotland. The Earl of STRADBROKE presented a petition from the medical practitioners of Suffolk against the Medical Reform Bill. Lord BEAUMONT laid on the table of the House a Bill for giving compensation to the friends of per sons killed by accident. RAILWAYS. Lard BROUGHAM, seeing the Noble Lord at the head of the Beard of Trade in his place, wished to know whether he had any objection to lay on the table the returns he had moved for with re spect to the Railway Board? The Earl of DALHOUSIE hal no objection to the production of the returns. With respect to the case of Mr. O'Brien, he could assure the Noble Lord that the assertions that had been made were totally without foundation. Lord BROUGHAM had found that the informa tion he had received was perfectly correct. Mr. W. O'Brien had purchased 204 shares in the South- Fa3tern Railway stock on the 14th of December, and by the rule that had been laid down, when per sons made purchases, and the broker could not furnish the whole he had undertaken to do, an advertisement A 4 as issued, and that was placarded about, stating the shares that were required. The consequence was that Mr. O'Brien's name was placarded for 204 shares ; that, therefore, gave the public the first idea of the matter. The instant his (Mr. O'Brien's) name ap peared, the shares in that railway mounted up, be cause he had purchased these 204 shares. If he (Lord Brougham) or other Noble Lords had pur chas-xl them, such might not have been the case; but it was different with Mr. O'Brien. He (Lord Brougham) had not before heard a word upon the subject, but his suspicions had been aroused—he had thought such a thing likely to happen, and those sus picions turnel out to be the actual tact. The Board of Trade, in coming to the resolutions which they afterwards reported, did so more or less in the dark. Then these reports were laid before Parliament—that was to assist Parliament ; but Low could they assist Parliament, having founded their opini , ms upon mere party statements—the state ments of the parties concerned. Why, they might as well believe in so many fables. Then came the de feated men, and said—" We have collected a cloud of evidence, and we will go before a Committee of tne House of Commons." liut he (Lord Brougham) said they were too late, the decision had been against them, and it would be found that, in 99 cases out of 100, that decision was final. A Noble Lord (Lord Stanley) raid that that decision was not binding upon he House, bat that they agreed to it because it was a true one. But suppose that his Noble Friend upon the Woolsack who was so conversant with the business of the Court of Chancery, could conceive of a Board of Masters who would decide between parties without hearing evidence, would not such a mode of deciding rival claims be searching in the dark—groping in the dark ? But then supposing that they reported in favour of one of these parties.— The LORD CIIANCELLOR—I should accept the Report.—(Laughter.) Lord BROUGHAM—Very likely.—(Continued laughter.)—But seriously, he thought this one of the greatest interferences with private interests, and with the commerce of the country. There were millions, and tens of millions interested in these questions, and continually changing hands. Men might say, " I have 17,0001. in a line reported against"—another might say, " I have but 10,0001. ;" and all this by a report emanat ing from a board which heard no evidence, He womicted whether it was true that the North Kent line had been rejected upon the narrowest pos sible majority. Whether General Pasley and Mr. Porter were against the South-Eastern line, and Mr. Laing and his Noble Friend the other way. Mr. O'Bri a, he understood, did not vote : consequently, there were two for and two against. Mr. O'Brien, however, was present, although he took no part in the proceedings. Generally speaking, the mode of not taking any part in any proceedings was to absent ; such, however, was not the case with c ivt v r i O'Brien. As the Committee were equally i vot ded, his Noble Friend had to give the casting onseque xi:ly there were three to two, although with respe c t to persons there were only two to two. His Noble F riendwas no greater in authority after a giving t wo vote than he was after giving but one. When these thingsis first were communicated to him (Lord Brougham) his expression was, " Of course this will be made known to the house of Commons— of course, the kind of h elp m o a r d a e u k xiliary process which I had been afforded w ill be Cardwell, who was now a Melnnobwn to them." Mr. er of the Govern ment, Was strongly in favour o f large powers being given to the Board, b u t he distinctly stated that the Board ought not to come to any decision without examining according to my Noble andlLearned Friend'seidece' s tatement, admits that the matter is of infinite own im portance. But he had received such numberles s communicaiions, complaining of the hardships they had suffered in consequence of these decisions, that, unless his opinion was changed by the information he should receive, lie should feel it to be his bounden duty to bring a motion before their Lordships, with the intention of having the whole of these reports fully discussed. Lord DALIIOUSIE said, with respect to the question put by his Noble and Learned Friend with respect to the number of shares held by Mr. William O'Brien, he did not know whether that Gentleman expected him to answer it. It was no business of his, and he should postpone anything he had to say on the subject until the Noble and Learned Lord brought forward his promised motion. But, with respect to the defence of any particular member of the Board to which he belonged, he should, on every occasion, stand forward for the purpose of placing the facts in their proper light, and refuting any statements which were not founded in truth. With respect to the other question, viz., that his Noble and Learned Friend has learned by informa tion that the South-Eastern scheme was decided this way, the only answer he could give was this—his Noble and Learned Friend had wondered if his in formation was really fact, and it was his duty to have the Noble and Learned Lord to wonder on. Lord BROUGHAM—I don't wonder now ;I am perfectly satisfied. Lord DALHOUSIE—The Board of Trade was founded upon similar arrangements made by other Boards. A person was placed at its head by Parlia ment, to whom this person was parliamentaeily re sponsible. Would any Noble Lord be justified in asking a question relative to the decision of the Board of Admiralty, or the Board of Customs ? Would any Noble Lord be justified in asking how this Honourable Member voted, and that Honourable Member voted ? Certainly not ; and upon the same principle he was justified in allowing the Noble Lord still to wonder on. His Noble and Learned Friend had made some observations on the subject of the foundation of this Board. Now, his Noble and Learned Friend would excuse him while he stated hew this Board was originally esta blished. The question was raised before the other House of Parliament, and after being fully discussed in a Committee, it was resolved that railway Bills should be subject to the examination of a Government Board. That this Board should be entrusted to the Board of Trade who should have power to establish a railway department. With respect to the proceeding of the Board. Unquestionably there were no wit nesses examined. But there was no other kind of evidence. Documentary evidence was brought before them, and upon this evidence they had decided. He repeated their decisions were not to be final, and their influence would, of course, have to depend upon their intrinsic merits. He thought, then, it was un just to condemn the decisions at that early period. They ought to have a fair trial, and it was necessary that the report of the Board of Trade should be considered before this fair trial could be had. When the Noble Lord thought proper to bring for ward the question with respect to the constitution of the Board, be should be happy to meet him, and give any information he might require ; but, at the present moment, he must decline, upon the grounds of public convenience, answering the questions seith respect to the internal arrangments of the Board itself. The Duke of WELLINGTON wished to say one word with respect to Mr. O'Brien, as reports had been circulated to his prejudice. He had had an opportunity of knowing that Gentleman. He had served in a most honourable way in the army; he was respected by all ; and it was impossible for any gentleman to stand higher in the service than he had done. He (the Duke of Wellington) believed that his conduct had been gentlemanly throughout, and and that he was quite incompetent to commit the acts that had been laid to his charge. Lord BROUGHAM never meant to throw the slightest imputation on Capt. O'Brien or his brother. All he complained of was, the nature of the system and its defective construction. He believed that the information he had received was correct. As to what passed in the House of Lords last year, he had never heard of it till the present moment. Ilis Noble Friend had said why not take an objection to the matter at that time ? 