The Sun. — London, England, 1844-02-19 00:00:00

": . ~. Y•:~ ~~. -lER MAJESTY'S THEATRE. (Abridged from the Post.) We trust the lessee has framed his programme with Iliore than his ordinary acumen and sincerity of purpose. burin; the past season we f oun d h e h a d su dd en l y I: rongiit her Majesty's Th ea t re to t h at d egree o f splen dour it ought always to have possessed, and in which it hall-, until his time, been lamentably deficient ; and we t hought it but fair to yield him that measure of applause, without which lessees, no more th a n v i r t uos i, can brilli antly enact th e i r pat is ; still under present circum stances, we must watch his progress wi , h a jealous ey*. ore theatre must tUI. Apart the daily increasing taste I mus ic — particularly voc a l an d d rama ti c —th ere are It iS Ituribeziess incentiv es t o a 't en d h er M a j esty ' s Th eatre. the rendezvous of the aristocracy, of alt those who thne ir. society — o f a ll t h e li terary an d taste f u l men w h o e ,, 3 1. 0 , g to the grsat metropolis, as well as of all foreign tlierll'o—f distincti on v i s i t i ng th i s country. By appearing r • e, hai the gay m em b ers o f soc i ety procla i m tr ar -44ascertain who amongst their friends is in to rece ive their visits and. combine their movements in the cuilrteoe;vaorfdppleuabsluie event, stops a Court mourning, or any other stops for a time the current of teasures, the Opera is still the never-failing resource. M ere for a the fi rs t t i me t h e ar i stocracy of wealth meets it n equal f oot i ng the aristocracy of iineage,whose ranks vi:ll,4Y ultimately recru i t ;. and here l i kew i se t h e pro ane'al visitors in their hasty railroad trips to town have eha oP ra Portunity of s ee i ng at one g l ance t h e di st i ngu i s h e d t•ers who are the subjects of conversation in the also st who parts of the land. And here, it is said, F aun '‘ that in the snug causeries of a box are laid the faclations of more marriages than in the contest with c., ,, A l l r lv t , d_ iv e - d als ro i ta n t t s b a e n t a ur b m al o ls il .,, and exhausting amusements of 2zu ',e, who entertain our warmest allegiance to Euterpe, th.e s t regard the vocal troupe most vigilantly—for, as to t ilth al kt, we are destined to be overwhelmed by the She The 13 1 ) . i i asiR of the followers of Terpsichore. No doubt a -et will make the fortune of the florists, and the Nt a e g : b e impassable from the showers of bouquets. Ttan Carlotta Grisi, Cerito, Fanny Elssler, and 11 0 6 i herself, are announced, independent of another Th e ren n ti ne ballerina of rising fame, Mademoiselle Frasi, each eratah z, the French, the Swedes, the Italians, playtheir fair representative, whilst John Bull is to b er , '",,e Part of Paris to these rival goddesses. It must. o r s-tr'essed that there is great piquancy in this union Porto ce . essi ° „ nof talents. The public had abundant op sou ottv, o f observing last year how varied are the es of effe ct i n this art. which has only lately attained /tad a deg ree o f per f ect i on, concea li ng a ll e ff ort, toneogu mbi ning grace with poetry. The new ballet of lott a e7 i ( Z l4 , is destined t o set o ff t h e pecu li ar s t y l e o f C ar - Th e p — A r isi, so well suited to the heroine of Victor Hugo. oded'cruere of the lamented Princess Marie of Vers a a l s ; chisel, the beautiful stat u te of Jeanne d'Arc at Fell es, has suggested another ballet, and a character powthe pure style and remarkable mimic 1 34 4' of Elssler for " Fanny Elssler est la grace sans d 'f:l7 4 8 a ce P te te :: to as was once said by that admirable critic, its}e Ste udhal—s o d ev ot e d t o th e s t age th a t 'he wrote ~,„works at the back of his box at La Scala, to the and of f sic. • 10,44 emu we can at present judge by the lessee's pro hypeill of the fast approaching Opera season, the most pf, t reritical will be satisfied. We trust the finished all I N : r i & will be worthy of the boldness of the outlinF— Tlio cl 'Pend on the taste and feeling of the executive. to b e "see should not relax in endeavours that are sure tractions rewarded, for, independent of other extraneous at kost., this year are expected visits from many of the Conti laustrious and several august personages of the are .1 1 , e nt, not excepting Louis Philippe, and they are sp ec , t ") draw to her Majesty's Theatre those numberless bef er a ,, t°l 's vvho are attracted as much by the wonders l)ar ani ' as behind the scenery. Considering art as our kre v .lint object, we shall still not be unmindful of this qietite 10g curiosity, and from time to time we shall m krilierB t he habitual pl a ces o f th e di s ti ngu i s h e d snb the Ca to her Majesty's Theatre, to guide and gratify tupposual observer, and at the same time record the Z.,„ 4 g ; i veu to that splendid establishment by those • are ptineipal attraction and ornament. thi l I better Queen 031 .k, In the' Rio out Os- Equal/ and thy'' he Princes.' ,ed her 313- mess Prince lt and the rate' Chapel Coartenei had an ill" le Colonial' ernor of tho Mr. Buller , Harringtw i r Ab e l Smith , , gland Cour bad an We n Saturd!f• deputatios, rton, ith Mr.. w•• Mr. Gltbr iding. DLL' the inter- ies from tha and, bad a/1 d the Chan: of the 00 ies, twenty rart, had a Meet t London, th° Right 1 1 ° /1 " 811(1°16 Din/P b )lonial-000 :cellor of Olt • th erv T ic he e all, ve quis oruce, CIC n i ce in 1 1 d' Rev 1 the 56 at his rev afterWanil t h are OP the f°11121411 s Pass ed bt ,nd a siv o e n•day, u 4 str ew: indiffe re t he lerease . tate of , 0 L v 01 reso' th y re" 1Y or one o er Ld a I, Bo ° o Ler resr p Sin e ! i t : an d fit ortia . is 6 s Agi bi an t fnog the 0' —, R IJRY-LANE THEATRE. Produced , a r - farned ballet of the Beauty of Ghent was ern l ee u at this theatre on Saturday, with the most °f th ete snceess. Monsieur Albert, the composer I lade - r , e , . ballet, superintended its production, and . tkulp ,oiselle Fleury and Monsieur H. Vestris . sus thil4 t he principal characters. The plot is simple, and Nei jul„tlerstoocl—a great merit in a ballet. Beatrice , 1 .4. 41)1t11 i l Y:, the daughter of Cesarius (Mr. Howell) At, Vest Mita of Ghent, is betrothed to Benedict (Mons. Young; Flemish officer. The Marquis de itii hi Lucas), (Mons. Albert) would fain induce . her to elope Ski , . tla• Like Victorine, she sleeps upon his .d pr in op t o se sa ry l, t)f thel dream, goes through the splendid Ike Situation to which she would be reduced by her kis e . ll , ta •nee of the Marquis's proposal. Then comes the te,l;•Y Without the splendour, until at length sdhesrees ttsrV.o Ghent, a miserable destitute pauper, ti ) , net married to another. The only reluge an left e for t 4 Wretched girl is to die, and she throws herself into tilitr al 'ad• She wakes and finds it has been all a dream; t4 the ballet concludes by her marriage with Bene iiige).Wh°se hand s h e j oyfully accepts, repulsing the pro tltt'e Marquis with scorn. There is a comic part, k\lse! Zephi ros, a dancing-master, which was acted r ,, tk b humour by th at fi rst o f b u ff o d ancers, W. 11. ), • - `,,e• It is perhaps, the best thing that Payne has 111,1 trite, anti the audience were convulsed with 4 41 e r • G e When ever h e appeared. The scenery by Pa il • r leveS is exceedingly beautiful, . and the act, P il lga are most picturesque. The scene a in the first te trul,Nresent ng a Flemish fete on the b ru t ,el f tier h s. it i, °f Ghent, is in fact a tableau v i vantf 1 I s itie ll e of the most beautiful things we h a ve eversee i n n . this h„ la _g could exceed the elegance of the groupings Ptte-'!ntifal scene. In this scene there is a splendid • the trot:l e e r: 4 °4 of g the authorities o t f au th d e in c g itj e ., n in a w g h l i u ct e is , in globea - gore of Fame s r trump d turns tree whil e vatue perpetually on one foot, as the procession proceeds,_ with h e I , s her position standing th e pus 9. er,er,an, _ elf . derorogne et to her mouth. This was followed by hiss Petit Ste han, after which , admirably danced by Messrs.. Payne, vlar a , web_, Madame p a lid s se a l ter, the first of English dancers, performed Th e with the most exquisite grace imatinabLe . . Vest s • eell ° Concludes AN ith a pas de deux by 3 ons. H h eant l i l i s ', a nd Ma• dile. Fleury. Madlle. Fleury is very teri s „, l ll ," and exceedingly graceful; her dancing is charac the '''' °Y ease, elegance, and neatness ; she performs va tuueritltost astonishing feats without apparent effort... It l s Of &Land deservedly applauded. Mons. Vestris is a pup il . deb ut 'lsyieur Albert's, and has only recently made his are s ' , lie his worthy of his name. His tours de force th e -Illy a stonishing, and they are all performed wit h hids rair 4tln °,st elegance and apparent ease. He The , I ttantl t° ue the first dancer in the world. Po will ,_°l . his ancestors has fallen upon him, and for •". ue a worthy representative of the Vestris dynasty re anoth generation. In the second act we have a a gilifi t, , tit ed -cent masquerade scene, and a splendid illui.ni t'lle m ., l3 l av i,lion, belonging to the Marquis, in Venice. Arla-r,enucurs of this scene surpass even those of the v erti s - o nied masquerade scene in Gustavus. A . grand di- Pas C. l neut is introduced in this scene, consisting of a . „plt 4 ' a a •eovier by M l)elferier and Miss Clara Webster , e ' V' -e IS TaYa ' ds, by . Miss O'Brien ; a pss de deux, by d bikiestris and Madame Petit Stephan a 'leiii! duce Poses Antiques, by Madem p o l is s e s l i le_ NII -3% This Das de Diane is one of the most c beheld. 34,1. be performances we have ever l leu - r irl ,.. could exceed the She gave us all the grace and elegance of Aldl e. Plash.) poses from the antique. `. t ues,% ns Of the huntress goddess from the ancient sta : aces, ' l, - ' le her attendant huntresses were grouped ' t) rtai t i -". This, perhaps; is the mot classical per t) 4 ,,, ti ee ever introduced on the stage. It is needless was . 