The Sun. — London, England, 1845-02-13 00:00:00

ribtrb Wilttton SUN OFFICE, Seven o' Clock. NORTHERN MP an ANY .—d EASTE (THIS RN ) DAY RAIL WAY CO . The half-yearly General Meeting of the Directors and Shareholders in this railway, took place this day at one o'clock, in their board-room, above the terminus in Shore ditch, J. Patterson, Esq., the Chairman of the Board of Directors, presided. The Secretary having read the advertisement calling the meeting, and the report of the Directors, in which they stated that they would be prepared, on the Ist of March next, to pay a dividend of 5 per cent. per annum on the paid up capital of the Company for the half-year ending the 31st of December la t, and the dividends on the respective shares of the Company would be 1/. 2s. 6d. per share on the registered shares (45/. paid); 2s. 3d. on the shares (101. paid), and 10s. on the scrip shares (301. paid), subject, of course, to the property-tax. The report also stEtcd, that the receipts of the Northern and Eastern Railway fur the half-year ending the 81st of December last, amount to 47,107/. 145., being an increase of 3,3401. ss. 5d., on the corresponding half-year of 1843. The total receipts of the railway fur the whole of the past year, as compared with those of 1843, show an increase of 11,0571. 2s. 2d ; and that the surplus property attached to the old line had been dis posed of, with the exception of some small pieces of land, which may possibly be required fur the traffic of the railway ; and the sales had exceeded the estimated value. The only other matter of importance in the report was the information that the works on the extension line from Newport to Cambridge and to Brandon, via Ely, had been expedited by the Eastern Counties Com pany ; and the Proprietors of the Northern and Eastern Railway would learn with satisfaction that the whole line from Bishop's Stortford to those places would be opened early in July next ; and as the Norwich and Brandon Company would open their line at the same period, railway communication would then be estab lished between London, the city of Norwich, and the important town of Yarmouth, and the traffic of an ex tensive district of country would be attracted to the rail way. The balance of the traffic account, as stated in the report of February last, was 1,8223. 6s. 10d. ; that ac count being now virtually brought to a close, a state ment was annexed to the present report, and the balance, 103/. 3s. 4d, will be carried to the credit of the capital account. Resolutions in accordance with the report were passed unanimously, and the meeting then separated. NEW ZEALAND COMPANY. (THIS DAY.) A special general meeting of the Proprietors of the New Zealand Company was held this afternoon, at the New Zealand House, Broad-street -buildings, in pur suance of an adjournment from the 13th of January last, for the purpose of receiving a report on the present state of the Company, and adopting measures for im proving its affairs. Mr. Somes, M.P., occupied the chair. The Directors present were—Captain Nairm; George Lyall, jun., Esq.; Joseph Somes, Esq., Governor; J. R. Gowen, Esq.; E. G. Wakefield, Esq.; J. Phileher, Esq.; R. D. Mangles, Esq., M.P.; Stewart Marjoribanks, Esq., M.P.; 11. A. Aglionby, Esq., M.P.; G. T. Young, Esq.; William Hutt, Esq., M.P.; Alexander Currie, Esq., &c. The minutes of the last meeting having been read and confirmed, the following report was sumitted to the meeting : " The publication of Lord Stanley's dispatch to Go vernor Fitzroy, of the 13th August, 1844 (which will now be read to you), leaves, we fear, no hope of obtaining, except from an appeal to the justice of Parliament, re dress of the wrongs which you are suffering at the hands of the Colonial-office. " We, therefore, recommend that you should now au thorise us to lay the whole case, if we think it necessary, before the House of Commons, in the form of a petition from the Company. " Supposing that you will not fail to approve of this suggestion, we purposely abstain from alludirg on the present occasion to any of the topics which such a peti tion must embrace. " In the midst of the follies and disasters proceeding from the Local Government, of which every arrival from New Zealand brings some fresh account, it has been most gratifying to us to learn with what fortitude the colonists of your settlements have received intelligence of the unhappy position of the Company. " There wilt be laid before you, in the form of an ap pendix, copies of all letters of importance which have been received from your local agents since the date of our Fourteenth Report." The last dispatch of Lord Stanley to the Governor of New Zealand was then read. It ran to a great length and was exceedingly unfavourable to the Company. It commenced in the following terms:— " In my dispatch, No. 27, of the 30th ultlieo, I en closed to you the report and proceedings of the Commit tee of the House of Commons appointed to inquire into the state of New Zealand, and into the proceedings of the New Zealand Company. On reference to he proceedings you will perceive that the Com mittee were far from unanimous in their opinions, and that some of the most important of their decisions, including one upon the selection between two sets of resolutions, as the basis of thoir report, were sus tained by very narrow majorities. Nevertheless, I cannot but apprehend that this report, carrying with it, as it must be admitted to do , the a uthorit y of a Com mittee of the House of Commons, may add to the ditli culties of your position, less indeed by the practical measures which it recommends than by the principles which it lays down, and on which it proceeds—princi ples which I know to be opposed to your own views, and which, if you were to attempt to carry them into practice, would, I fear, lead to most unhappy conse quences." The CHAIRMAN said—Gentlemen, I deeply regret the spirit that ha: been evinced by the Colonial-office against the New Zealand Company ever since Lord John Russell resigned the post of Colonial Secretary. Had his Lordship remained at the head of the Colonial-office up to the present time, this Company, and the 10,000 British subjects in N ew Zealand, would have been in a very different situation to that in which I regret to say they are at present placed. The Colonial-office has not carried out either the spirit or the letter of agreement entered into with this Company.—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") When Lord John Russell granted a charter of incorporation, it was upon certain conditions, viz., that the New Zealand Company should make over to her Majesty's Government all lands to which the Company had a claim ; in return, the Government were to make over as many acres of land at five shillings per acre, as the Company had laid out money for the benefit of the Colony, subject to the award of Mr. Pennington, which sum amounted to 218,1481. 4s. 2d., and entitled the Company to 762,593 acres, for which the Government were bound to give to the Company a clear and bona fide title ; and I maintain that the Company has nothing to do with the native claims—that is a matter between the Government and the natives, and I, therefore, fear there is no other course left for the Company but to appeal to Parliament fur justice, and for that compensation which is clearly due to them.—(Cheers ) Mr. ROBINS was quite sure the Proprietors placed every confidence in the Directors, and they only wished to know what course the Board, after due deliberation, advised to be adopted. ne was sure, that amongst all the speculations and companies in existence, they could not find a more efficient Board of Directors, and it there fore appeared to him, that the best thing they could do was to follow their advice. Ile must say they had been most unfairly dealt with by Lord Stanley. There was no use in mincing words. He was a Conservative to the back bone, but when he compared the conduct of Lord John Russell with that of Lord Stanley, he was bound at once to praise the Whigs. He called upon every one present to exercise their influence in inducing Members of Parliament to support their cause, which was based on ; truth and justice, when it came before the House of Commons. It was almost im possible for them to fail in their application to that House, because the report made by a Committee, ap pointed last year to inquire into the subject of their affairs, had reported in their favour. If it were neces sary and consistent with the usual order of procedure, he should be glad to move that the Board of Directors take immediate steps to proceed to Parliament. The CI - mama:4 said that they had better adopt and recelve the report first. Dr. fr,ntil, of Glasgow, accordingly rose to move that the report now real be received and adopted. He quite concurred in the remarks which had been made by Mr. Robins, that the conduct of the Government towards the Company was exceedingly unjust. He thought Lord Stanley bad done much to unsettle and disturb the affairs of New Zealand, and he trusted the matter would be carried before the Legislature. Mr. WATSON, in seconding the tee:ion, fully agreed in the rocommendstion that they should go before Parlia ment for that justice which was denied tiiem by the Colonial-office. So fully did he concur in whe.t Mr. Robins had said, that he was afraid to trust himself commenting on the conduct of Lord Stanley. The Noble Lord had made an absurd attempt to shake the report of the House of Commons, and had made a most signal failure. The motion was put from the Chair and carried una niraously. Major bluaefie, in moving the adoption of a petition of c to the House Commons representing on the part of the Company the Co lonial-office, remarker 11;1;at was done them by the Co if Lord Stanley persisted in his present policy it would n of the Company, but at permanoetnotnlyl3d• ruin estr o t y h e t h shareholders of the colony. Major CHESS seconded the motion. Mr. AGLIONBY, NI.P., sp o k e to the rs,sulution, and dwelt at some length upon the statement Fitz made by Lord Stanley in his dispatch to Governor Fitzroy, t r h e e lativ e to the sma In , ss cf the majority which carried resolu tions in a Committee of the House of C o m m o ns infv ou instead ar of the Company. He showed that the majority of being small, was, comparatively speaking, large, i na smuch as the Chairman of the Committee, Lord Howick, abstained from voting altogether, and one of the Committee, who was known to entertain favourable views towards the Company was from some cause unable to attend on the divisions. The motion having been c irried unanimously, a vote of thanks to the Chairma n was a g reed to, and the meet perpainated. • 7 , 7—• ---- ' Afollowing gentlemen are to beraised to the rilrita; Queen's Counsel : —Messrs. Lee, Parr r y, d Wood, of 'the - quity Bar ; and Mess rs. Humfre y , Hayward, Butt, "Musa,urney, and Montagu Chambers, of the Common -.