1\ hy, the truth was, that he had never heard of it, or he certainly should have taken the objection. He did not think that anything in the proceedings that had taken place in the Board of Trade had arisen from reading the reports. There could be no doubt that the stock of the Company had risen to a most unac countable height in a very short time, but what was the cause of it he could not tell. The Earl of DALHOUSIE stated that the scheme had been laid before the House last year, and if any objections were to be made, what he said was, that they might have been made then ; but he did not mean by that to preclude his Noble Friend from taking the objection at any time he thought proper. After sonic further observations from several Noble Lords, the subject then dropped. Some further business was then transacted, and their Lordships adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS. The SPEAKER took the Chair at the usual hour. Mr. SIDNEY HERBERT, the new Secretary-at-War, took the oaths and his seat for South Wiltshire. THE MALT-TAX. Mr. TUITE presented thirteen petitions, praying fur the repeal of the malt-tax. IMPRISONMENT FOR DEB r. Mr. BROADLEY presented petitions from places in Yorkshire, praying for the repeal of the Act of the 7th and Bth Victoria, doing away with imprisonment for debt in certain cases. TEE SUN, LONDON, MONO AY EVENING, FEBRUARY 17 1 1845. Mr. LABOUCHERE said that the answer of the 7 Right Hon. Gentleman opposite (Sir G. Clerk) would not give satisfaction.— (Hear, hear.) It was important to consider that the inquiry had been en trusted to a responsible department of the Govern ment—(Hear, hear)—and it was not intended that it should be left to a tribunal composed of gen tlemen who had no Parliam en t ar y respons ibili ty .— (Hear, hear.) The Committee which sat last year recommended that the Board of Trade should exa mine the applications to be made to Parliament for new railway projects, and for rival railways, and should report to the House their opinion of their merits ; but he did not think that the Committee, in making that recommendation, at all contemplated that there should be constituted a new tribunal, exempt from Parliamentary responsibility. He had been a member of that Committee, and to speak for himself, he never had contemplated any such thing. He thought that the Board of Trade would transact the business itself, and that the President or the Vice-President, or some member of the Govern ment, being responsible to Parliament, would have pro vided for the proper performance of this business in the railway department. Ile thought the Board :of Trade was bound to take the duty upon itself— (Hear, hear) —and he never before had heard of the appointment cf a tribunal constituted, as was the one in question, of persons having no Parlia mentary character and no responsibility to the hear.) H e th oug ht th a t th ose should not have th e t as k th rown upon th em , g co e u n n tl t e r m y(fr' how ever respectable they might be. He did not wish to say a word against their respectability, upon which there could be no imputation, but he must say that it was not proper that gentlemen who filled such situations as that of privat e secre t ary s h ou ld h ave been placed in possession of such extraordinary power and with such little responsibility.—(Hear,hear.) He must also say that certainly suspicions had arisen. lie did not hesitate to declare his convictions that these suspicions were wholly unfounded. But he thought the Government had to thank itself for having occasioned those suspicions by the manner in which they had instituted the Board. However, tl.e mischief had been done, and could not very well be remedied so far. Still he must repeat that he did not think the answer of the Hon. Gentleman had been satisfactory. He agreed with the Hon. Gentleman opposite that whatever effect the report of the Board of Trade might have on the House must depend on its impartiality. If it was found that the engineer of the Board differed from the rest of his colleagues upon the nature of the report, that must, of course, very much detract from it.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. GLADSTONE said he he did not intend to enter into the question upon which this discussion commenced—namely, an examination or an analysis of the Railway Board as to the opinion of its members. But there were two other matters introduced, upon ' which he wished to say a few words. The Honour able and Learned Member for Winchester ex pressed a strong opinion, that if the judg ments of the Board were to carry any weight their proceedings must be public. Now he stated most strongly to the House that there was no choice between having their proceedings not public and having no Railway Board at ail.—(Hear, hear.) There was no alternative. If the House was of opinion that they should establish public proceedings before a Board of that nature they must have regular and formal examinations of witnesses—the parties counsel and agents must be constantly present_ they must have regular statements and replies— they must have all that delay and expense which the very gentlemen who complained of the want of pub licity were parties to expose before that House. With regard to the composition of the Board, the Right Hon. Gentleman opposite was the first person from whom he had heard any censure, and far less such severe censure as that of the Right Honourable Gentleman. It was easy to find fault with its con stitution, or any plan that might be adopted under the circumstances; but if he locked to the alternative to which the Right Hon. Gentleman pointed out in the remarks he addressed to the House, h e was not at all shaken in his conviction that the course taken in the appointment of the Board was the best course of which the circumstances would admit. The Right Hon. Gentleman admitted that if there was to be a Board at all, he would have it constituted of Privy Councillors. Now he would ask the House how it was possible to constitute the Board of Privy Councillors, the members of which should have patiently devoted themselves from morn ing till night, for the space of four or five months, to receive deputations, to examine papers, and form con • elusions connected with 240 railroads.—(Hear, hear.) Perhaps it might be the opinion of the Right Hon. Gentleman that such things were possible. In his (Mr. Gladstone's) opinion, it was totally visionary ; and he was astonished to hear such a plan recom mended by any person, but particularly by a gentle man of great ability, who held a high public office in the country. Another plan was, that the President and Vice-President of the Board of Trade might proceed with regard to Rail way Bills as .they did with regard to public bills. That would he the best course to pursue if it was physically possible that the buisiness of the Railway Department co u ld b e go t t h roug h i n t h at manner. But the organ of th e B oar d o f T ra d e Parliament y o c th o e m r me h r l c o ia u l se and of financial inea had many such matters to a tt en d to. He had important matters con nected and colonial p o li c i es . i t n o atthtaetnd or r to t m he an ommeanntythe cir cums t ances of the rail- A au t re t s h l e p w r a e • n i s t d e h nt their m foreign to nwn'adyivdidepedarmtminendt an d were tisiunceh ofthtahtostehewyhdoeNtnvearnedeeadlltehde upon to conduct the affairs of that department. Therefore, although the institution of a n ove l mo d e o f proceeding was in itself disadvantageous, yet the Government were absolutely driven upon it, because the usual m ac hi nery of Parliamen tary representation would have been totally in adequate to the purpose. It was absolutely necessary, with regard to such important matters as railways, to take some means of assuring the House and the country, that there had been, according to itnhveesotpigpootritounnitoifesthpoosfsaeessts; and h e did no t thi n k ited, a patient and laborious possible for any gentleman who heard him to ima gine that such au assurance could have been given in.:a speech of the Board of Trade, and to an audience similar to that w hi c h usually decided upon private Bills.