7 that she was rapturously applauded. The first act of art . tableau vivant, illustrative of the Flemish school IV ite h . " ' s ilo third act illustrates the Italian school. " i 'l the hen curtain rose and discovered the park and villa 4 , 4 egr e - „„' ar a c luis, with figures picturesquely grouped . in t e theof -- `, 1 .,' - ' , we could almost imagine we were looking on ~,*he so "le marvellous creations of Claude Lorraine. I‘,heet_ne change s to the ancient ruins of the canal of u ttil,4l. 4ll d we again return to the Flemish school. This Produced '''3' far the most magnificent that has yet been Par e n he re, and we are not surprised at the almost tile Parallel success which attended its production at Ntiallecl, if acle nle in Paris, and which will no doubt be At th not exceeded success in this country. /41 ( 1 1"; fa ll of the curt in ' Mlle. Fleury was called for, tlf applause est on y Albert a She was greeted with thunders flead Vestris was also called for, and appeared fr ier . °II Clara Webster, and accompanied by Del "h; ' Who led on Madame Petit Stephan. The ballet / Thiel P i r e,„ ee tled by Balfe's opera of the Bohemian Girl, httractiwas represented for the fiftieth time, and the ,t t ion. " c ' t. whieh seems to increase at each repre,.en ..e s L„ The house was crammed. Every scat, even in l'' , was occupied before the rising of the curtain. ki llle fll • --- ---'' ---- ---•t--.------ r - eited D rums , - ° " r ng distinguished members of s ociet y ti. -41 eas o , atle Theatre last week :—The Duke and 11 1 b e k,, ' zeaufort, the Duke and Duchess of Roxburh% e grc l • ft laf , Le eds 3I o ' • and Marchioness of Normanby, ttZigisektun°:ELansdoarwrienisan Salisbury, ' r Marchioness of thu g .1% Orel trrole.Fe ; Earls of and Countess3f'% erulam,Dowager Conn tneuses Gr a h am TO ; Ladies Villiers, Somerset, r, Foley, Pol -9.9.1m0re, Burgoyn E 1 Count Kiel- C d' e g'an Munster, Jersey, qlat e ? '''rds ‘-;n esterfield, w t ., ,is, sus. ,Castlere agh,Macdona ar ld . , l Alfre'd Paget, Seaham, g t '' lB ton , To'ciLeunox, ..4.dolphus 1 itzclarepee W. Graham, ptrathaven, Curzon, liZtir°rS.; S_ir Jo e ii r ' r ii '3lr Thoni,sll Beurgoyne, Bart., Sirl enlock Russell, Bell'ngham' Graham, l l'hi" etir t Webbe ge, Bart., osJ hn Campbell, Bart., t •E. y r, Hon,rt., Colonel Peel, Colonel Cavendish, 14 Stp .,T t Mrs. Lister, Mrs. Morier, C. Standish, ~, Ho n G ' S. Dimcombe, Esq., M.P., Hon. Craven Berkeley, h SIR /I : ra ntlY Berkeley, 111. P., Hon F. Stanhope, &c. °,7luLlt.it'ner:ullsEcltilrfele,PraetE. E d L i 's ,z._ •--On Saturday evening?fhus supporters GRAND PARLIAMENTARY Sir Robert Peel received a b atiq ° l , llllll ` ) 'is, et hi s and thenef nicture-gane,.),.., 1 , 11 ja p „. hich was of asidseunnele,tuinnusWhiteiall- d orters a i r n . t e h n e s. Ho i ls w e description, was served hik er ii-, iscount Grinistonn, Viscount O l'arty • -,°lYrwing noblemen and Covers Were n constituted the la su id s fo o r n, forty-ei_ght n ; l'raa • 'Pit Ron gent em - e l t Lord Ilen e. W. I'Vynn, Right Hon. C. E. Law, lie • E duels k,liarteri; H 1 11; 1 " %y es, ' °u• R. Neville, Hon. A. Duncombe, Sir g,,_llas G re3 , , Bart., Sir J. Hanmer, Bart., Sir Philip e intrien, Colo lAre..4 Mr. is_°tt, Si r ' - il w erton, Bart., Si W. Jolliffe, Bart., Hon. F. H. Stuart, Mr. C. Tumor, Colonel Ar ,, , i er, Ai r. „, 3 ndharn, Mr. George Repton, Mr. George krir. m u , ‘entag-ue Gore, Mr. C. 0 M r n Mr Master, ,e u 11- ' 4 .v ? Mr. w . A r ir O. Lawson, 'n,- r _ loga ' . Lock art, ttr. Gruwall Legh, 111 •ii . 1 1 1‘Geachy, 111y,rL;rac : ! ) odd, ; e ir r i c , Alr. D. Gordon,r I.lr r .' J. I R. d g s . m l l o i‘ u l glas n , Mr. lY' I ) a., M r . Bu I ginson, Mr. Colville, Mr. Collett, Mr. R. Clay -40 -guulent will be g. ivenixo,nansdatuirrd.aAydndeexrlteyb;., •oadli e, iv c eY, 11Ir. Botfield, Colonel H. B illie Mr. 11. tht ert „ r• Castel', M r All' IN a ~ • . 1 n. Baron t \V olt a • the A s 1 Right m ia similar r4 tht 1(s(31'. —A., few da,rs pre vi ous •of the late , ~ to the commence ght's severe weather, a Tlahtitlabourer employed in Mr. quarry, situate at Lady Lea, discovered t b tra ,. y of stone and rubbish, m I rich le among, a ltp t ,2. neSi, containing three . ' Wa s removing,. a r"sentlyd o i n _ yonng ones, all of them alive and g weiL---.Doncaster Gazette, ,ilC.On' ..... SSA ..... ~ . et* Ow d.••`01. .....71 ..... 194 • glr . 5 ' ...... ...... ....... ...... ..... ..... Icr3/ bg 61 V 49 , 41 PROMISSORY NOTES. The return of the circulation of promissory notes payable on demand, during the four weeks ending the 3d inst., by the Banks of England, Ireland, and Scot land, is rather more interesting than usual, exhibiting a very decided increase—principally by the Bank of Eng land—that will not be likely to gain the approbation of those inclined to a cautious policy. The discount brokers may easily account for -abundance of money and its low value, for although in rather more request, no one offers higher rates, when such an addition is made in four weeks to the paper circulation. of England alone. The Scotch Banks have been far more prudent. ENGLAND. Bank of England now 421,828 000 Lt time Increase.. 2,864,000 Private Banks now Last time 4,980,138 4,822,675 Increase.. 157,463 Joint-Stock Banks now Last time Increase SCOTLAND. Chartered, Private. and Joint-Stock Banks last time 211,434 2,901,746 2,791,403 Now .• • .-• • • Decrease , IRELAND. 110,343 Bank of Ireland now Last time . 3,581,000 3,489,650 Increase Private and Joint-Stock Banks now 2,429,565 Last time 91;350 Increase.. 68,376 Bullion now Last time Increase 842,000 DREADFUL CALAMITY. - LOSS OF FORTY LIVES. (FROM A CORRESPONDENT.) lIAVERFORDWEST, FEB. 15.—1 write to inform you of a most melancholy and awful catastrophe, which occurred yesterday at Landshipping (a village about five miles from this place), when no less than 40 lives were lost. The un fortunate men were at work in a coal-pit, belonging to Sir John Owen, Bart., M.P., but having penetrated too far under the bed of the river, the earth gave way, and an irruption of water was the consequence; thus 40 souls were hurried un prepared into eternity ; many of them were men with large families. t'RO . l‘l ANOTHER CORRESPONDENT.) A very awful calamity has occurred at the Landshipping Colliery, in Pembrokeshire ; the sea has broken in and drowned 39 persons. SPORTING IN' BETTING AT MANI CRESTK 15 to 1 agst Merry Andrew (t) 16 to 1 agst Sir Robert 18 to 1 agst Pharaoh 20 to 1 agst Freedom (t) 22 to 1 agst Pagan No other DER TELLIGENCE. (CHESTER-FRIDAY. ;R cur. 25 to 1 agst Tacita 30 to 1 agst What 30 to 1 agst Y. Lochinvar 40 to 1 agst Rowland change. 30 to 1 agst Ford's lot 6 to 1 agst Ugly Buck 15 .to 2 agst Rattan 16 to 1 agst Leander 16 to 1 agst Orlando 18 to 1 agst Cockarnaroo The rest as befor4 OA 27 to 1 agst T'Auld Squire 30 to 1 agst Loadstone 30 to 1 agst lonian 30 to 1 agst Voltri 35 to 1 agst Vat colt 50 to 1 agst Lancet. T. Betting flat. Ks. 12 to 1 agst Princess (t) 1 14 to 1 agst Barricade 12 to 1 agst The Bee 20 to 1 agst Barbara filly NEWMARKET COURSING MEETING.—FRIDAY. THE OAKs.—First Ties.—Fidelity beat Kitty Bolton— Garter beat Faultless—Jessie beat Smart. Second Ties.—Faultless beat Garter—Jessie ran a bye. THE Cur.—First Ties.—Cruiskeen beat Dalgetty—Jet beat Foremost—Ferrand beat Simoom—Duncan beat Knight Errant. Second Ties.—Duncan beat Cruiskeen—Ferrand beat Jet. TIIE DERBY.—First Ties.—Dragonetti beat Garrick— Auber beat Juggler—Viscount beat Donnybrook—Captain ran a bye. PORT STAKES.—First Ties—Vale beat Gate—Dolon beat Jewess—Colonel ran a bye. HEREFORD MEETING.—FEB 13. THE Cur (16 Dogs) was won by Mr. W. Raester's Jeze bel—Mr. T. Davis's Daybreak ran a bye. HEREFORD STEEPLE CHASE—THURSDAY (CON CLUDED.) Sweepstakes of 5 sous. each, and 25 added. Three miles. (8 Subs.) Mr. Clarke's Little Robert (Mason) 1 The following also ran, but fell, and were " nowhere" : Mr. Evans's Forester—Mr. Evans's Nottingham—Mr. J. Bosley's Philosopher—Mr.' C. B. Evans's Flight—and two others. A Sweepstakes of 1 sov. each, with a Cup added, I Ist each, were won easily, in two heats, by Mr. Griffiths's Ungrateful (Patrick), beating Mr. A. Quintin's Fairy Queen and seven other* FRIDAY. The Hurdle Stakes of 10 sous.each, and 25 added, list 71b each ; the winner to be sold for 3001., &c. Heats, one mile and a half. Mr. Jenkins' Lycurgus, list 71b (Byrne) 1 1 Mr. W. Taylor's Nora Creina (late Kate Kearney), I Ist 91b - Mr. Holman's Flight, list 71b Mr. I. Day's Preissnitz, list 71b Mr. R. E. Clarke's Little Robert, list 121 b Mr. Tollitt's Sister to Ferneley, list 21b Won very easy. INTELLIGENCE EXTRA. COVENTRY, 1844. Nominations for the Trial Stakes.—Ben-y-Ghlo, 4 yrs— Ninety-one, 3 yrs—Moustache, 3 yrs—Celeste, 3 yrs--Queen of the Gipsies, 4 yrs—Aurungzebe, 4 yrs—Venus, 4 yrs—br c by Muley Moloch, dam by Velocipede, 3 yrs. Handicap of 10 sovs. each, hft if declared March I. David, 5 yrs, Bst 111b—Chance, aged, Bst 101b—Jessica, 6 yrs, ist 1 11b—Fama, 6 yrs, 7st 111b—Jack, 5 yrs, 7st 111 b Pickwick, aged, 7st 71b—The Curate, 4 yrs, 7st 71b—Tippoo, aged, ist 61b—Aurungzebe, 4 yrs, 7st 21b—Celeste, 3 yrs, 6st 71b. The City Stakes.—Akeley, 4 yrs—Europe, 4 vrs—Niobe, 3 yrs—Exciseman, 4 yrs—The Major, 5 yrs--Snitterfield, 6 yrs—Chance, aged. A Silver Cup with a Handicap of 3 sovs. each. Two miles. —Utica, 4 yrs, Bst 71b—The Major, 5 yrs, Bst 21b—Tickle, 5 yrs, Bst. Nominations for the Hurdle Stakes.—Ballugana, Peter Simple, Mudlark, Roulette, Councillor. FIRST REPQRT from the SELECT COMMITTEE on RAILWAYS. The Select Committee appointed to consider whether any and what new provisions ought to be introduced into such Railway Bills as may come before this House during the present or future sessions, for the advantage of the public and the improvement of the railway system, and likewise to consider whether any and what changes ought to be made in the Standing Orders relating to Railways, and who were empowered to report their opinion thereon from time to time to the House ;—have considered the matter referred to them, and have agreed to the following Report : Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Committee that the following clause be inserted in all the Railway Bills now coming before, or passing through Parliament"; viz., " And be it further enacted, that nothing herein contained shall be deemed or construed to exempt the railway by this or the said recited Acts authorised to be made from the pro. visions of any general Act of-Parliament, or of any general Act relating to Railways which may pass during the present or any future session of Parliament." THE FARMERS.