The Sun. — London, England, 1844-03-25 00:00:00

li ta MAJESTY'S THEATRE. Slad e - 1 , 11 , trioiselle Favanti, an English young lady, th e ir real-name is Edwards, and who was a pupil of deb„,Val Academy of Music, made a most successful A cad " en Saturday evening. Since she left the Royal a n .„,,! 1 ' 1 3' she has been studying in Italy,_and created ite'''Zat sensation at Naples last season. The judg deeZ of the Neapolitan public was ratified by the (p erh :u of the f requen t ers o f h er M a j es ty' s Theatre oa s ai 1 315 the most fastidious audience in the world) aturd a Ntssf . .y• Never was debut more completely suc beer the opera was La Cenerentola, and long ti , sufr e the rising of the curtain the holm was crowded in 4,,, t)e a__.tion in every part. The pit was crammed tlkee' who sittings were so crowded that Woe 4 were there could not get room even to turn . Possible The circle, from many parts of which it is on trible to get a view of the stage without standing Piet e r )°, was thronged, and the entrances were corn -4,, .3 7 blocked - up. The crush was terrific. The •oi a . _ now: aPpears in the first scene of the opera, and il ikk t'g could exceed the enthusiasm with which Ma cortiolselle Fav an ti was gree t e d. She immediately ia li t4leed the beautiful romanza " Una volta c'era of e ? and it wa s a t once ev id en t that her powers were the ~eenarnon order. During the whole of this scene ti er ; 4 s Much and deservedly , applauded. Her man ?reet tying this scene had prepared us to expect Ized bngs ; our expectations were more than real 11%. Y her du e t {'Parler voglio e taccio intanti," with k l b i.° (Signor Corelli). Never since the days of h ra ,n has such a voice been heard within the walls tsd r ALajesty's Theatre. It is, in fact, three complete ce at P e rfect voices—a soprano, a mezzo soprano, and a tot a Zte. Equal to Malibran's voice in power and the ~,,7,N and in fle x ibility, there ....s not that break in Ini ta lrdie notes which was the great defect in Mali note voice. In Favanti's voice there is not a weak for e ; 111 this duet she ran with ease through no ~, c oMplete octaves, and yet appeared by v e ,Ons to have reached the utmost compass of her t tpd ‘ t is said that her compass is three octaves and the" ), and its fle x ibility is equal to its power, and iow e elts e and rapidity with which she ran from the to iht. notes to the upper, and then descended again N re - . 'ewer, was perfectly astonishing. The audience top: Perfect raptures, and applause loud and long tiii tz edi such as is seldom heard within the walls of ' I e ksa 0 , acre, greeted the fair debutante at the conclu twit,. Lt.the duet. The audience were fairly carried !sor'; ..13' their enthusiasm, and the scene resembled li l\ , e ;le rapturous greeting with which a favourite ~itesi lv ed in the theatres of Italy than the cold ex 4ist c i l ri ° f approbation which is in general the utmost Zie ate abitual retenue of the Opera House fre e d r ' in this country permits them to exhibit. kt6 e , 4 ,et was encored and repeated in the same l vtori e '„,"'ng manner. It was one of the most 'ssit'ul specimens of bravura that we ever Ni k ko Then came the scene with Don Mig kcsand Da n di n i, in which she entreats the vet f. 4 17 Permit her ' to go to the ball if it were Ireta 1 , one hour . only. Here again the audience l'ov ier 7ePt in perfect astonishment at the wonderful ‘ 4 elld flexibility of her voice. She ran through kse, —4 ra?id passages with the greatest apparent h er n . . ge r g... bel ishing them with the most tasteful graces. N:irrj . t/ire was the most intricate, the most difficult, ti t he Same time the most graceful, that could be ,ui and yet executed with a facility and an . 4 e t t rt absenc e o f e ff o rt that was perfectly mar hieh ; and at the conclusion of the quintette, with 14 11 , the scene closes, the audience again testified tnoi t kirniration of her extraordinary powers by the Ilk: araPturous applause. The next scene in which t y leettars is the ball scene, and here 'again she A.,... d the audience by her manlier of giving the ie quei don che versa." This scena was alto- % • one o f th e most extraordinary exhibi %loq vocal powor ever heard and was, of N I 1 1 ; . _ rapturously, encored. Equally wonderful ~4t ,„,y: manner of giving the concluding scena of the 44 1 . 4 ; It is a concerted piece, including all the 4 vv e ~`° , l l, and sustained by a powerful chorus ; but gti kri all the voices, above the chorus, above the iii 44.,_entsi was heard the voice of Favanti, revelling, t ‘'re, in its extraordinary powers. She was '4; 14 ,, for at the conclusion of the first act, and led ‘etir., , by Corelli, who by his exquisite singing and Pe at i in the c h arac t er o f D on Ramiro has added b 414 f l to his already well-earned fame, and who I ctig7 l to become a permanent favourite with the "k C e Public. In the second act we find her again I.. kto e ecrentola, the Cindrella, 'in her old and mean . tel leh i kud engaged in the servile . offices of the' L'nd; Exquisitely ,did she give the beautiful Ni" " Quanto sei caro"—there was a quiet itia,,. 'e ' 4 4 1 1 . expressive tenderness about her manner of ls delicious nzorc be eau that contrasted au is4With the•dazzling brilliancy of her execution in ; 11 ' L v 'itra passages. The Prince arrives, and offers 'to hand, and then comes the far-famed passage, o,!,seti? che incanto e questo," in her execution , ' 4 t 72 1 she surpasses even her former efforts. The 3147 4 was, however, the great triumph of the NI Yv hen falling at the feet of the Prince, and she si ke ti er the pardon of her father and her sisters, she 1 7!s u lt li- di ,..:. " Ali I •Prence. Io cuda ai . _ v . ostu pie," 0 b.,fnce, notwithstanding the astonishing power Y, , already exhibited, were taken perfectly in4 t 2Prise. Never have we heard such 1 ,7 1 f5 a ,, 41 execution—the rapidity with which she 'Alia the lowest chest notes up to the very highest ~,..4 ' ti, the scale---the lavishness of her fieriture, the its, range of her voice, its wonderful flexibility ike'elicious purity were such as have never be . - 'Ns. 4 equalled. The far-famed finale "Non pm „,c...followed, and, unexhausted •by her previous Z4idiVlademoiselle Favanti exhibited in this trying Nti!eUlt scent the same extraordinary powers of Ltuil ast lei and the curtain fell amidst the most t ,Ze:.applause from all parts of the house.. The i a 'N called loudly for its repetition ; again the tttlit h t°B ,,, ei and again did Mademoiselle Favanti L7t t cr auditors by repeating with even greater she • at first this splendid and most difficult b,wt;, ,le was called for at the conclusion of the 1 9 Ilt et ,"` 1 bouquets innumerable were showered e ,t tit The stage looked like a parterre. Th 'lle,' -llwas most enthusiastic, and the debut of Ma e e Favanti may be considered as the most 4)41,41 that has taken place for years. Her per *, 1 . 11 andeommanding, her action very graceful, I ,itli t e r features handsome and expressive. 00 -e „gzu'd to her voice, we consider that Vlet t : r i , sweetness, flexibility, and compass,. it ev en 'een equalled. It is a more perfect voice ,t,, l St e Malibran's. She has not yet, however, gibi e a tithe part of what she will hereafter be ittidi c ' e f achieving, when a better acquaintance with It'txtnce shall enable her to do full justice . to her i ttt i, .t th a r ,aordinery powers. It was evident last U. li'r e ' she was suffering from the nervousness Okiiiell.St necessarily accompany a first appear . ance, 5t1t... 4 Prevented her from doing full Justice to h ., t 444 the cantabile passages. In the bravura tiN,, th is nervousness, however, entirely disap- Of C,: Carried away by the spirit of the scene, li kv ethi b :ut justice to herself and to the com . poser, t i e h er Ited those extraordinary powers to which vire kli '''re alluded, and which kindled the enthnsiasm la,}l4 l . : 4 2_dienee to a perfect fever of delight. leii."!'clied her art in a good school, and is an %N. be Musician; and with her unparallelled powers lihZ , aad e l‘tirely her own fault if she does not be- A k r it, the at no very distant period, the first k tili ,, kt e e"eworld. The other characters were well * lSi tti to e i. We have already spoken of the Don k it @ p. l eorelli. Dandini was ably represented by YsiZ t lli s i tc ' n i. , who made his first appearance before VI Ti m audience. Paltoni poasesses a good sound !pt' 1 1 , Went through the part more than respect tit kttq,e duet "Un segretto" was admirably sung N, 6, o 9"l"altoni and F. Lablache, who, as Don 8, ketti. was exceedingly unctions and amusing. L y e Lna ati ften is ripening into .an admirable blip. Nic.ic t , ° his father has descended upon him. .4!‘v a ~,. o f f lle one who has so improved within the kt•Nd 4 'Y e ars as F. Liblache. The ballet of La Es tOecilldiu w hs ded the evening's amusement. The ii tal ot'r kli. 'set only crowded, but crowded by the le r tny w ; al 1(1 fashion. Among the distinguished \4l o l4 nta.Lf "served her Royal Highness the Duchess ill' s geea bi Lfe and arty ; Lord and. Lady Wharncliffe, „ i tylZAri, ' — a ,,„,the Queen Dowager's bei; the Marquises " 4 e ',,elle v . -I ;.`te. and - Aylesbury • the Marchioness of o'' Baronule•lsT . an ' n Baron Rothschild, tot 4 te 44t Iti 1 leum 'Pembroke, ),. a tfiem , , t e tnansegge ; the Earls of N ° tGli ' e nulare, Cardigan, Belfast; the Coun lc, b e sterfield and Cardigan ; Baron and 8a k1744e„ 1 - .4,e Lagos, Baroness Calabrella ; Lords Os- Sti tt ° Tuns Fitzclarenee, Auckland, Ernest ,bo ttit k e annon, Castl e r e a g h, Elphinstone ; Ladies 4 y L$ 1 ,1 0 ; 11 eY Colborne, Shelley, Joddrell, Os yth qoa s er, Henry Webb, F. Trench, C. Shaker -1442, 4 ' lll . L. Stanhope, Mrs. Murray, Charles blt ............_ J ___................. ;1."4 , It t-L w Pr —On 4 4 1 t i 1 1, -y th 4--t a IIEATRICAL FUND FESTIVAL. . ;1111-a'arr,,! committee .of this charity were engaged in ;it y 'z k'r,;'gornents to give effect to the festival to be held ,4114t,;"1141,118(ms' Tavern on Wednesday next. The secre 'tsi-"Nls --tin cing the names and liberal donations of many tl ) , Iti lt , 44d distin guisheclpersons who had become vice 1404ttrktii,t('''it occasion to communicate to the committee ( 01 1) ,. 