The Sun. — London, England, 1839-05-16 00:00:00

I_ 4 l y r A N ;-N AC-4 is% G 17,, raf , 11r . IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS, MAT 15 The LORD CHANCELLOR took seat on the "viiool.- m3l: Four n'Ctock. The Lon.ion aryl Solthlmn.oii R Evonsion Bill, the London and Cif,,-I,n Bill, the Briri4h Museum Trustees Bi:I, the Great Westero Railway Extension Bill, Cootie's Divorce Bill, and Carleton's Di vorce Bill, were read a third time and passed. MELLIN'S DIVORCE BILL. Counsel were heard and witnesses examined on this Bill, which was read a second time, and allowed to be committed. MESSAGE FROM THE COMMONS. Colonel Lowther, Sir Robert Price, Mr. C. Buller, and other M,mb .rs of the House of Commons brought up the West Durham Railway Bill, the St,affo•Jlire Po:t.o-ies Jutices and Police Bill, and several Private Bids, all of which were read a first, and ordered to be read a second time to-morrow. ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOUSE. Lnrd DUNCAN NON gave notice that to-morrow his Noble Friend (Lord Melbourne) would move the adjournment of the House till Monday, the 27th inst. Lord ASHBURTON presented several petitions in favour of Mr. R. Hill's plan f Penny Postage. Adjournel. HOUSE OF COMMONS, MAY 15, Tile SPEAKER took the Chair at the usual hour. Mr. YORKE moved the third reading of the Co merton (Cambridge) Inelosureßill.—Agreed to. On the motion of the same HON. MEMBER the Bar ton (Cambridge) Inclosure Bill was read a third time and passed. Mr. BROTHERTON brought up the report of the Committee on the Mane'n , ster and Leeds Railway Bill. The following Bilis were read a third time and passed :—The Hereford,hire and Gloucestershire Ca nal Bill ; the Rugby and Warwick Road Bill ; the St. Leonard's and Sellscombe Roads Bill ; and the South Eastern Railway Bill. Mr. SANFORD brought up the Report of the Committee on the Northern and Eastern Railway Bill. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL presented a pe tition from the tru.tees of Heriot's Hospital, Edin burgh, against the Edinburgh and Leith Railway Bill. Sir E. CODRINGTON presented a petition from Whitby, in favour of the establishment of a harbour of refuge at Redcar. Also a petition from an individual complaining of having been struck from the list of the Navy. Sir R. DONKIN presented returns from the Board of Ordnance. PENNY POSTAGE. Captain IVEMYSS presented three petitions from places in the county of Fife in favour of a uniform rate of postage. Sir DE LACY EVANS presented six petitions from Westminster, and Mr. PATTESON ten petitions from warehouses in the City of London, to the same effect. Similar petitions were presented by Mr. Barnard, from Greenwich, by the Attorney-General from several public bodies in Edinburgh, by Mr. Aglionby from Cum berland. and by Mr. Bernal from Stoke. Mr. DUGDA LE presented two petitions in favour of religious instruction in the Colonies. Mr: PRAED presented a petition from Cheshire, praying for a revision of the law relating to the sale of Beer. The ATTORNEY GENERAL presented a peti tion from the Merchants' Company of Edinburgh, praying that the mail-co ich might not be allowed to travel on Sundays ; also, two petitions for a revision of the laws regulating railway travelling ; and one from the congregation of Edinburgh, praying for Church Extension in Scotland. Mr. PLANTA presented a petition from Hastings against the clause relating to chaplains in the Prisons' Bill. Lord SAN DON presented petitions from Lichfield and Fosheail, praying for m.tional education founded on the priaciplps of the Established Church. Mr. PAKLNGTON presented petitions to the same effect from places in 'Worcester, Yorkshire, and Devonshire. Sir G. SINCLAIR presented petitions for Church Extension in Scotland from Dumbarton, the Presbytery of Auchterard,T, and other places. Mr. YOUNG presented two petitions, praying that soldiers of the Presbyterian persuasion, might hare permission to attond their own Cnurches. Lord ASHLEY presented petitions in favour Of a uniform penny postage, and against the Ecclesiastic:ll Duties and Revenues Bill. Mr. LOCKHART presented six petitions in favour of an Extension of. the Church in Sco'land. Also one from the Commissioners of Supply in the county of Lanark, praying the House to take measures to have the county surveyed in order to find out the best ling of communication between Scotland and the north of Etiglai:d. Mr. GLADSTONE presented a petition from -2 4 ievoork, in favour Of the penny postage plan. Alsu one against the appointment of Catholic chaplains to ga;,ls. Mr. HUME presented 13 petitions from places in CornwAll, Berkshire, Yorkshire, &c., in favour of a penny postage, Mr. E. BULLER pre:ented a petition from some place in the county- of Chester, pra)ing for a revision of the syste►n of levying county rates. LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY BILL. On the motion of Sir JAMES GRAHAM the fur ther consideration of the report of this Bill was deferred to Tuesday, the 28th May next. Sir G. CLERK presented a petition from some place in Argyleshire, praying for additional Church Extension in Scotland ; and also praying for the establishment of additional schoo's in the Highlands. Mr. PRAED begged to ask the Noble Lord the Secretary for the Home Department, whether he would have any objection to the production of the proceedings of a Cabinet Council held on Saturday last ? The Noble Lord had placed the House in possession of a portion of the proceedings that then took place ; it would be most desirable to place upon the table of the House the whole of the minutes of that Council. Lord J. RUSSELL objected to lay the document to which the Hon. Member referred upon the table of the House.—(lle.i, hear.) COLONEL PRINCE. Mr. HU 'ME begged to ask whether any answer had b'cn received as to the inquiry into the conduct of Colo nel Prince, who was reported to have shot some prisoners in Canada ? Mr. LABOUCHERE regretted he had not been previously apprised of the question. As the question was one of the greatest public importance, and which had caused a very great degree of excitement in Canada and the United States, and as great exaggeration and misre presentation existed, he trusted the House would allow him to state exactly what the fiws were.—(Hear, hear.) The House would recollect that in the month of De cember last the province of Upper Canada was invaded by 4U) armed men. from America, who committed the greatest excesses within. the colony. They began by shooting and setting fire to the houses of the peaceable inhabitants. They committed barbarities and atrocities wiaieh would have disgraced any country in the world. ) MC person s wh om t h ey killed they mang l ed in the most 1 cruel and sl:ocking manner. Such was the conduct of Ithat body of men, the militia of the United States, under time - orders of Calonel Prince turned out to oppose the 1 ievasioa. Alter a sh or t ac ti on t h e i nvaders were de -1 flidted, and the outrages suppressed. After describing the events of the action, Colonel Prince said that four prisoners were brought in and shot by his orders. Be si .C 3 tiiii statement, a representation was made and signed by a considerable number of the inhabitants, adding that they were put to death, with many circum stances of great inhumanity. The consequence was, that the Lieutenant-Governor referred the whole sub ject to a Court of Inquiry, presided over by officers of the'regular army. The result of that inquiry had been, that while all these circumstances of aggravation and inliumauity had been disproved, and it was further 'stated that these imputations were not only false, but fOurided upon personal ill-will towards Colonel Prince, the fact remained undisputed that Col. Prince did, after the engagement, order these four persons to he summarily put to death. He would not enter into the question which had been raised whether it was strictly 'legal that persons who had committed such atrocious acts, who had invaded a friendly territory, were or were not beyond the pile of the laws of order which regulate the war of civilized nations.—( Hear, hear.) But this he was prepared to say, that having stated these circumstances of palliation which might be justly urged, that n o t one wor d o f d e f ence or justification of such conduct should ever pass his lips. He deeply regretted that such an event should have happened, and he trusted the House would be satisfied with a pledge, on the part of the Government, that no means should be left untried to prevent the possibility of such an outrage being committed again. Mr. HUME merely asked whether the papers de tailing this transaction would be laid before the House, as it was a transaction not only affecting the honour of the army, but which had produced an intense sensation throughout the United States. Mr. LABOUCHERE was not prepared to lay .those papers before the House. POOR LAW AMENDMENT ACT. Sir EDWARD KNATCHBULL asked how long after the recess it would be before the Noble Lord would be able to lay before the House the Bill relating t o the continuation of the Poor-law Amendment Act. Lord JOHN RUSSELL would reserve his answer till after the recess, as the authority of the Commis sioners under the Poor Law Amendment Act would not expire until the end of the Session. Colon e l SIB THE BUDGET. THORP asked the Noble Lord when it was probable the Budget would be brought forward. Lord J. RUSSELL declined stating till after the eess. ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOUSE. Lord JOHN RUSSELL said, that he rose for the purpose of moving that this House sllollldi at its rising, adjolrn till Monday, the 27th of May, and should the Speaker, to the great rep:re' of the House, p._yrsist in his resolution of not resum.ng t)ct cinir after she holidays, he should on that day C pcmunicate to the House the pleasure of the Cy: wn on that subject, and in ord,r that the Hoose migh- im mediately proceed to the election of a Speaker, he saould move that they meet on that day at half-past three. There was only one other subject on which he should address the House, that was with regard to the subject of Jamaica ; he should not at present state what course the Ministers of the Crown were prepared to pursue. But he wished to state that on Thursday, the 30th of May, either his Right 'Hon. Friend, the Under Secretary for the Colonies, or himself, would bring forw;:rd a motion on the affairs of Jamaica ; and until that motion hail been taken into consideration, he should not propose any further proceedings upon the Bi:I then before the House. RESIGNATION OF THE SPEAKER. The SPEAKER then rose and said, as this is the last occasion on which I shall have the honour of pre siding over the deliberations of the House, I cannot retire without expressing my most grateful acknow ledgments for that kindness and support which has been so generously afforded me, and which has sustained me in the discharge of my duties. It was natural that :he circumstances under which I was first placed in the Chair should create in toy mind a feeling of embarrass trynt, tind weaken my confidence in nts efforts. I most gratefully and unreservedly declare that I have through out received as prompt and cordial a support from those who opposed as from those who supported my election. —(Hear.) This circumstance gi% es me the greatest ple isure, because it convinces me that the desire to up hold the authority, which is so necessary for enforcing propriety and regularity in the preceedings of this House, is the first and strongest feeling among its Members. I turn very sensible of my own imperfections, and I claim no other merit than that of having been influenced by an ea rnest and sincere desire to discharge my duty in all departments of the business of the House, and towards all persons with courtesy and firmness, and with impartiality.—(Cheers.) I shall always retain the strongest feeling of gratitude for the favourable construc tion which has been put upon all my acts, and my last wish will be, that this House may be so guided and governed in all its proceedings and conduct as to ensure the honour, the security, and the happiness of the people whose destinies are confided to its care. . —(Cheers.) THE CHARTISTS. Mr. WYNNE could not help expressing his sur prise that so long an adjournment of the House should be proposed while the internal state of the country was so agitated. Six months had now elapsed since certain parties had recommended the people generally to procure arms ; theyknew that in different parts of the country those recommendations had been carried into effect, and that fire-arms had been provided, and that pikes had been made to a very great extent, and that, up to the present moment, they were publicly sold, and that no steps had been taken to put an end to it.—(Hear.) He had hoped that before that time the Noble Lord who was charged with the care of internal affairs would have brought forward some measure on the subject, or, at all events, that ho would have stated .chat the feelings of Government were upon the matter. Deadly weapons had been provided by a large number of people in the country, and it was no wonder that special constables should show some reluctance to the discharge of their duties, they being armed only with the weapon provided by law for a con stable. He was not afraid of the ultimate success of the parties who were misleading the people. What he was afraid of was that if this arming conti nued unchecked, it would lead to a lamentable degree of bloodshed. In his opinion the House was not doing its duty by having such a long adjournment without taking some measures for strengthening the hands of the Magistrates in the circumstances in which the coun try was now placed. 'Lord JOHN RUSSELL had to state that through out the period alluded to, which had been a most anxious one, the Government had not been unmindful of what was going on, but he had thought that it was better to rely on the existing law than to come down to that House for other measures without a very positive and great necessity for doing so, because the objects of the persons influencing the minds of the people and in citing them to arm, were so clearly mischievous—so many of their acts so clearly exposed them to the penalties of the law, that it was impossible they could meet with any general sympathy. He had always found, however, that when extraordinary mea sures were taken in Parliament in such a case, a sympathy was created and did more to aid the cause of those who, without it, would be entirely without sympathy.—(Cheers.) Still he was not prepared to say that it might not be neces sary to propose some measure to Parliament with regard to arms in the hands of e•'il-disposed persons. He was of opinion, however, that when the necessity arose it would be a far better course to in troduce ilatrcateassar As with its consideration, than to introduce it and put off its consideration for a lengthened period. With regard to measures already taken, he must say that on two occasions, when her Majesty's Ministers had ad vised her Majesty to issue Proclamations regarding meet i9gs of an illegal character, meetings held by night with torches under circumstances of danger and terror, and meetings which wereattended bypersons having pikes and bludgeons, each time those proclamations were issued the most salutary effects had been produced. He felt most undoubtedly that the responsibility was very great in taking measures to arrest parties, in order to put down that disposition to disturbance that had taken place ; the subject had been a frequent matter of consultation between himself and the Attorney-General, and he had likewise frequently brought the question before the Cabinet—( Hear)—and it appeared to him that the course adopted, and the views taken with respect to the general state of the country were more likely ulti mately to produce a return to peace, than if the Go vernment had at once proposed measures of an extraor dinary description.--(Cheers.) Sir H. VERNEY wished, in reference to the subject which the Noble Lord had Low brought forward, to ask whether it was his intention in the course of the pre sent Session, to introduce any measure for the establish ment of a more effective Rural Police? He thought such a measure would be calculated to give great satis faction to the country.—( Hear.) Mr. ATTWOOD wished to know whether he un derstood the Noble Lord rightly when he supposed him to say that it was the intention of the Government to introduce further penal enactments ?—(Cries of " No.") He thought the Government had done quite enough in putting in force the present law of the country. With regard to arms, he knew something about them, and he did not believe there had been fifty muskets or fifty pikes bought in England. He did not believe that the people of England had gone mad enough for that, or that they had ever thought-of arming them selves.—(Cheers.) He was convinced they knew bet ter where their strength lay than to take up arms,—(Cheers.) He was sure there had been a great deal of exaggeration on the subject, and he most earnestly urged upon her Majesty .Ministers and the House not to adopt any measure that would be calcu lated to excite the people to oppose the laws. If the people were outraged the time miglt come when they might assume a far different appearance. Lord J. RUSSELL thought it might be necessary to take some measures for the restriction of that which was an abuse of the rights secured by the Bill of Rights. It was undoubtedly true that every person had a right to have arms in his own defence ; but the arming of a portion of the population, exhibiting and brand ishing- those arms to the terror and alarm of her Majesty's subjects, was an abuse of the right, and one which it might be necessary to meet by le 2isl-tive enactment. The Honourable Member said he did not believe there was arming to any consideralde extent. Certainly the information which he ( Lord J. Russell) had from the town which the Hon. Member represented, and other towns, would lead him to sup pose there had b - een no very con•iderable quantity of arms made by the regular manufacturers, and the chief pare of the sale which had taken place had been for ex portatinn. But there had been weapons of a dangerous nature, made by persons who were neither regular gun makers nor manufacturers of arms. Whilst he wished to guard the House against any exaggerated notion of here being large bodies of men regularly armed, on the other hand, lie believed there were a considerable num ber of persons in possession of very dangerous and of fensive weapons.