—This class of individuals little think how cunningly and fast the landlords are tying their hands behind them, with the pro-corn-law petitions ; but they will, when too late, discover the artful trap which was laid for them, and exclaim, " Save us from our friends." INCOME-TAX.—It is a positive fact that surveyors and some others, have not yet been compensated for their vast anxiety and labour in the performance of their duties, under the Income-tax Act, for the first year, which ended April last. This is not the best way to stimulate them in a continuance of energy, nor rewarding public duty. The distress and want of employment among the poor of Sunderland continues to exist to as great an extent as at any period during the late general stagnation of trade. This fact is rendered indisputable by the returns of the relieving officers of those chargeable to the parish for their entire or partial support. From the last report, we ob serve the number of poor in the Union Workhouse was 262, and the out-door poor 5,302, making a total of 5,564 of the inhabitants, or considerably more than one-tenth of the en tire population, in a state of pauperism. This is a most lamentable state of things, when a sum of money exceeding 15,0001. per annum is absorbed in such a town as Sunder land by the poors'-rate alone.—Newcastle Advertiser. INCENDIARY FIRES.—On Tuesday morning last another of those detestable outrages which have, to the county's disgrace, been lately too common, was committed at Foston, near Grantham, Lincolnshire. A wheat stack (con taining the produce of 11 acres) which was standing in a field about a mile from the village, was discovered to be on fire at about six o'clock. Assistance was immediately obtained, but no efforts on the part of the villagers could prevent the de struction of the whole. The stack, which was the property of Mr. John Watkinson, was fortunately insured. THE EARL OF CARLISLE.—The last accounts from Castle Howard give a more favourable report of the condition of the noble invalid. The party assembled at the seat of Mr. Fergusson, at Pitfour, in the Highlands of Scotland, intended to have separated at the commencement of the present month ; but in consequence of the roads being impassable, arising from the heavy fall of snow, they were still detained there. A deputation from the Joint-stock Banks waited, by . appointment, on Sir Robert Peel on Saturday, at the Right Hon. Baronet's official residence in Downing-street. .THE NEW, SILVER. COINAGE.—The workmen at the Royal. Mint:. are daily at work in striking off the new silver coinage, a considerable amount, of which has been sent to the Bank of England within the last few days. The panic respecting the light • gold currency having subsided, the Governor and Company of the Bank of England will shortly give notice that they will issue the new silver coinage at the Bullion-office in exchange for the old coinage of George 111., George IV., and Willian IV., which are so de faced from wear and tear and deficient in weight. The public will not in any way be losers by the calling in of the old silver, arrangements having been made between the Government and the Bank to that effect. A very large quantity of the new coinage has been sent off by railway since Monday to the different branch banks in the manu facturing and agricultural districts of England,,Wales„ and Scotland. As the Bank receives it, the clWii - 6141114VCit so defaced as not to be re-issued, and it will be,relneltilA the Mint. The quantity of bullion at present in - the Bank is nearly 16,000,000 sterling—a larger amount than for many years. GARWAY.—One day last week a fine large Is amon was caught in the trap at Garway Mill, in the river Non-. 1 now. This noble fish must have leaped ,110- less thaUoiren weirs, before arriving :at the place where it.was.taken; and!' the fact of a salmon being found in the ;Itreifiliw is,•we . ,imi . - assured by a most experienced disciiilo.'alsaali/W,4lt v ope without precedent. —Hereford Tinto. • : t r rilfffilkOMMErniMsweim THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY: MORNING, FEBRUARY 19, 1844. REPORT on the FACTORIES BILL. LITERATURE. THE SECRET PASSION. 3 Vols. Colburn, London, 1844. The best portions of this romance are decidedly the more serious and imaginative—those more espe cially which refer to the gradual development of the " Secret Passion" —whence the story derives its title —of the celebrated Countess of Pembroke, the most deservedly distinguished character of her day. The author works up this incident with considerable force and feeling, and excites a deep interest for his sus ceptible heroine in the breast of the reader. The manners of the times, too, are depicted with very creditable accuracy ; but we must protest against the author's humour, which—as honest Dogberry would say—" is most tolerable an d no t t o b e en d ure d ; " and also against the frequent quaintness and obsolete ness of his language, which wearsethe aspect of sheer affectation. A novelist, even though treating of past times, should always, like Sir Walter Scott, use the vernacular of his 'day, • and not adopt that of the past. In the opening chapter of the romance before us, the style seems studiously quaint and old-fashioned; and the author ex.. hibits a special fancy for the we of words Which are not, and never were, English. Thus, in stead of the term "content," he adopts the odd, affected phrase " contentation," and so enamoured is he et this new coinage, which never issued from a Saxon mint, that he repeats it not less than three times in one page ! There is another specimen of his style, whose slightest blemish is, that it has the most dis tant acquaintance possible with grammar :—" They had got so familiar with the strangeness of his fashion ing, they had acquired a sort of offectionateness to it." We should not have noticed these defects, but that they occur in almost every other page, and form the sole drawback to a story which might otherwise have become a favourite with the novel-reading commu nity, inasmuch as it is by no means destitute of fancy, and in places is fall of passionate sensibility. COURTS OF LAW. The " Reports of the Inspectors of Factories" tar the Home Department, for the half-year ending De cember 31, 1843, have just been printed. There is no subject in which we feel a deeper interest, throughout the whole range of the relations embraced by our do mestic or social condition, than the welfare of that friendless and extensive community, whose toilsome lives are passed in the monotonous labours of the loom, or the vitiated atmosphere (moral and physical) of the mill. The proceedings which Parliament has adopted, and continues from time to time to take, in order to throw around the defenceless children and infants whom the poverty of their parents devotes to the incessant demand f.a- youthful hands in our ma facturing districts, are honourable to the right feel ing and the „benevolent policy of the Legislature. But, whether from the extreme difficulty of drawing aright. the delicate, yet important line which shall prevent the righteous energy, of legal protection from trespassing on the legi timate rights of private property and commercial enterprise—or from some other cause tending to con travene the simple, humane, and beneficent views of Parliament in the very process of carrying them into effect—.this result appears but too evidently, that, hitherto, these favourable dispositions on behalf of factory children have not been accomplished. We have perused the first draught of a " Bill for altering and improving the Proceedings in the Su perior Courts of Common Law, as to certain actions for the recovery of debts, or damages, not exceeding 201., and as to other actions in certain cases, pre ferred and brought on by Air. JERVIS and Mr. WATSON, and ordered, by the Commons, to be printed, on the 6th of February, 1844." This appears to be, we are sorry to say, the sug gestion of an additional chapter in the code of pains and penalties, which it has been often attempted, for half a century past, and with various success—to incorporate into British legislation on that most inex plicable of social crimes among us—debt. The pre amble declares that it is expedient to render actions for the recovery of debts, or damages, in certain cases, of an amount not exceeding 201., more sum mary and less expensive, and to alter the practice and proceedings in the Superior Courts of Common Law in respect of such actions." Proceed ings for the recovery of such debts appear to be sum mary enough already, so far as the interests of the bond fide creditor are concerned; and except where the party proceeding is disposed vexatiously to en force them, it cannot fairly be said that the costs of ordinary actions for debts under 201. are excessive. The law and legal process are sufficiently stringent already, unless it be proposed to leave no margin in the shape of consideration or indulgence for the simply unfortunate in increasing their pressure en the frau dulent and unprincipled. But we have another grave objection to the Bill before us. It is one of those plausible engines forincreasing the already overgrown patronage of our high legal functionaries to which we must say gentlemen of the long robe, of all parties, are too apt to lend themselves, in the House of Com mons. They seem to imagine, from the easy and deliberate way in which they give their sanction to the various Bills that in every session provide, in some shape or other, professional gratuities or new salaried offices for barristers, that they• themselves hold some patent of exemption from that suspicion of interested motives which the world attaches to all other men under similar circumstances. Individuals who are for ever devising some means of adding to the appointments and advantages to be opened to the