11 re c t iih'nfi intelligence, that Miss Burdett Coutts had L l k ? haq t l f und with a donation of 50/. ; that Monsieur P 4'-3 4 ' t - *Z it vcrY kind letter, enclosing a cheque for N I 1 114 te r r i.ute to a charity founded and endowed by that 41 1 t i l ,ra rti Of his art, David Garrick, for his less fortunate !utt, l 'lr. At:t.,B;" that Mr. Webster, lessee of the Haymarket, ti t ' t le vieVoZ, lessee of the Princess's, had consented to l ii , " hat -Ali;rekidenta, subscribing handsome donations ; ier4"s Itainforth, Miss P. Horton, M Buddene, en '2l4l l o 4 res, EtP2ano- forte, M. Ourv, on the violin, the Misses I,tridekl;(l,olllessrs. W. Harrison and Leffler, had kindly in . t4lli, intv_l,,olunteer their brilliant services at © fes ith, 4dr'd b' 41 Highness the President and Chairman will kt h r t i ~Y the Marquis of Clanricarde, Viscount Itane , , I`, l atio , t ..! lit Russell, Montague Gore, Esq., 31. P., James tit t i Cq'' MP., ecc. F . 4 ith CCI Dg ,' , ll , 0 - wa , ?r ON THE DOVER RAILWAT.—The Ttr l I ° , :le, 1 s ''., / rightfully injured on the Dover lino at Itlt4 4:_t Wedneeday, expired on Friday. His injuries ...' 16 / Preclticlo a il h ope of rmey. For the week ending July 7 December 28 December 24 December 31 March 2 ..~..►. of ge n/ morn d tb g e An iP le serl nc : rers we'" gna t s O. op bore' we on S g. e Duc hass of Li ver. dandoe. ib o, S eir' tee in tn , e niitst i°l3s i l a 'her 0"-. )11 Sat °. :e ndelb i f he 1 4 ,,, r d j ' en . , it Glod• sae M r Rormr ord Se Jey, cett, Pm` [th Li d d O a 1 0 ale ir rere el3 lB 'f Dean° at tke repo tresi to V` D I P • vie y, ;On! febb. rdsl far h~ S~~' I for, si [%e ill /d c: e Ch s ej 315 1 1 . )r. Datum-. I ser i° . .A 1144 gi ft ' ho sl ie s g o: • ona 1118 :41 f ounence; • Po w t h . tb .. the n!,, p ro& d 15,1!;:; o3P.P ) "' o i f • riot' Int° t b e t hat • oflo nt". off, es tot 0 064 ; eO 3 , Pr e -h P of ro3 l _, t t o r • Pr ege :be olst d d• thi` n ,ttcrn w e i; orce:i 40e5 fl at - Ogl es 1 0 ° gi ess— oc % sees., th er e ors'. r gore t r ed, is jou': e r_ tat ,of evg.9 - 0 to it oren; utios o f .fore 40 /I Po' 0 0 rine ir iru of 'int° yt g re of pr t he LI r t es ti to le BANK OF ENGLAND NOTES A Sessional Paper (No. 95) ordered by the House of. Commons to be printed on the 11th instant, and entitled " Bank of England—Bank of. England Notes." has just been issued from the Vote-office. Of the first of the returns which it comprises (moved for by Mr. William Williams), it is not possible, on account of its exceed ingly voluminous details, to present the reader with any but a very general abstract. It is —(I.) "An Account of the Notes of the Bank of England in Circulation, distinguishing that of the Branch Banks from that in London; of the Amount of all Deposits, distinguishing. Public from Private; of the Amount of all Securities held by the Bank, distinguishing Public from Private, and distinguishing Private into the heads of Bills and Notes discounted, and others; and of the Amount of Bullion in the Bank at the close of the business in every week, from the_7th day of July, 1841, to the present time." The return is made out form each week in this form, viz. : WEEK ENDING JULY 7, 1840. Bask-notes in circulation. 4 London Branches Z 16,445,000 Deposits—Public Priv:ate 3,680,000 Balance . 14,291,000 2,851,000 £33,587,000 Securities— Public Private, viz.:— Discounted Bills .£3,992,000 Other Credits 6,437,000 10,429,000 28,914,000 Bullion £33,587,000 The lowest and highest weekly average on all these items, collectively, appears to have been:-- In the For the week For the week Highest. Lowest. year ending ending 1840 July 7 1841 July 6 34,266,000 March 23 .... 25,172,000 1842 July 9 1843 July 8* 1844 January 6. 41,112,000 March 2 36,771,000 • It only 3 the week preceding, ending July I, this amount was ,848,0001. The amount of bullion in the cellars of the Bank did not vary exactly in the proportion of the aggregate in crease or diminution of circulation and deposits, at the above periods. The highest and lowest stocks oebullion returned in each of the same years were, respectively, as under, viz.:-- BULLION IN THE BANK OF ENGLAND. For the week Highest. ending 4,673,000 October 27... 5,696,000 January 19... 11,129,000* January 18... 14,982,000 f January 14... 16,162,000 f January 6 ... * The advance on the amount of weekly bullion in store at the Bank of England was almost uninterruptedly continuous throughout this year, from upwards of five to upwards of eleven mill ions. t The same remark applies, to an almost equal extent, throughout these two years (up to March 2 , 1 844), the Bank gradually increasing their bullion store from between to I and eleven to upwards of sixteen millions. No. U. " The Number of Country Bankers who act with Bank of England Notes exclusively, having fixed Amourits assigned ; the Total Amount of the Credit and the Rate at which they Discount."—(Moved for by Mr. Charles Wood.)—ln continuation of Appendix -No. 2 of the Report from the Committee of Banks of Issue, June 15,1841 : Gloucester 2 20,000 Manchester Swansea.. 1 Birmingham Liverpool Bristol Leeds 1 Newcastle Hull Norwich Plymouth Portsmouth London 2 - 24,000 £2,429,000 "Rate of Discount charged to the Country Bankers having fixed Amounts, 3/. per cent. per annum." THE BANK OF ENGLAND CHARTER. We lately had occasion to notice the regrets which existed amongst the banking interests, in consequence of the studied reserve of Ministers, and the refusal of Sir Robert Peel to make known his views respecting the Bank of England charter and the currency until after the Easter holidays. In doing so r we alluded to the various con jectures which were afloat as to what the plan of the Minister would prove to be ; some imagining that he would propose a huge national bank of sole issue—others that he would engraft something of the Bank of France-upon the Bank of England, While a third party held that he would merely call upon country banks of issue to publish their assets and liabilities, and to find security for their issues. We added, at the same time,,that the reasons upon which these different schemes were supposed to be in contemplation by Government had no sure foundation, being formed chiefly upon a belief that the silence of the Minister was ominous of change, and that he would be less reserved if he had nothing important tb communicate. Such being the state of feeling on this subject, it is unneces sar y a lmo s t t o sa y th a t a l etter, under the signature of "John Gladstone," published this morning under the title of " onsideratif ns connected with the renewal of the Charter of the Bank of England," has attracted very general attention ; and, Considering the near relationship in which the author of that communication stands to an influential member of the Cabi net, the President of the Board of Trade, it is not surprising that it is looked upon as bearing a demi-official character. We can scarely suppose, however, that Sir Robert Peel would send out a feeler, through the pen of Mr. Gladstone, the elder, to try the pulse of the country on the subjects dis cussed in the letter in question ; and it is more likely that the old gentleman has acted without consulting his son, and even committed the act of publicity without his approbation. But, be that as it may, it will be difficult to make the world believe that he had not consulted with his son in the first place, and whether the views of Mr. Gladstone, the elder, be coincident with tho se o f th e C a bi net or not, t h ey will be looked upon as such, and as shadowing forth the coming of events already determined on in Downing-street, until they are officially contradicted. If the opinions of the Govern ment be not formed yet, or if they be at variance with the suggestions pointed out by Mr. Gladstone, it is surely incum bent on the Minister to let the truth be known, and no lon ger to maintain the mask of secrecy.--Chronicle. A letter published in a Morning Paper by Mr. John Gladstone, recommending the establishment of a na tional bank`of issue, has given rise to some discussion in the banking circles to-day. There is, however, nothing unique in the plan of a bank recommended by Mr. Gladstone, and the letter has exclusively derived its importance from the propinquity of the writer to the President of the Board of Trade, and the sensitive feeling on the subject that some change in the present arrangement of the currency is probable. There is, however, not the slightest ground to believe that the letter of Mr. John Gladstone has any relation to or con nection whatever with the views entertained by her Ma jesty's Ministers; and it may,.therefore, with the scores of other analogous propositions, be laid upon the shelf for fur ther consideration, without inflicting any serious injury on the public. We shall only notice one part of Mr. Gladstone'a f lan, which we consider would be fatal to its practical work ing, by whatever machinery it may be.attempted to carry it out. Mr. Gladstone proposes that the quantity of paper to be kept in circulation shall, in all cases, be governed by the influx and reflux of bullion. This is the pet crotchet of the abstract theorists, but the Directors of the Bank of England can best answer whether, for the last half century, they have ever succeeded in reducing it to practice in any case of emer gency, when it can alone be put to the test. We need de scant no further on Mr. Gladstone's proposition for a national bank. The report from the Committee upon joint-stock companies is attracting the attention of the joint-stock bankers in the City. For although joint-stock banks were excluded from the field of inquiry, yet it is supposed that some of the mea sures recommended for the government of other large com panies may, as far as applicable, be extended to large bank ing companies. The principal points in the report are-1. A complete regitration of shareholders: 2. Suing and being sued in the name•and title of the company. 