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. HUME believed that the agitation which now existed had been caused by a few individuals, and that the bulk of those who had assembled together had been misled. He trusted that it would be found that a great deal of the alarm which existed had been exa,gerated. But it was the duty of the Noble Lord and his colleagues, to consider whether the masses and the millions of the country had not just ground of complaint, and to endeavour to remove them. That would be a more likely way to prevent these evils than having recourse to any modification of the laws now in existence. The motion for adjournment until Monday, the 27th inst., was then put and agreed to. On the motion of Sir EDWARD KNATCH BULL it was agreed that the Committees on Private Bills should sit during the recess. Lord JOHN RUSSELL gave notice that on Thurs day, May 30, he should bring forward a motion relative to the course to be pursued with regard to Jamaica. Mr. PAKINGTON postponed the further consi deration of the Sale of Beer Bill to Tuesday, the 4th of June. LIGHTING THE HOUSE. Mr. HUME rose to call the attention of the House to the plan now under trial for lighting the House of Commons ; and to propose a Committee to superintend and decide on the same :--Mr. Hume, Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Warburton, Mr.Wakley, Sir H. Hardinge, Lord Eliot, Sir Frederick Trench, Sir C. Lemon, Mr. Aglionby, Sir Robert Peel, Sir Thomas Acland, Sir Robert Harry Inglis, Sir W. Molesworth, Mr. Rundle, Mr. C. R. M. Talbot (Glamorgan). He THE SUN, LO" -DON, MAY 16, 1•539. considered that the Bude light would be quite as cheap as the present method, and infinitely more conducive to the comfort and health of the Members, as the ventilation wouid then go on from above downwards, instead of from below upwards, according to the present plan. The recess would afford an opportunity for fairly trying the experiment, and Mr. Faraday had reported that there was no danger from explosion. Sir F. TRENCH complained of this question being brought forward on a Wednesday, and that Wednesday the Derby day, when most of the advocates of that gentleman's light were absent. He contended that can dles conduced to the ventilation of the House, and that he had not been fairly treated by the Honourable Member for Kilkenny with regard to this subject. The new lighting would be attended with great expense, the machinery alone costing 2,0001. The whole of the proceedings from beginning to end had been of the most shabby description. The expense of lighting the House on the plan pro posed by him (Sir F. Trench) would be only 11. ss. per night, whilst the expense of the new light could not be calculated eve❑ by so celebrated a financier as the Hon. Member for Kilkenny.—(A laugh.) Mr. HUME explained. Lord JOHN RUSSELL was glad that a Committee was to be appointed, because it was impossible for any Hon. Member to say which was the better and more safe light. Sitting there, as he was obliged to do, for so many hours, he must say he was extremely pleased with the present light. Sir R. PEEL said the Committee could not recom mend any light to the House as being safe, without hav ing scien ific evidence on the subject. Mr. HU ME said he intended that the House should be lighted to-morrow at ten o'clock, and any Member would then have an opportunity of seeing it. If any one had a doubt about its safety he would propose that evidence should be received by the Committee after the recess. The motion was agreed to, and the Committee ap pointed. . . Lord JOHN RUSSELL gave notice that on the 31st of May, in a Committee of Supply, he would move a vote of 30,0001. for public education. The House then adjourned. On the SPEAKER leaving the Chair, several Mem bers from both sides of the House shook him most cordially by the hand. EP OM - RAuES-1.- The many peculiar and exciting features of the " Derby day" have been so often anal so fully chronicted, as well in verse as in humble prose, that it would be in vain for us to attempt to impart novelty to the occurrences of yesterday ; " Boz " alone could strike out new lights—we fairly admit our incapacity. It must suffice, therefore, for us to state that the morning opened favourably for the occasion ; that the display of equestrianism and charioteering was, as they say of a good fire, `° terrifically gra"d," an d the confusion Con sequent on it " awful;" in short, that the panorama of the road was as animated as ever. On the race-course, where so many ups and "Downs" have been experienced by high and low, was to be found an immense numerical display of horse and foot ; nor could we perceive any falling off in the vehi cular department. The Grand Stand, as we mentioned yes terday, was the resort of the higher and middle classes ; here, " for a consideration," they were provided with a well served table, protection from the dust or rain, as the case might be, and a good view of the races. At two o'clock, the advertised hour for starting . , the scene was imposing in the extreme, and must have astonished not only the natives, but the foreigners, of whom there were many present. The hill was covered with carriages of the usual motley character, while horsemen out of number amused themselves by galloping about in all directions, re gardless of the fears or safety of the " poor devils" on foot. The ring dispersed about this time, and " steady goers" taking their stations on the inner side of the course from the top of the hill to the corner, added not a little to the interest of the picture presented on this part of the Downs. The straight course was lined on both sides with the foot people, with a back ground of carriages and stage coaches filled with well-dressed people. The temporary sands were as full as the skill and cupidity of their lessees could make them, while that properly termed the " Grand" was crammed from the lower balcony to the roof. In short, the ensemble was indicative of the immense interest which the race had excited, and cannot he said to have shown any falling off. Agreeably to the announcement made by us yesterday, his Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Russia and his Royal Highness Prince William Henry of the Netherlands, accom panied by the Princes Lieven, Dolgorouki, and Bariatinski, Count Orloff, Count Tolstoy, and a numerous suite, arrived at the Grand Stand a little before two o'clock, in four of the Royal carria g es. After remaining a s h ort t i me i n t h e S tan d their Royal Highness mounted horses which had been in waiting in front of the stand, and rode to the hill, had a peep at the ring, the nags, the Warren, &c., and returned in time to see the races, which, commencing with so interesting an event as the Derby, must have excited mingled feelings of admiration and pleasure. Tlwir Royal Highnesses left the ground highly gratified with their excursion. Besides the above illustrious individuals there were present the— Duke and Duchess of Cleveland, Duke and Duchess of Rich mond, Duke and Duchess of Beaufort, Duke of Montrose, and Duke of Rutland. Marquis and Marchioness of Exeter, Marchioness of Ailes bury and Family, and Marquis of Tavistock. Earls—Jersey, Verulam, Che•terfield, Albemarle and Coun tess, Stradbroke, Wilton, Waldegrave, Lichfield and Countess. March, Bruce, Errol, Devon, &c. Lords—G. Bentinek, J. Fitzroy, Torrington, Villiers, Maidstone, Dromore, Tenterden, Portarlington, Drumlanrig, Digby, Caledon, Kilburne, Eglinton, &c. Honourables—Gen. Grosvenor, G. Anson, G. S. Ryng, S.. Herbert, H. Rous, W. Rous, W. Fitzroy, J. Villiers, &c. Sirs—J. Shelley, C. Coote, G. Hamilton, J. (and Lady) Gerard, G. Heathcote, J. Tyrrell, &c. Gen. Buller, Gen. Sharpe, Col. Peel, Major Vivian, Capt. Knox, Capt. Willan, Capt. Hunter, &c. Messrs.—Bowes, Watt, Etwall, C. Wilson, Greville, Hawker, Batson, Newton, Thornhill, Portman, Irby, Payne, Worrall, Clive, Bayly, Gardner, Tyrrell, S. Stanley, &c. &c. For giving so short a list the crowd and the time occupied in obtaining other intelligence connected with the meeting must be our excuse We have now brought up our account to two o'clock, at which time the bell had rung for clearing the course and saddling—all was bright and promising, and we looked forward for nothing else to do than watch the pro gress of the sport and report it. But it was not to be a com mon Derby, for just before the start, which was unnecessa rily delayed till three o'clock, the sky became overcast, and the race was actually run in the midst of a heavy fall of snow. We have seen many wet and windy Derby days, gut it has never before been our ill fortune to participate in the enjoy ments of a snowy one. This uncomfortable weather was not confined to one—it continued throughout the whole of the races ; and after completely destroying the anticipated pleasure of the assembled thousands, cleared up just as they were leaving the Downs. The race, as we have before mentioned, should have been decided at two o'clock, but from some cause or causes which no one could make out, for there was very little time lost in false starts, the spectators were kept on the " tenter-hooks of expec tation" till three,.when a general movement on the hill, and a general shout of " they're off" from the roof of the Stand, announced that the hopes and fears of a year were about to he set at rest. • Having disposed of all preliminary matter, we will now pro ceed to describe the racing:— The Derby Stakes of 50 sovs. each, h. ft. ; for three-yrs-old colts, Bst. 71b., and fillies, Est. 21b. Last mile and a half. The second to receive 100 sovs. out of the stakes, and the winner to pay 100 sous. towards the expenses of additional police officers, &c. (143 subs.) Mr. W. Ridsdale's c. Bloomsbury, by Mulatto (Templeman) 1 Fulwar Craven's b. f. Deception, by Defiance (Trenn) 2 The following also started but were not placed :—Mr. Thornhill's c. Euclid (P. Conelly)—Lord Westminster's br. c. Sleight-o -hand (W. Scott)—Lord Jersey's b. c. Caesar (J. Robinson)—Hon. S. Herbert's b. c. Clarion (J. Day, jun. ) Lord Lichfield's bk. c. The Corsair (V. Wakefield)—Mr. G. Clarke's br. c. Dragsman (H. Edwards) Sir G. Heath cote's ch. c. Valaincourt (J. Chappell)—Captain Wil liamson's br. c. Melbourne (N. Flatman )—Duke of Grafton's b. c. /Ether (J. Day)—Lord Jersey's ch c. Ilderim (E. Edwards)—Lord Albemarle's ch. c. Do mino ( Cotton) —Lord Exeter's b. e. Bosphorus (S. Darling) Mr Sadler's b. c. Dart (W. Sadler)—Mr. Bowes's The King of Kelton (C. Edwards)—The Duke of Grafton's b. c. Montreal (W. Wheatley)—Mr Worral's b. c. Peon (S. Rogers)—Mr. Edtlison's c. Rory O'More (J. Holmes) —Mr. Dixon's b. Hytlns (S. Day)—Colonel Peel's br. c. The Dey of Algi-rs ( A. Pavis). Betting.