-,-,..,,,;• "Z,:i AL COLLIERY ACCIDENT. — As th e workers of — ...-1- - - ,,, .7 - the pits at the Rosehall colliery, near Co atbrld g e, were de - .g the shaft to their employment, on the 31st ult., the rope .ke when 3' those descending were supposed to be half way down theoatt —. d unfortunately fell, to the bottom and were killed. — ..7mm* Herald.: " but simply to lay before their Lordships a few statements respecting the constitution of the Rail way Board, and the course they had adopted in arriving at the conclusions to which they had come to with regard to the South-western projects. It would be in the recollection of their Lordships that, in the past session of Parliament, a Committee was appointed, by the other House, for the purpose of inquiring into their mode of railway legislation. After a very full review of the sub• ject, and canvassing the inconvenience and deficiencies which existed in the prevailing Railway system of legis lation, the Committee arrived at the conclusion, that it was desirable that there should be some Railway Board in connection with the Government, who should have powers to institute preliminary inquiries into the railway projects which it was intended to ask the Legislature to sanction by Acts of Parliament. The report was adopted by the House of Commons, and in consequence of this adoption alterations to meet the charge were made in the standing order of both Houses. Arrangements were made to establish a department for considering the details of these railways, and the Government, having appointed a Board, consist ing of four officers and a president, the details of the various railway projects were immediately given The result of these inquiries were laid before the public so soon as they were known, but the reasons for the conclusions of the board were deferred to an after period.. Those reasons would be laid before both Houses in a general report From w hat was passing out of doors and in another place since the commensement of the present session, great ap prehension had prevailed as to ss bat was the real juris diction of the Railway Board, or what was the authority to be given to its reports. It was stated that to consti tute a Board of this description in connexion with the executive Government, consisting of five gentlemen con nected with the Government, from whom was to issue a report as to whether a certain railway project should go on or not ; that to give to any board such authority would be objectionable and dangerous in the highest degree. But still further if the reports were to be adopted on the measures of the Government itself, the effect would be to substitute the reports of the Boards of the enactments of Parlia ment itself. Now, if such a thing had been dreamt of for one moment ; if it had been for an instant imagined that such authority should be given to the Boards any objection would be reasonable to the last degree, and no one would urge them more than himself. Nothing, however, of the kind had entered the mind of the Government. They hail never supposed that the report of the Board should be final, and it was to him a matter of surprise how any one could have imagined such a stete of things. If the question had arisen out of doors, he should not have noticed it ; but as it had been raised in the other House of Par liament, andinasmuch as erroneous impressions had prevailed on the subject, he thought it necessary, on the part of Government, to state what the real character of the reports were. These reports were only to be considered as aids to Parliament, in order that they might come to a proper conclusion with respect to which one of the competing lines was the best and the most calculated fur the benefit of the public.—(Hear.) They had assumed no such authority. Whatever might be said or thought of the decisions of the Board of Trade, would not influence in any way those decisions, or make the members of it a bit more rigid in examining into the conflicting claims of rival projectors. But there was another consideration, and that was the powers given by Parliament. The Board was on no account to consider the claims of private interests which were reserved exclu sively for the Houses of Parliament. Thus private matters were entirely excluced from their decisions. The reports issued by the Board were never intended to he of a conclusive character; they were merely intended to be laid before Parliament, and there to be used as it in its wisdom might think fit and proper. He had one or two observations to make, with respect to remarks which had arisen in the other House, regarding their proceedings. The Board had been termed a secret tribunal. It had been said that they conducted their proceedings with closed doors, and that their ordinary mode of conducting the business of the Board was out of the ordinary course of other courts of inquiry. But it should be remem bered that that Board was not armed with any autho rity of a scrims character ; and if they were to hear counsel, if parties were to be examined and cross examined, the grievance to the public would in deed be of an enormous character, and the ex penses in which parties would be involved, would be a greater burden than any now compiatoed of. It had been said that if they did not do so, the least they could do would be to call the parties interested be fore them, and to hear what they severally had to urge. He thought that neither their Lordships nor the public could be aware of what must necessarily have happened in such a case, or it never could have been considered that this was the most effectual method of eliciting the truth. He would ask any person who knew the feelings by which rival railway proprietors were actuated, what would have been the effect of their calling before them the proprietors of the Cen tral London and York Company, and the directors of the Midland Counties Company, to discuss at length the merits of their respective schemes. If that experiment had been tried once, he was convinced that it would have at that time been abandoned on account of its impracti cability. But it had been said that, at least, they might have heard all that could have been urged by the vari ous parties interested. It had been stated out of doors, and also in another place, that he (Lord Dalhousie) had distinctly stated that the Board of Trade would not attempt to hear the contradictory statements of competing parties. It had been imputed to him that he had said that if the Board of Trade were to attempt such a thing it would be physically impossible for them to get through their business. Without im• puting any intentional misrepresentation to any parties, he could assure their Lordships that he had made no such admission. What he had stated was, that having heard the statements of objections to any lines, it was impossible ihat he could receive deputations to state the same objections a second time, for deputations had often sought interviews with them for the purpose of merely repetaing and reiterating those objections which had been previously made. Now, if such a course of proceeding were admitted they could never get through their business. They could not grant repeated personal interviews to all those who requested them. What he had said was, that it was physically impossible to receive personal interviews, and deputations a second time. Persons applied at the outset for second and third interviews, merely to re-argue the same thing. On that account the Board was obliged to decline those inter views, and thus requested parties to address the Board in writing, if they had any fresh objections to urge. Now he would take an instance in support of what had been stated. There was the case of the London and York, and to supply that district their Lordships were aware that there were three schemes in the field. The London and York he Direct Northern, and the Cambridge and Linclon. Had the London and York been granted a second inter view the other parties, of course, would have demanded the same indulgence, and thus this might have given an adtnfinitum with respect to those schemes. So with respect to the Goole schemes, the Syston and Peterborough, and Swinton and Lincoln. Their Lordships must be aware that a line had to be drawn somewhere, and the line the Board had drawn was that, that but one interview should be granted ; and thus had said to the parties, if you have any fresh matter to communicate, we are ready to receive it. Their Lordships would not think that the Board lacked informatisn when he informed them, that having been in existence but six months, they were receiving at the rate of 9,000 papers a year respecting railway schemes. Of documentary evidence, therefore, they had abundance. He now came to another cluss of objectionsgto which he wished to direct their Lordships' attention. It had been said that the Board did not pos sess the confidence of the public, nor were they entitled to have it. It had been asked by way of question, to which it hnd been supposed that no answer hod yet been given, whether the Board had not a personal and pecu niary interest in railway matters, and whether they had not, by obtaining previous information as to the deci sions of the Board which were forthcoming, enabled per ties to go to the