3. Publicity of accounts ; and 4. Subjecting the company to the laws of bankruptcy. To the first of these the joint-stock banks would not object ; indeed, at present all joint-stock banks beyond sixty-five miles from London register the names of their shareholders at the Stamp-office; and those in London, we believe, voluntarily distribute to all their customers, and to such other persons as may ask for them, printed lists of the names and residences of their shareholders. Secondly, suing and being sued in the name and title of the company is considered much superior to the mode of suing and being sued through a public registered officer, as practised by the joint-stock banks Beyond sixty miles from London ; while to those located is London it would supersede the present plan of requiring the customers of the banks to sign a " special contract"' and swing through the medium of trustees. It is thought that a further improvement would be to allow public registered companies to hold real property under their public seal, and not by means of trustees, which is found very inconvenient in case of the death or the removal of a trustee. Thirdly, publicity of accounts, it is contended, may do very well for an Insurance Company or a Railway Company, but it is not so well adapted for a bank, where so much de pends upon confidence and credit. If, h owever, th i s s h ould be enforced, then, say the objectors, banking n companiesies hamming should be put upon the same level; only six partners, or fewer than six, should publish th e i r ac counts, as well as those that have more than six. • The fourth suggestion, that joint• stock banks when they s top payment should have their affairs wound up under th e superintendence of the Court of Bankruptcy, or by some public officer appointed for the purpose, is not, as far as we can learn, objected to by the London joint-stock bankers. generally of the Committee have receiv e d the T h a e pp s r l o g b g on a c t s i t o i no s f commercial men, and the President of the Board of Trade is rendering a most useful service to the community, bv protecting them against the frauds of bubble Madlle. Cerito commences her engagement at her Majesty's Theatre in the month of May, and remains in town till August For September and October she is engaged by the Im presario of the Pergola at Florence, after which she proceeds to Naples, her native city, to enjoy some repose there. The fair danseusce is subsequently engaged for tour.and-t went y performances at Rome, and for twenty representations at Berlin ; and is also re. tained by Mr. Lumley for next season. We learn, by a letter from Ifamburgh of the 13th, that several vessels are being laden there, on speculation, with merchandise for China, by houses of Haralmrgh, Bremen, Dresden, and Lowest. 3,004,000 3,904,000 5,468,000 10,832,000• 15,271,000-f ~~~~ . x s 3 , THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY MORNING, MARCH 25: 1844. workmen would be good also for the masters. The interests of the two are identified. Capital and labour will ride upon the same horse as long as the world lasts. But inasmuch as we believe that this measure Is not called for by humanity —that its effects would be the reverse of what hu manity would desire—that it proceeds on a principle which is dangerous to liberty—that it would be very perilous to the trade of the country, and of all who depend upon it—that it would gi►e a most formidable advantage to our foreign competitors—and that therefore it would bring poverty, misery, and consequent demo. ralisation, instead of happiness to the community —we feel bound to raise our warning voice against it. Themill-owners of Leeds, both in the flax and the woollen trades, have sent up a memorial and deputation to London, to protest against the ten hours' clause. But we find the manufac turers in Manchester, Huddersfield, and other towns are very supine; for which two reasons are alleged-Ist, they do not be lieve it possible that Government can allow the Bill to pass; and 2d, they are so disgusted and wearied out with the yearly inter. ferences or threatenings of the Legislature, that they have become hopeless or sulky. We think they are very wrong. If they do not protect them selves, they may rely upon it no one else can efficiently .protect them. If they are indifferent to their own interests and characters, they must not be surprised at the loss of both. THE NEW LAW OF LIBEL. (From the Sunday Times.) It was generally admitted that the law of libel was in a very imperfect state when Lord Campbell under took to introduce a new Bill upon the subject during the last session. There are few men who were better qualified for the task than the Noble and Learned Lord. During his own forensic experience he had acquired a personal knowledge of the defects and im perfections of the syStem which he undertook to re vise and correct. The Bill which he succeeded in carrying introduced, in many respects, some salutary changes and improvements. There are, however, some few of its enactments so totally at variance with our notions of common justice as well as with the more universally operating influences of common hu manity, that we are sure when public attention has been properly directed towards them the proper re medy will not remain long unapplied. Strenuous supporters as, of course, we are of the liberty of the press, we should be amongst the foremost in regret ting that that liberty should ever degenerate into li centiousness. Society ought to be protected against those who bring odium and disgrace upon the press by their infamous attacks upon private character. In order to effect this, a more stringent law of libel was undoubtedly wanted. There are few errors, however, into which so many are prone to fall as that of jump ing from one extreme to another. " Inchlit in Scyllam qui vult vitare Charybdim." A drunkard imagines that no remedy for his unfor tunate propensity can be found elsewhere than in the regions of teetotalism, and so on ; in the great majority of cases, extremes have a sort of natural tendency to beget extremes. The law of Lord Campbell came into operation in November last; and since then Mr. Gregory, of the Satirist, has been found guilty of a libel on a criminal information, and is at this moment undergoing his sentence in the goal of Newgate. We do not attempt for a moment to justify the conduct of Mr. Gregory; but, at the same time, we cannot help thinking that the punishment which he is at present suffering, and all the circumstances connected with it, which we shall presently more particularly enume rate, are not only by many degrees too severe, but that they are completely opposed as well to the plain principles of justice as to the spirit and tenor of the British constitution itself. And we are the more anxious to make this plainly appear, inasmuch as in the case of Mr. Gregory a principle is acknowledged, and a precedent established, which, if not timeously crushed, may be erected into a guide and authority for the future. We have received a letter from a correspondent on the subject. We take the following extract, inasmuch as it gives a graphic and circum stantial account of the sufferings of those who under the present law may unfortunately be convicted of libel : " On arriving within the prison, the party is imme diately placed upon a level with the most heinous felon, both with respect to lodging and diet. His bed consists of a narrow iron bench, a rope mat, and two horse-cloths; sheets, linen, pillows are refused, though his family may strive to supply him with those cleanly and necessary comforts. His food consists of the regulation gruel and the coarse clods and stickings contracted for by the prison butchers. He is compelled to eat his scanty dinner by the aid of his fingers alone, for the prison rules forbid such utensils as knives and forks to its inmates. During the depth of winter his fire—(candles he never sees)—is extinguished at four o'clock P.M., leaving him for fifteen hours out of the twenty-four in all the misery of total darkness and solitude to brood over his situation. He is placed under the most rigorous restraint in every parti cular ; books, papers, writing materials of every kind, even to a black-lead pencil, are denied to him. The oc casional society of his family and friends, except under restrictions rendering such visits painful both to him and them, is also prohibited." It will hardly, we think, be denied that the above punishment is too severe for a man who has been convicted of a libel, even supposing it to be one of an aggravated nature. Men found guilty of libel are generally of a class superior to that of common felons. Consequently, to them the punishment of imprison ment, with all the aforenamed restrictions, is much more severe than it Can be to those found guilty of other criminal offences. They are placed in associa tion with men with whom they can have no inter change of thought, .no conversational intercourse, and the punishment, in fact, becomes one of solitary con finement in its very worst form. In order to show the way in which this sort of imprisonment has operated upon Mr. Gregory already, we again quote from our Correspondent : "The effects of this unprecedentedly severe treatment soon became apparent, and symptoms of disease dis played themselves. The family physician is consulted, who, after much difficulty, procures admission to visit the patient. He at once gave a certificate of his danger, which, together with a memorial from the family, was laid before the Secretary of State for the Home De partment. A reply, in the form of a printed notice, has been sent, to the effect that no sufficient ground exists for Sir James Graham to interfere." Deeply affected by the disregard here evinced for human life, his family awaited with patient but har rowing anxiety the result of a few weeks, apprehen sive of the consequences which had been predicted by his physician. The symptons displayed themselves in a still stronger form, and a consultation was held, at which it was determined that several of the most emi nent physicians in London should separately visit him and, with his own medical attendant, deliver their own individual opinions. This step was ta ken, certificates were written by nine medical the patient's lungs were affected ; that since his in giving it as their decided opinion