—(Hear.) Although the plan adopted was very far from being theoretically perfect, and although, as must alway s b e the case where such whole, inted 4uutld a course of proceeding which, be attended with so great conflicting interests were at s t a k e , grea t dis satisfaction prevailed, yet it was remarkable that no gentleman o n hadthe pointed few disadvantages. It had been objected to one of these gentlemen that he had been private secretary to the Secretary of State for th e H ome Depart ment. Well, he did not himself see that that was in the nature of a disqualification, or in the nature of proof or presumption .that this gen tleman was" unfit for his position. Why, what changes they constantly saw taking place ? Who censured the appointment of the gentleman who was lately private secretary to Lord Haddington, now the Secretary to the Admiralty?—(H ear , h ear.) Other gentlemen who had been private secretari es h a d b een afterwards made Secretaries of State; and he really could not see that the post of a member of the Railway Board was at all more important. He believed that the word " clerk" had been applied to those gentlemen. It had been said that the gentlemen who dealt with these vast interests were persons scarcely higher in station than clerks. Now it was impossible to use a word more ambiguous than the word " clerk." A " clerk" might mean one ss ho was en gaged in the discharge of mechanical duties—on the other hand it was frequently applied to a per son in a public office who discharged duties sequiring very high and delicate discretion. Now, the position of the Board of Trade was this_ the President or Vice-President of that Board acted as the head of it; and it did some time happen that there were only four or five of them acting at a time; but they were usually assisted in these proceedings by those of th e counc il s o f t h ose o f their body, who was most comp e t en t t o g i ve th em advice upon railway business. Some of them engaged in railways, and others who, though net so engaged, were most conversant with that business, took no part in the proceedings of the Board; but the reason they were connected with it was, because the object of the Government was to select those who, from their position and education were best qualified t o h o ld such a position. As to the gentleman who was placed at the head of the Board of Trad e —h e s t oo d in the situation of a responsible and Parliamentary efficer, and was answerable for those acts of his that had been called in question. Mention had been made of the reports of the Board of Trade as emanating from only three or four members of the Board. Now, he could no# say that becau s e - a . report — did emanate from only that number it should be called a report of only three or four, no more than should a report from a Committee of that Huse be called a report of three members or one member.—(Laughter.) But _ the reports of th e B oar d o f Trade were now be fore the House as their reports from that department. and he would contend for it that they should ae held as the deliberate and formal reports of that body.— (Hear.) He could say, that w hile he was connected with that Board h e exerc i se d hi s best abilities to give satisfaction ; and h e wou ld now say, that if he were still connected with it he would defend its acts on the floor of that House; and connected with it now or not, he would still be ready to defend them while he was connected with the Board—(Hear, hear)—and he felt assured that those reports had, as they ought to have, the confidence of the majority of this House. —(Hear, hear.) Mr. BERNAL had listened with great atten tion to the H on . an d L earne d Member opposite in his defence of his conduct while he was in office, as a member of the Board of Trade, and he (Mr. B.) was glad to hear him say he would be THE MEDICAL REFORM BILL. Sir J. TROLLOPE presented petitions, signed by all the repectable medical practitioners in the towns of Spalding and Ifolbeach, in Lincolnshire, against the Medical Reform Bill, and praying the House to afford them that adequate protection to which they were entitled from the time and expense required fbr their education. THE CALEDONIAN RAILWAY. Mr. HOPE JOEINSTONE presented petitions from various places (one of them signed by 500 of the leading firms in (xlaTow), in favour of the Cale donian Railway Bill. 'PAPER STAIN E RS. Mr. MACAULAY presented a petition from a large body of paper stainers, complaining of the pre sent state of the law with regard to the manufacture of paper and the importation of foreign ornamental paper. CURRENCY. The HoN. MEMBER also presented two petitions against any alteration in the currency of Scotland. CHARITABLE BEQUESTS ACT. Sergeant MURPHY presented a petition from the inhabitants of the city of Cork, adopted at a large meeting, and signed by several thousands, praying for the repeal of the Charitable Bequests Act. POST-OFFICE ESPIONAGE. Mr. T. DUNCONIBE presented a petition from Capt. Stalbey and another, complaining of the unsa tisfactory state of the report of the Secret Committee appointed last year to inquire into this subject. These two gentlemen had had their letters opened ; and, in the event of the House appointing another Committee to inquire further into the matter, they prayed the House to allow them to be heard before that Com mittee, inasmuch as imputation had been cast upon them in the former Committee, and no opportunity , had been afforded them for vindicating their cha rae' ers. The Hon. Member intimated that to-morrow he would move that this petition be printed with the Votes at the same time that, according to notice, he would bring under the consideration of the House the unsatisfactory and evasive character of the report made by the late Secret Committee. The - IIoN. MEMBER also moved that the petition of Mr. Joseph Mazzini, presented on the 14th inst., be printed with the votes. THE NAVY ESTIMATES. Mr. CORRIE laid on the table the navy estimates ; which were ordered to be printed. MEDICAL REFORM. Mr. KELLY presented a petition, numerously signed, from most respectable gentlemen of the medi cal profession, agair.st the Medical Reform Bill, and praying that the House would not pass it into a law without material amendments. INCREASE OF THE NAVY. Mr. STAFFORD 013RTEN presented a petition from Wellinborough, in the county of Northampton, against preparations for war, and praying that the House would not consent to an increase of the navy. - _ SALE OF LIQUORS ON SUNDAY. Mr. BRIGHT presented petitions fron Carnarvon, and other places, against the sale of liquors on the Sabbath. NOTICES OF MOTION. Mr. M. GIBSON gave notice that, in Committee of Ways and Means, he should move an amendment to the motion of the Right Honourable Gentleman at the head of the Government, that no alteration in the sugar duties will be satisfactory or permanent which does rot involve the equalization of duty on the foreign and colonial sugar. INCOME-TAX. Mr. ROEBUCK gave notice that he should move an amendment to the resolution for the renewal of the income-tax ; to leave out the words, "professions, trades, and oflices."