Stock Exchange and to speculate there. Now, if that statement had been con fined to the public journals, he could never have mentioned it in Parliament; but these rumours affecting the efficiency of the Board itself had been sounded loudly in the ears of Parliament, and more especially with respect to one member of that Board. He (Lord Dalhousie) trusted that their Lordships would not consider that he was occupying their time with trifles, if he attempted to vindicate the reputation of an able and honest servant of the public, Mr. Potter and Mr. Long, two other Members of the Board did not possess, and he believed never Lad pos sessed a single share. Mr. O'Brien had once possessed Shares, but he did not now possess any, nor had he done so since he had been a member of the Railway Board. He was present when the appointinent was offered to Mr. O'Brien, and that gentleman voluntarily stated that he was in possession of a number of shares. The interview took place on the 6t h of July, and on the 6th of August lie had taken measures to get rid of his shares, and on the 2d of Sep tember he irrevocably parted with every and all his in terest in any railway shares whatever. This was on the 2d of September. The Board did not attempt to go into the consideration of these railway schemes until the first week in December, so that Mr. O'Brien did not possess a single railway share for three months previous to the meeting of the Board. Then it was said a spirit of favouritism had been shown by this board in certain railways. This alagation he need scarcely notice because on the face of it there it was ample evidence of its utter want of truth. After one of the Groat Western Company's meeting a person sent him a paper from the counts', with a black cross on a paragraph, in which it was suggested the whole of the Board of Trade should wear the ticket or badge of the Great Western Railway Company.—(Laughter.) A charge had been brought against Captain O'Brien, that he had displayed a gross partiality for the Dover Company, solely because he had a brother connected with that line. This was not a mere rumour, it had been quoted from public prints in the other House of Parliament. and it was hardly possible for him to sit still and allow the character of every one of his colleagues to be im pugned in this way. But the charge was as absurd it was wholly unfounded in truth. I [LEFT SPEAKING.] na SHERIFFS COURT.—(THIS DAY.) (Before Deputy-Sheriff W. R. KENNEDY, Esq.) DALY V. NEATS. This was an action to recover si. due to the plaintiff, John Daly, by William Neats, publican, Crown Inn, Seven Dials, under the following circumstances : Mr. THOMAS, who appeared for the plaintiff, said, he was instructed to appear in !ether a novel case of debt. It appeared that his client one night in August last, got tne worse for drink, in which state he went into the public-house of defendant. While there he began foolishly to flourish some money, on which a Mrs. Langham who was present requested him to place it in the hands of the landlord for safety until he got sober. He agreed to do so, and forthwith placed five sovereigns in the hand of defendant. He then left the house and went to an adjoining beer-house kept by a Mrs. Connel. Some time after when application was made for themoney it was refused, on the plea that defendant did not know that the plaintiff was the person who had deposited it. On this refusal defendant was summoned to Bow-street. but the sitting magistrate decided that he had no juris diction, as the money had passed into the possession of defendant w ithout any force having been used. After this the defendant agreed to give up th e money, provid ing the plaintiff would produce a respectable surety, to bear him harmless. Two responsible housekeepers were produced, but without avail ; he would take nei ther, but still held the money. Hence this action was commenced to recover the Ll. Mr. and Mrs. Langham, and Mrs. Connel, were called.as witnesses, who proved that Daley had deposited the five sovereigns in the hands of Neats as dt scribed, and that the other steps to recover the mosey had been taken. Mr. BALL, for the defence, admitted that Si. had been deposited in the hands of Mr. Neats by a men one night in August, while in a state of intoxication, but he main tained that Daly was not the man. Daly had not made application for the money until a considerable time after it was placed in Mr. Neats' hand, and then only on learn ing from a certain party who was present on that occa sion that such a sum of money had been deposited. The party who was present, a Mrs. Langham, and who had given evidence respecting the plaintiff's identity, had, there was considerable reason to suppose, an interest in supporting Daly's claim. He (Mr. Ball) admitted that she was present in the Crown Inn when a certain indivi dual placed five sovereigns in the hand of the landlord, and was enabled thereby to furnish Daly with the Bee cessary information to make the application for the money, after bearing that the real owner had not come for ward. Hence, no doubt, this application originated; but he maintained that Mrs. Langham had given erroneous evidence, and thus Daly had no title whatever to the money. The Learned Gentleman then called several witnesses, amongst others the barman and barmaid, who deposed that it was a man dressed in sailor's clothes, with red hair, whiskers, and altogether unlike the plain tiff, who had deposited the money. Mr. THOMAS replied at considerable length in refe rence to the subject of identity, pointing out the position in which the two last witnesses, the barman and bar maid, stood in relation to the defendants, and contending that their evidence was to be looked upon with great suspicion. This view of their evidence was further strengthened by the fact that the plea set forth in the de fence had never been advanced on any previous occasion, when application was made for the money. Against this suspicious evideece,.on the other side, was to be placed three disinterested witnesses, and the subsequent admissions of the defendant, all going to establish the right of the plaintiff to the 5/. Besides, the fact that no other person had made application—a fact almost miraculous, if the evidence of defendant was to be be lieved—completely established the claim of Daly. The DEPUTY SHERIFF, in summing up, said there was only one question for the jury to decide—the identity of the person who deposited the money.—Was Daly really the person ? The great difficulty with the defendant's case was, that no other person had ever claimed the money. This difficulty was further increased when, from the evidence of the barman and barmaid, it ap pear( d the person who left the money was not so drunk but that he knew what he was doing. There wa; likewise considerable difficulty on the other side. It was a suspicious circumstance that Daly never applied fur the money until after Christmas, and then in con nexion with Mrs. Langham, who, it ought to be ob served, was the principal witness of plaintiff's identity. There seemed a conspiracy on one side or the other— which, he was not prepared to say; but it would be for the jury, after fully hearing the evidence brought for ward by both parties, to decide on which side the pre ponderance lay, and return a verdict accordingly. The jury retired, and after being absent nearly an hour, returned a verdict for the defendant. The hearing occupied nearly three hours, and excited considerable interest. LAMBETH.—(THIS DAY.) STEALING A COZ'I'ER.—A lad named Philip Bo!ton, a well-known thief, a long list of whose various convic tions and sentences was handed to the magistrate, was charged with stealing a copper. Police-constable 98 P stated that, between six and seven o'clock last evening he met the prisoner carrying a copper, in the Walworth-road. On questioning him, he stated that three young men had given it to him to carry, and that they were strangers to him. After taking him to the station-house, he proceeded on his beat, and ascertained that an unoccupied house in Francis-street had been entered, and the copper removed. The pri soner's shoes exactly corresponded with the marks in the snow. Mr. Young, an agent, having the care of the house, could not swear that the copper was the one that had been taken, except by some repairs which had been made to it some time ago. If, however, the prisoner was re manded, he should be able to produce the man who had repaired it, and who no doubt could identify it. The prisoner, who repeated the story he had told to the constable, was remanded to Saturday. A young woman, named Caroline Gaiter, was charged with having robbed her ready-furnished lodgings in Martin- street, Blackfriars-road, of some blankets and sheets, which she had pledged for Bs. The prisoner stated that she was a married woman, but was not living with her husband; that she pledged the articles to purchase a pair of shoes, and that the house was a brothel. The landlady denied this. The defendant repeated that this was true, and that there were others in the house who obtained their living by prostitution. She admitted that she was no better than the rest. She was fined Eis., the value of the goods, 20s. for pledging the goods, or in default, one month's imprison • ment. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT (THIS EVENING.) HOUSE OF LORDS. Lord Stanley having been summoned by writ to the House of Lords, under the title of Lord Stanley, of Knowsley, was introduced to-day by Lords Redesdale and Wharncliffe, and took the oaths and his seat. The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the Wool sack. Lord CAMPBELL trusted that their Lordships would allow him to introduce two Bills and lay them on the table, which he had introduced last session, and had received the cordial assent of that House, but which had been defeated in the House of Commons, in consequence of some misunderstanding as to their ope ration in Scotland. The object of the Bill was, that where persons who were indebted to parties in this country left it and resided in foreign parts, process might be served upon them, judgment obtained against them, and their property secured for the benefit of their creditors. Now, since last session, he had had a communication with the Lord-Advocate of Scot land, and he had stated to him that he would not oppose the Bills. One Bill was with respect to England, and the other to Ireland, and with respect to Scotland one was not necessary. The LORD CHANCELLOR trusted his Noble Friend, before he read the Bill a first time, would give him an opportunity of seeing the Lord-Advocate of Scotland. Lord CAMPBELL—Certainly. Leave was then given to bring in the Bills. EQUALISING THE RATES ON RAILWAYS. Lord H ATHERTON, iu presenting a petition from various parties in the county of Stafford, praying for an equalisation of the rates charged for passenger traffic on railways, said that the subject was one that was well worth the attention of the Noble Earl at the head of the Board of Trade, and of her Majesty's Government. It was a subject which had begun to ex cite the greatest attention, particularly in the manufac turing districts. It might not be generally known to their Lordships, that there was a loss of 1,200 per cent. in the rate of carriage for passengers by third-class trains as compared with goods ; fur as ld. per mile was charged for passengers, and only ld. per ton for goods, and as it was computed that twelve passengers, with their luggage, constituted a ton, it followed, there fare, that there was a consequent difference of 1,200 per (Ta t. He allowed that there must be a difference of ex pense in the construction of such carriages as were in tended to carry passengers, but if they considered the incidental e x p enses which attended the transmission of good s, the y would find that the peti tioners bad good reason to complain of the enormous difference in the rates of charges. If there were a loss attending the transmission of goods at the present rates, the petitioners prayed that such loss should not fall upon the travelling public. He had made these observa tions for the purpose of calling their Lordships' attention to the subject. The Earl of DALHOUSIE said that, as the Board of Trade was at present constituted, they could not enter into the consideration of the question which the Noble Lord had brought forward. Undoubtedly, the question was of the utmost importance, and would, no doubt, be taken into consideration hy the Government. Beyond that, his Noble Friend would not expect him to say anything. OFFICIAL ASSIGNEES. Lord BROUGHAM moved for a return of the sums of money which had been lodged in the hands of official assignees in the Court of Bankruptcy during the two years ending January, 1845, together with all the sums at present remaining in their hands. HEALTH OF TOWNS. The Mar • Fii01111ANBY; after presenting a quis o petition infavour of the Govern ment Medical Refori. Bill,etit petition egreede notie e t o that at a in , p a u f i r c days he should present a p held at Exeter Hall, praying the House to take measures m eti sures im provement of drainage in large townesa for the . RAILWAYS AND THE BOARD OF TRADE. Lord DALHOUSIE said , in p ur suance of the D no E te he had given on a former e venin g , he rose to bring under the consideration of their Lordships, the report of the railway department of the Board of Trade, re lative to the South-Western Railway schemes. He did not inteud to go fully ;into the, question then, HOUSE OF COMMONS. The SPEAKER took the chair at a Quarter to Four o'clock. PRIVATE BILLS. A number of petitions were presented in favour of Private Bills. DUTY ON COALS. Mr. H. HINDE presented a petition from the Cham ber of Commerce of Newcastle-upon-Tyne praying for the repeal of the export duty on coals. THE SUN, LONDON, THU'RSDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 13, 1t45. (Hear, hear.) Those vessels which had been built under the Navy Board were constructed in such a manner that they would neither move, tack, or shut. But at last the feeling of the public became so strong that the Admiralty and the Navy Boards were obliged to give way. Sir William Symonds was allowed to construct a ship, Captain Hayes was allowed to construct one, and Captain Randall built another. Those ships were the sapphire, the Challenger, and the Acorn, and those frigates, with the Columbine, which was an 18-gun ship, the Wolf, and others, went to sea. The Sapphire and the Columbine were the best of those vessels, and the guns of the weather ship would go under the bottom of the leeward one, while the guns of the leeward ship would go over the truck of the weather one. He, in common with many other persons, wished to see the construction of their ves sels improved, and he wrote a letter on the subject on the Ist of October, 1827, to his Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence, from whom he begged leave to read an ex tract to the House. In that letter he stated that the naval service of the country would be much better con ducted if the Naval and Admiralty Board were ainalgit insted, and the whole placed under the contreul of the Lord High Admiral. It was generally allowed chat the Navy Board were the last to adopt any improvements; who disregarded the suggestions of others, believing that the whole wisdom of the navy was centred in themselves. For a naval officer to obtain a seat at the Naval Board, it was m cessary that he should possess interest enough to get appointed to one of the foreign dockyards, and after moving about from one to another, lie succeeded to one of the first vacancic s at Somerset House. But he had so often expressed his opinion of how the Admi ralty was formed, that he need not go into the question again. When the Right Hon. Baronet came into office, he (Sir Charles Napier) I allowed up the letter he had just quoted by a pamphlet, addressed to Sir J. Cheate. The Right Honourable Baronet, as one of the first acts of his Administration, broke up the Naval Board ; and lie highly upproved of that step ; but lie did not think so highly of the body which had been substituted for it. The consequence had been, the throwing of an immense quantity of work on the Ad miralty, particularly on the First Lord, to such an ex tent, that it was morally and physically impos-ible for any man to go through the duties of that office, so as to look into all the subjects of great importance that were brought before him every day of his life. It was not in the power of any man to do it. It was perfectly impos sible; and if they did not take some steps to change the system, they would continue to commit the errors which their predecessors had committed. The first thing the Right Hon. Baronet did in office ; and for which he gave him great credit, was, after seeing the ability which Sir William Symonds had displayed, to give bins an oppor tunity of building a larger ship. He had allowed him, and had taken the responsibility of allowing him, to jump from an eighteen-gunship to building a fifty-gun frigate. Sir William Symonds had been commissioned to build the Vernon, and she had answered pet fectly well. When Sir William Symonds had built the Vernon, the Right Honourable Baronet commissioned him to build a large ship. He thought the Right Hon. Baronet was not right in so doing, because Sir William Symonds had never been brought up in a dockyard, and could not be supposed to possess that practical knowledge of ship building which was necessary. After the Vernon was launched, very favourable reports were made of her qua lifications. The Captains who had sailed in her all reported favourably of her. After that, Sir William Symonds had built several 26 gun frigates, and several 16 gun brigs. All the captains who had sailed these vessels had reported favourably of them, and they had said that the brigs' men particularly were against improvement upon the former 18 gun-brigs. The next ship which Sir William Symonds had built was the Vanguard. Much had been said against that ship. But he believed the ship was a good ship. He had an opportunity of seeing her tried in the Mediterranean. She had been tried against the Powerful and the Ganges. lie had seen her tried in a heavy gale against six ships of the line. It was at night, and he must admit that when daylight came the Vanguard was the most leeward ship. He was much surprised at that, but it could scarcely be con sidered a fair trial, because unforeseen circumstances might have occurred to occasion such a state of things; and they had had no opportunities subsequently of giving her a fair trial. But he was free to admit that the Vanguard was a good, efficient, and seaworthy ship. But when the model of the ship had been presented to the Admiralty, it was evident that their Lord ships had not sufficiently considered the subject. The Admiralty did not appear to have sufficiently con sidered the model of the Vanguard. As fitted out at the present moment, she would be set on fire in the very first hour of action. The Vanguard appeared on the Navy-list as an 80-gun ship, but she should be only reckoned as a 78-gun ship, as she lost two her guns in the Mediterranean. The Gallant Officer condemned the construction of the Pique, as expensive, clumsy, and ineffective. On her voyage to the West Indies she la boured to such an extraordinary degree, that Captain Baxter, who was a passenger, told her captain that if she did not get up her runners and tackle, her course would be dangerous. Several vessels had been laid down on the model of the Pique, and six vessels had been laid down at an enormous expense. The Surveyor of the Navy had been allowed to build a three-deck ship, called the Queen, and in order to build the Queen the Royal Frederic was taken to pieces. Such was the eclat that attended the com pletion of this vessel that the Queen of England went to Brighton to see her. The Queen was sent to Malta, under the command of one of the oldest officers in the service, a man seventy-five years of age ; and in order that the Admiralty might form an opinion as to her sail ing powers fhe Formidable was sent out with her, and he (Sir Charles Napier) thought that a very wise step. lie had forgotten to say that, with the example of the Pique before their eyes, the Board of Admiralty laid down no fewer than six Queens—(Laughter)—and that he conceived was extremely blameable in them.