that g e a e r n e t e l r e a m t i e o n n , a c l l l isease had gradually been stealing on him ; and that, if he be not removed from prison to a more healthy situation, where he will have pure air and exercise, good diet, and a tranquil mind, the disease he is labouring under must advance, and ulti mately destroy him. Another states, after a length ened description of his case, " that every day of his confinement in prison must greatly add to the danger of his situation ; and if it be much prolonged, that he must inevitably fall a victim to his disease." Nine certificates, agreeing as to the precarious state of his health, together with another memorial, were laid before the Home Secretary. After waiting for twenty : one days in a state of the most ha rassing anxiety, another pri n t e d f o rm was returned again, stating that 16 no sufficient grounds existed to justify the interference of Sir James Graham." It is certainly difficult for uninitiated persons to dis cover the grounds on which Sir James Graham has come to so very extraordinary a conclusion. When the man is actually dying by slow degrees, it would appear, according to the common dictates of humanity and justice, that there was but one course for him to pursue. It is quite clear that the law never intended that the sentence passed upon him should be the means either of engendering a fatal disease or of accelerating the progress of it. And when such appears, upon the most incontrovertible evidence, to be the effect of it, surely it is the bounden duty of the Home Secretary to interpose his authority, in order to prevent such an event taking place. To permit the sentence of the law now to go on in its regular course is absolutely to sanction the greatest passible amount of cruelty and injustice. No matter how great or how ag gravated Mr. Gregory's offence may have been, still the punishment which he is now suffering, and the fatal re , sults to which that punishment, if it be allowed to go on, must necessarily lead, is manifestly not that which is in accordance either with the letter or the spirit of the law. Even supposing it to be just (which we altogether deny) that convicted libellers should be subjected to the same severe and rigorous mode of imprisonment as that which those convicted of other crimes are necessitated to endure, yet, in the present case, there are qualifying circumstances which call for the prompt interference of the proper authorities ; an interference, indeed, which, under similar circumstances in the case of other criminals, has never been withheld. Let the case be suppo s ed o f h h a s t the severe prison imprisonment for s a h m e e a p n . s s t e e n a l t i e n n g c , e d i f i t t o w t w e r e e l% f ' e o umnodn that discipline was operating upon his constitution in such a manner as seriously to injure his health, surely in such a case the Home Secretary would feel imperatively called on to interfere. Indeed, such cases of interference are not by any means of rare or unfrequent occurrence. How, then —with what plea ofjust aside—can Sir ice,oronwhat ground of policy—setting Jameshu manity Graham re f use t o inter fere in this instance ? We do trust th a t thi s ma tt er will be taken up by the press generally and warmly. It is a case in which they all ought to feel almost guilty i%t of a libel at the personally concerned. The fate of Mr. Gregory to day may be theirs to-morrow. If a man on a cri minal information be found e or any lengthened if Old th eB sentence viigste, anal there, lßailey, he period, that sort of rigorous and cruel discipline awaits him to which transportation at once would be of m imprisonmentns t e s ent to be f far preferable. As the Home Secretary has already resisted the force of two appeals to him, we trust that some Liberal Member of Parliament will take the matter up. The law should not, and we trust will I not, be allowed to continue in its present state. Let those convicted of 'aggravated libels be punished, and THE FACTORIES BILL. (FROM AN OPERATIVE CORRESPONDENT.) The debate on the Factories Eill has excited universal attention, relating to interests as varied as powerful, im portant alike to the high Minister and humble operative, and concerning the cause of humanity and the commerce of England. The House of Commons, feeling the vast importance of their decision, gave the subject due consideration and regard, but, unfortunately, failed in perceiving that humanity and commerce may go hand in band, and, fearing to en danger the one, hardly dared to assist the other. Three times did they " resolve and re-resolve," and at last remain uncertain and undecided, regardless of the expectations awaiting their decision, and the various emotions the debate had called forth. 'What hopes and fears' have alternately cheered and depressed the hearts of the poor and suffering during the discussion of this, to them, all-important subject. The majority of Monday brought joy and thanksgiving to expectant thou sands, who hailed the decision of the House as the certain triumph of their fondest hopes—all ignorant of the power of that House to change its decisions in five days —nay, even in as many minutes ! The Govern ment, with perseverance worthy of a better cause, refused to believe themselves defeated by a ma jority of nine, and brought the subject again under con sideration, till last night's division took the victory from their opponents, but without awarding the triumph to them selves—once again must doubt, and uncertainty be the por tion of the poor, and their condition will now be even worse than before ; pain and sorrow are evils in themselves, but how much is their bitterness augmented by first inspiring hope and promising relief, and then dashing the cup of joy from their lips, and leaving them to toil and suffering, with the added pangs of "hope deferred." Five days have elapsed since the House decided in favciur of "justice and hu manity." In that time the news has been spread far and wide through the manufacturing districts, cheer ing the desolate and diffusing universal satisfaction through all classes. Will the Government, in the face of popular feeling, use their influence in turning the poor man's joy to mourning ? Will they only employ the power vested in their hands, in compelling the wearied child and suffering woman, to pursue their hard laborious tasks two hours after the toils and trials of the day have rendered rest necessary both to mind and body? Will they do this? We know they will. They have proved, by their untiring opposition, that their will is not wanting in the cause of oppression ; that they can is another question. The struggle will be renewed on Monday, and let the House then show itself superior to the Ministry alike in power and inclination to do good. The general feehng was with Lord Ashley, when he commenced the subject, by appealing to the judgments and hearts of his hearers—that feeling was with him when the Ministry sus tained their first defeat—and that feeling will be with him, and with the thousands depending on his motion, when next Monday shall decide the contest. When the depression which now weighs down the spirits of the suffering shall give way to certainty and joy—all the doubt and apprehension they now entertain shall be forgotten, on that " holiday for broken hearts," and the Government will be compelled to own that even the power of 'office, and the force of perseverance, must give way before the dictates of " justice and humanity." (From the Leeds Times.) We shall not stop at present to inquire into the mo tives of the majority of the Members of the house of. Com mons, and whether they would have been equally ready to concede a measure of justice had the clients been their own wretchedly oppressed and over-laboured serfs, and had the question concerned their own " vested rights," and rents, and mortgages, and class interests. It is enough that a great act of moral justice has been done—an act of unquestionable humanity—of real practical philanthropy and benevolence. We therefore hail the success of Lord Ashley's motion with feelings of almost unmingled joy and satisfaction. The case of Lord Ashley and his supporters is based upon irrefragable evidence. Long-continued labour is deleterious to the human constitution in any case, but especially where the tender frames of women and chil dren are concerned ; and the tendency of the factory system, of late years, has unquestionably been, to absorb a larger proportion of female and infant labour, to the great detriment and injury of the entire working popu lation. They have taken the place of men in almost all departments in some factories—especially in Lancashire; the consequence of which has been that women and children are employed, while men are thrown idle. Nature's arrangements are thus entirely reversed, and the father, instead of being the supporter and the guar dian, becomes the dependent and the domestic drudge of his wife and children ! And what is the consequence as regards the women and children themselves ? The most fearful degradation —often the most appalling vice ‘! The sacred character of woman has been terribly lowered. Withdrawn from their domestic functions, their homes have been necessa rily neglected ; the social and family ties have been broken up ; children have grown up uneducated and entirely neglected ; the domestic affections, by which society is held together, have been crushed and de stroyed ; and woman,—instead of being the domestic helpmate of man, the mistress of his household, the ma nager of his home, the mother of his family,—has be come his fellow day-drudge, the rival competitor with him for labour, and often also the participator, if not the rival with him, in his bad and vicious practices. • Who can doubt the magnitude of these evils ? Who can overlook them, or refuse to alleviate or remove them ? Now. Lord Ashley's motion does not propose to take women and c hild ren ou t o f th e f ac tories, as the same Legislature has already taken them from the coal mines. It merely lays down what is considered to be a proper day's work for the women and children employed in factories. The Legislature has already established the principle