profession to which they belong, are shrewdly sus pected of a lively hope of participating, in time to come, in the harvest of the seed crop which they have been the first to sow. Assuredly this remark does not point to the respected and learned Members whose names are endorsed upon the " Bill " before us ; but neither will their names neutralise its general force and ap plication. For what is the case here ? Clauses 1 to 25 provide that actions of this class and limit may be brought by writ of summons—which writ may be served personally, or by leaving a copy. If defendant do not plead to writ of summons, " within the time there specified," judgment may be signed; or, if ser vice not personal, judgment may be signed with leave of the judge. No appearance to be entered by or for the defendant; " and for the purpose of plead ing, the particulars underwritten shall be deemed to be part of the writ, and may be pleaded to in whole or in part, as may now be .done, at the usual costs of a declaration." Judge, in Chambers may make orders for further particulars ; no plea in abatement to be allowed; judges of the Superior Courts at West minster, or any eight of them, the three chiefs being of the number, to have power to settle form of plead ings ; in case of departure from such forms, a judge may set aside the pleading, with costs. Certain pleas, however, may be pleaded together without leave ; particulars to be delivered with plea of pay ment or set off; no demurrer allowable for want of formal t commencement, and no demurrer for form deliverable without previous leave of a judge ; judge may permit the defect to be amended; sig natures of counsel not to be required to any pleadings ; if plaintiff do not proceed for a month, defendant may sign judgment of non pros. ; defendant may take out a summons to stay proceedings, on payment of debt and costs claimed, or of a sum to be named; and the judge may make orders for payment, or give time for payment, not exceeding one month. Judge's summons to be pe remptory in the:first:instance, and one shilling only to be paid for it ; in form as per schedule. Then comes the "patronage" clause, as we shall term it (26), touching " assessors to be appointed to the sheriffs of England and Wales ;" followed by clauses 27 to 30, illustrative of the functions, &c., of these new officers. Clause 26 enacts that the Lord Chan cellor shall appoint as " many persons as he shall think fit, not exceeding twelve persons in the whole," to be " assessors to the sheriffs of counties and cities in England and Wales,"—such persons to be barristers-at-law of not less than seven years' standing, or attorneys of one of the Superior Courts of not less than ten years' standing, removable by the Lerd Chancellor for misconduct or incapacity, his Lordship having power to increase or diminish the said number as he shall see fit, until the end of the year 1845 ; after which no more assessors to be appointed without consent and approbation of the Lords of the Treasury; as sessors may appoint duly qualified deputies (for pe riods not exceeding two months in any case) on suffi cient cause being satisfactorily shown. Salaries of assessors (amount in blank) to be payable out of the Consolidated Fund ; such assessors to act as judges on writs of trial and writs of inquiry. There are several other clauses relating to the duties of these provincial judges in embryo, all calling for notice and consideration ; but we must pass to clause 40, which really seems to drop all recollection of the preamble, and to contemplate a serious irrup tion into the jurisdiction-demesne of the " Superior Courts at 'Westminster," and elsewhere; for it enacts that in any action which, if the amount claimed did act exceed 201., would be triable by writ of trial, it shall be lawful for a judge, on the application of either plaintiff or defendant, if he shall so think fit, to order that such action, though for a debt or damages exceeding 201., shall be tried by writ of trial, and to name place of trial, and such writ of trial shall issue accordingly ; and thereupon further proceedings in the trial shall be such as if the debt or damages claimed did not exceed 201. Upon the whole, we think we have assigned tole rably strong grounds for the hope, with the expression of which we conclude—namely, that Parliament will vigilantly superintend the progress of a measure which does not appear to us so well calculated to carry out its professed remedial principles as to prove a golden egg in the snug nest of Chancery patronage. WC are sensibly_ impressed with the fact by the perusal of the first of these nine "Reports," more especially ; and the remaining eight do but confirm in detail the general allegations of Mr. LEONARD HORNER (Chief Inspector), under date, " Manchester, October 21, 1843." Mr. HORNER and all the other Inspectors seem to be actuated by a very just sense, in the first place, of the object, scope, provisions, and enactments of the Factory Act, and in the second, of the powers confided to them thereby, and of the spirit of fairness and discretion in which they are to be administered, as between masters and operatives. We are, of course, entitled to as sume that in the previous discussions of both Houses upon the Act in question, and at the time of finally passing it, all due care was taken to secure the interests and property of the master-ma nufacturers and mill-owners from being unduly tam pered or intermeddled with. It is not necessary, there fore, here, to revert to the expediency or inexpediency of such a measure. It is now law ; therefore it is asserted that it should be strictly observed b e _ all who are concerned in the operation of its clauses. These " Reports " demonstrate that its spirit, in an enormous number of instances and its letter, in not a few—are habitually and signally violated by the mill-owners, &c., or their managers and overseers. Mr. HORNER, in the course of the official tour of inspection to which his first Report relates, found many instances, on the part of these persons, of "carelessness as to certificates of age and school attendance, of neglect in keeping records, and fixing up the notices required by the rules of the inspectors." He says he has "reason to fear that there is a great deal of illegal over-working; that many under eighteen years of age are worked more than twelve hours a day." The difficulties in guarding against such infractions of the statute, arise, he says, from evasions easily practised, "by alleging stoppages from accidents to the machinery, time lost by this cause being allowed to be made up ; and the dangers which work-people run of losing their situations if they giee evidence against their employers." He thinks that until the law is so altered as to take away this power of making up time lost by accidents, and the visiting officers be enabled to obtain evidence without bringing forward the work-people, it will be impos sible to check fraudulent overworking. But, in the mean time, he produces, a variety ofcases to show how , destructive to the parties who suffer by these evasions of the law are the illegal exactions practised on them. " In Manchester there is a large mill vs here they are now employing workers above eighteen years of age, many of them young women just arrived at that time of life, from half-past five in the morning until eight at night, with no cessation from work, except one quarter of an hour for breakfast, and three quarters of an hour for dinner ; so that having to be out of bed at five in the morning, and not getting home till half-past eight at night, they may be fairly said to labour fifteen hours and-a-half out of the twenty-four. TALFOURD'S TRAGEDIES Moron, London, 1844. We are thankful to Mr. Moxon, who has been justly called the " poet's publisher," for this neat and cheap edition of the plays of the correctest and loftiest of liv ing dramatists. Hitherto they have been published in so expensive a form as to place them without the reach of the poorer and humbler class of readers, but now— despite the income tax—they will be accessible to all; and greatly, indeed, shall we be mistaken if they be not received with as much favour by the intelligent, self-educated operative, as they have already been by the scholar, the critic, and the " Sir Oracles" of taste about town. We are the more confident on this point, because the writings of Mr. Sergeant Talfourd, though exquisitely polished and refined, yet breathe the truest spirit of humanity ; so far from being exclusive or conventional in their tone, they are catholic in the most comprehensive sense of the term ; eschew all cloudy, metaphysical abstrac tions ; and make their appeal direct to those sterling sympathies which are more or less on the alert in every mans bosom. What reader, for instance, even though moving in the humblest walks of life, and picking up his scanty meal of knowledge as best he may, cannot appre ciate the heroic self-denial of lon ; and feel his heart glow with admiration of the patriotic sentiments that are constantly dropping, like the fairy pearls in the fable, from the lips of the Athenian Thoas ? It is not requi site that a man should be a scholar, or familiar with the dramatists of Greece, to appreciate the full force and beauty of these characters ; nothing more is necessary than that he should possess a sound head, and a heart not yet quite frozen by the chilling influences of what is called the "world." When, some months since, a " Peo ple's Edition," as it is termed, of the Waverley Novels was projected, it was observed by an intelligent critic that it would scarcely answer, inasmuch as the chivalrous and aristocratic bent of Sir W. Scott's genius must necessarily be uninteresting, if not unintelligible, to the humbler class of readers. The result has proved the fallacy of this opinion, for the edition in question has been emi nently successful; and so, we venture to predict, will be the cheap little duodecimo before us, and for precisely the same reasons —namely, that notwithstanding the splendour of his imagery, the classic beauty of his descrip tions, and the high-toned, aristocratic—we do