— (Laughter.) He believed it to be the fact, nevertheless. and it' he could get the papers he had asked for, he would be able to show the state those ships were now in. Well, the Queea went to Malta, and the Admiralty seemed to be satisfied with her sailing powers. Now, he would read the report of the Board of Admiralty, as to the sailing powers of the Queen; and here let him say that he could hardly believe, when he read it, that such a document could have emanated from the Board of Admiralty. The document was headed, "Character of the ship after nine months trial." Here the Hon. Member read a series of questions and answers from the repott, which caused loud laughter throughout. Some of them were, " How does the Queen ride?" Answer, " Easy." " How does she carry her helm?" " Rather sly ?"—(Laughter.) " How does she wear her stays ?' (Great laugther.) "Is she weatherly on the contrary, as compared with other ships?"— (Continued laughter.) Answer, " Weatherly." " Does she lie to easy ?" Answer, " Very easy."—(Laughter.) "Is she weak built or strong ?" Answer, " Very strong."—(Laughter.) Then followed a series of ques tions on nautical points of every position almost in which could be placed on a long voyage, to every one of which, the answer was, " Never tried," which caused a continuation of the laughter. The lion. Member then said he would come to another report of the Board of Admiralty on another trial of the Queen after tweyty-two months. He then read the questions, the answers to which appeared to be of the same nature, many of which were " never tried in that way," which the Hon. and Gallans Member said, put him in mind of the grave-digger in Bea t, when he had taken all the coats and waiscoats off.—(Laughter.) Now, in order that it should not be said that he wanted to make " fish of one and flesh of another"—Laugh ter)—he had read the report of an officer of the navy, one of the most clever and talented in the service. He had set out by praying the attention of the House to this question, for it was not one either of party or politics.— (Hear, hear.) Now, he would say, it it was wrong for the Board of Admiralty to lay down six Queens— (Laughier)—he certainly could not see why they were proceeded with. Well, the Queen came home, was sent into docks, and underwent an examination by the officers he had alluded to ; and the result was, that the Queen was a vessel that had been re presented in a manner calculated to ruin any ship. It appeared that the Queen steered so badly that she was obliged to have her foresail up and her mainsail set to keep her by the wind. She pitched in such a tre mendous manner that her middle-deck guns were in the water, and lie understood that her rolling was of the same nature. He had before him the report of the gal lant officer commanding her, who could not tell how she would behave in Malta harbour—(Laughter)—and who seemed to have had much difficulty in picking up a gale of wind—(Laughter)—which could not be done on the coast of Portugal, in winter, but if he had extended his peregrinations as far as the the Westward Isles, he would have perhaps found no difficulty what ever. It appeared from the reports of this Gallant Officer, that the Queen found great difficulty in steering for want of sufficient power in her rudder, and that under low and easy sail, she could not be well kept to the wind. The Queen returned to port, and was finally made an is ann .d eighty tsh sailing, er paid off, at Sheerness, and was now in the Dockyard, at Chatham, to have her keel increased, her stern-post changed, her magazine altered, and other repairs. This was of course all done with the appreval of the surveyor of the navy himself. Now, if this doctrine did not succeed in the case of the Queen, what was to be done? Were they to return to the system upon which they acted fifty-five years ago? Were they to go on building three-deckers and making them seventy-fours, building seventy-fours and making of es t w h he theem t ou do corvettes c withav en . ? her? — 1, ( ?—(Hear.) e t The ship h . ) 0i pn wy l a f t was first ifin t ngs e , i t at eslemw8:111140. frigates, etghaaetwesou exampleldseventy-fourbpil ud o zi f li I g ge t n h t e t i t r hf s r h ei predecessors g ipp a l t a.n h oi Qe fnl y la tAdmiraltyla iBe n l d 9 i c, n a the n m h to ee a e pe e s x lg e e l eo s nu ll l 3 a 1 4 : 1 dhd: aftero notv s, n igLsi London. Symonds, ship p n c d h ; T n h g he e ef d o into otio;tienael left ft seventy wthaesn a g dvi u 3s n_ gun ships, the Rodney, the aoh h eidtp the , eightdNe o)uA'iNpelveaclihrn three h h r e e s e u vey o r ninety-two' s present - e S avr h se dae carefule c sv a sa r s, r i s i c e o d omf t m h aa i thirty-two pounders smaller examination,wl l.beoyr e p, p Ashsarhho a ni hdmee t u acmen. dis patched c e uvraeo d aTesarilsahli s t iydpe o o, olapu:nrargioai approved lye( good Parker, s,hr s dh t tose a hbealffi l oyia l cl t nvabee wer s tro.srro t , hot rheao t e dnimfoodaafin, observed, aysnth ofeet there mee n and r. her tr q sh quarter-decks ap t berseroet- provisions, e sbr c i oo k an s ts seaman. oarsnha measured 2.626 tons, and her hull cost 67,5504 s wdastoresSheamt water. N rn v oo s frs n . wha e e x uyr t commandeda therer,a, was analdysaws anso livelybe y onbettersait Captain sieaae nbssyl ye ] I lst a ohh n a d s pu e : l dl couldos s v fh h ce o o uc w arb wa e s r w ie h d en he t r he leivtetteer Lordsdeck osfevtehreal inches Admiralty out of into office, it was very natural that tey to build ships on the new sh c o a u m ld e try principle, which would bo as good as those built on the old one; and, acecor dinghy, the Albion was built, and commanded by Capt. Lockart, an excellent seaman. He believed that the Right Hon. and Gallant Officer opposite approved of the Albion, and wrote a pamphlet in praise of the prin ciple upon wihch she was built. Well, when she was sent with the Caledonia on an experimental trip, he was informed that the Albion rolled in a dreadful manner, and that it was perfLetly impossible to keep her lower port holes open. There was an anecdote related of her which spoke volumes. NN hen the captain came alongside the Caledonian and saw how quiet she was, compared to his own ship, he called out to the Captain of the Caledonian, and said (he would use his own words), " Damn my eyes, Jack, your ship's aground."—(Much laughter.) The Albion was a stiff ship, there was no doubt of it. If there were no other reason, the :great breadth of her beam would be sufficient to insure that quality. Her sails also were better set than that of the St. Vincent. If he understood the gallant Officer aright, there was, a serious disadvantage to which she was subject—an ina bility to keep her lower ports open when the wester was rough. During the time she was in company with other three-deckers and those other ships of the squadron had the whole of their ports open and their guns run out the Albion was obliged to keep her lower ports closed. This was no slight disadvantage, for if the commanding officer had made a signal for the captain to open his lower ports and run out his guns, he must have been placed in this very unpleasant posi tion—that he must either have disregarded the signal, and so disobeyed his orders, or, by obeying them, have opened his ports, and by bringing them, through the sway of the ship, below the sur face of the water, and thus have swamped the ship. He might, it is true, have made a r. port to the Admi ralty that he was unable to carry on with his lower ports open, but this would have been, after all, but mere talk, in which the country could take no interest, however much it might justify her captain for his conduct. But all the talk in the world was of no avail. Another order might indeed have been given, ane as he saw an old sailor opposite to him—(Loud laughter as the attention of the House was directed to the Solicitor-General)—there was some one who, beside the Gallant Friend to whom he had alluded, was able to judge of the propriety of the objection alleged against this ship, and see how , impossible it was for the Captain of the Albion to obey L either it or the signal of which he had previously spoken. One mode by which the true character of this ship might have been ascertained was by bringing her and the Queen , into a hostile position with respect to each other. In , fact, to get them engaged. [LEFT SPEAKING.] TAT TERSALL'S.—THIS EVENING Six o'CLocK. CHESTER CUP. 9 to 1 agst Semiseria 16 to 1 agst Era 25 to 1 agst St. Lawrence 28 to 1 agst The Pride of Kildare 30 to 1 agst Celeste 30 to 1 agst Zanoni 30 to 1 agst Winewur 30 to 1 agst Extempore 40 to 1 agst Trueboy 50 to 1 agst Foig-a-ballagh. DERBY. 