of interference in such matters, and it now merely carries the principle forwards in the salutary di rection. If anything, Lord Ashley's motion is too ex acting: looking upon this solely as a question of hu manity, we consider ten hours' daily labour in factories far too much for either women or children. Lord Ashley's proposition is, therefore, in our opinion, an ex ceedingly reasonable one; and, if the Legislature is to interfere at all, it cannot do less than affirm the Noble Lord's motion. But do not let us shut our eyes to the immense con sequences involved in the passing of this clause of Lord Ashley's by the Legislature. A ten hours' labour bill for women and children will also prove a Ten - Hours' Bill for men ; because, when the women and children quit work in mills, they constitute such a large preponder. - ante of the factory operatives that the men Must quit also. Well, then, a Ten Hours' 13i11 will lie th; neces sary consequence of the final adoption of Lord Ashley's clause. And the next result will be a general reduction of.wages in proportion to the limitation imposed upon the duration of factory labour. The reduction may be to even a greater extent than this, if means be not adopted by the Legislature to open up new channels of trade and commerce. But certainly a reduction to the extent we have mentioned—in other words, by about one-sixth of the present weekly wages of the factory operatives will take place immediately on the enactment of a Ten Hours' Bill by the Legislature. We state this to prevent subsequent disappointment on the part of the operative classes. As for the mas ters, they are mostly in favour of a Ten Hours' Bill, and a large proportion of them, during the last few years, have been working their mills considerably under the time prescribed by Lord Ashley's motion. Of course, they have done this from necessity, and not from choice ; and most of the operatives have been obliged to be satisfied with a " short time" wage. And they know that it was no more than reasonable that they should be paid in proportion to the duration of their labour, as is the case in all other employments. On the same grounds, Lord Ashley's motion, which en forces permanent short time of working, will enforce also a permanently reduced wage, unless large remedial measures are adopted to prevent it. And without such measures, the limitation of the hours of factory labour may yet possibly be regarded as even a measure of merciless injustice. (From the Leeds Meresry.) By a strange combination of mistaken friends of humanity with men who deliberately aim to cripple the manufacturing interest, Lord Ashley has been enabled to carry his amendment on the Fac tories Bill, to restrict the labour of women and young persons under 21 years of age to 10 hours a day. This extraordinary vote was given by a majority of 179 to 170, on Monday last, against the decided and strenuous opposition of the Government, and against the declared and strong opinion of the Factory Inspectors. Several of the Members who spoke in favour of Lord Ashley's amendment seem to forget that the true principle of social eco nomy is to leave industry free and unrestrained; and that this is not a principle of small importance, but one vital to the prospe rity of a nation, and connected with the personal liberty, the dearest rights, and the substantial comforts of the people. They seem also to forget that factory labour is not compulsory ; it is purely voluntary. A factory worker, if out of health, or die satisfied with his treatment or remuneration, or induced by any personal or domestic circumstance, or even by caprice, may quit his work whenever he pleases. He sees men in a thousand other occupations around him, and he may change his line of life whenever he thinks fit, if by so doing he could better himself. They forget, too, that the high wages of factory workers—for they art high, comparatively—obtain for them better food, better clothing, better houses, and more of all the comforts of life, con ducive at once to health and to respectability, than could be had for the lower wages which abridged labour could purchase. • They forget, when talking of the selfishness of manufacturers— who, by the way, are no more open to the charge than any other class of men, and not so much so as that class which produces ha. bitual scarcity of food in the country, for its own pecuniary advan tage—that the profits of the manufacturer are indissolubly con nected with the comforts of the labourer. Profits and wages rise and fall together, and you cannot destroy or reduce the former, without equally destroying or reducing the latter. They apparently forget, that though the Legislature may fix a maximum of labour, it cannot fix a minimum. It cannot provide that the mills shall work ten hours, •r eight hours, or at all. The talk about equalising labour is pure nonsense. To diminish the productiveness of industry, has no tendency whatever to make the demand for it more steady. They seem to forget that the grand cause of the superior wealth and greatness of England is the superior industry and energy of its inhabitants; and that whatever fetters the latter endangers the former. They seem almost 'mahout exception to be ignorant that the price of manufactured goods cannot be raised or kept up at the pleasure either of the manufacturers or of the home consumers (however self.denying the latter might be.) It is governed (so long as we are an exporting nation) by the price of similar products in the markets of the world ; and that price is itself governed by the cost of production in the country where goods can be made the cheapest. When we cease to manufacture cheaper than other countries, we must cease to export; but we cannot cease to export without ruining the country and starving its inhabitants. Would this be "humanity ?" Many, who talk of banishing women and children from the mills, and setting adult men to do their work, forget that this would be to degrade adult labour both in its character and its re. - muneration. When men do the work of women and children, they can only receive the wages of women and children. This is the sole reason why the hand-loom weavers receive such miser. able wages—it is work which women and children can do nearly as well as men. But if the women and children should be driven out of the mills, and the husbands and fathers should only receive the wages which women and children received before, what would be the condition of the families ? Their wages would not be re. w t c ;i t fh l would er t h hb i e s e al believed vh n e d d ? du that ar t t t to ot the duced a sixth, b u t at l east a half, perhaps two.thirth I And how thehe workingceomu e t* comfort colna o s f asnw t d h o e mu workingwould dratl rnadp advantaged c ao l nv a te s am s g e d s n ? t — o bPy a r Ten Hours' Bill, we would support it w'th all our hearts. We would do it for their own sakes, because they are by far the greater number, and therefore their interests are more important both in the eyes of God and of all good men. B ut we would-do it also for their masters' sakes; for we know that what was good for the punished severely,.but not let their punishment be of so inhuman and cruel a nature as to change their position materially, by enlisting upon their side the feelings and sympathies of the public. This would have the effect of bringing the law into contempt, and of causing the framers of it to be looked on not as public benefactors, but as tyrants and oppressors. We hope we have said enough to show that some modi fication of the present rigorous, cruel, and inhuman system is now imperatively called for. [The writer of this article imputes blame to the new libel law which it does not deserve. The crime of which Mr. Grego7 was convicted was committed before 1..0rd Campbell s Bill came into operation, and he could not be tried on an cz iiost facto law. f the statements regarding the treatment of convicted felons is correct, no language can be found too strong to denouace such horrible punish ts. Better to recur to the of jystem of hanging m:-,%4 . 4y scores, than mur der trS, by slopL i :torture. r • ersons convicted of serious crimes de::76 , c;nd:, punishment; but there istga wide difference betw condign punish ment alit], a horribldh4cti .11 this. —ED. Sun.] r , GLAcVQW,i - S, AND CAR bth LISLE RAILWAY. A meeting of shareholders in the Edinburgh, and Glasgow Railway Company, and of parties friendly to the proposed line from Glasgow to Carlisle, by Dumfries, was convened by circular, and held at one o'clock yesterday in the ex-committee room, in order to meet the Chairman and a deputation from Glasgow of the promoters of the proposed line. Amongst the gentlemen present were Messrs. J. B. Smith, Joseph Crewdson, M'Connel, Samuel Walker, G. Grundy, Peet, Higgin, Cardwell, Standring, John Ogden, John Duncuft, &c. The deputation consisted of John Lead better Esq., Chairman of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway Board,!and also Chairman of the Provisional Committee of the proposed line, and Mr. William Logie of Glasgow, interim Secretary. Mr. G. Grundy being called to the chair, Mr. Leadbetter entered into a statement, with a view to show that the pro posed line by Dumfries was the one most for the interest of English shareholders in the Glasgow and Ayr line, and in the Edinburgh and Glasgow line, to support. He noticed the survey four years ago by the Government engineers, with Sir Frederick Smith at their head, and their instructions being, in con formity with a resolution of the House of Commons, to report as to which was the best line of communi cation from England with Edinburgh and Glasgow (which instructions did not leave them at liberty to decide between the merits of an east and west coast line) ; they reported in favour of the centre line (the Caledonian). But since then circumstances had changed; the East Coast Company had got up their capital and went into Committee yesterday, for a line as far south as Berwick, and it was understood that capital was made up for carrying it on as far as Newcastle, Mr. Hudson giving the latter por tion his powerful influenoe. The Caledonian, or centre line, was