—(Cheers.) TRANSFER OF' REAL PROPERTY (SCOTLAND). Mr. WALLACE wished to ask the Lord Advo cate when he intended to introduce his 13111 for the purpose of facilitating the transfer of general property in Scotland? The LORD ADVOCATE said the Bill had been for some time under the consideration of the Govern ment, and he hoped to introduce it before the recess. Mr. WALLACE wLhed al ,o to know when it was likely the decision, with respect to the Weights and Measures Acts in Scotland, would be given ? The LORD ADVOCATE could not exactly say that he thought it would be before the Courts in Scotland roe. DUTY ON SPIRITS. Lord SANDO.I presented a petition from certain inhabitants in British Guiana, praying that molasses might be allowed to be used in breweries in Great Britain and Ireland, and prayi ng th at the duty on rum might be equalised with British spirits, and that the restrictions on sugar might be removed, so that the petitioners might have an even supply from fo reign States. THE SUGAR DUTIES. Mr. HASTIE wished to know from the Right Hon. Gentleman, the First Lord of the Treasury, whether it was his intention, under the new Sugar Act, to admit West India sugar in the same class of sugar in which it had heretofore been admitted, namely, as Muscovado sugar ? There were 70,000 tons expected from the West Indies—of these 50,000 would be clayed, so that it was important to know what was the precise intention of the Government. Sir R. PEEL said he had stated they meant to make a difference between Muscovado sugar and white and clayed sugar ; but he thought it better to postpone all discussion on the subject till the sugar duties were brought before the House. Mr. GIBSON wished to ask the Right Hon. Gen tleman whether, in classifying sugars into clayed and Muscovado, and fixing the different rates of duty, he contemplated the adoption of the ad valorem principle of duty, and whether he meant, that the higher rate of duty should always apply to sugar of the greatest value ? Sir R. PEEL said that, assuming clay sugar gene rally to be more valuable than Muscovado, that would be the effect of the arrangement. Mr. LABOUCHERE wished to know from the Right Hon. Baronet (Sir R. Peel) for what period he intended to propose the continuance of the new sugar duties ? Sir E. PEEL said that in making so great a change as that which he had proposed, he was not prepared to advise that the new sugar duties, sup posing they were passed by Parliament, should be continued beyond the sth of July, 1846. Mr. EWART moved for a return of the quantity of butter destroyed in bond in Liverpool during the past year.—Granted. PRINCE ALBERT. Mr, BORTIIWICK wished to ask the Right Hon. Baronet, the First Lord of the Treasury, whether there was any truth in a rumour which had appeared in the Morning Post and other newspapers. The rumour itself was one upon which he did not ask for any information, because it was sufficiently absurd to contradict itself. The statement was :—" It is rumoured, and, we believe, on good authority, that the title of king Consort is about to be bestowed on his Royal Highness Prince Al bert. This, we believe, is preliminary to apply ing to Parliament to increase the present grant." He wished to ask the Right Hon. Gentleman the question simply to afford him an opportunity of con tradicting a rumour, mischievous, absurd, and pre posterous in itself, but calculated to do very serious injury to the object of all their loyalty and affection ? Sir R. PEEL said it was not a good practice for Hon. Members to ask for explanations from the Go • vernment of newspaper reports, particularly when an lion. Gentleman found a rumour that was sufficiently absurd—(Great laughter)—to be its own contradic tion, and wanted no explanation from him. It was rather hard in that particular case that the Hon. Gentleman should submit him (Sir R. Peel) to the ordeal of answering it. However, he must leave it much to the decision of Hon. Gentle men themselves to ask such questions or to refrain from asking them, because he knew that inferences were sometimes drawn from silence. On the whole, perhaps, on the present occasion silence would be the best; but, to guard against the possibility of any erroneous inference, he would state, for the informs• Lion of the Hon. Gentleman, that that paragraph was totally without foundation.—(Hear, hear.) RAILWAY COMMITTEE. Lord HOWICK wished to put a question with respect to the railway department of the Board of Trade. He observed that all the reports of that Com mittee were signed by all the five members of it. Now, he wished to know if, from that circumstance, they were to infer that ail those five gentlemen sign ing that report concurred in it, and whether they were all of the same opinion? This question was of considerable importance, because, as it was now de termined that those reports were not to be conclusive, but only to be binding so far as they were consistent with reason, it of course had a very material differ ence in their authority, whether they were the unanimous opinion of those five gentlemen, or whether they were approved only by two or three of them. It struck him that, in a vast number of railway projects, it was almost im possible to find five gentlemen of the same opinion; and, in point of fact, with respect to one of them, at least, it was not so, for one of the five gentlemen did not vote ; the other four were equally divided ; and the question was finally decided by the Chair man of the Committee giving his casting vote. He hoped the Right lion. Baronet would have no objec tion to state what was the fact, whether the gentle men signing the report all concurred in such an opi nion or not. He should also like to ask whether it was the intention of the Board of Trade to lay before the House, as an appendix to their report, the statements of the competing companies, on which their reports were founded ? It was of great importance that the House should possess the statement of each company, and the documents which they had laid before the Board of Trade, upon which the reports of that Board had been founded. Sir GEORGE CLERK said that with regard to the first question, he:believed, there was no precedent for it. He believed that when a report was made by any public Board, that report was to be taken as the act of the Board collectively. It was the first time that any question had ever been asked as to what discussions had taken place at the Board, and he must decline giving any answer, because, if he were to do so, it would be establishing a dangerous and inconvenient precedent, and he trusted that neither the Noble Lord nor the House would draw any inference from his silence.—(Cheers and laughter.) With regard to the second question, he had to state that the Board of Trade had no intention of laying before the House the voluminous statements which had been submitted to them by the various parties to railway schemes. He believed there would be no objection to laying those statements before the House if the Noble Lord should think them necessary. But in the future progress of those schemes no doubt the parties interested would lay before the Committee of that Board all the statements they had to make, either in recommendation of their own schemes or in opposition to the schemes of their rivals ; and the only objection he had for laying the papers before the House was, that they were very voluminous, and would take a long time to copy. Mr. ROEBUCK begged to observe, with regard to the first question put by the Noble Lord, that a statement had been distinctly made that certain mem bers of the Board had voted, and their names had been mentioned.—(Hear, hear, from Lord Howick.) It had been stated that a casting vote had been given by the head of the Board of Trade.—(Hear, hear, from Lord Howick.) if a casting vote had been given, there must have been an equal division of the persons voting, as no person possessed two votes. All the parties, therefore, must have voted. This led to a most important conclusion.—(Hear, hear.) Now, in such a state of things it would not do, now-a-days, to shut out investigation.—(Hear) They must know all and everything.—(Hear, hear.) If not suspicion would rest upon those who shut out the light—(Hear, hear)—and, if so, such a tribunal would not be a satisfactory one for the guidance of Parliament, and he believed that Parliament would utterly discard the recommendations emanating from such a tribunal, and would proceed with their inves tigation as if no such reports had been made. Mr. WALLACE was not aware that the Noble Lord intended to put any such question, but he had come down to the House with a notice in his pocket.— (A laugh.) The first report of the Board of Trade had been printed, and he now gave notice that he intended to move that there should be laid on the table of the House all the documents on which that report had been founded, so that the House might understand what had been done.