not mean s r e e q v u e r e v t h i o e n r e of t a r a k n e k n e nature h a r a c f t e o r r Yankee-land—the beloved of r o ta e f p h im u i b s p li h l e y e a r n b o y , s, r t t h h ep e is u a te di v a r tl m t l i a n r a g m ha e his ground-work. Helm he is a favourite even in rude, Sidney Smith—which could never have been the case, had he not throughout his works appealed forcibly to " that human heart by which we live,' choosing rather to obey the fervid promptings of sensibility, which rarely lead an author astray, than the cold, unsatisfactory 'sug gestions" of the mere understanding. This it is that makes all the difference between the true and the false in the productions of mind, and explains the reason} why, with all their polished dignity of style, their stately concep tions, and the prestige attached to their authors' names, such dramas as Cato, the Revenge, and Irene—those frigid imitations of humanity—mere offsprings of the head, unaided by the heart—have never yet taken the slightest hold on the public mind, or roused one genuine emotion either in the closet or on the stage. We look upon this cheap " People's Edition" of Mr. Sergeant Talfourd's plays as ono of the most encouraging signs of the times that could have been exhibited—as a con vincing proof, in fact, that a taste for elegant, imaginative literature is fast spreading in quarters where, twenty years since, all was ignorance, prejudice, and brutality ; and were we in want of an argument for the further ex tension of the franchise, we know not that we could find a more cogent one than is furnished us by the publima tion of this half-a-crown volume. ant Mr. Moxotri task is as yet but half completed. He must give us cheap editions of the Learned Sergeant's prose as well as of his poetry, for some of the soundest criticisms and most thoughtful moral essays of which modern litera ture can boast, may be found in his numerous contri butions to the Edinisrgh Review and the New Monthly Magazine. Of one essay in particular, the Wine cellar," we entertain a very vivid recollection. It is many years since it was published • but the airiness— the grace—the sunny char ac t e r o f its fancy—and the spirit g unaffected cordiality that breathes through it — are among those things which leave a lasting impres sion on the mind. Not less excellent, though in a dif ferent style is that essay on the " Profession of the Bar," which first appeared, if we mistake not, in the New Monthly Magazine, and which is fully entitled to the honour of republication, if only for its nicely discrimi nated sketches of Brougham, Scarlett, and the late Lord Erskine. But to return to the volume before us. In addition to the tragedies, which it would be super fluous here to criticise, it contains an eloquent and affectionate notice of the late Doctor Valpy, every word of which is founded in truth, as we ourselves can per sonally testify. The Doctor was, indeed, one of the wisest and kindliest of men. As the head of a great public school, never was man more beloved than he was by his pupils, not only for the kindness he manifested to them when under his superintendence, but for the warm interest which through life he continued to take in their welfare. Of all his pupils there were none of whom he was so proud, or spoke so often in terms of admiration, as the late Baron Bolland and Mr. Sergeant Talfourd. Besides this eloquent tribute to the memory or one of the best of scholars and of men, we have several sonnets, which, it seems, are now for t he first time published, and whi c h are c h arac terised by all that Attic polish of diction an d no bili ty o f sentiment which v,ed mountain-likei a : and distant, fain onc e more form such conspicu ous f eatures i n t h e tragedies. Here is one entitled " The F or b ury a t R ea ding, revisited on a Misty Evening i n Autumn " Soft uplands, that i n boyhood's earliest day s see Would I behold y ou ! b ut the autum n hoar Hath veil'd your p ens i ve groves i n ev ening haze ; Yet must I wait till on my searc hi n g gaze Your outline live s — more d ear t h an if ye wore An April sunset's consecrat i ng ra ys — For, even thus the images of yore Which ye awaken glide from misty Years Dream-like and solemn, and but half unfold Their tale of glorious hopes, religious fears, And visionary schemes of giant mould ; Whose dimmest trace the world-worn heart reveres, And, with love's grasping weakness, strives to hold." "consecrating,"Tithaneeeps,itshteritkesus asbeing eminently l whi h we ben ha u v t e ifu m l, arlced incon veying, as it does, ust such a solemn and poetical idea of sunset as the our would naturally suggest to a thoughtful, high-toned mind. But - indeed the whole sonnet is " one entire and perfect chrysolite," and for us has an ineffable charm, for it brings vividly before us the recollection of the noble play-ground, with the " soft uplands " of Caversham in the distance, and the inter mediate ranges of tine King's Meadows, from which duly on summer and autumn evenings a light silvery vapour would arise, clothing all things in its fleecy mantle—a trivial circumstance, which the author, how ever, has contrived to turn to the moat poetical account. We close our brief notice with the sonnet on " Eton College, surveyed after leaving a Son at School there for the first time," in which our readers will net fail to admire the earnest and solemn tenderness that charac terizes the closing lines " How often have I fix 'd a stranger's ga ze On von fam'd turrets, clad in light as fair As this sweet evening lends, and felt the air Of Learning that fr om calm of ancient days ßreathes round the m ever ! Now t o me they wear Hues drawn from dea rer thou g ht ; the radiant haze That mantles them gr ows thick with fondest care, And its slant sunbeams flicker like the praise youth wins from wisdom ;—for in yon retreats One little student's heart expectant beats With blood of mine ;-0 God ! vouchsafe him power, When I am dust, to stand on this sweet place, And, through the vista of long years, embrace With cloudless soul this first Etonian hour." Mr. SAUNDERS, writing from Leeds, and reporting on the general external improvement of trade, espe cially the woollen and worsted trade, observes : " One great drawback to the satisfaction arising from the present active state of trade is, the encourage ment it affords to every kind of fraud, both in re spect to the ages of the persons employed and to the hours of worlZ" . . . . "In the worsted trade I entertain a strong moral conviction that these frauds prevail to a great extent. I have seen many females, who have just completed the age of eighteen, employed for thirteen, fourteen, or fifteen hours a day. In one mill, several who had been employed for some weeks, with an interval only of a few days (when, as one witness said, ' they found the weather too hot'), from six o'clock in the morning until twelve o'clock at night, less two hours for meals, thus giving them, for five nights in the week, only six hours out of the twenty-four to go to and from their homes, and to obtain rest in bed. Some of these were employed in a room at a high tempera ture. What constitution can stand against such la bour ?" Mr. JAMES STUART bears a most honour able testimony to the factory masters in Ireland':—" I feel myself quite at liberty to report that the provi sions of the Factory Regulation Act are in due ob servance in all the factories in Ireland, subject to the law." Nor is this a less honourable or gratifying eulogy on the parties employed by them. " The per sons employed in these factories, most especially all employed in factories to the northward of Dublin, adhere strictly to the temperance system . of Father MATHEW." In his second Report, dated the 23d of January, 1844, Mr. HORNER again calls'the attention of the Home Secretary to the extent and variety of the evasions constantly occurring, of the provisions of the Factories Act. In the case of ECCLES and Co., proprietors of a spin ning mill at Blackburn, reported to him by Mr. EWINGS, he shows by the account which his cor respondent gives of the result of certain proceedings before the District Board against the house in ques tion, and in allusion to the penalty of 20s. (!) de creed against it, " how utterly useless it is for the inspectors to attempt to carry out the provisions of the Act with such support from the magistrates." And we agree with Mr. HoRNER; for, without entering into the further corroborations to be de duced from the perpetual instances of wilful or de signed negligence on the part of surgeons, in certi fying to the ages of children found in factories at regular work, of the forgeries of such certificates, in some instances, by their employers, and occasionally by their own parents,—we confess that the evils which the Factories Act was passed to remedy, appear to lie, for the most part, beyond the reach of legislation, under existing circumstances. They are very often the suggestions and the practices of cold, calculating cupidity on the part of parents ; still oftener of stern reckless avarice on the part of em ployers. The increased activity of trade, it is but too evident, has had little or no effect in rais ing the rate or accumulating the products of the wages of labour. The unfortunate operatives have had to part with so much larger a term of their chances of physicial existence, by giving more time and labour for wages in no sense proportioned to such additional sacrifice. Female labour has been, and daily is, much more largely engaged ; and in dependently of the moral abasement produced in them —neglected homes and exiled comforts (the inevitable consequences of their removal to the factory)— have fearfully corrupted the habits of the male adults of their families, whether as husbands and fathers, or as brothers and sons. We rise from the perusal of these Reports more than ever solicitous to see these poor objects of well-intended but inefficient legislative protection more perma nently settled in employment, not so continuous and protracted as to be, as at present, absolutely destruc tive of human life ; not so underpaid as to be inade q to to human s u b s i s t en ce ; no t so desolate and hope lels 'As to be, as now, incompatible with ordinary enjoyment, health, or recreation. These desirable consummations we are more disposed to 116 . 