backed by the Grand Junc tion, North Union, Preston and Lancaster, and. Lancaster and Carlisle Companies, which he be lieved subscribed a portion of the capital for it, and which supported it, hoping thereby to get a portion of the east coast traffic ; but they would have that ad vantage if the east coast line were carried, and the Bill for it was not impeded by the efforts of the Caledo nian Company. This reduced the question to this : Shall Glasgow have its intercourse with Lancashire and other parts of England, carried round by Edin burgh? He thought every one would see the neces sity of a west coast line, and then the question arose, what ought that line to be ? There could not be a doubt that a line coming upon the Ayrshire line at Ayr, or Kilmarnock, must be benelcial to the interests of the Ayrshire shareholders. Then, would it. pay ? The proposed line would pass through a very rich part of Scotland, with a considerable town population, besides abounding in agricul tural and mineral wealth. One part of it would pass through a large bed of coal and of the most valuable iron-stone (the black-band). It was therefore more likely to pay than the other lines. The Caledonian line had much less favourable gradients; its recent alterations gave it a gradient for some distance of one in 75, besides 18 miles more at an average of one in 128. They would have to pass over the Beattock summit. Taking the statement of the Caledonian Company, that line would be 24 miles shorter than that by Dumfries; but the Ayrshire line would have much more favourable gradients, be less expensive in forming, and the engineer said, would be worked in the same time as the Caledonian. Up to Wednesday last, nearly 5,000 shares, or 120,0001., had been subscribed in Glasgow • the Ayrshire Company, at a meeting, on Wednesday, agreed to subscribe 200,000/. to the undertaking. In London they had had applications for 2,000 shares (50,0001.), and there was the fairest prospect of the subscription being taken up. He was aware of the great array of names on the committee of the Caledonian line, and that they were backed by the chairmen of the English lines ; but for this line it was preferred to have a provisional committee of merchants, who would work like men of business. Lord Eglintoun (a large pro prietor in Ayrshire) was to be the Governor or Chairman, and Lord James Stuart (representing the Bute family), the Deputy-Chairman. They hoped also to have the assistance and interference of the Portland family. He hoped, therefore, the Ayr shire Railway shareholders in Manchester would give the proposed line their substantial sup port. Then the Edinburgh and Glasgow Rail way Company, whose capital was almost en tirely in England, would have their interests vi tally affected by the decision between the Cale donian and the Ayrshire line. The former, by its diverging east and west from Lanark to Edinburgh and Glasgow, would be really a competing line with the Edinburgh and Glasgow,—besides making the distance between the two cities more than 60 miles, instead of 46 or 47 as at present. It was clearly the interest of the Edinburgh and Glasgow Company to appose the Caledonian Company, which also pro posed to carry a line across the Edinburgh and Glas gaw line, direct north to Stirling and Perth. In answer to questions from various gentlemen, Mr. Leadbetter added that the Caledonian Company would have 112 miles of new line to make, after taking ad vantage of 20 miles of mineral railways in the neigh bourhood of Glasgow; their capital was to be 1,800,000/., or 16,0001. a mile. The Glasgow, Dumfries, and Car lisle Company had only 92 miles to execute, which their engineer assured them could be done (paying four per cent. during execution to the shareholders) at 1,300,0001., or 13,0001. a:mile. Some further state ments and conversation ensued, in the course of which Mr. Leadbetter stated that the total amount sub scribed was about 400,0001., or nearly one-third of the whole amount required, though the scheme had been before the public only for a few days. It was ultimately resolved, that that the best thanks of the meeting be given to Mr. Leadbetter and Mr. Logie, for the valuable information, and that they be requested to take an an early opportunity of convening another meeting of proprietors of the Edinburgh and Glasgow, and the Glasgow, Kilmarnock, and Ayr Railways, and of such other parties as are favourable to the the western line from England to Glasgow, by Dumfries and Ayr.—Manchester Guardian of Sa turday. COMMON LANDS INCLOSURE BILL. We wish to draw public attentiou to the importance of Lord Worsley's Inclosure Bill, for when it is car ried, which we suppose will be the case, it will be the basis of many similar measures. We assume the principles—First, that the land that we have ought to be turned to the most productive account ; and, secondly, that it is bad policy to force bad lands into cultivation at a great expense, when we can procure land-produce at a much less price from other coun tries. We believe that a very large potion of the common land brought under culture within the last half century might, to our advantage, be again turned into wilds and wastes, and we are sure that a great many of the owners of these inclosed commons would be very glad to get rid of their property if they could find a fair price, or purchasers of any sort. But let Inclosure Acts be what they may, they ought not to trespass on the rights of the poor. Lord Worsley draws nice distinctions between common and waste land, and'commonable land. The end of these quib blings is, that the poor are to be robbed of whatever they possess. Let lawyers quibble as they may about the extent of the poor man's rights, certain is it that of those rights he is to be deprived. Common and waste land is attached to certain tenements, and al though those who may take leases of tenements, with this right attached to them, _ may not care to avail themselves of it, still, having paid the landlord rent in proportion to the acquisition, such tenants ought not forcibly to be deprived of that for which they have actually paid. The principle is too clear to be disputed. Commonable land may be productive of corn, and some parts of it be productive of only grass; the arable produce is always claimed by some landowner or lord of the manor, whilst the pasturage is the personal right of the inhabitants. Here the cloven foot of lordly power is seen trampling on the poor, for whilst the rich can pasture their cat tle all the year round, the poor can use the grass for only two seasons. The Bill provides for the inclosure and improvement of common and commonable lands. The exchange of lands, the division of intermixed land, and for the defective or incomplete execution of the powers of general and local inclosure Acts. No Bill ever brought into Parliament aimed at a hun dredth part of such arbitrary power. how is this tyrannical Bill to be executed ? Hitherto no inclosure, however small, could take place with out an Act of Parliament having passed the Lords and Commons, and having received the Royal assent. Now, Lord Worsley is to execute his law by a s3t of Commissioners, who, be assures us, will be unpaid. They need no payment, fcr they will have pickings and parcellings, allotments t nd opportunities, of preferences and denials, sufficient "~ _ i to make their places immensely profitable. But no man ever yet entertained the idea of a Commission with a power of superseding Acts of Parliament. Lord Worsley's Bill is nothing but an indirect prop to the corn-laws. He tells us that his Bill will call the industrious poor into employment, and pro duce a greater investment of capital in the land. There is too much capital locked up in land already, and as to the poor man' s labour, abolish the corn-laws, and employment for our poor will be ample ; whereas Lord Worsley's Bill would not give to the poor through out England a four-pound loaf in a year for each in dividual. But food is not the only thing to be con sidered. The health, the ventilation, the recreations, the sports, and general enjoyments of the poor are to be taken into account. A great source of morals proceeds from early associations, and the poor man, in middle life, and especially in old age, is broken hearted at seeing torn from, and inclosed, in favour of the rich, the land on which he gambolled in his child hood, and on which, perhaps, his mother kept a goose or a pig. His Lordship's Bill holds out the lure of draining commons, in too many of which there is stagnant water. This drainage ought to be effected by the magistrates, or the parishes ; but the new Commissioners having drained the land, take it all as possessions of the rich. A large common may have stagnant pools, pestilential to all persons around it ; but surely we are not driven to the alternative of letting the nuisance continue, or of suffering a landlord, in reward for draining the pond, to seize upon the land ? The new Commis sioners are to let ground for burial-places, for chapels, and for schools, &c.; in fact, a Commission with more arbitrary or more extensive powers, never was proposed to Parliament. The petty commoners go sadly to the wall. His Lordship boasts that his Bill will throw no charges on the Consolidated Fund. It need not do so, for it robs the poor to such an extent, that the Bill can pay its own expenses. Lands, in England, are much intermixed, that is to say, a humble man may possess a few acres, sur rounded by larger estates. He refuses to alter his course of husbandry to meet the wishes of his richer neighbours. This Bill presumes that such a division of land is inconvenient. Inconvenient to whom ? Of course to the rich man, and the Bill gives the Commissioners a power to alter the arrangement or possession of pro perty ; thus a humble man, who may be as proud of a small possession, inherited from his virtuous fore fathers—as proud even as those Dukes that inherit their large estates from the profligacy of their an cestral mothers with Charles 11., may be hustled out of his property with very little ceremony, whilst, if we attempt to invade the pensions, of immense amount, granted by Charles 11. to his six or eight mistresses, we are reproached with designs of attack ing the right of property. In the woodlands of England there are glades, or intervening small pasturages, of course belonging to the humble classes. The woods are the possession of the rich, the small pasturages are the property of the poorer proprietors. It is urged that these owners of pas turages have an interest in injuring the wood. What is to be the remedy? The owners of forests are to be empowered to do what they . please with the owners of the small pasturages. There is no appeal to a jury; no not even to the quarter-sessions. But the Commissioners are to do all—these Commissioners, of course, being of the upper classes, and having local interests, prejudices, and attachments. It is com pletely a Bill of spoliation. Great evils unquestion ably exist in our tenures of land ; but they are not to be removed by a sweeping measure of this sort.