-9 to 2 agst Sleight-of-Hand-6 to 1 agst 7to 1 agst Caesar—t! to 1 agst Clarion-12 to agstDeception-15 to 1 agst Corsair-16 to 1 agst Dragsman-25 to 1 agst Valain court-25 to 1 agst Dart-30 to 1 agst Montreal-30 to 1 agst Bloomsbury-33 to 1 agst Melbourne-50 to 1 agst lEther-50 to agst Ilderim. After two attempts the lot got away with one of the best and most impartial starts ever seen for the Derby. King of Kel ton, Clarion, and Deception were first off; the former, after half-a-dozen strides, took the lead at a moderate pace, followed by the two just mentioned and Bosphorous, all lying very near together. On getting over the first road, Deception and Bos phorus went in front, the latter having his neck in advance with Clarion at their quarters. Euclid, Ilderim, Dart, and Blooms bury laid next, and behind them Corsair, The Dey of Algiers, Hylius, Melbourne, and Domino ; at least such were the posi tions as -near as the falltng'snow would enable us to ascertain, The favourite of Lord Jersey's, Scott's, and Stephenson's sta bles were in the centre ~of the crowd, which unenviable place they were unable to better at, any part of the race. They went in this order till near the Tattenham corner, where Bosphorus died away, alth ugh the pace had been anything but first-rate. Deception now took the lead, and in going r.,und the turn, as a proof of the badness of the speed hitherto, increased it so immensely that she must have been four or five lengths in advance. With this extraordinary lead she rattled into the straight running, Bloomsbury and Euclid following her till they were half way between the gravel road and the distance, when Euclid made an attempt to collar her, but failed. At the distance Bloomsbury challenged her, ran her head and head to the stand, defeated her, and won his race in gallant style by a length. Euclid was about two lengths be hind Deception, but was not placed. To account for the posi tions of three or four other hirses at the finish, we should state that at the turn Clarion, Bosphorus, Hyllus, and one or two others, dropped off, leaving The Dey of Algiers, Dart, Mel bourne, and Domino, in front ; and these, to the best of our belief, went by the Chair in the order we have given them, neither, of course having had a chance from the corner. Of the favourites we need only say that they never made a show in front, and that Sleight of- Hand was beaten early in the race. Rory O'More had the honour of being last; in fact, all Scott's horses made a sorry figure, considering the enormous sums for which they were backed. Bloomsbury, who has thus disqualified himself for maiden races, was riot long ago considered unlikely to start ; and it was not until a fortnight or three weeks since that the for feits for all the engagements were, paid in advance, and the con templated objection abandoned. Value of the stakes, deducting the winner's, 3,550/. The Ewell Stakes of 5 sous. each, with 40 added ; 3 y rs old, 7st. ; 4 yrs, Bst. ; 5 yrs, Bst. 71b. ; 6 yrs and ag ed, Bst. 111 b. ; mares and geldings allowed 31b. ; winners at any time (matches excepted) to carry for twice, 31b. ny ;thrice; blh. ; and four times, 71b. extra. Last half m il e . Seven subs. Colonel Peel's Vulture, 6 yrs (Pavis) 1 Duke of Richmond's Vale of Be lv oir , 3 yrs 2 Mr. Bell's b. f. La Sage Femine, 3 yrs Mr. Balchin's Lady Agnes, 4 yrs 4 Mr. Waring's b. L. Knowsley, by Felt, out of Urganda, 5 yrs 5 Vulture made all the running, and won in a canter, by two lengths. The Ashtead Stakes of 5 .ovs. each, with 40 added ; 3-yrs old, ist. 101 b, ; 4 yrs, fist. 91b. ; 5 yrs, 9st. 31b. ; 6 yrs and aged, 9st. 61b. ; mares and geldings allowed 31b. Last half mile. The winner to be sold for 150 toys., &c. Nine subs. Duke of Gratton's Chemist, 4 yrs .. (J. Day) 1 Captain Daintree's b. c. Harlequin, 3 yas Duke of Richmond's b. f. Quadroon, 3 yrs 0 The following also started, hut were not placed :—Mr. Great rex's ch. f, by the Colonel, out of Crutch's dam, 3 yrs—Mr. Bowes's Roostan, 3 yrs—Captain Gardnor's br. c. by Revel ler, out of Scurry, 3 yrs—Mr. Batson's Brother to Pie nip", 3 yrs—Mr. Bacon's e. g. Foresters, 3 y rs . Scurry made the first running,* the others lying alongside her nearly head and head, to half-way up the distance, when Che mist took it up, and won a fine race by half a length. A dead heat for second between Quadroon and Harlequin. The win ner was claimed, and is now Mr. Coleman's. The Walton Stakes of 5 sovs. each, with 40 added ; three-yr olds, 7st. 101 b. ; four yrs, Bst. 9 1 b. ; 5 yrs, 9st. 31b. ; six yrs and aged, 9st. 61b. ; mares and geldings allowed 31b.;; the winner of the Ashstead Stakes to carry 51b. extra. The Winner to be sold for 120 sovs. Last half mile. Fifteen subscribers. Lord Stradbroke's ch. f. 10, 3 yrs ........................ Cotton 1 Mr. F a l coner ' s gr. m. Sister to Professor, 4 yr 5...... ......•" 2 Mr. Payne's Elf, 4 yrs The following also started, but were not placed :—Mr. Bowes's Roostan, 3 yrs—Fulwar Craven's b. f. Old Maid, 3 yrs—Capt. Gardnor's Ochiltrce, 4 yrs—Mr. Rogers's b. c. by Zinganee, out of Dirce, 3 vrt—Duke of Richmond's b. 1. Quadroon, 3 yrs—Duke of Richmond's ch. c. Felo-de-se, 3 yrs—Mr. Bacon's hr. m. Elizabeth, 6 yrs-31r. Shelley's ch. m• Gold, 4 yrs—Mr. Greatrex's ch. c. by . Rubini, out of Aricia, 3 yrs. There were several false starts—in the first Io ran the whole length ; in the second, not m an y strides short of it ; and in two others, half way of the course. In the actual race, Elf made play, the others lying alongside in a line, nothing oc curring to change this order till they passed the road, where Io took the lead, kept it, and won easy by a len g th—nothin g near the first three. The winner was claimed. We did not hear any bet on any race subsequent to the Derby. A WOMAN BURNT TO DEATH.—A poor woman the wife of William Somerfield, a brewer's man in the employ of Mr. Wright, was burnt to death on the night of Tuesday last. Somerfield, who left his home on the morning of that day, did not return again until 11 o'clock that night. On reaching his door, he perceived a bright flame i ns id e • he k noc kd, but got no answer, and after some delay, he broke the door open, when he beheld his wife enveloped in flames. There was no fire in the grate, nor did he perceive a candle burning. He caught her in his arms, and placed her on the floor, covering the flames with his smock-frock ; in doing which he was severely burnt himself. The poor woman was subject to fits. sh e had just put her family of five children to bed, when this horrible event occurred. An inquest was held on the body —and a verdict of accidental death was returned.—Liver pool Chronicle. LORD BROUGHAM'S REPLY TO LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S LETTER TO THE ELECTORS OF STROUD, ON THE PRINCI PLES OF THE REFORVI ACT. Gratieri-street, May 4, 1839. DEAR JOHN RUSSELL—I have read your letter on the Reform Act with the interest that belongs to so irn poi tent a subject, as well as to everything proceeding from the pen of a much valued friend and fellow-labourer in the cause of the people. If it had filled me with any feelings of a hostile character, or raised any questions of a personal kind, nothing would have in duced me to enter into the controversy, which you have now continued, having begun it by your well known declaration of November, 1837. But as it is written with still greater temper than ability, and treats the question at issue between us with exemplary calm ness and candour, I feel myself under some obligation to lay before you my views, and press upon you a re-con sideration of your own. That obligation arises from the high place which vou have, during your whole pub lic life, filled among the friends of general improvement, and the lead you have se long and so usefully taken in the question of Parliamentary Reform. You are among the statesmen whose unwearied and judicious exertions principally brought about the great measure of 1831-2 ; you propounded that measure to Parliament as well as bore the chief part in framing its provisions ; you have moreover always been the advocate of Reform as a means of popular improvement, and have rested the people's claim to it upon their increased capacity to exercise poli tical rights, and to enjoy political power you have often been my colleague in the direction of the Society whose object it is to help the education of the people, and thus fit them more and more for the great task of self govern ment ; you thus stand out most honourably from the herd of vulgar politicians whose public lives are consumed in bandying about the topics of ephemeral contention, and echoing the hackneyed watchwords of all but obsolete factions ; and although the severance of such a man from the good cause is impos,ible, and I have con stantly denied the ridiculous outcry raised against you as if you were no longer devoted to our com mon principles, yet I see with exceeding pain that a very material difference of opinion has grown up between us, upon the thing: which most chiefly con cern popular improvement, as well as public liberty, and I am sincerely anxious to narrow the breach ere it be came irreparable. This I shall best effect by calmly discussing with you the points of our difference ; and I enter upon this argument not at all in the spirit of or dinary controversy, or with the mere desire of vie r tory, which inspires combatants upon most occasions ; bat. with the very earnest hope that a consideration of some things apparently neglected by you may lead you back to the path we used both to tread so consenta neously together ; so that I shall have the satisfaction, if not of altogether