10 to 1 agst Alarm 13 to 1 agst Cobweb colt 15 to 1 agst Kedger - 16 to 1 agst Idas 20 to 1 agst Pam 25 to 1 agst Newsmonger 33 to 1 agst Old England 33 to 1 agst Miss Whip colt 44 to 1 agst Ironmaster 40 to 1 agst Laird o' Cockpen AMERICAN NE iii S. Extracts from the American papers brought by the Queen of the West. In congress, upon the Oregon question, Mr. Allan rose to ask whether the Senate was inpossession of any information in relation to the correspondence between the Government of the United States and of Great Britain, relative to the Oregon Territory. Mr. Archer replied that no information had yet been re ceived on the subject, but that he would probably be able to give the information to the Senate in a few days. Mr. Allen stated that he had a petition from citizens of Fairfield, Ohio, asking Congress to establi s h a Te rr ito r ial Go vernment in Oregon. The people of Oregon complained, with reason, that their interests had been much neglected. Last year when the subject was pressed on the Senate, we were told that Lord Ashburton had come o ver specially charged with the settlement of this question. But when he arrived here, it was found that he had no power over the subject, and it did not appear that he had done anything. The people of Oregon did not wish to be trifled with any longer on this subject. He desired the petition to be referred to a Select Committee. But it was referred to the Committe on Foreign Affairs. ANNEXATION. Mr. Burke, of N. H., asked leave to introduce joint resolu tions for the admission of Texas into the Union. This proposition was committed. It is similar to Mr. Forster's plan. It gives the assent of Congress to the crea tion of the territory known as Texas into a new State; the constitution of said State to be laid before Congress by the proper authorities of Texas, before the 4th of July, 1846 ; the territory to be divided into new States, when its popula tion shall be sufficient.; those States south of 36 degrees 30 minutes north latitude, to be admitted into the Union with or without slavery, as their people may desire ; the boundaries to be adjusted by treaty; Texas to pay her own debts, and keep her own lands, but to order to the United States her navy, dock- y ards, ports, forts, harbour, public edifices, arms, armaments, &c., pertaining to the public defence; all claims to be adjudicated by courts of Texas, subject to the juris diction of the federal courts; said State, when admitted, to have two senators and two representatives, until the next Congress. . . _ . The House resumed, in Committee of the Whole, the consideration of the Resolutions for the annexation of Texas. Mr. Bowlin, of Mobile, spoke in favour of the measure, contending that it was necessarily constitutional, because the acquisition of territory was a right essential to national sovereignty. We have been continually acquiring territory since the adoption of the Constitution. Nine States put the Government in operation, and nine States elected General Washington President, but we had since added seventeen States. Texas was a fine cotton growing country, and should she make a treaty with Great Britain for the admission of her cotton at a rate of duty a farthing less than ours, our staple would be excluded from the market. The exportation of cotton now nearly equalled our importations of foreign goods If that exgortation ceased, it would destroy our commerce. If Texas remained independent, slavery would be perpetu ated in her limits, and her limits would soon inc;ude Mexico. and Central America. But if Texas were admitted, her boundaries would be permanently fixed, and the limits of slavery would necessarily be defined. He preferred Mr. Dromgoole's plan, but would vote for any other. He adopted the motto of the people of Missouri, " Texas honourably. 'texas for ever." Mr. Hamlin and Mr. Severance followed against the mea. sure. When the last named gentleman concluded, there was a tremendous rush for the floor. I never witnessed such a scramble. At least 40 members were up, and eager to speak. Among them was old Mr. Adams. Mr. Hammett obtained the floor and will speak to-morrow. Mr. Adams offered a resolution calling on the President to state the bounds of the territory of Texas, as commonly un derstood by the people thereof. PENNSYLVANIA.—In the Pennsylvania House of Represen tatives on Wednesday, the Committee of Ways and Means reported a Bill appropriating the f u nds i n the Treasury to the payment of interest on the Ist of February; which, after some time was taken up, and passed in Committee of the whole. The Bill, says a corespondent of the Pensylvaniax, meets with considerable opposition, but that opposition is not strong enough to endanger its passage. The debate upon the ques tion has been interesting and instructive, and generally has been strongly in favour of expending our last dollar in pay ment of our debts. DUTCH AND FLANDERS MAIL. BRUSSELS, FEB. 10.—On the night of the 6th of this month, the Eliza, Captain Sharp, an English ship, bound from Rye to Nieuport, with a cargo of wool, not being able to enter that port on account of the violence of the wind, was obliged to go to Ostend. The night being dark, and the sea running very high, it missed the en trance, and run aground on the beach. The cargo is being taken out. It is not yet known to what extent the ship is damaged. The severe frost that we have had for these three days has again interrupted the navigation in the canals of Charleroy and Willebroech. The King has gone into mourning for eleven days, on account of the death of her Imperial Highness t. Grand Duchess Elizabeth Machai Lowna, Duchess o Nassau. The Chamber of Representatives continues the dis cussion of the budget of the Department of the Interior. The Senate has agreed to all the articles of the budget of the Marine and to that for establishing a new mode of sanctioning the laws.—Brussels papers, Feb. 11. THE HactrE, FEB. B.—We learn that as soon as our Government was informed that a Netherland ship had been captured and carried into Palama, which was bound from Antwerp to Marseilles, and had a chest of arms on board, instructions were immediately given to his Ma jesty's Minister at Madrid, and that be had already taken the necessary steps. The Consul of the Netherlands, at Barcelona, has also done what belongs to his functions. THE lIAGHE, FEB. 9.—The sections of the Second Chamber will resume their labours to-morrow (Monday). They will examine the new regulations on standing or ders of the Chamber and the project of law for modify ing the 9th chapter of the budget for the year 1846- 1847. Theft to for the celebration of the 270th anniversarj of the foundation of the University of Leyden, on Sa turday, the Bth, passed off in the most satisfactory man ner. The masquerade, representing the entry of Coun Floris V. with the Knights of the new order of S James, just instituted by him, was extremely brillian DUTCH FUNDS.—AmsTEnnear, FEB. It. Money. Bills. Actual Debt, 234 per Cent............ 64 641,( Ditto, 3 per Cent •• .• . • ...... 78 78% Ditto, 4 per Cent........... • • • • • • 9834 99 Ditto, 5 per Cent 99% 100 Amort Syndic, 4 34 per Cent. ... • • 99% 100 Ditto, 334 per Cent .• ••. . • • 91% 92% Commercial Company, 4% per Cent • • 1473 148 East India Loan, 4 per Cent. Exchange on London, one mouth ••• • • • 12 17 Two months..... At sight. ..... ............. On llamburgh ............ Two months On Paris Twomonths.. ...... ....... —Dutch Papers, Feb. 12 35 62.5 35 37.5 lIAMBURGH BORSENHALLE, FEE. 4. Bills. Money 113 Austrian 5 per Cents Bank Shares . 1655 Anglo-Russian Loan Russian 5 per Cent., Ilamb. Certificate. 105% 105% Ditto Ist serieslnscription............ 105% Ditto, Hops and Co., 3d and 4th series.. 993 Ditto, in Certificate. . • . . New 4 per Cent., Hope and Co. ...... 92 Ditto Stieglitz .......... —Hamburgli Borsenhalle, Feb. 7. MR. STAFFORD SMITH O'BRIEN, M.P.—This gen tleman arrived at Kemp Town on Sunday, and in the evening was taken s o ill, that it was deemed necessary to call in medical advice. The lion. Gentleman, we arc happy to say, is now Much better. AGRICULTURAL DISTRESS. Mr. DAl.iliY presented several petitions from various distriets, complaining of the burdens which prt ss on agri culturists, and praying for immediate rel:ef. EXCISE DUTY ON SOAP. Mr. MASTERMAN presented a petition from the City of London, signed by upwards of 1,500 persons, and praying for a revision of the Excise duty on soap. UNEQUAL TAXATION IN THE SCOTTISH BOROUGHS. Mr. HUME presented a petition from the royal burgh of Forfar, in Scotland, complaining that, by the existing law, the property in the burgh was un equally taxed, as compared with the counties ; and it prayed for an inquiry into the subject, with a view of providing a remedy. CASE OF MR. GORDON. Mr. HUME presented a petition from an individual of the name of Gordon, who had resided in India, but had been deported thence by order of the Governor-General, for some alleged misconduct. He (Mr. Hume), had presented a petition from the same person ten years ago, and he then prayed for an inquiry into the circumstances of his case, but such inquiry had not been instituted up to the present hour. He prayed, therefore, that the earliest o pportuity would be taken to do so. BEER SHOPS IN LANCASHIRE. Mr. 0. STANLEY presented a petition from Lanca shire, against the extension of beer shops in that county. RAILWAYS. Mr. ENTWISLE begged to give notice that, upon the Right llon. the chanc(llor of the Duchy of Lan caster bringing up his . report upon the best mode of forming railway Committees; he would move. that any person having:any interest, direct or indirect, in railways or railway companies, shall be excused from serving on such Committees. GANIE•LAWS. Mr. JOHN BRIGHT gave notice that he would upon is day fortnight move for a repeal of the game-laws. RAILWAYS. Mr. WALLACE begged to give notice that upon the bringing up of the Railway Committees' Report by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, he would move for the adoption of certain resolutions regulating the size, construction, and charges of the different railway carriages. NAVY ESTIMATES. Captain PECHELL said that, upon her Majesty's Ministers submitting the Navy Estimates to the House, he would move that the House do take into consideration the claims of Captain Clarkion. WINDOW-TAX. - The HoN. MEMBLI. also gave notice that he would, on Tuesday next, move for certain returns relative to the modes of assessment of the window-tax. RAILWAY COMMITTEES' BILL. Mr. WALLACE begged leave to ask the Noble Lord, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, whether it was true that there were on the present Railway Com mittee many persons who were interested, more or less, in railway speculations ? Lord GRANVILLE SOMERSET, in answer to the Hon. Member opposite, begged to say that he would at once admit that there were such persons on the Committee ; but it did not appear to him that much serious objection could arise from that circumstance, for this reason, that one object of the Committee was, to see that the pro jected lines brought under the consideration of the House had fair play; and he really thought that they would not have fair play unless the parties, who were placed is the