— Weekly Dispatch. ESTABLISHED CHURCH IN WALES. (FROM A CORRESPONDENT.) A petition has lately been sent from the inhabitants of the parish of Mamhilad, in the diocese of Liandaff, to the Bishop of that see, praying for a redress of their grievances, and stating that " from the appointment of an unqualified Eng lish clergyman, they have been deprived of the service of the Church in their native tongue, and that, if this evil was continued, they had no alternative but to absent themselves from their parish church, and seek some other place of wor ship, where they would hear the word of God in their own language, and humbly praying that his Lordship will redress this grievance." Although it may appear singular that such a case should occur.in these times, when the people are becoming daily better informed of their rights, and the protection provided for them by law, yet it is nevertheless a fact that they are common all over the Principality ; and that, in three cases out of four, the natives are either only allowed Divine service once a fortnight in their own language, or have it taken away al together. The only remarkable feature in this case is, that the parties still care enough for the Established Church to claim redress, whereas, generally speaking, the Welsh have been so wearied and disgusted by the unchristian policy pur sued, for the last century, by the Anglo-Cambrian Prelates, of making it their business to try and extirpate the language of Wales, instead of using it as the best means of promoting and increasing religious feelings, that they have generally abandoned their churches for Welsh Dissenting chapels, where the services of religion are performed in Welsh, by na tive ministers. The parishioners of Mamhilad have deter mined, if their prayer is not attended to, to appeal to the Archbishop of Canterbury, have the matter brought before Parliament, and show that the Welsh are not excluded from the benefit of the laws, civil or ecclesiastical. which provides for the administration of religious services, for all her Ma jesty's Christian subjects attached to the Establish Church, in their native language. PARLIAMENTARY PAPERS. THE " MISCELLANEOUS ESTIMATES ;" I. H. and 111., No. 108.—(Ordered by the Commons to be printed 13th March, 1844.)—These estimates are always among the most remarkable of the sessional papers. The various services to which they relate are intimately connected with the march of social improvement, of domestic civi lisation, and all the external indications of public great ness. They are the immediate evidence of the growth or decrease of the national expenditure in its civil departments. They bring under the notice of the Legislature —once, at least, in each year—the aggregate expenditure incurred by the legal, financial, and diplo matic appointments of the Crown. They demonstrate the large appropriations annually made out of the re venues of the United Kingdom, to similar services, in Ireland; and they show, in sufficient detail, the progress of public works and municipal improvements, in the metropolis and throughout the empire, in all cases where these arc chargeable on the same revenues. No. 1 of these " Estimates, &c., Miscellaneous Ser • vices," for the year ending March 31, 1845, comprises " public works and buildings." There are eight principal items of charge under this head. No. I. is for " Re- pairs, &c., of public buildings ; furniture, &c., for various public departments ; certain charges for light ing, watching, rates and taxes ; also for maintenance and repairs of Royal Palaces, and works in the Royal gardens (formerly charged on the civil list), for the one year from April 1, 1844, to March 31, 1845). The ge neral heading embraces TVindsor Castle (with the Poor Knights' Houses, Tomb- house, Lower Lodge, Sta bles, Adelaide Cottage, Frogmore House, detached buildings, &c., exclusive of internal repairs, alterations, and additions of the state apartments, and those apart ments occupied by her Majesty and the Royal house hold) ; Hampton Court Palace—gardens, building s , farting-houses ; Hampton Court—Stud-house, Long ford River, Combo Conduit, &c. ; Ken' Palace— stables, and buildings, belonging to her Majesty, on Kew-green ; Kew—observatory, pagoda, pleasure, bo tanic, and kitchen gardens, forcing houses, Sze.; Kensing ton Palace—buildings in pleasure-gardens, &c.; Bucking ham Palace—for repairs of exterior of the building ; St. James's Palace ; Royal Mews and Riding House, Pimlico; Carlton House Stables external repairs ; Marlborough House external repairs ; Royal Pa vilion, Brighton Palace—stables and outbuildings ; Temporary Houses of Parliament ; Westminster Hall ; Courts of Law and Record-room ; Privy Seal and Signet-office ; Chapter House Record-room, State Paper-office; and India Board, all at Westminster. White hall, including Treasury Chambers, Houses of First Lord and Chancellor of the Exchequer ; offices of the three Secretaries of State ; Council-office and Board of Trade ; Whitehall Chapel ; Exchequer-offices ; Office of Woods, &c. ; ditto of Ecclesiastical Commission, of Receiver of Fines, &c. (Spring-gardens) ; Land Re venue Enrolment ; Almonry, Exchequer Seal, and Polish Refugees offices ; Marshalsea Court and house ; Gwydyr-house ; Whitehall-stairs and causeway, to river there ; Horse-Guards buildings, together with Paymaster-General's office, Army Pay, Judge- Advocate-General's offices ; Guard, Orderly, and State- ' rooms ; Recruit-houses of the three Regiments of Foot Guards ; Offices of Recruiting Department and Medical Army Inspector (Duke-street) ; of Department of Ac counts and Board of General Officers ; Army Medical Board, &c.; Stationery-office; National Gallery; Somerset House, with official houses and apartments allotted to the Senate of the University of London and School of De sign. British Museum, except the new buildings, which are under Sir Robert Smirke. We note this fact, having surmised, and deplored it, in an article which appeared in The Sun of the 6th instant, on the objectionable course adopted by her Majesty's Government in not openi ng t h e d es i gns for these " new buildings to public co m p e ti t i on. N ot to have done so, we must still contend h as b een a gross neglect of duty on their part ; and we trust when this part of the estimates comes to b e vo t e d, th e attent i on o f the House will be specifically directed to it.) Other offices included in this class are Deposi ;o7y for Records in—the Riding-house (!), Carlton Stables (probably for those written in running hand) ; Insolvent Debtor's Court, &c.; Rolls Court, Chapel, &c. ; Quen's Prison ; the Tower of London and its various departments ; the Royal Mint; National Debt-office; Metropolitan Carriage-office ; Royal Military Asylum ; Irish-office, (Great Queen-street, Westminster); Tower-hill-office for payment of Greenwich Pensioners ; Chelsea Hospital and grounds ; expenses of oil and gas lighting at Houses of Parlia ment, and public buildings and offices ; rents, &c., of houses taken for the accommodation of public depart ments ; furniture for public offices and buildings ; and additional services executed in 1843-44, but not pro vided for in the estimates of that year." Under • this last head we find the Queen's Prison: for furniture and fittings for the offices of the Keeper, Deputy Keeper and Record De partment; and—for furniture and bedding for the poor prisoners. We should like to have it aster tained how much was expended on the latter objects, and how much on the former, of this heavy charge of 1,500/.—(an additional charge, observe, in excess of last year's estimate). We fear the " poor pri soneri " share " for bedding " will bear about the same proportion to that of the " furniture aid fittings" for the Keeper and Ins Deputy, -~:a ~., . as Falstaff's one halfpenny-worth of bread did to his . f certain gallons of sack. 'The " total probable expense 1 for these ordinary works and repairs,' (together with the charge for the " additional services," to which we have just recurred, 1,8961., and for repairs of buildings and pri sons in the Isle of Man, 300/0, is 101,549/. To this sum is to be added " probable expense of repairs to public 1 buildings and p a l aces i n Scotland, law courts, &c." (in eluding a charge. of 1,298 Z for " furniture and fittings for the Hall for the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 1,298 Z ---a rather severe account) :-these 1 being estimated at 10,641/. The general aggregate of these amounts, 112,190 L, sho w an i ncrease on the similar estimate for the year 1843 and 1844. of 6,5 . 54 L No. 2. Estimated expense of Temporary Howes of Par - 1 liameat, including 125/., expense of works, &c., that will I probably attend the warming and ventilation, nder Dr. . Reid's directions (House of Peers) ; and 1,150 Z for ventilation and warming, under direction of Dr. Reid (House of Commons) ; and for rent of rooms and addi tional chambers, &c., 5,4201. One is tempted to observe, here, that Dr. Reid, without any disparagement to his high character, appears "to have blown hot and cold" for some years past, with no inconsiderable emolument to to himself. No. 3. .New Houses of Parliament (Iterum Barry) ? -Probable expense of the works 'for ,year ending March 31, 1845, beyond sums already _voted by Parlia ment, viz., " a further account of superstructure of Houses of Lords and Commons, central`hall and con necting corridors, the Victoria tower, the Royal, gal lery, portion of the south front, the clock tower, and the west front towards New Pataceiard, 60,0001." No. 4. Trafalgar-square.