0' for froiri; the exretions of such abody as the " Sptiety for the Emancipation of Industry," to which wehave in :ioimer papers earnestly directed attention, thi,ii:from rya' plosophy or binding f orce o f antt of 4 t any, ,t i ' i • 1 :" SOUTH DEVON.—The weather since Friday last has assumed a wintry aspect. In several parts the hedge rows were decked with spring flowers, in full bloom, and spring, with all its charms, seemed near at hand. A sharp frost has now set in, which will retard the progress of vegetation, which was in a very forward state. The lambing season has been very favourable and grass and turnips are very plentiful. During the last fortnight the corn trade has undergone an improvement, and prices have advanced. Cattle are rather dull at present. In the manufacturing towns, the woollen trade is going on briskly, and yolk wool is in good demand at 9d. to 9id. per lb.— Potatoes are selling from 3s. 6d. to 4s. per bag. Wheat 7s. 3d. per bushel ; Barley 3s. 10d. to 4s. ; Oats 2s. Bd. to 2s. 10d.— Plymouth Journal. WILL FORGERIES.—About eight years ago, an at toruey of the name of Hyte lived in the west of England, Barnstaple we believe, who far exceeded the present forgers in adroitness and wickedness. On one occasion he was re quested by a married man to make a will in favour of his brother, at which his wife complained to Hyte, who told her he would make all right for her, and trust to her liberality. He prepared two wills, one in favour of the brother, and another bequeathing the property to his wife. The first was read over to the dying man ; but before it was signed by the testator and witnesses he rang the changes, so that the widow became the sole object of his bounty. The brother suspected foul play and fraud, but could not prove it. Hyte afterwards obtained large sums from the widow, whom he kept in constant dread of an exposé, which, however, did not take place until she, on her death bed, confessed the whole, declaring that she had never enjoyed an hour's peace since the foul transaction; The last, among many acts of forgery which this villain committed, was that of the will of a person at Exeter. A gentleman, possessed of large property, was likely to die, and Hyte inquired of the wife whether he had made a will in her favour. She replied, "She was fearful he had made no will." He said he would prepare one, and trust to her generosity. He called the next day, and was told it was too late, for the man had just expired. He said he had brought a winess with him, and would manage it. They went to the bed-side and read over the will to the corpse, and having done so, he caught a live fly, which he put into the mouth of the dead man, and took his hand and guided it to sign the document, and the witness declared that he h 0 heard the will read to the deceased, who signed it while life was in him (alluding to the live fly). The validity of the will, which was so much at variance with the expressed sentiments of the testator in the latter period oflife, was dis puted, but no positive proof was manifest of the nefarious transaction, until at length, partly by threats, and more par ticularly from the accusation of conscience, the widow and subscribing or attesting witness made a full confession, and being admitted as witnesses for the Crown, the scoundrel Hyte was convicted and executed in, the year 1767.—Shei borne .Touritar. FRIGHTFUL ACCIDENT.—On Wednesday, shortly before twelve an accident, which was nearly attended with a lamentable loss of life, occurred in Upper Grosvenor -street, Grosvenor-square. For some time past a number of men have been employed in that street in making a sewer, and yesterday, whilst they were " shutting" the earth at each side of the trench, a part of the ground was no ti ce d t o crumble, caused no doubt by the sudden breaking up of the frost. An alarm was immediately raised, and several of the men succeeded in effecting their escape. Five of the exca vators were not so fortunate, for one immense piece of ground, weighing some tons, fell into the trench, and completely im bedded them; three were buried up to thei r c h ins . With assistance two of the men were quickly extricate& and with out receiving any hurt. The other three, Thomas Tread away, George Gibbs, and William Cooper were not got out until near half-past two o'clock, when they were instantly removed in a very exhausted state to St. George's Hospital, whexe they were a ttended to by Mr. Barrett, the h ou se stir geofi, ailedmi .. Haw ki n s, assistant surgeon, and at eight o'clock last night, it Vali the opinion of those gentlemen that nothing fatal need be !ipprehended, for providentally no bone were broken. • Within the last half century rents have trebled, the price of wheat has doubled, and agricultural wages remain about the same. _The landlord is therefore the only party who has benefited by the corn4aws.--42oniiiouth THE CURRENCY. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.. SlR,—Sir John Mandeville, who was in the military service of the Great Khan of Cathay, about the middle of the 14th century, thus describes the symbolic money in use among - the Tartars : " This Emperour may despenden als mocke as hem will withouten estymacioun ; for he despendeth not, ne maketh, no money but of lether emprented or of papyre. And of that money is some of gretter prys, and some of lasse prys, aftre the dyversitee of his statutes. And whan that money ihathe ronue so longe that it begynnethe to waste, than melt beren it to the Emperour's viesarye ; and than thei taken newe money for the olde. And that money gothe thorgheout alle the countree, and thorghe out alle his provynces ; for /here and beyonde hem thei make no money nouther of gold nor of sylver. And therefore he may despende yruln and out rageously." The above passage shows that the Tartars had much 'Atter notions of money than our modern statesmen ; that the leather and paper tokens of receipt issued by the Great ago in return for the supplies levied by him passed current est medium of exchange through all the country provinces, per. , forming, at a small cost, all the offices that gold or silver could have done. Our modern statesmen extort from the subject both the supplies and the gold to represent them ! and in this respect they show their inferiority to the Great Khan in the article of common sense —as, however, they are no way behind hand with the Tartar Potentate " in despen ding ynou and outrageously," thepeople of this country have a fair claim on them for an abundant and cheap circulating medium. It will be found, Sir, ere long, that Sir R. Peel " caught a Tartar " when he brought forward his Currency Bill of 1819 ; it would have been well for the country had he deigned to take a lesson from him in the theory of money; indeed, a few Tartar instructors in that science would be of great service at the present time ; I could recommend several pupils, for instance, Mr. Jones Loyd, Mr. Norman, Mr. Horsley Palmer, and that last light of the a ge , M r . J o h n G el li brand Hubbard.—l am, your most obedient servant, London, Feb. 16, 1844. Q. T. MR. FERRA.ND, M.P., AND MR. COBDEN, M.P. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. SIR S I am a Conservative aye, a Tory, and a Conservative, or Tory, who will yield to no man in an honest and hearty desire to promote the happiness and welfare of the poor, the farmers, and I may add, too, the manufacturers, for I do not know that this class has not an equal right to justice as the other two. Aa such I have witnesses with sincere sorrow the perpetual contests that have been going on between the two Hon. Gentlemen whose names I have prefixed to the head of this letter. Sir, I fear that both Mr. Cobden and Mr. Ferrand overlook one "great fact," and that that oversight is the cause of both of them being at "daggers drawn," instead of being, as they ought to be, united in one common assault upon the common wrong that has been committed, and is sought to be perpetuated and even increased against the poor, the farmer, and the manufacturer. Sir, the fact of maintaining for foreign gold the fixed monopoly price of 3/. 17s. 104 d. per ounce, has, since the year 1819, nearly doubled the taxation alike of the poor, the farmer, and the manufacturer. Pre vious to that year the labour of the artisan was at ss. per day, the corn of the farmer at 10s. 6d. per bushel, and the calico of the manufacturer at 9d. per yard. They are now (under gold at a monopoly price) 3s. per day, 6s. per bushel, and 4d. per yard ; and, con sequently, the taxation of these classes has been nearly doubled. Apply this to the case of this country, with a fixed taxation of 50,000,000/. per year, and it will be obvious that almost another 50,000,0001. is now being extorted from the tax-payers of this country —a sum amounting to at least 800,000,0001., or the entire national debt since the year 1819. Sir, the two productive classes—land and factory— are losing sight of the common enemy. Let them I look to the money laws, and Mr. Ferrand and Mr. Cobden may shake hands, and rally under the same banner. Lord Brougham, with 5,0001. a-year pen sion, is getting, with corn at 6s. Bd. a bushel, 15,000 bushels of corn- per year. Previous to 1819 the pen sion was 4,0001. a year, and, with corn at 10s., it was of the value of 8,000 bushels. The same appalling increase applies to labour, calico, and almost every other 'necessary of life. Sir, it extends also to the other fact of the 50,000,000/. per year; and it is no wonder that the lab ou r er i s p oor , th a t t h e f armer i s in difficulties, and that the manufacturer cannot, under such burdens, compete with the foreigner. The pro ductive classes must be united--not divided. One that wishes to see THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG. Brighton, Feb. 14, 1844. THE MACKEREL FISHERY.