—(Cheers.) The Right Hon. Gentleman had said that this was an unprecedented question. It should be recollected it was an unpre cedented situation—(Cheers)—in consequence of the new Board which had been imposed upon Parliament. Would the House take the leavings of the Board of Trade, or would they act independently?—(Hear.) Mr. C. WOOD did not think the answer of the Right Hon. Baronet was calculated to give satis fitction either to the House or to the country. The Government should consider whether the answer given was calculated to give confidence in the railway department of the Board of Trade. He (Mr. Charles Wooc) had heard from other sources the report to which the Noble Lord had alluded. lie had heard that on one occasion the members of the Committee -- - were evenly divided in opi n ion as to a parti cu l ar line of railway ; but one of its members gave a casting vote, which determined the Railway Committee upon deciding in favour of the line which the President had sanctioned, and this, too, although the only engineer who was a member of the Committee ex pressed his dissent to the line recommended. If the Government wished that the reports of the Committee should be received with any degree of confidence he confessed he thought they were taking the worst pos sible course to ensure any degree of trust in the justice of their decisions. Mr. "MILNES said he thought llon. Gentlemen had erred in attaching so much importance to names and authorities. What they should look to was the reasons which the Committee gave for the decisions at which they arrived. Ile did not see that names or authorities had anything to do with the matter. What the Government had said was that the reports should be merely considered as guides, an d these re ports could not be in any way invalidated by the supposition that some of those gentlemen might have dissented from the opinions of the remainder: ESCOTT said that he feared the construction of the Board involved much suspicion as to its pro ceedings. The proceedings of the Committee would never give satisfaction unless they were public. It sat as a court of justice, and if its proceedings were secret they would always be liable to suspicion. answerable for the veracity of the reports of that Board—(Laughter)—and that, furthermore, he was prepared to defend those reports, and act as their gladiator on the floor of this House.—(Laughter.) This was the difficulty in which the subject was in volved. He had long entertained an opinion on the subject of the private business of this House, which he was aware was not a popular one, and whenever he had introduced it, it had not received the slightest support. He thought they ought gradually to take steps towards removing the chief part of the pri vate business from the controul of this House. They were approaching an era in civilization, unlike any that had been seen before, and a whole mass of private business poured in on them, for the danger of which they had not provided. They had sketched out an imperfect and hasty plan, for trusting some of it to the Committee of the Board of Trade, and what had been the result? Why that respect able gentlemen were indirectly —he might almost say directly accused—of not discharg ing their duties candidly and honesty. Those gentlemen were placed in an odious position ; they were exposed to every random shot fired at them by speculators, or by those who were not speculators. lie for one would not consent to steed in such a position, and would rath e r g i ve u p th e p os t o f Secre tary or President of the Committee than encounter the odium it produced.—(hear.) It was said there must be some tribunal ; but it was impossible that with a hundred Railway Bills before them, Hon. Members, who were occu pied by public business, could give up hours every day to attend to Railway schemes in which they had no interest whatever. What, then, was to be done ? Let the Government, whoever it may be composed of; boldly sketch out the plan of some open tribunal, out of doors, where the merits of these railway schemes could be discussed ; and he was sure that the decisions of such a body would give more satisfaction than the decisions of that House. The present Committee had not sufficient time to attend to the busness thrown upon it—all was hurry and confusion, and so great was the pressure to get ready the plans and documents for the last day on which they could be given in, that several working engineers lost their health, and some their lives, from the excessive labour; they would never exonerate the House from suspicion of self interest till they remofed the control of its private business to some other tribunal. There were certainly difficulties attending every new arrangement, but if they studied the credit of the House they would lose no time in taking the question into their serious consideration. Mr. W. E. GLADSTONE complained that he had been misunderstood. What he had stated was, that if he had continued in office he should have consi dered it his duty, as the organ of the Board of Trade, to defend their decisions, but he had also stated that the Government was placed in a very different position with regard to private Bills to that in which I was placed with regard to public Bills. As the organ of the Board of Trade, he should have felt it his duty to make the best defence he could for the decisions on private Bills, but he begged it to be dis tinctly understood that in that decision the Govern ment, as a Government, was not involved. Lord HOWICK had not complained on that point. What he said was, that he argued against making the reports of that tribunal conclusive, because they dealt with property to a much greater amount than the judges in Westminster-hall; and he had said that if their decisions were to be considered as conclusive, their station ought to be one somewhat approaching to that of the judges. He had not used the word clerk in any offensive sense, for he believed that that tribunal was composed of honourable men. All he objected to was, their being permitted to deal conclusively with such large masses of property. Sir R. PEEL was surprised at the speech of the Right Hon. Gentleman the Member for Taunton, considering the experience that that Right Hon. Gentleman had had in the Board of Trade. It ap peered to be the impression that the Government had assumed an authority in this matter which had not received the sanction of the House. Now the Executive Government had only acted in perfect con formity, as they thought, with the wishes of the House of Commons. A Select Committee had been appointed last session to consider the mode of proceeding with regard to Railway Bills. They were culled upon to consider if the present mode of conducting the railway business of the House of Commons was satifsactory or not. They had to discuss the question of the degree of super vision which the Government should exercise over these railway schemes in their early stage. They considered that some preliminary examination of these schemes should take place before they wcre submittted to that House. They said they would not discuss whether or not any new department should be instituted for that purpose, but they would assure them that Parliament meant that the Board of Trade should exercise that super vision. If the House of Commons entertained a different opinion, that opinion should have been expressed at the time. It had been assured that the Board of Trade should exercise that super vision, and what the Committee proposed was, that before any Bills were submitted to Parliament, the schemes should be submitted to a preliminary exami nation, leaving it to the Government, to determine whether or not any new departments should be in stituted for the transaction of railway business. The reports were only intended as guides for Parlia ment. On some occasions the Board reported in favour of particular lines, and sometimes they re ported for postponment ; but he denied that they had exercised any powers which were not in con formity jewith the powers vested in them by the Legislature. The Committee reported in favour of the enlarging of the railway department of the Board of Trade, but left it to the Government to say how it was to be organised and how it was to be enlarged. He denied that the directions of the Committee had not been complied with. He thought his Right