healing the breach, yet of construct ing a bridge over which you may repass, and be found on its right bank. Before we proceed further in this good work, I must advert to one or two things of a more personal kind, in order that these less important matters may be put aside, nor interrupt more general and momentous dis cussions. First, it is only fair towards myself to remind you that I never concealed the great diversity of my opinions from those now adopted by you, and that I declared my own views of further Reform long before you made your unfortunate statement in November, 1837. I denied more than once in 1832, that the Bill was to be taken as a final measure. I loudly denied it in the summer of 1837, when a Noble Earl fell into that error during a debate ofthe Lords. I then stated distinctly that I had always regarded the Bill as only a measure to rest upon for the present, but by no means as final. Again ; in October of the same year, in a letter addressed to the grand education meeting of Manches ter, I avowed my opinion that the people had already showed themselves capable of a more extended elective franchise, and I expressly denied that the right should be limited by property, to the exclusion of the most in dustrious and skilful members of the community. This was nearly two months before your declaration ; there fore, when you made that declaration, you must have been aware that my support, such as it was—very zea lous, though very feeble—of the Government would be withdrawn ; and you cannot have ever joined in the silly outcry raised by some of your supporters, whose zeal so far outstrips their knowledge, as if kny opposition was grounded on personal considerations—those personal considerations having existed in 1835, 6, and 7, during which three years my support of your Ministry had been uniform and unremitting. It is fit that having defended the living I also do jus tice to the dead. You speak of the means taken to pass the Reform Bill as not very easily justified, and as fraught with the highest nanger. Ido not see anything in Sir Herbert Taylor's conduct on that occasion to call for this remark. He knew that the King had given Lord Grey and myself a carte blanche, addressed to me in writing, for the creation of Peers, and being under no ob iigation of secresy, on the contrary the fact being purposely disclosed by ourselves, he conveyed the knowledge of it to ainse.wbose,lecession from their plaCes would prevent, and he well knew frourilii knowledge of thosw to whom this pledge had been given, would alone prevent, re course being bad to an expedient full of peril to the Constitution. No man more than myself was aware of the extreme evils of a large creation for a given purpose. It was an expedient barely allowed by the Constitution ; an expedient which nothing could justify us using but its absolute necessity for avoiding the greatest evils ; an expedient which, if resorted to as often as the House of Lords proved adverse to the Ministry, or the Commons, at once destroyed the whole frame of our mixed mo narchy. Abolishing the Upper House altogether would be a more honest and a more rational course, than such a habitual coercion of a body which you pre tended all the while to regard and to treat as deli berative. Even when the alternative seemed to be pressing close upon us, and that alternative a frightful and general convulsion, I always felt it a most dreadful expedient to embrace ; and certainly had I been the ruler of the Conservative party's councils, supposing me to be an enemy of the Bill, I would have taken possession of the Government at all hazards of being unitLle to hold it, and had recourse to a sudden prorogation, or to any expedient which could have arded off the evil hour, as 1 should have deemed it, of having to choose between abolishing the Lords, or revo lutionizing the Commons. My opinions were not those , I firmly believed the Bill to be a wise, a wholesome, a necessary measure ; and in the state of the country I was certain that its friends were bound to carry it. All that Sir Herbert Taylor did was to enable the Peers who opposed the Bill to avoid a fate which would have both forced its passing, and destroyed the independence of the House of Lords. If it should be thought that Sir Herbert Taylor's connection with the King, as his private secretary, ren dered the proceeding taken by him improper, it must be borne in mind that no threat whatever was held out to the. Lords of anything to be done by his Majesty, nor was any attempt made to scare the Lords from a dis charge of their duty. All that Sir Herbert communi cated on his Royal Master's part, was the state in which he was placed by the pledge he had given ; all that the Lords were told was to mark a danger in their way, in order that they might avoid it. He who warns you that there is a pitfall in your path dug by another, can surely never be charged with using undue means to ob struct your passage. His act is as friendly as it is fair. Let nothing which I have here said be taken to lessen the merit of the gallant and excellent person whom we have since lost. Though he did nothing to which any one could, upon reflection, object, the step he took with singular promptitude and decision wore an aspect well fitted to deter a man of less firm purpose ; and he took it, believing that he exposed himself to imminent risk of encountering much clamour and misrepresentation, pos sibly greater hazards. He took, too, the undivided re sponsibility of it upon himself, communicating his inten tion to no one. Of course, Lord Grey and myself were no sooner apprised of what he had done, than we made the proceeding our own, as every principle of duty and feeling of honour required those to do who were acting as Ministers of the Crown. Connected with this passage in the history of .the Re form Bill, is another mistake which has been dissemi nated, under the sanction of your name, in the late debates. You are represented as having stated that all our Government, except one, decided for what is vul garly termed swamping or sluicing the House of Lords. In this there must be some mistake. You never could have spoken in public of so delicate a matter as a Ca binet division ; and, moreover the question never was raised as to creating Peers ; for when Lord Grey and I went to Windsor with the proposition of the Cabinet for creating a large number of Peers, which his Majesty at first refused and afterwards acceded to, the whole of the Ministers tendered their resignations upon the refusal. Another, the one supposed to be alluded to, as well as myself, refused to take the Government, and form a new administration in place of Lord Grey's ; and all of us afterwards resumed our places upon the pledge being given to Lord Grey and myself (under the King's hand), when we attended his Majesty after the attempt to form another Govern ment had failed. The proceeding of Sir H. Taylor, in fact, prevented the question from ever being practically discussed among us, of making new Peers, or of the number that should be made. And here I must say a word or two upon this remedy of Peer-making, so much in the mouths of thoughtless men. Besid, the reason against it to which I have already adverted, as showing its utter repugnance to the very frame of our mixed Monarchy, how little have they considered ita consequences to their own views of the Constitution ! If there be a form of Govern ment more hateful than another, surely it is that had kind of aristocracy which we call oligarchy, or the government of a particular knot of privileged men not directly under popular controul. But of all politi cal reasoners, those hate oligarchy and every species of aristocracy the most, who are the most ready with proposing Peer -making as an universal remedy for the discord of our two Houses—a remedy which they would apply on every the most inconsiderable occasion of conflict. Have they ever reflected on what must inevitably follow ? Suppose Lord Grey and myself to have gratified them with creating eighty new Peers ; and supp.:sc a year after our opinions had come to differ with those of the Commons, and of the coun try at large, aye, and of the King too—l will not say that the new Peers certainly would have stood by us, for I have already been favoured with unmea sured abuse by some of the few Peers whom I made while in office ; but it is enotLzh to sty the hulk of them probably might have stood by us—the sure gave us every chance of having a majority in our house at variance with all the rest of the Legislature. What then would a new Ministry have been forced to do? Another creation of Peers was a matter of absolute necessity, unless the government was destined to become a pure oligarchy. This constant accession to the Upper House must have one or other of two consequences. Either it must destroy that House altogether, by an nihilating its independence, or it must absorb into it all the wealth of the country. So that in one point of view this remedy would swell the Peerage to a bulk fatal to all balance in the Constitution ; and in another, it would operate its destruction. I venture, however, to think that it might very probably unite the worst parts of both these consequences. The whole wealth avid power of the State might be centered in the House of Lords, and its independence might be utterly de stroyed, by thus treating it as a body only allowed to decide as those who could " swamp" or " sluice" it chose to dictate. The Crown alone having this power of creation, would thus have the absolute control of the whole government of the State. Your letter has led me to these remarks, for no small portion of it refers to the collision between the two Houses of Parliament. Your supporters have not indeed of late