situation referred to by the Hon. Member, constituted a part of the Committee. Mr. WALLACE said, having laid the facts before the House, he felt that he had discharged his duty. PRIVILEGE. The order of the day for the consideratiop of the statement of the Sergeant-at-Arms having been read, The SOLICITOR-GENERAL said that, in calling the attention of the House to the position of the Ser geant-at-Arms relative to certain proceedings which had been instituted against him, he was induced to think that there would be no opposition offered to the mo tion of which he had given notice ; and he was therefore not disposed to trespass upon the blouse with any statement of the case. He would propose, therefore, that the House should on that occasion adopt the course which was taken in 1843, when a similar ac tion was brought against the Sergeant-at-Arms. The House had then, upon the motion of his Honour able and Learned Friend, the present Attorney-Ge • neral, decided on giving leave to the Sergeant-at- Arms to appear, and plead to the action. A plea had been put on the record, to which there was a demurrer. That demurrer had been argued, and was now standing for the judgment of the Court. He would now move " That Sir William Gosset, Knt., the Sergeant-at-Arms, attending this House, have leave to appear and defend the action brought against him by Thomas Howard." Lord J. RUSSELL said he would not offer any objec tion to the motion proposed by the Hon. and Learned Gentleman. He would merely state that he retained the opinions which he had before expressed as to the proper course to be pursued under such circumstances. NOTICE OF MOTION—STATE OF THE NAVY. . Sir C. NAPIER rose to move for a Select Committee to inquire into the manner in which the money vests d since 1835, for the construction of ships, had been ex pended, and if the ships constructed are an improvement of the old "system." The Honourable Member (who dropped his voice so as to be nearly in audible) in commencing his speech, proceeded to say that his only motive in bringing forward the motion was to ascertain whether or not the reports in circula tion as to the defects of these ships were correct. He had been told that it was no business of his to interfere with such a matter; that it should be left to the proper authorities, by which was meant, he supposed, the Admi gwraesa t neithernumber a o o y l e i t a i r e s a. , l and th a e p y n u o e s t w t o i t n h s t b. a u n t d i o n n g e ralty. It had been left to the p roper author i t i es f or a q This seen the greatest errors and bl un d ers prevailing a h r t a y d which concerned the well being of the navy and the proper application of the finances of the country ; and, in the remarks which he was about to make, he should be guided solely by such considerations. It would be necessary to go back for a considerable time. When he (Sir C. Napier) first entered the service, in 1800, the navy contained several three-deckers of 120, 110, 98, and 90 guns. The first class generally consisted of good ships, but the others were so inferior, that they were found totally unfit for service ; but, notwithstanding all the representations which were made to the Ad miralty, the same system was persevered in. This country had taken some very excellent ships from the French. There were the Terror, the Sans I'areil, and the Canopus. Several ships had been constructed upon the model of the Canopus, and had been found to answer extremely well. The Sans rareil was a most excellent ship, but she had never been copied up to this very time. He now came to the frigates of those days. There were forty six gun frigates, forty:two gun frigates, and thirty-two gun frigates, all carrying I 8 -pounders, thirty-two gun frigates carrying 12-pounders, and twenty-eight gun frigates. Those were very good ships in their day, but theywere found not to answer,'and they were superseded. by the thirty-two gun ships. One of these ships was commanded by an Hon. and Gallant Officer opposite, and another by himself, and he could say that a more useless lot of ships had never been constructed by any Admi ralty. They were found to be inefficient, in fact, good for nothing ; and they were superseded by another class of frigates, called twenty-eight gun frigates. These, however, like the rest, Were not found to answer, and thus were given up. Another class of ships were those called sixteen gun sloops, mounting six pounders, and those vessels wore persevered in until they were found perfectly useless ; and there was not a youngster or boy in the navy that did not know it. The next class of ships adopted were the eighteen gun frigates, which were much longer and much narrower than the eighteen gun brigs, which every body must have expected would have failed, and which he looked upon as patent coffins for burying a hundred and twenty men at once. The last class in the service which he noticed was that of the gun-brigs, and of those a whole host had been introduced into the service likely to excite a groat deal of notice but calculated to be of little service. There was the Barker, the Bruizer, and number of others, which if taken together, would form a whole pack. But these were soon exploded, and the ten gun brigs were shortly after wards introduced for them. These again in their turn had last year been condemned by the shipwright's committee. The country had been put to an en e.- mous expense in their construction, and for their support, but they were proved to be utterly unfit for the purpose for which they were intended. The Admiralty had indeed thrown away their own exertions and the money of the country in building bad ships, and when the American war broke out, and they might have looked forward to that event for many years, the Admiralty were utterly unable to contend with their adversaries. They had not indeed a single vessel of the same class fit to meet their corvettes, nor a single frigate capable of contending with their frigates. He (Sir. C. Napier) well remem bered the report of that day, when a naval officer would have been scouted if he he bad ventured to utter even a hint of the inability of British ships to contend success fully with American vessels of the same rating as their own, and notwithstanding all the warning they had received the Government of the day bad never opened their eyes until they learned that three British frigates had been captured and conveyed into American ports.—(Hear.) What did they do then? The Admiralty immediately ordered six forty-gun frigates to be laid down ; but they were so constructed that they proved to be utterly useless, and they consequently had three on hand at the present moment, and they were likely still to retain them in the same unprofitable state. The Right Hon. and Gallant Officer at that time at the head of the Admiralty directed Sir R. Seppings to lay down ' a ship which should have such qualities as would - obviate the defects which had been experienced. It was then considered that ships had not been built strong enough. With the assistance of Mr. Bright, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Lang, and several other shipwrights, much improvement had, no doubt, been effected. Ships had, for twenty years before, been built with stern galleries, and much that was calculated to overload and encumber them. These they altogether did away with, and introduced the plain round stern, which had now been generally adopted, and with admirabls success. Another error was that committed by the shipwrights of those days was in the in• troduction of heavy transome. timbers. They had intro duced heavy diagonal timbers along the water way which quite overloaded the vessels, and were fit only fbr ships of far greater proportions than those into which they were placed. He commanded at that time a ship that was considered one of the finest in the navy, but when she was tried it was found that she could not stand on her legs. There was also the Caledonia, which was esteemed a first-rate ship, but when she was tried she was found almost use less, and she bad to be put into dock and taken to pieces. All those errors at length became so evident that a change in the system of ship-building ' became necessary ; and, ho must say, they owed many improvements in this particular to the Yacht Club.— TUESDAY NIGHT'S GAZETTE CIRCUITS OF THE COMMISSIONERS FOR TIIE RE LIEF OF INSOLVENT DEBTORS. SUMMER CIRCUITS, 1845. NORTHERN CIRCUIT. Henry Revell Reynolds, Esq., Chief Commissioner. Yorkshire, at Sheffield, Friday, June 27. Yorkshire, at Wakefield, Saturday, June 28. At the town and county of the town of Kingston-upon-,. Wednesday, July 2. w • Yorkshire, at York, Friday, July 4. At the city and county of the city of York, on the eaule Yorkshire, at Richmond, Monday, July 7. • Durham, at Durham, Tuesday, july . Northumberland, at the Moot Hall, B N ewc astle-upon -T Y ne, Thursday, July 10. At the town and county of the town of Newcastle -upon Tyne, on the same-day. Cumberland, at Carlisle, Saturday, July 12. Westmorland, at Appleby, Tuesday, July 15. Westmorland, at Kendal, Wednesday, July 16. Lancashire, at Lancaster, Thursday, July 17. Cheshire. at. Chester, Wednesday July 23. At the City and County of th ' e City of Chester, on, the same day. Flint:shire, at Mold, Friday, July 25. Denbighshire, at Ruthin, Saturday, July 26. Merionethshire, at Dolgelly, Tuesday, July 29.. Anglesey, at Beaum at is, Thursday, July 31. Cainarvonshire, at Carnarvon, Friday, August 1. Montgomeryshire, at Welsh Pool, Tuesday, August 3 • Lancashire, at Liverpool, Thursday, August 7. ROME CIRCUIT. John Greathed Harris, Esq., Commissioner• Kent, at Dover, Friday, July 4. sAtvr At the City and County of the City of CanterburY , day, July 5. Kent, at Maidstone, Monday, July 7. Sussex, at Horsham, Friday, July 25. Hertfordshire, at Hertford, Friday, August 8. SOUTHERN CIRCUIT. William John Law, Esq., Commissioner . Berkshire, at Reading, Saturday, June 21. Oxfordshire, at Oxford and City, Monday, June 23. , Worcestershire, at Worcester and City, Wednesday', 4° Herefordshire, at Hereford, Friday, June 27. Radnorshire, at Presteigne, Saturday, June 28. Brecknockshire, at Brecon, Monday, June 30. Carmarthenshire, at Carmarthen, 'Wednesday, July 2. Cardiganshire, at Cardigan, Thursday, July 3. io ly 4 ' Pembrokeshire, at Town, llaverfordwest and Friday, Glamorganshire, at Swansea, Tuesday, July 8. Glamorganshire, at Cardiff, Wednesday, July 9. Monmouthshire, at Monmouth, Friday, July 11. Gloucestershire, at Gloucester and City, Saturday, July Somersetshire, at Bath, Monday, July 14. Ti'e OP At the City and County of the City of Bristol, July 15. Devonshire, at Exeter, Thursday, July 17. the sloe At the City and County of the City of E xe ter, On day. Devonshire, at Plymouth, Saturday, July 19. Cornwall, at Bodmin, Monday, July 21. Somersetshire, at Taunton, Thursday, July 24. Dorsetshire, at Dorchester, Saturday, July 26. Wiltshire, at Salisbury, Tuesday, July 29. on, Weci. At the Town and County of the Town of SouthamP t nesday, July 30. Southampton, at Winchester, Thursday, July 31. MIDLAND CIRCUIT. David Pollock, Esq., Commissioner. Essex, at Chelmsford, Mon - day,July 7. Essex, at Colchester, Wednesday, July 9. Suffolk, at Ipswich, Thursday, July 10. Norfolk, at Yarmouth, Saturday, July 12. th e Norfolk, at rwic Monday, jul 14. At the City No h and eounty of the y City of Norviicb, e same day. Norfolk, at Lynn, Thursday, July 17. 