-It is said that the Mount's Bay boats, amounting to upwards of 100, have been very successful on the Plymouth station, the majority of them having taken from 4,000 to 10,000 fine mackerel per night, which realised from 10s. to 15s. per 120.—West Briton. The Hunterian oration was delivered on Wednes day last, at the Royal College of Surgeons, by Mr. South, a member of the council ; but throughout the entire lecture (says a medical journal) the name of Hunter was accidentally or studiously omitted. MYSTERIOUS OCCURRENCE.—An extraordinary and very mysterious occurrence took place in the neighbourhood of Ballyduff. A woman named Sheehy, a midwife or nurse, residing in that neighbourhood, was forcibly taken from her house by a party of men who blindfolded her, and placed her on horseback behind one of the party. She was taken across the Cashion Ferry in the direction of Liselton, and into a house where she was told that in the bed-room was a female who wanted her professional assistance ; in a short time the female was confined, and she took the infant to the kitchen, where she found a well-dressed woman waiting to receive it, The woman was then taken as before and hoodwinked and left at her own door, but did not receive any remuneration from them. She said she saw some articles which she thought belonged to a lady in the kitchen ; she was not allowed a bit of light in the bed-room.—Kerry Examiner. CORNISH ENGINES.—The number of pumping en gines reported this month is thirty-seven. They have con sumed 3,090 tons of coal, and lifted thirty minima tons of water ten fathoms high. The average duty of thO whole is therefore 54,000,0001b5, lifted one foot high by the consump tion of a bushel of coal.—Lean's Engine Reporter. BEWDLEY.—A days ago some workmen were em ployed in removing some gravel from a gravel-pit in Bewdley Park, adjoining Tickenhill-house, when, about nine inches below the surface, they discovered a pair of bronze stands for candles. They appear to be composed of a mixture of copper with tin - and a little greasy wool was found in one of the sticks. Tickenhill-house ,was formerly the residence of Prince Arthur; son of Henry the Seventh, and these in teresting specimens were probably manufactured about that period. They have been kindly presented to the Worcester Natural History Society's Museum, by Mr. Bryan, bookseller, of this town.—Ten Towns Messenger. There is a strong belief, and it is a growing one, we hear, among well-informed circles in London, that Sir Robert Peel's declaration in favour of the sliding scale, on the opening night of Parliament, was only part and parcel of the trickery and slippery character for which lie is so famous—neither to be relied upon by the monopolists as a surety for his faith, nor to be feared by the free traders as the ultimatum of his hostility. The idea, in short, is, that—preparing for the worst in the event of his Irish difficulties breaking up his Administration —he was merely renewing his promises and vows to the sliding scale, in order to rally the agriculturists once more round him, in case of a new election as a consequence of the accession of a Liberal Ministry to power. He knows that the change in the corn-laws, which immediately fol lowed the hustings pledges of the majority of the present Parliament to the contrary, has caused him to be looked upon with marvellous suspicion by his rural sup porters, and, therefore, be thinks it necessary to at tempt to recover his lost caste with them, by assuming this blustering tone in their behalf, until he again feels himself upon his legs without them. At all events, such is the interpretation put upon his meaning; for, such is the general doubt of the man's sincerity, that every word he utters is always tried and sifted, with a view to prove that its signification is directly opposite to its outward seeming. But let it be otherwise ; let Sir Robert Peel really have been in earnest on this occasion ; what then ? The advocates of Free Trade are not to be intimidated because he again declares himself its foe :—they never calculated upon him as its friend. We are but where we were before.—Hull Advertiser. GRAND DUCHY OF POSEN, FEB. 4.—Orders have been received here for all Polish emigrants who took part in the revolution, and most of whom have come to us from France, to quit Prussia within a fortnight. In this order it is positively declared that no petitions for a mitigation of the measure will be attended to. Only those who find it abso lutely impossible to settle their affairs here will be allowed to remain a fortnight longer. This measure will very se verely affect many emigrants who have resided for years among us. Many have been received into the families of Prussian subjects; others have acquired landed property, which they will now be obliged to sell at any price. Though notice was given to all of them, both on their arrival in Prussia and when they made purchases of landed property, that they could riot by that means acquire any right of set tlement in Prussia, yet an order to quit so suddenly seems very hard. This makes it seem the mere certain that our Government must have some mighty reason for this step.— lictmburgh Papers, Feb. 13. AIPITHY ANSWER.—A negro who.was called on • a witness in a North Carolina court, on being examined as to the nature of an oath, was asked if he knew what would be the consequences here and hereafter if he swore to a lie ? " Yes," said he, " ears off, and no share in de kinidom." A SINGULAR APPLICATION.—III the Secondaries omit yesterday, just as the jury were about to retire, Mr. Thomas, a counsel engaged in another case, hoped the jury, as they might be some time in considering their verdict, would just stop and hear a short case in which he appeared, as he wished to go particularly on other business. The Learned Secondary, however, informed him that they must decide one case before they could hear a second. The same Learned Gentleman subsequently applied to the Secondary to hear the case in the absence of the jury, which the Learned Gentleman decided to be as illegal as his first appli cation, and that he did not feel disposed to usurp the func tions and embody the opinions of thirteen gentlemen at once." At the late assizes at Lille, a girl, named Eliza Depinoy, was brought forward for trial on a charge of infanti cide. Scarcely had one or two of the witnesses been heard, when the prisoner, who was exceedingly large in the family way, was suddenly taken ill. She was removed into an ad joining room, and medical aid being afforded, was in a few minutes delivered of a boy ! Whilst the child was taken before the registrar of births, the mother was carefully carried back to the prison. The trial was of course postponed, although the case just mentioned is not provided for in the criminal code. When Mr. George Colman's affairs, in connection with the Haymarket Theatre were in great embarrassment, some one lamented that he (➢ir. C.) could not be relieved from ultimate responsibility by a bankruptcy, as he was not a trader. " Yes, lam (replied Colman), I'm a paper stainer." - AMERICAN NEWSPAPER WIT. " Halloo, boy, ain't You got a daddy living ?" " No, but my brothers have ?" " What's their names ?" " 'Why, they're both named Bill, except Sam, and his name's Bob ! My name's Booze, but they calls me Boozy, for short. Anything more to ax?"— Literary Gazette. On Thursday, two fine mushrooms, weighing about six ounces, were found iu a field near Wheatley.-.-Leeds . Mercury. - , 2 2 O 3 O 4 O 5 3 6 weasso, olMwoliN +..•'l ~ ""' - • ~; -~ MON OPOLY A le TO THE EDITOR OF THE $ UN- Sra,—M ono p o ly i s h y d ra -h ea d e d- —corn, cattl e , sugar, =tie difficult, and t.water, coals, a ll a lik e , restricted, the million s d en i e d ! In this vast meta.spolis--the q ueen j. of cities a n d o f co l on i sat i on—the focus Ot :a hundred cha rities and a th ousan d schools—monopol reigns para mount. No w h ere e l se i s there such a monopoly in fire—no where else is there such a monopoly in v! , ater.. You did your duty long and ably in attacking the anuses. of the coal monopoly. Do I err in thinking that‘yots will aid the inhabitants of Lambeth, Southwark, and! *a South London, in also attacking the water monopoly ? It so happens, that all the three companies supplying. South London with water, have in their Acts of Parlia ment the same clause, making it " unlawful" to supply such water in an impure state, which all join in treating with contempt. Their customers cannot help themselves; hence the enclosed petition, which is receiving signatures in all directions.—l am, Sir, your obedient servant, A SURGEON. [We have received a copy of the petition, but at pre smt we cannot promise to find room for it.] ST. M'AUL'S AND WESTMINSTER ABBEY. TO 77-LW EDITOR OF THE SUN. Sin,—Parliament i;Ping now assembled, I beg to sug gest, through the medium of your' valuable paper, the propriety of convening a public meeting, for the purpose of considering the steps which it may bye advisable to take in referenc e t o th e p resen t di sg r a ceful C ondition of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, and th.e Abbey Church of St. Peter, Westminster, in order to effect, if possible, the following important objects First—The abolition of fees. Secondly—To obtain in these churches increased and better accommodation for the poor, belonging to Ate cities of London and Westminster, and Thirdly—To get the Pagan monuments, which die-i figure and profane these holy temples, removed to some other more appropriate receptacle. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, AN ENGLISHMAN. [We know of no Pagan monuments in these temples ; but we know of monuments to Johnson and Howard, and Watt, men who adorned and civilised Christian society. Could there be better places, too, for the monuments of gallent men who have died in the service of their country ? In the other two propositions, however, We entirely concur.] NATIONAL ANIMALS' FRIEND SOCIETY. (FROM A CORRESPONDENT.) This Society has been particularly active during the past week in no less than twelve prosecutions, viz.:— Samuel Baily took into custody George King, in the employ of John Gore, scavenger, for cruelly beating ft horse—Fined, 40s. Also, Chas. Farns, for cruelty to a horse, laden with coal—Fined, is. Also, .las. Hughes, of Bishop Stortford, with torturing a horse by the canal side—Fined, 40s. and costs. Thos. Radcliffe took into. custody Thomas Pickett, of St. Pancras, for working a horse with dreadful wounds—Fined 10s. and horse killed. Mr. Henry May, Secretary, charged Henry Knight, of Adam-street, Rotherhithe, before Mr. Hal', Chief Magistrate, with cruelty to a horse laden with wood. The Worthy Magistrate took the trouble to va cate his seat to see the animal, and was horror struck. Three gentlemen also expressed their strong feelings to wards the inhuman master—Fined, 20s. Thomas G. Plume, with the assistance of Henry M. May, has suc ceeded in obtaining several convictions at Richmond, for cruelty to animals. SPREAD OF FEVER FROM DESTITUTIOII.—Doctor Southwood Smith has just given his annual report upon the state of the London Fever Hospital during the past year s from which it appears that the admissions during the period were 1,462, being an excess of 418 above that of any pre ceding year. Fever raged most violently in the Central, Northern, and Southern Districts, which was attributable to the undrained, cldse, and filthy condition of these localities. A large proportion of the inmates were agricultural labourers or provincial mechanics, who had come to London in search of employment, and, who were seized with the malady either on the road or soon after their arrival, evincing the close connection between fever and destitution. These poor crea tures ascribed their illness—some of 'them to sleeping by the sides of hedges, and others to a want of clothing, many being without stockings, shirts, shoes, or any apparel capable of defending them from the inclemency of the weather ; while the larger number attributed it to want of food, being driven by hunger to eat raw vegetables, turnips, and rotten apples. Their disease was attended with such extreme prostration as generally to require the administration of an unusually large proportion of wine, brandy, and ammonia, and other stimu lants. The gross mortality was 15% per cent. An unpre cedented number of nurses and other servants of the hos pital were attacked with fever, namely 29, of whom six died. THE LATE MR. LounoN.-*--On Saturday a meeting of the friends of the late Mr. Loudon was held in the Horticultu ral Society's Rooms, Regent-street, with the view of adopting whatever measures might be deemed best for relieving his family from the state of pecuniary embarrassment in which they had been left. Dr. Lindley took the chair at two o'clock, and, in an address of some length stated the circum stances under which the late Mr. Loudon had involved him self in pecuniary difficulties. It was not, Dr. Lindley re marked, through any personal extravagance, for he lived in a moderate style. It was solely through the losses he had sustained by the publication of his " Arboretum Britanni cum"—a work which had been published at an expense of 10,000/. At the time of his death, his loss by this work was about 2,600/. It was proposed to relieve Mr. Loudon's widow and family in two ways ; first, by getting the friends and ad mirers of Mr. Loudon to purchase copies of his works ; and, secondly, by subscriptions of money. Resolutions to this efiect were proposed and unanimously adopted, and a com mittee appointed to carry them into effect. The name of the Duke of Devonshire, as President of the Horticultural So ciety, was announced at the close of the meeting as a sub scriber of 25/., and it seemed to be the opinion of all pres'xtt that a handsome sum will be realised for the benefit of Mrs. Loudon and family. RAILROADS IN FRANCE.—The Journal de,v- Tra vaux Publiques gives the following as the answers of the Commission appointed by the Minister of Public Works to report on the best direction to be given to the intended rail road from Paris to the coast opposite England. To the first question, whether there should be two lines, one from Boulogne, joining the Belgian road at Amiens—the other from Calais, joining the same line between Arras and Lille—the answer was in the negative. To- the question —whether, in case of there being a line from Boulogne to Amiens, there should be made-: simultaneously a second line from Calais and Dunkirk to Lille, the opinion was in the affirmative. On the third question—whether, ill case the Government should determine upon executing one line only, that from Calais and Dunkirk to Arras should be preferred, the opinion was in the affirmative. On the fourth question—whether the line between Arras, and Calais and Dunkirk, ought not to pass by Hazebrouck rather than by Aire, the Commission again replied affirmatively. Thus, if the Minister adopts this advice, the Paris and England 'Rail road, having the Belgian line at Arras, will run by Bethune to Hazebrouck, the principal road continuing on by St. Omer and Watten to Calais, while a branch will turn off to Dunkirk. DRURY-LANE THEATRE.—On Wednesday Mr. C. Kean re-assumed the part of Hamlet, a part in which he has frequently distinguished himself at this and other theatres. The audience assembled on this occasion was numerous and respectable, and Mr. Kean was greeted throughout his per formance with many marks of approbation, though, we con fess, we did not witness his enactment of the character with unmixed gratification. He was eminently successful in the scene in which the play is introduced, and where he is sup posed to detect the criminality of his uncle. In this scene his silent as well as his enunciated acting was most effective, and highly excited the sympathies of his audience. The text of Shakspeare was somewhat curtailed in its represen tation last night; but this was judiciously effected. With all due admiration of the genius of our great dramatic author, we are disposed to think it possible so to improve the actual representation of his plays by a well regulated abridgment. CONDUCT OF RUSSIA TOWARDS POLAND.—The Paris Univers states that the report of the Commission of Domains and Apanages, charged with the liquidation of the mortgages upon the confiscated estates of the Polish emi grants, has made its report to the Emperor of Russia, up to the end of last year. The Report makes the number of these estates amount to 459, of which 228 are cleared of the charges upon them. The debts acknowledged to be just amount to 1,707,100 silver roubles (about 6,830,000 f.), and those declared to be illegal to 3,512,414 roubles (about 14,070,000 f.), which, consequently, are annulled. In these last are comprised all mortgages made by the owners of the estates during the insurrection. There still remain to be paid off mortgages acknowledged to be legitimate to the amount of 1,251,332 roubles (about 5,012,0000 so that, not only are the emigrants punished by the confiscation of their estates, but their mortgagee creditors are equally subjected to a confiscation of their claims. The Univers goes on to say that a numerous class of the lower order of nobility , in Poland, who cultivated either their own lands or:rented farms, has recently been reduced to the condition of free peasants. As they had all shows a firm attachment to the Roman Catholic faith, the Government had decided upon removing them into other provinces. During the last two years 5,000 have been torn from their native soil, and colonised in the Governments of the Tauris and Yekaterinoslaf, reduced to the same condition as the vagabond gypsies, 8,000 of whom have in three years been fixed as Crown peasants on the imperial domains. Further, the Russian Government, says the Univers, is pursuing with inexorable perseverance the destruction of the Catholic church in all its western provinces. The Catholieclergy are reduced to the most absolute dependence, by being deprived of all means of subsistence beyond the meagre salanesgranted by the State, and every means is now employed to pretreat the renewal of this priesthood, in order, if possible, to drive the Catholics into the national church." SUSPECTED MURDER.-011 Saturday last the body of a decently-dressed, middle-aged man, name unknown, was found on the road near Carronbridge, parish of Kileyth, who, there is strong reason to suspect, has been murdered, from the fact that one of the eyes has been nearly knocked out, and there are marks of violence about the neck and throat. THE PERSECUTION OF THE RUSSIAN Jsive , -.—" Is the Emperor Nicholas," exclaims the Courrier Francais, " a Christian Monarch. or the revival of the ancient tyrants of Nineveh or Babylon ? With him persecution is a means of government, and the transportation en masse of 30,000 families is a simple measure of administration. Ac cording to an ukase carried into execution about the 18th of January, the entire Jewish population of 150,000 souls has been transported from their residence in Lithuania to within twelve leagues of the frontier, and delivered over to the brutality of the police during the rigours of a northern winter, without distinction of age, sex, or condition. Thus willed the Salinanasar or the Nebuchadonosor of St. Peters burgh I This atrocity is the result of the association of two despotisms, of two barbarisms—imperial despotism and the despotism of the protective system—Russian barbarity,., a nd prohibitive barbarity. - The Jewish population ofi psunufgriejn7 of devoting itself to smuggling; and instead the tll e been Th enfo l r6ed r by w gu h i o lt le y, h t o h d e y C o z f ar ler fo a u el n i d tm it , m t oro conv e nient o n n ie ly nt a t; ai c n h e a t st t i h s e s all the JeOrs in the J n e o w ss s ia of ; tLhiethetaiialnloiamtehasaturtehiiss s4y,tipsldpilielsd.htaso. neighbourhood ,o,ferth,e,hEicmh prroorvisncoemßinuiossnoisaf.ianirslaneNaerdiet3;rseer.raedeignmintoesset, of 3foldavia, o remarkha s; e be e b n o compelled mpe muchlle d sucht o expatriate t act r iat e savoursthemselves. Emperor Nicholas, when he displays such severity is merely a custom-home officer in a rage. Such is the result of the omnipotence of the tariff; of the prohibit ion under the cro wn , and of the protective systehl enforced b y the Attoord." 4='' , 4lllololW M