been so loud in their demands of what they called Peerage Reform. Time was when your Irish friends named the very day of their motions on that subject, and would hear of nothing else. It seems now to have shared the fate of Repeal ; having served the purpose of the day, it is laid aside for ever. Though none of your colleagues ever declared their opinion upon this question, I verily believe that it was one which not one of you all ever seriously mentioned. Some of you I know could not speak of it with a grave countenance. To have said, however, that you all regarded it as the most absurd, and most of you as the most laughable, thing in the world, might have lost you a few sup porters, whose votes your slender majority could ill spare. On this, as on so many other questions, there fore, the course taken was that your advocates always pretended to the public that you were a mighty deal more liberal than you ever dreamt of being ; and that it was no fault of yours if you did not show it in your con duct. Nor was the least contradiction ever given to such beneficial misrepresentations. As soon as you had possession of the Court, you^ famous declaration of No vember, 1837, opened men's eyes ; your subsequent opposition to all the motions in favour of the negroes, and your resistance even to the attempts for checking the newly-established slave-trade, widened the breach between yourselves and the country ; nor can it be in the least degree healed by the silly attempts now made to convert your quarrel with the Jamaica As sembly into a pretended act of favoui• towards the poor nagroes, because every one remembers your conduct last year on that question, and no one perceives the least attempt to extend this measure further than Jamaica. To fancy that the opposers of all the motions on slavery and slave trading in 1838, the enemies of every inter ference with the Assemblies, should all of a sudden have become so enamoured of the negro cause- as almost to risk their tenure of plac e u p on a Bill for its furtherance in 1839, would argue a strange aptitude for being gulled, an aptitude in which assuredly I do not share. The last matter of a personal kind to which I shall refer also relates to the secret history of the Reform Bill. You followed up your unfortunate declaration of 1837 by a statement next day, which very little tended to heal the wounds the former had given to your friends. The oil which it pou re d i n t o them was indeed rather of vitriol than olive. It seems the object of the Bill was to increase the preponderance of the landed interest ! Surely you never could have said so. Like the old story circulated by Cobbett, that I called the newspaper press " the best possible public instruc tor"—whereas I only said that the periodical press, which might be the instructor of the people, would, by its contamination, become their deluder and corrupter ; or, like the older story of Mr. Windham crying "Perish commerce," when it was G. Harding who said this, and Robespierre who said something like it—two men as different from Mr. Windham as they were from each other ; or like the still more false and ridiculous story of Lord Plunket calling history an old almanac—when he said the very reverse, namely, that they who cited his tory, without regarding the circumstances in which they applied it, made it of no more use than an old almanac —I fondly hope that you never said what gave certainly a great exasperation to the pain you had caused the day before. Be this, however, as it may, lam bound to give the statement a flat contradiction, if it is applied to the other authors of the measure. I never, before the moment when I read it, had heard of such a motive as influencing any of them. I know, indeed, that both Lord Althorp and myself often said the fault of the Bill was its beinc , ton aristocratic, and especially we said this after the CLandos clause had been forced upon us. But instead of this proving our desiie of strengthening the landed interest in Parliament, it rather proves the reverse—so that if you have not been misrepresented as much as Mr. Windam, and Lord Plunket, and myself, on the occasions above referred to, you have misunderstood, and through misapprehension misrepresented, Lord Althorp and myself pretty much in that proportion —a proportion as great as can well exist between any one original fact and the copy of it—the latter being, as near as may be, the reverse of the former. The ground being now cleared for discussing our question, I must begin by expressing my belief, in which I rejoice, that the difference between us is far less than it looks. You allow of changes being required in the Reform Act, for you say there "are many defects which require to be remedied," and among them I am truly delighted to find you number the " so far changing the freeman's franchise as to make it the pride of the working classes." I read this important passage, p. 36, in connection with p. 24, where you speak of making the " freemen the proper representatives of one of the most valuable classes of the community, that of the industrious, intelligent, and able mechanics who abound in our great towns." " Such a change," you most justly add, " would do much to purify our elections, and strengthen the House of Commons." Now, you will presently perceive, and your traducers will also see, hoW near you come to opinion —an opinion which, I admit, goes even far beyond Household Suffrage. But, unquestionably, you adhere far too rigorously to the position, not that the Act should be " final," for you deny ever having used the word, and seem not well to understand its premise meaning, nor indeed do I. as ap plied to any work of frail and erring man—but that the questions of extended franchise, secret vote, and shortened Parliaments, are precluded by the arrange• ment of 1832, as if by some compact which our Go vernment then made with the country. You adopt the words " permanent settlements," and you contend, from the speeches which you cite of Lord Grey and Lord Althorp, that they considered the measure as one not afterwards to be changed. I think those passages do not fairly bear such a con struction. The whole must be taken together, and you must see to what it is that those able and ex cellent men oppose " permanent measure," before you can fairly get at their meaning in using those words, to express what they intended th e Bill to be. The passages quoted in p. 25-6 from Lord Althorp, and p. 27-8 from Lord Grey, show that the former opposes permanent measure" to universal suffrage, and con stant " anarchy and agitation ;" the latter to the " agitation of reform" " in seasons of distress and diffi culty," and to " an assault upon the principles of the Constitution." Surely this is a very different thing from declaring the plan as settled, once for all, never to be afterwards altered, nor extended nor meddled with, any more than if it were one of the fundamentals of the Constitution, like the Act of Settlement, or Monar chical principle, which are excluded from discussion, and can only be drawn into the debate when a revolu tionary crisis arrives, and all law is about to be silenced in the clang of arms, and all debate to be stifled, and each articulate sound to be lost in the shouts of violence or the wailings of fruitless resistance. It must always be borne in mind, that the plainest words only could be allowed to convey so extravagant a sense as you are see ki ng to affix upon th e speeches under consideration. Indeed, I greatly doubt if any man could be fairly supposed capable of uttering so wild a proposition, as that a measure , w hi c h t h ey bad framed, in six weeks, was too perfect to admit of im provement. I still more doubt if any promise could be held binding which went to preclude the judgment of the State from being exercised in revising a great scheme of policy, when experience should have tried its efficiency. Most of all am I disposed to deny the possibility of Par liament being tied up from applying its wisdom to the Constitution established at one time, when at a future time a change of circumstances had rendered it unsafe or mischievous, or less benefical than might be desir able. The only thing, lawyers tell us, which exeeds the supreme power of Parliament, is to bind its own hands against future Legislation. It has performed strange feats we well know. It has declared Malta to be in Europe, and Berwick-on-Tweed in England ; it has protected, by a 101. penalty, the truth of the proposition in Euclid, that the opposite sides of a paral lelogram are equ a l (in th e E xc i se L aws regu l a ting glass melting), and it has declared the one pound bank note to be equal in value to 205., when it was so depre ciated that a severe penalty was in the same breath de nounced against all who gave or took less than 20s. in exchange for it. But it is on all hands admitted that a statute, made with all the solemnities of legislation, and clothed with all the formalities of law, which . should enact the " permanence" of any one clause for eighteen months, would be null and void to all legislative intents, and would not prove the slightest obstacle to the total alteration of that very clause the first week of the next session. Let us, if you please, in order to try th ese f i nality or permanency doctrines, take an instance ; and t o wa k e the discussion the more practical, the more apposite to COURT CIRCULAR. We are authorised to state that her Majesty will give a concert at Buckingham Palace, on Friday, the 14th June, and a ball on Monday, the 17th June. . - Viscount Melbourne had an audience yesterday of the Queen. The Royal dinner party at the Palace last evening, in cluded the Earl of Albemarle, Earl of Surrey, Earl of March, Lord Fitzroy Lennox, Mr. and Lady Theresa Lis ter, and Sir George Anson. • The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had a dinner party yesterday at Cambridge House. There were present her Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester, Archbishop of York and Miss Vernon Harcourt, Bishop of London and Mrs. Blomfield, Duke of Wellington, Earl and Countess Wilton, Earl Cawdor, Viscount and Viscountess Mahon, Lord Burghersh, Lady Shelley, Sir Gore and Lady Ouse ley, Sir Arthur Paget, Mr. Berkeley Paget, and Mr. W. Knyvett. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and the Princess Augusta of Cambridge, attended by Miss Kerr, Major Stephens, and Baron Knesebeck, her Royal High ness the Duchess of Gloucester, and the whole of the corn. parry, afterwards went to the Concert of Ancient Music, at the Hanover-square rooms. The Duchess of Kent, the Duke and Duchess of Cam bridge, and the Princess Augusta of Cambridge, visited the Princess Augusta yesterday, at Clarence House, St. James's. Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence left town on Tuesday for Portsmouth. Some of the Household of the Queen-Dow ager have also arrived at Portsmouth, to be in readiness to receive her Majesty. A Cabinet Council was held yesterday at the Foreign Office. It was attended by Viscount;Melbourne, Marquis of Lansdowne, Viscount Duncannon, Lord John Russell, Viscount Palmerston, Marquis of Normanby, the Chan cellor of the Exchequer, Earl of Minto, Sir John Hob house, Mr. Poulett Thomson, Viscount Howick, and Lord Morpeth. The COuncil sat two hours and a half. Lord Holland was prevented from being present by indisposition. His Lordship has been indisposed during the last few days, but is better. Sir Jacob Astley, and Mr. Mildmay had interviews with Viscount Melbourne yesterday, in Downing street. The Earl of Clarendon and the Earl of Harewood had interviews with the Marquis of Nurmanby yesterday, at the C"lontal Office. Viscount Melbourne will give a full dress dinner party in honour of her Majesty's birthday, on the 23d inst., at his official residence in Downing -street. Mr. Strutt and Mr. Ponsonby had an interview with Lord John Russell yesterday, at the Home Office. Lord Segrave and Mr. Alston had interviews with his Lordship yesterday. Despatches from Sir John Harvey, Governor of New Brunswick, were received yesterday at the Colonial Office Viscount Melbourne had a dinner party last evening at his residence in South street. TATT'' - OF i,trgrit—tifiNlON IN THE PROVINCES. The Society of Friends, and, we may say, almost all other Dissenters, and many of the most orthodox Church. men, will rejoice at the discomfiture of Sir Robert, con sidering the sacred cause—the protection of the negroes, on which the late Cabinet resigned. Indeed, if an other election should speedily take place, this circum stance, when viewed along with the ill-treatment offered to our youthful and amiable Sovereign must speak trum pet-tongued against the Tories, and in favour of the re stored Government of Lord Melbourne and his col leagues. We now begin to find the clue to the strange rumours about Miss Davys and Lady Flora Hastings. The Tories, .after trying in vain to destroy the reputa tion of the household of the Queen and her illustrious mother in detail, at length resolved to effect their pur pose at one fell swoop, by turning them all out of the palace together. But providentially both the first scheme and the last have utterly failed.—Tyne Mercury. We grieve to be obliged to think, that the Monarchy cannot come out of this transaction without a shock. Should the Queen prevail, a point will have been gained, a precedent established, which may be improved upon by artful villainy and unscrupulous ambition, till it has worked infinite mischief to the Constitution, the recoil of which may overwhelm the Throne itself. Should the Queen, on the other hand, give way, she cannot do so without humiliation, and without compromising in some degree the dignity of her high station. How the deci sion is likely to go we think is very clear. The country will no longer be governed except upon Conservative principles, and Sir R. Peel will never accept office on any other terms than those of perfect independence and a pure Court.—Liverpool Courier. But dismissing alto g ether the question as to the causes which induced Sir Robert Peel to abandon his attempt to form a Cabinet, the important practical en quiry as to the probable permanency of the reinstated Melbourne Ministry remains to be settled. Had the " hitch" which induced them to break up proceeded from the Court, we might see in a recal a likelihood that the difficulties which induced them to resign, either had been, or were about to be, obviated. But it ought to be borne in mind that the avowed ground of their retirement was, not the want of the Queen's counte nance, but because they did not possess to a sufficient extent the confidence of the House of Commons. This was distinctly declared both by Lord Melbourne and Lord John Russvll, and we do not see how matters have been at all changed in this respect. Perhaps some of the Radical deserters may have returned to their allegiance, but it is plain from Sir William Molesworth's letter to the people of Leeds that all have not done so. Indeed that personage distinctly states that he voted against Ministers in order to induce them to resign ; and it would be strange indeed if he has already agreed to come round and support them without any change of policy on their part. There are some vague hints in the Chronicle and Globe that a more " decidedly liberal policy" will be determined upon. We know what the former journal means by language of this kind; but after perusing Lord John Russell's recent letter to his constituents, we will not do him the injustice to be lieve that he has abandoned his maturely considered and deliberately expressed hostility to further organic changes, merely to hold for a short time longer a feeble and uncertain tenure of office. But even should this disgraceful compromise be effected, and the ten Radical deserters thereby brought back to their standard, is there not a likelihood that at least as many of their pre sent supporters might fly off from them, and leave them still weaker than before ? A Government well sup• ported by the constituency and the House of Com mons might exist with a cold or even a hostile Court ; but—thanks to the Reform Bill—Court favour can no longer supply the want of the aid of public opinion in any Government, whether Whig, Tory, or Radical. It is here we see the difficulty, and not in squabbles about Ladies of the Bedchamber.—Grecnock Advertiser. CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. The Animals' Friend Society last week brought twelve cases of cruelty to animals before the Magistrates, some of which were very aggravated, but it is to be lamented that some of the worst were either dismissed or fined very low. The names of the offenders were James Bradshaw, Mr. Birket's carter ; Charles Sweetlock ; Richard Nicklos; Samuel Barker ; Geo. Miscrow, cabman 32 ; John High land, sen. and jun. ; John Smith, cabman 1,848; James White, and William Gardner. Sweetlock was fined 10a., by Mr. Jeremy, for having cruelly beaten a knacker's horse, which bad come 50 miles, and was covered with blood. But we are sorry the same worthy Magistrate dis missed the case of Miscrow, which was for twisting the upper lip of a horse in a noose stick (with a string) till it bled, and assaulting the officer—(the twisting or pinching the lip of a horse being a very common and most cruel prac tice, and therefore ought to be checked) —and also the one of Nicklos, for cruelly beating a truck dog, drawing two persons and an additional load. A SNOW STORM IN MAY.-After several days of variable weather, one part of them being intensely hot and another intolerably cold, we experienced last night an extraordinary visitation in the shape of a heavy fall of snow. It vanished, however, almost as quickly as it came to the ground. —Liverpool Mail. EVENING EDITION. . , our present controversy, let us consider in this view one or two of the projected changes in the Reform Act. 1 will first speak of the elective franchise. because that is, in my view, by far the most important of all. You may remember the time when a 20/. house was con sidered sufficiently low ; you may also recollect how the first inveetion of - the returns from boroughs at once brought. that, by universal consent, down to 101., at which we fi na lly arrange d t h e p l an . But n o returns can tell any one the actual numbers who will have votes in any given town, more especially if there be a certain residence exacted as a condition precedent to the right vesting. Still less can any returns tell the working of any given qualification in various other im portant particulars, as the respectability and independ ence of the voters, their tendency to abuse as well as to use the franchise, and the effects of disqualification on other classes of persons. All these things must be ga' thered from experience ; actual trial can alone prove the soundness of the principle. No previous estimate can show the safety of the plan, any more than it can test the sufficiency of the machinery to carry the prin ciple into execution. You sometimes like a simile, and use it with much skill in illustrating your arguments. Let me try 01Y, hand—my very i n f er i or h an d— at t h e same ki n d of topic. Even when the steam-engine had been invented and perfected, no engineer, not even the illustrious authors themselves of the theory, ever sent into the market a machine without actual trial ; nor I will ven ture to affirm, was there ever one made without having to undergo some alterations in the trial to bring the