Hon. Friend had acted with propriety in de clining to enter into an explanation about difference of opinion among the members of the Board, as to the best line of railway. If differences of opinion had, in the first instance, occurred among the members of thh Board, as to the best line of railway, it was quite con sistent that explanation and discussion might re concile their differences, and when all their names ap peared as sanctioning a report, the fact ought to be taken to be so, and that all the members of the Board were unanimous. Mr. LABOUCIIERE had not complained of the Board of Trade making these reports. WThat be complained of was the mode in which the Board of Trade, or the Government, thought fit to carry the recommendations or the Committee into effect. He had maintained, and he would still main tain, that the present was a most cautious mode of proceeding, and most inconvenient to the public service. He had expressed his opinion as to the mode in which the Board of Trade had discharged their duties. He would say no more than to repeat his ( pinion that the mischief had already been done, and that the Government had to thank itself for the suspicions to which the prcceedings of the Board had given rise. Sir R. H. INGLIS thought that all that had been said on the subject was a justification of the Govern. ment in having appointed the five gentlemen who con stituted the Board.—(Hear, hear.) But hie (Sir R. Inglis's) immediate object in rising at present was for the purpose of making a few observations on what had fallen from one of the acutest gentlemen in the House, who had formerly been member forßochester. He would ask that Hon. Member and the House did he think it was possible that they could entertain the idea of creating a new judicial tribunal for the inves tigation and determination of matters connected with railways ?—(No, no.) And, if it was possible to do so, would it not be actually instituting another House of Parliament. For the decision of that new judicial tribunal would be considered after in the House of Commons, as if it had come from another branch of the legislature; and it would have to be considered in its successive stages as a Bill which came from one House of the legislature to the other. But he thought that the present Committee of the Board of Trade was nearly in the situation of a grand jury. The inquiries were ex pante ; and when the Report came up to the Housa it was like an indictment sent from a grand jury, having only prepared the case for adjudication. The Report did not deprive the House of the power of examining all the evidence on both sides, and voting as he thought fit. There was another observation which he had to make. An lion. Gentleman opposite had said that the answer of his Right Hon. Friend (Sir George Clerk) had not been satisfactory, as respected the appointment of some gentlemen on the Board. But it was admitted upon all hands that those gentlemen were qualified for the duty, and their characters were admitted by every gentleman who spoke upon the subject to be above suspicion.—(Hear.) Mr. WAKLEY thought that no complaint had been made against the Government for having insti tuted the railway department of the Board of Trade. He thought it was admitted the House itself was to blame for all that had been done.—(Hear, and a laugh.) For all that had been said was that the system had not worked well, and that the Government should propose to the House to remedy the inefficiency.—(Hear.) With respect to the statement of the late President of the Board of Trade, he (Mr. Wakley) thought that statement made matters worse, when he said that if he were in his late office still, he would stand up in the House ar.d defend the report. Now, that course would be taken upon the responsibility of the report, and to give the latter the weight of Government authority. The manlier in which the inquiry had been conducted gave great dissatisfaction, and the public felt that they had suffered considerable Injury. That was the impression in the western counties. He (Mr. Wakley) hoped that the Government would give up the idea of having any such tribunal at all.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") INCOME-TAX. The Order of the Day for going into a Com mittee of 'Ways and Means, was then read, Mr. Green in the Chair. On the motion that the income-tax be continued being put, Lord JOHN RUSSELL said, he was very glad that the Right Hon. Gentleman had consented to postpone, for another day, the decision of the House on this question, because the more he thought of that question the more he conceived its importance to be great and greater even then the Right Honourable Gentleman himself seemed to suppose well knew. If he could agree with the Hon. Gentleman the Member far Kendal, who seemed to be greatly enamoured of this tax, and thought that it ought to he permanent, he could find some comfort, because he believed it was approaching to that accomplish - trient—(Laugnter)—but, for his own part, he had been accustomed to consider the income-tax neces sary, indeed, in great emergencies —for the carrying on of a war of an arduous and costly nature, but be subject to some of the greatest objections which could be urged against any tax.—(Hear, hear.) He had always been of opinion that it was unequal, and vexation and fraud were inherent in that tax. It was impossible to deny its inequality, for no man would say it was equal that a person whose income was derived from a landed estate or the funds, which he could leave to his children entire, was in the same po sition as a person in a profession—a surgeon or an artist—w hose bread depended on the continuance of his health, or who, by the loss of a limb or a defect of eyesight might at any moment be deprived of his income. —(Hear, hear.) No person could say that those two persens should be considered in the same light. Ndthe'r could any person fairly deny that great vexation was inseparable from that tax—that a person engaged in trade, who was obliged either to submit to the payment demanded of him, or show all his accounts, and the matters in which he was engaged—was not subject to very great vexation. With regard to the fraud and evasion, he believed no man who ; had been concerned i❑ the collection of this tax would deny that great frauds werepractised under this tax ; that the man of the most integrity and the most honour, paid the tax fairly and was subjected to the least reduction, while those who wished to evade the law either found the means of doing so or entangled the Government and themselves in the most expensive proceedings. Such being the evils of this tax he had heard from The Right Hon. Gentleman on Friday night said that they were inseparable from it. He had sometimes thought that by different modifications by alterations with respect to uncertain incomes, and by changing particular provisions which bore hard upon particular classes, the tax might be rendered less vexatious. The Right Honourable Gentleman had had three years to observe the operation of the tax, and there was no reason why he should not wish to make it snore equal and less vexatious if he could. Yet he declared that it was impossible so to do, and that he would show by argument that any attempt of that kind would but aggravate the injustice. He did not pretend that the process was not vexatious and inquisitorial.