-For supply of water fur playing the fountains in this square, including also the supply of water to the several public offices, and official residences in the neighbourhood of Whitehall and Downing-street, the New Houses of Parliament, and for watering the streets in the above loos lity, 7,000/. (We cannot understand why' all these liabilities are to be visited on these improvements. The water-works, in the language of the corporate companies, are to " supply high an d low service," it is evident. This estimate is truly a " mis cellaneous" one.) The charge on account of the new Houses, however, as compared with 1843, shows a de crease of 80,0001.; and for Trafalgar-square, on a similar comparison, a decrease of 5,000/. No. 5. Estimated expenses for Holyhead Harbour and Holyhead and Shrewsbury Roads, &e., 4,1641. No. 6. Caledonian Canal.-Estimate for the year, 50,0001. ' • showing an increase of 45,0001. of charge over 1843. Last year the whole sum voted for this magnificent and truly valuable work was buts,oool. We are glad to find that it is to be properly maintained.. No. 7. Probable charge for maintaining and repairing Public Buildings in department of the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland, 26,1161 ; of Inland Navigation, 230/. ; and of Donaghadee Harbour, 3251. :-together, 26,8711. Excess over same charge for 1843, 1,4951. No. 8. Works and repairs for Kingstown Harbour, 8,000/. ; showing a decrease for this estimate as com pared with last year, of 2,0001. Total of this set of Mis cellaneous Estimates for the current year, 273,645/. No. 11. of these Estimates comprises the "Salaries and Expenses of Public Departments," under the following three-and-twenty heads, viz.:- 1. Two Houses of Parliament £59,350 2. Treasury 3. Secretary of State, Home Department. 26,567 4. Ditto, Foreign Department 54,500 5. Ditto, Colonial Department 6. Privy Council-office, and Office for Trade 32,641 7. Lord Privy Seal 8. Paymaster-General 9. Comptroller of the Exchequer, Paymaster of Exchequer-bills, and Paymaster of Civil Services 10. State Paper-office 11. Ecclesiastical CommissiOners (England) 3,200 12. Commissioners, Poor-laws 13. Mint, including coinage 63,286 14. Public Records 15. Inspectors and Superintendents of Factories 9,700 16. Offices in Scotland 17. Household of the Lord-Lieutenant of Ire/and 6,464 18. Chief Secretary's-offices and Privy Council office, Ireland Paymaster of Civil Services, Ireland 4, 20. Commissioners of Public Works, Ireland 10,784 21. Secret Service 22. Printing and stationery 23. Printing proclamations, &c., Ireland 4,950 Z 743,441 Total of increase, as compared with estimate of 1843, 34,9951. The items on which this increase is noted, are the following votes :—For the two Houses of Parlia ment, increase 8,0001. ; Foreign-office, ditto 11,7731. ; Colonial-office, ditto, 9321.; Privy Council-office, ditto, 359/. ; Comptroller of the Exchequer, and his subor dinate departments, ditto, 3451.; Poor-law Commis sioners, ditto, 1,518 ; printing and stationery, .ditto, 20,209/. No. "IL of these Estimates comprises " Law and' j'us tice, under the following classification :- 1. Law charges (England) including arrears... 230,000 2. 111 int prosecutions, relating to gold aud eilver • coin 3. Expense of prosecutions, and removal of con- - victs, foimerly paid from county-rate; 10,000 4. Sheriffs' expenses, England •, Queen's Re- • . membrancer's-office ; officers of the Court of Exchequer, &c. 5. Insolvent Debtors' Court 13,368 6. Prison at Parkhurst ; building and fittings 5,750 . Establishment and expenses 7. Prison at Pentonville ; building and fittings 3,999 Establishment and expenses 8. Penitentiary, Millbank, building and fittings 5,000 Establishment and expenses 9. Criminal lunatics, Bethlem Hospital ...... 3,972 10. Inspectors of Prisons, Great Britain ; and Prison Board, Scotland . 6,500 11. Criminal prosecutions, and other law charges, Scotland Sheriffs' expenses, Scotland 12. Criminal prosecutions, and other law charges, Ireland ~ 13. Police of Dublin 14. Convict Depot, and Constabulary Barracks, Dublin 6,337 15. Convicts at home, at Bermuda, and at Gib- raltar 16. Convict Expenditure, New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land .£873,194 The total increase on this class of estimates, as com pared with 1843, is 32,859/. LETTERS OF MART, QUEEN OF SCOTS, illustrative of her Personal History, edited by Agnes Strickland. A new edition of the above interesting work has just appeared, com plete in two volumes, uniform with Miss Strickland's "Lives of the Queens of England." " The Life and Times of Mary, Queen of Scots (says the Edinburgh Courant) claim a pecu liar degree of attention, not only as an important portion of history; but as a story deeply romantic and tragical, which is calculated to engage the sympathy of every reader. The present publication contains the whole of Mary's Letters that have yet come to light, besides many that are yet unknown ; and being all arranged in chronological order, with historical notices, explanatory of the matters to which they refer, they present a connected series of documents more clearly illustra tive of the important events of this period, than any work which has yet been published. The work furnishes a most valuable addition to our stock of historical knowledge, and gives a new aspect and deeper interest to the history an d character of the unfortunate Scottish Queen. MR. C. H. ADAMS'S ORRERY.---Mr. Adams con tinues to deliver his popular astronomical lecture at tho English Opera House, to attentive and intelligent audiences. his clear and succinct explanations of the earth, its attendant planet, the moon, her influence on the tides, and the theory of those eclipses common to herself and the sun, are syste matically given, and the illustrations afforded by means of a tellurian, mechanical transparent apparatus, and a magnifi cent vertical Orrery, impart additional attraction, and fine ef fect to the whole. A more appropriate intellectual amusement for the Thursdays and Fridays of Lent and Passion-week could not be conceived, and the patronage he obtains evinces the popularity of his sterling entertainment. THE SEES or ST. AsArn AND BANGOR.—Rather than take away a Bishop from Wales, give her another. We do not want a temporal Peer for the purpose of a chief pastor amongst the mountains of Wales; we want a laborious, hard-working man, like the Bishop of Toronto, who is not afraid of storms of rain, and wind, and snow. We do not want him to be furnished with a burning chariot and five thousand a year. This way is proper for the Bishop whom the State and Constitution of England have been pleased to number with the Princes of the land ; but for a Bishop to re side in the midst of his rural diocese, and to be engaged in daily works of necessary performance, we want a plain, humble, able, and indefatigable man, with an income suited to his situation.—Church and State Gazette.—[We seldom concur with this high-Church Periodical, but the remarks in this paragraph deserve great praise. To this system must the English Church come at last.—En. Sun.] The Society of British Artists opened to private view, on Saturday, their twenty-first annual exhibition, pre paratory to throwing it open to the public at large to-day. There was a considerable number of persons of rank and consequence present; and the day being fine, the several works on view were seen to the greatest advantage. The number of pictures exhibited this season in the rooms of the Society of British Artists is seven hundred and forty-six ; the number of marble figures, models, and other works in the department of sculpture, is twenty-eight, which make in all seven hundred and seventy-four productions of the pencil, the chisel, and the modelling stick; as the amount of the en tire collection. In consequence of the decease of Mr. Huskisson, Collector of Customs at St. Vincent's, the Commissioners have recommended the appointment of Mr. Taylor, the landing surveyor, to the vacant collectorship, and Mr. Tay lor's place will be filled by the promotion of Mr. Robert Nugent Dunbar, now landing surrevor at St. Lucia. The salary formerly received by Mr. Huskisson was 1,500/. a year, but Mr. Taylor will only receive 600/. ; and the old salary of the landing surveyorshin at St. Vin cent's will also be reduced to 2501. a year, making the tete saving on these two places alone 1,1501. per annum. We. are glad to see that in the establishments, at home and abroad, every reduction is made consistent with the public service. In all the West India Islands, the duties of the officers of Customs have been of late years much diminished by the abo lition of the Four- and-a-Half per Cent. duties.—Observer. OUR MODERN POETS.—Crabbe, Rogers, Words worth, Scott, Coleridge, Southev, Campbell, Moore, Byron! Of this glorious brotherhood, who once were all living at the same period, the survivors are Rogers, Wordsworth, Camp bell, and Moore. Byron, the youngest of the band, was the first to be withdrawn from it ; he died in 1824, in the thirty sixth, or thirty-seventh year of his age ; Crabbe, in 1832, in his seventy-eighth ; Scott, a little later in the same year, in his sixty-second ; Coleridge (who was for some time e contributor to this paper), died in 1834, also in his sixty second; Southey, in 1843, in his sixty-ninth. Of the sur vivors, Rogers is the senior, having been born in 1762 ; be is, consequently, in his eighty-second year. He first distin guished himself in the year 1786, by an "Ode to Super stition ;" his " Pleasures of Memory" did not appear till 1;92. Wordsworth was born in 1770, and is in his seventy-fourth year ; Campbell, whose " Pleasures of Hope" appeared in 1799 (born in 1777), is in his seventy-seventh ; and Moore, in his sixty-fourth, having been born in 1780. Long laity they be preserved to us.—Post, .',O. In the year 1840 1841 1842 1843 1844 a