en gine full to its bearings and secure its working smoothlY and sweetly. This you would allow in the Reform Act ; this kind of adjustment you admit the Reform Act of ne' cessity requires. But then you would deny that the principles of the elective system, the fundamentals of the Reform Act, s h ou ld b e c h anged, b ecause t h ese were not, you say, brought to any trial by the experiment. This I utterly deny ; I hold them to be as much a novelty— as much a matter of mere previous calcu lation before any experience —as the great steam engine s of Worcest er , N ewcomen, and Watt. T hen what should we have thought of those great invent ors, had shay l a id d own t h e i r p l ans and framed their models, and th en re f use d to make any eillge whatever in th e pr i nc i p l e, h owever toei found it upon t r i a l t o wor k ? R eco ll ect that t h e d e fects pointed out by th e wor ki ng o f t h e R eform A ct are not merely in the d e t a il s o f its provisions ; not like the faults found i n a new steam-eng i ne, made on t h e plan which had been found to answer in a thousand cases be fore. The whole principles of the Act were new and un tried ; it was like Newcomen for the first time framing a working mod e l, on t h e pr i nc i ple of causing tue movement of the pi s t on b y a vacuum ; or Watt r for the fi r st ti me con d ens i ng i n a separate cy li n der] or planning th e regu l ator b y means of centri fugal force, or projecting the parallel motion by the contrail flexure of a curve's branches. All these new Pr i r c i pies theory s eeme d to sanct i on ; b ut in practice 60 " s i . never been tried ; an d none b ut a driveller wou ld ever have thought of adhering to any given portion of thef' had they been found in that particular to fail- c i the extension of the suffrage to 10/. householders en no lower; the introduction of leasehold votes; th e re taining one ki n d o f f reemen and no more—were all net principles of political construction ; and before eltP,e; rience had shown how they worked, no man had a r i g: to say that they would not require revision and alter'' Lion. Indeed, I go a step further ; I see no right that any man cou ld h ave to pronounce, before trii the total aboliti on o f nomination boroughs an ahs cls ,, ll ; tely necessary an d a l toget h er expedient p ar t of tm sy-tem, without any provision being made for the e n ; trance into Parliament of official persons. ExPer ien % has, in fact, proved that, as I foresaw and foretold in my place, this portion of the Act requires some red; sion ; for all th e i mportant measures of law reform rea f to be carried th roug h P ar li ament in the beginnhli,„ o 1833 were postp one d a w h o l e year, i nclud i ng t he PI prisonment for D e bt Bill, b y t h e Attorney- Gene n r: being unable to find a seat i n t h e H ouse of Cointn°l until an accident created a vacancy towards the en d that session. In another point of view, however, the doctrine of " finality" or permanence" is still more exception' able. Can y ou ma k e t h e c i rcumstances pernaa nent which the elective system is to work ? Can Y" toe ot on any basis of final arrannment the condition o f society to which your scheme is applied ?f r om all human affairs, and their relative positions, vary. he time to time, so that a stable position of th i ng s is only position they never assume ? Final truly ! " Man and for ever !" as a great patical phi losopher exclaimed in discussing the foundations Finalofat constitution made for perpetually enduring ! s permanent! for ever! Why, soc iety is in a progres that makes it change not only from age to age, but frog; Pe ! year to year. We can find nothing less fixed than rapid stream wherewith to compare the course of time. Then are the fo r t unes of mortals moored to its banks, or borne along its current ? If the flood carries us dog?, at its own pa c e, wh a t sense i s t h ere i n th e advice o f those who, unable to stem it for an hour or an instant, would have us make all our arrangements as if we w ere anchored in smooth water on the margin of some Peace ful lake ? Let us see how this is with the elective franchis e ' All agree that the great criterion for determining O D ought and who ought not to enjoy it is their fitness. le t exercising it beneficially to the common weal. Area s masses of people stationary in improvement ? -A re the numbers of we ll- e d ucate d persons the salne.„`°- t one time and at all ti mes ? A re t h e males:of iwer,Z; one years old in 1839, who have improved the ir ° c i a o by reading, not more numerous than the. seme ses not was in 1831 ? Then, are the well-educated classes the selec those best worthy of being entrusted with • h wa s wine when tion of their representatives ? Must that taken as a test of information and respectability, 11 you could find no better, be rigorously adhered to when, in the altered state of society, it proves a bette no test at all, and when another and a easily to be found ? sins Observe how grievously this view of permanu..- ee d, against the very fundamentals of a Reformer's er to and then comprehend how distasteful it must prove hit all the friends of Reform. You and I, nor O ne w oe bad test,r9: more than you, had all along been contending fer „ g e necessity of extenuing the suffrage, principally he e : l o - 0 .. what might be a very fit qualification in times a ' g o b ranee would not do now, when all ranks are so 01 eg better taught ; and that the spread of knowledge ani°ol the people made it wholly impossible to deny P °lit por s rights to vast bodies of men who had of late Ph e ir raised themselves in the scale of society hY j t e d mental accomplishments. Who was that it that adu e t, r y as one principal reason in favour of P ar liame° oo ` o , Reform that ten newspapers and twenty books we re , te a published for one that our ancestors had circtuacb, among them ? I greatly mistake if it was not my 11 1 0 valued friend, colleague, and correspondent, wh e ste d am now addressing. I am pretty sure that I ° v i s e. most unmixed satisfaction at his urging his trulY ` ieg 's solid, and philosophic argument against Mr. Can n so brilliant declamation, and illustrating his doctrine:us worthy of the Vice-President of the Useful Knowle o f Society, by numerical statements of the progress be . publication. B ut t h e d octrine of p e rmanencct o se prefers th e wor d to fi nality (as I do, because the vo n h is a word, an d t h e other is none), makes sad fo ot with all su c h arguments. Indeed, the t w o things ca exist together. fee 's I go, however, a step further, and I will supPn' e ho nge affairs to b e i n a state o f perfect stagnation -4'u none to happen in t h e c i rcumstances of human soc iety " a ll in the pitch o f h uman i mprovement. I w ill suPPose state men and all thin gs t o rema i n i n the same fised erib e ' which some accounts of the Chinese empire den ha d and suppose, m oreover , t h at actua l exPerl thrown no n ew li g ht upon t h e scheme of 18 ";;ry Pr e- I say, that it is quite absurd—l might call ' t • se d what sumptuous—to affirm that, ha v i ng then de ji l t hink ° , f ' then appeared t o us t h e b est sc h eme we ea''' . i t , TO no man can now suggest any improvement uP °n or a s " is, indeed, to arroga t e . i n f a llibili ty to ourselv e s' sir cribe perfection t o our own handy-work. B ut ay be' surd or how presumptuous soever this delusion o ny Of it is nothing t o th e extravagant, the monstrous folly be rejecting any a c k now l e d ge d i mprovemen t that _ subsequently offered, merely because it is a e. ha d i c l o°, t other words, for for no better reason than it occur to ourselves eight years ago! I 'V% for o ° t that the having once adopted a plan is a reas s- n d e d ap changing it, unless the improvement recoil a Wo re pears plainly to deserve the name. B u t sar i ! Y ves us t° silly thing never was asserted than that it be '° how reject all admitted i m p rovements , how use f ul, they are portant soever, for no o th er reason th an that now, and had not before, been thought of. al rea a l [The remainder of his Lordship's Letter has appeared in The Sun.] POSTSCRIPT. ThursdaY• tte ° I believe you are aware that thi s letter was wri n. before the division of Monday, or its effect was 1 101 and also are aware what were the circumstanc es delayed its publication. Pifr before , ---- On Saturday an inquest was held het(n- t. Carter, at the Horse and Gro om Great Guildford-streeho Southwark, on view of th e b o dy of a man unknown, 9106 was found by some men on board of a ballast bargee,. Southwark Bridge, on Thursday morninglast. O n j. long discussion took place as to the pro a A mination of the body the skull was found to be &seto f f,. propriety ing the case for the t morta l ' • bt purpose Of making a post 0 4 amination, ,but it twin — g believed that the injuries...ocl have ee caused from haring been drawn up by the'fr . the Tbst the n ,e machine, e following verdict was returned --- wa ter • ty of at) eat' deceased, who was unknown, was found dead in tbf,,,, ho of the river Thames with his skull fractured, but " — lnt bes came in the water there was no evidence." The c' A " f which were on the deceased will remain in the e usoui ° the parish undertaker. r vifig Lord a n d L i d s ' Francis Egeiton intern'. le r ' 00 town at the close of the ensuing month on a to ur 2 pear Lordship h as 'pur c ha se d a fi n e brigantine yach t, "'' his 200 tons. His Lordship, although recovere d frail Iv, rrcent violent attacks of the gout, is far from bei n stated in health, and has, in consequence. be en order v ra his medical attendams a ehaoge of air , Th e Noble contemplates a ()mac of several months. g eJr hi ~_ .o 0 Qv TOT taN was COI th at poll bilo