— (Hear, hear.) But what he argued on the last occasion on which the property tax was imposed was that if any attempt to snake any alteration would lead to a greater injus tice than that which it cured. He din not, and he could not prove that the defects were such as could be remedied, but what he proved was that they were inseparable from the nature of an income-tax. What, then, was the conclusion ? Why, that this was a tax whose great merit was its productiveness to the revenue, but which could only be imposed on great and urgent necessity. (LEFT SPEAKING.) LAW IN TELLI GENCE. COURT OF Q UEEN'S BENCH, Feb. 15. (Sittings at Nisi Prius, before Lord DFNMAN and a special jury.) BAKER U. r.owE. This was an action brought by the plaintiff, who is a sur geon, residing at Hampton, against the defendant, who is a half-pay officer, to recover a sum of 193/., for services per formed by the plaintiff for the defendant in his professional capacity—also for medicine. dr. - Chambers, Mr. Peacock, and Mr. Sewell, were for the plaintiff ; and Mr. Crowder conducted the defendant's case. It appeared that the defendant was attacked on the 16th of September, 1842, with spontaneous gangrene of the toe, being this period about sixty-one years of age, and in pre vious good health. At first he felt a severe pain, and in four days Mr. Baker amputated the toe. Inflammation proceeded, and on the 6th of December Mr. Liston was called in, and ordered a soothing treatment, a stimulating one, con sisting of brandy and wine, having been used by Mr. Baker. The gangrene had extended so far, that the defendant lost his leg. Mr. Baker sent in his bill of 1931., but the defendant said that he lost his leg in consequence of the injudicious treatment of Mr. Baker. However, he offered to allow the plaintiff 94/., which was refused. The principal interest resulted from the different opinions of the medical men who were examined. Mr. Liston, Mr. Partridge, Mr. Perry, and Mr. Bransby Cooper were examined on the part of the plaintiff, who indi cated—some of them more cautiously than others—that the application of stimuli was not improper treatment, and that the application of the knife was right where what was called " the line of demarcation" was properly marked. On the part of the defendant, Mr. Lawrence gave a decided opinion that a stimulating treatment was improper in this case ; that it was always better to leave nature to throw off the diseased part, and that it was impossible for the line of demarcation to be sufficiently marked in four days to justify the use of the knife. Mr. Aston Key and Mr. Skey gave pretty nearly similar evidence. The foot of the unfortunate gentleman was in Court to assist the surgical gentlemen in their operations. His LORDSHIP having summed up the evidence, The Jury found a verdict for the plaintiff for 1381. 14s. ; also finding that there was no want of skill in the plaintiff. COURT OF EXCHEQUER, Feb. 14. (Sittings at Nisi Prius before the LORD CHIEF BARON and Special Juries. GREEN V. PRICE. This was an action of covenant to recover the sum o 5,0001. Mr. Martin and Mr. Lush appeared for the plaintiff ; Mr. Jervis and Mr. Cowling for the defendant. The deed which formed the ground of the present action was entered into between the late Mr. John Gos nell (to whose estate Mr. Green the plaintiff is executor) and the defendant Mr. Price, who retired from the busi ness of a perfumer, and bound himself in the above sum Rot to set up again within the cities of London and West minster, or within GOO miles from the same. The de fendant having commenced business at 28, Lombard street, it waN alleged he had broken the covenant, and he was now stied for the above amount. It was contended on behalf of the defendant that no specific loss to the plaintiff had been shown to have re sulted from his recommencing business, and also that he was not within the distance named. shortly after the opening of the plaintiff's case, his Lordship stated it to be his opinion that this question was one of law. It was then agreed that Mr. Jervis should tender a bill of exceptions to his Lordship's ruling, and that, in the meantime, a verdict should be taken fur the plaintiff: Verdict for the plaintiff accordingly—Damages, 5,000. SATURDAY, BED. 15. THE ATTOINEY-GENERAL U. CLAY. This was an information filed fur the recovery of certain duties which were alleged not to have been paid by the defendants upon certain silk goods imported from France. The following are the particulars of this case : The dt fendants, Thomas and Robert Clay, were engaged in the silk-trade, which they carried on in a very exten sive manner for upwards of three years previous to the filing of the information. It was subsequently as certained that the defendants had impinged silks for which the proper duties had not been paid. It ap peared that before matters were discovered, the de fendant Robert had retired from busiLess, and the other brother, upon the fraud being found out, de camped. The defendant Robert, upon the information heir g filed, pleaded that he was ignorant of anything being wrong, for, during the partnership, he had paid all the necessary duties. Upon the books being referred to this fact was ascertained to be correct, and the result was that the Crown declined• to go for more than one penalty, instead of three times the amount, to which it was entitled. After a short address from the Solicitor-General for the Crown, and Mr. Kelly for the defendant, a verdict for 1,200/. was returned against the defendant. LANGFORD V. GOLLY. This was an action to recover 5?. 18s., for an injury done by the carriage of the defendant to that of the plaintiff. There was no feature of interest in the case, and the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff—Damages, 5/. 18s. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. (SATURDAY.) CLERKENWELL. F William Shearsby, the proprietor and driver of a L Camden-town omnibus, appeared to a summons to answer the complaint of Philip Stack, jun., the pro prietor and driver of a Paddington omnibus, for having wilfully and maliciously obstructed him, whereby he endangered the lives of passengers, and also for having made use of abusive language. Mr. Robinson attended for the prosecution, and a so licitor appeared for the defendant. It appeared that the defendant had been in the habit of obstructing complainant, and annoying him on the road. On Wednesday afternoon, the sth inst., com plainant was driving along Pentonville-hill at a mode. rate pace, his vehicle being full of ladies and gentlemen, when defendant whipped and gallopped his horses, any' crossed him, to the imminent danger of the lives of complainant and the passengers. He continued this sort of conduct until they arrived in the City road, when he began gailopping his horses and crossed the road. Com plainant remonstrated with him on the impropriety of such conduct, when defendant commenced a volcy of abuse, calling him most foul manes, to the great annoy ance of the passengers ; and he drove on before him, jeering him ; ald complainant felt it to be his duty to take out a suwzoons against him. Mr. GnElq;:woop convicted him in the penalty of 20s. and costs, for the abominably filthy and abusive language he had used ; and for the wilful obstruction he would commit him to the house of Correction (without fine) for ten days. HAMBURGH AND BUTCH MAILS' BERLIN, FEB. 3.—A report, which has been for s °l :l 3 time in circulation, that the King had c ommissi° l !,, e several statesmen to draw up a constitution fur 111 01 Pruss:an moiiarehy, seems to gain credit; this itnr. ll. l, subject being seriously discussed in the higher circles' and not contradicted by men in very elevated positions.; great joy is felt here on this account. If the Tell., should prove tru e , a b r illi ant p ros! ec t will Le one Prussia, Prussia, and f or a ll Germany, and the name of his !esty will be di s ti ngu i s h e d among the grertest in the annals of Gerrnany. HANOVER, FEB. 7.—We learn that our Govertureshst has granted s ev era l cons id era bl e a d van t a ges to Seit ( l t i and Nore egian ships in t h e Elb e , placingthcin Ott o same footing as those of g rea t B r it a in and'Humburgb. FRONTIERS OF BCIiESIIA AND SAXONY, JAN. 27 'j Conimissoners have be, n appointed at Dresden sPf Vienna fur the d e fi n iti ve regulation of the frontiers' Austria and Saxony. t FRANKFORT, FEB. 4.- Sonic steps have bee-nltoo - 8 in cur city toward s t h e f ormat i on o f a Christian Aeoed lie Catholic com m u n ity. Th e not i on i s much aper ev o by the middle t la's of the Roman Catholic inbabilss., l'he hiehtr &asses manifest but liitle inclination to and the hisser are withheld by worldly consideratio ns .b BERLIN, FEB. 6.—W e b arn that the n, gotiations the Danish G o vernm en t rescting the Sound -toll 6 ,, broken off fur the present, and our ConimissioneesLc turns 1 from Copenhag. n a few days ago. w e rep s - t that the endeavours o f o u r G overnmen t have failed' g e ,b dyes not seem to agree on any one point with the Pa s Government. HANBURGH, JAN. 10.—The HaillbßFgll ship 411Cir t ; maelie has arrived at Cuxhaven from China, bo ri g, e d first of our ships that h a s v i s it e d one o f t h e neeell °l;6 " ports of that empire. tO POLISH FRONTIERS, FEB. 2.—Accounts are self, have bees received from Sr. P e t ers b urg h, that th e to d peror is suffering from the jaundice, but is able to stssij to busieess as usual. The health of the Empress is to have become worse. eri l THE HAGUE, FEB. 12.—Our j ourna l s contain - S ee , notices of the return of th e f rost, w h ic h i s pretty s e .; 21 the mercury in Fahrenheit's thermometer being deg., or eleven below freezing point. THE HAGUE, FEB. 13.—The Dutch Governme nt ; t est ing discovered at the beginning of the year 184 7;dies there was an extensive manufactory of Deteh''';' e toe copper coin at Birmingham, took measures to PO: f ail to the evil, in which it was zealously seconded ' 1 English Government. P d The exertions of the police at Birmingham WA - ail a stop to this coining ; and the Custom.house 0- ftbS at Liverpool have seized a considerable quantity ° deo base coin, which was already on board a vessel boi l ' ) Sineapore. rt p Old Instructions have been sent t o th e Governor-n°/00 to direct all the coloni a l au th or i t i es to d o their il' o he to prevent the circulation and sale of such bri s ,.„, 9 i ced In consequence, the G overnment h as already rl-esor an official notice issued by the Government of 1 114- Wales's Island, Sincapore, and Malacca. ftb ° The Government h as answere d t h e o b serv ations o fo i e cc section of the Second Ch am b er , respecting theilitsi of law for the executi on o f A rt. 6 o f the EnTlu."-- Law treating of the right of voting, and of electioo. The Chambers not sitting. 11A3ITSURGII BORSENIIALLE, FEB. 11. p on c e . Bali. 113 Austrian 5 per Cents Bank Shares Anglo-Russian Loan . RusSian 5 per Cent., Hamb. Certificate. 10 5 514 Ditto Ist series 1n5eripti0n............ 99V 4 Ditto, flop and Co., 3d and 4th series.. 99V4 0 7. Ditto, in Certificate. .. New 4 per Cent., hope and Co. 92 90,4 Ditto Stieglitz Spanish New 5 per Cent . 2l Ditto 3 per Cent Anglo-Portuguese Loan, 214 per Cent .• Dutch Actual Debt, 21.' per Cent 6 3 14 , Polish New 4 per Ceut. loan, 1844•••• 87 Anglo-Danish Loan, 3 gtr Cent ...• • • 137 N 14 0 National Bank 5hare5............. Exchange on London Pctersburgh, Three months Bremen, Two m0nth5......... —llamburgh Borsenhalle, Feb. 11. DUTCII FUNDS.—AMSTERDAM, FEB. 14 • Dalt Monef• Actual Debt, 214 per Cent.— 634 183 *jib), 3 per Cent .................. 77 99 Ditto, 4 per Cent. ..... . Ditto, 5 per 9914 100 Amort Syndic, 414 per Cent.......... 9911 924 Ditto, 314 per Cent. ..... .......... 914 i 149 Commercial Company, 4% per Cent • • 147 3 4 •-• East India Loan, 4 per Cent.......... ...- • Exchange on London, one month.. Two months . • 12 2 0 At sight. . 12 5 0 On liainburgh . . 35 2 1 Two •••25 On Paris Two mouths. .... .. ••. • • • -- -Dutch Papers. Feb. 15. ;AUSTRIAN FUNDS.—VIENNA., FE13..7.004 5 per Cent. 3letalliques • • 4 per Cent. ditt0............. • .... ••• • • • 102 3 per Cent. •• Loan, 1831 Ditto, 1839 Bank Shares . 5 6 Esterhazy's Loan ........ • RAILWAYS. • 10!`i The Northern, or Ferdinand ........... Gloggnitz • . • • 126* Allgetneine Zeitung, Feb. 10. rnussux FUNDS.—BERLIN, FEB. 1 1 . )10,4 Bins- St. Schuld SCh., 334 per Cent 100 6 I'russ. English Bonds, 1830, 4 per Cent.. Exchange on London, 3 months —Prussian State Gazette. Feb. 12. 3 6 7 13.° 13 SPORTING INTELLIGENC INTELLIGENCE EXTRA. WARWICK, 1845. st. The IVarwick Handicap. s 9 Mosque, aged Queen of the Gipsies, 5 yrs Yardley, 5 yrs Porto Bello, 5 yrs Inheritress, 5 yrs Bashaw, 5 vrs Heslington, aged Schoolboy, 6 yrs 7 Babylon, 4 yrs .............................. 7 / Wasp, 4 yrs • ................... 6 10 Wotton (h b), 4 yn; ........................ COVENTRY, 1845. Entry for the Trial Stakes. moo* 5 Wild Roe 3 yrs—Cel es t e , 4 yrs —M a rian .L'" yrs—Dash (late Corodino), 4 yrs. The Handicap Stakes. • ( 1,61 Glideaway, 4 yr s —H ooton, 5 yrs— The ,M t r e , 4 f re t s Wild Roe, 3 yrs—A urungze b e, 5 yrs—Ce'l 51- Inheritress, 5 y rs — M osque, aged—Porto Be" l '" , ;,„ Fama, aged—D as h, 4 yrs —L auristina filly , 4 1 bi The City Stakes. g yr- oe Confab, 4 yrs—b m Mundig—Fairflf, g e ' r ve bek by Bolero, 4 y rs —Ch evy Chase, 3 Yrs"„.g..--si° Hunter, 4 yrs—The Bird, 6 yrs—Oscar, 5 4 yrs. ; 1 7 11 7 11 1 1 119 y, W ie h r° The Hurdle Stakes Mantrap--The D- I' Ti Orphan— b f -1,.....T- 8 ..a- ing— .ie „eu out of the Queen—lsaae, aged—Dueona , 141 Light of other Days—Victoria, aged. HUNTING APPOINTSLENTS - rth e lsl o; Surrey stag hds., Tues., at Fickle's OW Sat., Reigate. D re South Berks hds T We d ' , - II ~ Tues., Aldworth; 0 0 ; 110 r Green; Fri., Theale-10t. Craven hds., Wed., Bedwin Brick-kiln ; I ' l ' f sbi l Chase; Sat., Benham • am Turnpike—lug. , . pre Hambledon hds W d Basing k • ' ll ' ~ e., Par , iii° House. , L Se ° Sir J. Gerard's Ws Wed., New H 11 • G at '' ~ a f Or Bridge.h IP° N. F. H., Tues., Brocklehurst Bridge; Thurs.' ct. f t4)l3 wood; Sat., Alderholt Park-10 4 3 Tieerton hds W d D -.'• " a ' ii' •, e•, rayford Bridge , Hole, v.-- d Castle—Wl. + pi 0 use Vine lids., Thurs., P au l' s W oo d ; S at .. Ewer" to United Pack, Thurs., Monkhopton-9. ,Aws n VOck Norfolk h a r rs ., T ues., Thurni n g; Fri., t row- —1 1. ~.s l ial A 0919 _,.. Dispatches from the Governor of Western , P ,,, e re " and also from the Governor of the Nlauritios " ceived on Saturday at the Colonial -office. _....------- On the 11th inst. lc a t e ß a m lli b T r !I d i d p ar 9 g a bler' Henry Howlett, of a r son. ra dath, o p On the 12th inst., the wife of Captain Bisdee , o' . Deli ° On the 12th of Febraary, at Great James-street, b row, Mrs. Samuel Bayne, of , adaughter. Rev. Jose i Selterrace, LY-e'- On the 12th inst., at Bath, the wif© of th e rlt, Mansfield, of a son. ~,,,e n t'lrPS On the 12th inst., at Cumberland•terrace, A‘. ~ of the lady of Richard Jennings, Esq. or a son. t he la dy On the 13th inst in U G' - or-street, inst. pper Grosvenor -street, en s oo, James Weir Hogg, Esq , M.P., of a son. i . ~„ SitOf On the 10th inst., at . I.' Tooting, Mrs. J 49 ' - )pper ~ the' of a daughter. .tow-' On the 1 lth inst., in Camden-street, Camden of /11.. wife of Professor De Morgon, of adaughter. " job' On the 11th inst., at Boyder's-hill, Herts, t ",b t r. .... e f, It Molyneux, Esq., Commander, R.N., of a dat iv e , So" On the llth inst., Lt the parsonage, Wreccles n• yo the wife of the Rev. Robert D. Buttoner, of aso or up 110 • On the 11th inst., at Upper Clapton, Mrs. Hulbert, of a son. On the 13th 11 inst., at Uxbridge, George 13alpi. MARRIED. , ilbe o , t he a th . 9114 On the 1 . of S d li f o r b n y t i l i .. e o Lock, l o i of n K s t in ., g a - t s King-street. t o . late Rev. Kent, to Elizabeth Fry, only daughter ' v. Edward Crope, of Colchester:Esse:L. 13 teF► Jpri it 8 h of M inst., at St. Paul's, Covent 4 . jotiep __. Manchester, to Sarah Eliza, eldest daughter 0, r . v . .. mo r ti e g tt ii i: grew,o T. Evans, Esq., of Tooley-street, Sou erk ‘ ° f th. Esq., of Dean-street, surgeon, to Jane, eryounger Massey, On the Bth inst ,at Ashford, George AWN, Esq WO' Island of Antigua, .to Charlotte, second daughter of t he lave's, Southwark, T. Tappenden, Esq. On the 10th inst., at St. Martin's-in -the-Fields, nev,.jtaenir:villf Mr. Samuel Esq., of Stoke Newington, to Catherine, daugu Vo-rfolk- ___, Baker, of Beeston St. Lawrence, _ DIED. On the Bth inst., at Brighton, the infant son of the Hanbury Tracy. d 43. wife On the 10th inst., at Bath, R. R. Hills, Egl..agf — h.w . l. On the 10th of December, 1844, in Bombay' Marie, t. — 1 of Metcalfe Lai ken, Esq , of the Civil Service. On the 9th inst., at cOutl,ill Middlesex, Captain Avgestug Sere Drury, R.N. ''. ' ' 02 of On the 9th inst., Carlton Graham Nicholson, only 9 Mr, Richard Nicholson ,wine-merchant. London. On i n t the the 9:l; th ins i t uit a . : K lu e , i t i t :i a n t g e t t on , , Isabella, W. Senior, Es:j., aged 75. On the 9th inst., at Hammersmith, B. Hanson, E 9 q* 11 Markham-square, Chels.m surgeon. I relic • Oi i the II th inst. at at Cot ' tin 'ham nearllull, Isabella,, of the late W. K• •• r 15 ' a 3 e, t,sq., LI gPd 81. ' •OA t On the 13th inst., at Charlton, Eliza Caroline, t Lle 18 (laughter ofJohn James wife of Thomas Gask I'' ',,atinders, Esq. _,,,,. ----- ' t i relict of the let. L°,,n 4 oL: Printed and Published b y MURDO YU j ' a. 112, Strand, Printer. at The Sun Uffice,„.Na. i j Stra id. in the Precipet of the Sav_m, in the Co tes Middlesex, Monday, February 17,1 ' . ie Re ; _ I . st, 1 ab. It% ' 4bc • Fro i„,11