2 , Suffolk, at Bury St. Edmund's, Saturday, July 1 9 . J u ly ) Cambridgeshire, at Cambridge and Borough, MonaY,2s. I luntingdonshire, at Huntingdon, Wednesday, .- 1 . 1121 ,,, Northamptonshire, at Peterborough, Thursday , ° L b ; I{utlandshire, at Oakham, Friday, July 25. 2B. Northamptonshire, at Northampton, Monday , Ju l .. , Warwickshire, at Warwick, Wednesday, July 30. Warwickshire, at Coventry, Friday, August 1. Leicestershire, at Leicester, Monday, August 4. st 6. Lincolnshire, at Lincoln and City, Wednesday, It i t t. 9. 4 0 Nottinghamshire, at Nottingham, Saturday, Allg 1 „, • At the Town and County of the Town of Notti n g u3- same day. Derbyshire, at Derby, Tuesday, August 12. At the City and County of the City of Lichfield, August 14. Shropshire, at Shrewsbury, Saturday, August 16. Staftbrdshire, at Stafford, Tuesday, August 19. Warwickshire, at Birmingham, Friday, August 2 2 . Bedfordshire, at Bedford, Monday, August 25. st 97. Buckinghamshire, at Aylesbury, Wednesday, Aug° DIVIDENDS DECLARED. , J. Laycock, tallow chandler, Colne, Lancasn' t ' I'o' div. of Is. in the pound, Feb. 18, and every followinb SJ j 4 day, at the office of Mr. Hobson, Manchester. f 3s. 0 6 G. Grantham, grocer, Manchester—a first div- , at• the pound, Feb. 18, and every following Tuea? a office of Mr. Hobson, Manchester. „ J. C. Petrie, miller, Bedlington, Durham —a I,t fo a- p e, cond div. of Is. 2d. in the pound, Feb. 12, and 0 0 3' 0 :11 1 ' o f Saturday, at the office of Mr. Baker, Newcastle- 11 P% dif• th pb J. C. Crespin, shipping agent, Eastcheap --a a esd ity, 64. in the pound, Feb. 12, and any following We" i 4 the office of Mr. Follett, Basingliall-street.div, o f 0 ' 06 C. Mann, banker, Romford, a first and fina l the pound : Feb. 12, and any following Wedneador office of Mr. Follett, Basinghall-street. DIVIDENDS. .. o et. At the Court of Bankruptcy Basingball-stu-oried, R. 11. Marshall, draper, Ply mouth, March 4, 3 , t miettee Brookes, lamp-manufacturer, New street-square , `,,gov v ,it March 4, at half-past twelve—W. Robertson, rt-orsfreo broker, Great St. Helens, March 4, at eleven—S . ri ; r and W. Byers, woollen warehousemen, Skinner-str e" 4, at half-past twelve. In the Country. e le , G. A. Cator, wool merchant, Leeds, March 7, r the Leeds District Court—T. W. Green , booksellel;i, -•+ 1.1,.. March 11, at eleven, at the Leeds Distri . ct Cour t-- ail' ardson, glass manufacturer, Newcastle-upon - Til le 'colO t s if' at eleven, at the Newcastle-upon-Tyne District of li , j, Hayton, shipowner, Wigton, Cumberland, March Distric t a t Il i past two, at the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Distrietwch ;of S. Carter and R. Cornford, merchants, Liverpool, 3,lo,„ltitioir twelve, at the Liverpool District Court—W• t the linen draper, Kidderminster, March 5 , at eleven, I‘ tt , mingharn District Court . hod CERTIFICATES to be granted, un l ess cause beds. ). the contrary, on the day herein mentiolarcli6.oo. A. Goodeve, warehouseman, AlderrnaliburX,,,'ldloPl sld Hubbard, auctioneer, Ramsgate, March 4—G. x L e lle arO f ore monger, Thame, Oxfordshire, March 5—W. ' omelet, and porter brewer, Clapham, March 4--C. parr n broker, Cleaver-street, Kennington-road, March ' fe l-V er y' jeweller, New Bond-street, March 4—C. Dotesio, hotel- h, A Slough March 7—J. R. King drug ist, Bath, n oir' ir : 11 W. Richardson, glass manufLturer,gNe -Ist l e r il . - 6-' wc. • 1 8 1 ., I , March 5—A. and R. Procter coach proprietors, T orc 4t er, 7—F. Deflinne, check manufacturer, Manchestervocheil. W. H. Hayward and R. Collier, cotton spinuers,Zirdi .roio, March 4—J. Wades, victualler, Old Kent-road, f osi er,goir J. Webb, wine merchant, Bath, March 4—E. 6 bet, o s ll ' ironmonger, Leicester, March 4—D. Hannah, 10 -Seil p' dish-square, March 4—J. H. Utting, upholsterer,chsal.,,reee street, Oxford-street, March 4—J. C. ttoss, giejt).oo-1),,r0t wage-gardens, March 4—W. Stinton, cook , plac i ,l'oe 4 Grosvenor-square, March 4—C. Rayner, grocery March 4—P. Blackburn, builder, Salford, Mar c " tailor, Bridge-road, Lambeth, March 4. s 111 11* PARTNERSHIPS DISSOLVED. icestoc• J. Gregory and H. Burlingham, ironmongers'n.4oo joy' Worcestershire—C. A. Jaquin and ' 3. Corns, turers, New Union-street, bloor-lane—F. 81 1 1 d liV e llfir b t f l Mitt e t Wilo , drapers, Luton, Bedfordshire—C. Roe and "' e au' `,;.r, °'' factors, Bristol—J. J. Young and A. 13°117-Cles!,"•aleff dealers, Upper North-place, Gray's Inn-road—. • rs , P i r r ers , Attwood, and J. Barwell, spelter manufacturae_tifloslo, Derbyshire—A. and J. S. Buckley, cotton to il l . , de l l, Ryecroft, Lancashire—W. Gledhill and s- JBg ge riler e a ti• Bradford—J. Farie, P. Tasker, and A. Tod, tri ps 1 0 ,0 t er Liverpool (so far as regards A. Tod) —J. 3 , 1 u A. 13 , ° r / ' Wigley, leather pipe makers, High Holborn---atnelleli, and G. Metcalfe, copper-plate engravers, ° f, Cl,- , '' and T. Radcliffe, commission agents, StockP°r.iverri Dl T. 0. Dobson and C. Lonie, ship brokers, ii-lesterZitr,Or Mather and J. Brindley, tobacco dealers, gal , . W. „ P ff,r ° Kronheim, J. Skirving, W. Shepherd, ful u e j a rs' (6" iron patent stereotype founders, Earl-street, 13lacluroott1005, relates to J. Skirving)—G. Pacey arid T. 14. 11, 'asuet tol l ' mongers, Leicester—J. Bullen and R. u '1'• 11° dre l( ' Spa n s ' Ail G. Wormwood-street, Old Broad-street —E• dA- 01 machine makers, Manchester—J. Chadwick a', i '.. w e st a l ", Manchester warehousemen, Mancliester—J_,.l'-nicko„' cO' Ives, brewers, Hertford—W. Burnie and vv . "i fis t10 1 "&ol e. chants, London—J. Shuttleworth and J. Iv o, i,,th dealers, Blackburn—R. and J. Lockwood, vull let, ciralfor field, Suffolk—J. Whittaker and C. 13- I"llll.lc'haats, nor Swansea—T. S. • and W. P. Peters, corn inFr w iq, o ,ol , chester—C. Fairweather and W. Matthews, I'o. " (I 'l l ' chants, Kirton, Lincolnshire—T. Bagger...l l 4oas su rocers, Ful bourn, Cambridgeshire —L. N' ' po . to k • Vatson, powder flask manufacturers, Birrning ~ iiii' l ONS. 1 ° i SCOTCH SEQUESTRATI Feb- ~, „ T. and E. Oldham, contractors, Aberdeen', beraeeve March 15, at two, at the Lemon Tree Tave;_.l4 AO l i e. David Bansley, perfumer. Dunfermline, ire °,, p ferl° O.'', 7, at twelve, at the chambers of R. Gardiner_: 1 : , g eat,l' o goo' James Hamilton, Arthur Hamilton, anditi-At jo GI _ OO gow, Feb. 18 and Marchl7,at four, at the E g'e ! or, • t i pi e BIRTH'S. Mo. Piet / l i e s, On the 12th inst., at Leyton, Essex, t 1 13 of a son. o'• . e, Ps od S eg On the 22d of November, 1844, at Berbarny, pore _ n,„ the lady of Lieutenant and Adjutant T. P. sto . l'• meat of Native Infantry, of a son. fO e ' On the Bth inst., at Berners-street, 0:750rd-street' tot' Allison, of a son. di. o and heir. ~....c o , 0., 3 6 cr O ac n ro th ft e , E Bt s h q. i , n o s f t. a , asotnHaelithorn, Lincoln, the 1 5 i f s 500:0 On the Bth inst, at Brighton, Mrs. .Allen ue;', ‘ jib Of ' of Cn the 9th inst., at Greenlands, Bucks, th e Jack( en, Esq., inst a son. ( la Bb d Mr. AA: i.e 10th ~ at Whitchurch, Shropshire' the I°4l of ii. - ti bo- Mr. Biorifleld, solicitor, of a son. Airs J Fri , fT On the II nth inst., at East Ham, -- -• • On the 11. h inst ,in Torrington-square, the lady o Marstm , Esq ,°t. " °l lst e ' 111AR.RIEM On the 7th of October last, at the 13ritish Co.oel,A, Nina*, China, Patrick, fourth son of Barnard fitgu,o4 4, of York, to Mary, youngest d hter of Edward 11 05 ' 1j Ludlow, Salop. pi s ' aug fgeoo P. lion. "`.- is' __ . On i. the 10th inst., at Derry This Church, tl u ' e ,,,,w, tol e ; % K I oward, youngest son of the Earl of S 11. of Louisa Fhz-Maurice, only daughter of the gamins downe. a lter 1 0.11 1. On the 11th inst., at Greenwich, the Rev. W f tbe i oe o, Kildallen, Cavan, Ireland, to Fanny , daug ht , er o ric f filid° D. Lewis, Esq., of Cornwall -terrace, Regent „ Pa , i t a h n e a l9 H th arr o i f dil e ' Ge O o a DLED. [to M er. of November on her voyage . 0 6, Haly, .11st Regiment'of Madras Native Infantrl,lV'otlodo'?;,) iDtl the 28th of November, 1844. at Berbera purl , ..-' , goa l, ' e Jessie, the wife of Lieutenant and Adjutant T. t o It gment of Native Infantry. t daughter of caPt i 4 o ,l l S• , . 1 , On the 30t11 ult., at Dalzell House, Lanark 0 coc ep .- Kathe • rine, only daughter of the lion. W. Aor and niece . vi . Tor of the Earl of Dundonald. On the 7th lest F •the t sal of " . !tend Esq., ~ Francis, young toll , , of Blackheath. sa?-,,te, On the 7th inst., Mr. G. Creasy, of West-street, ,:,: . re, Of).r°lle, _ _On the Bth inst., at Shinefield-green, the Rev..:',. MA., Incumbent of Trinity Church, Reading, Berk j No. 112, Strand, ------ -----,,-;46,54. ------------ n 1" 1' London: Printed and Published by 111.111 M-, :Ne• 4 Strand ' , in the Precinct of the JaiSy, in the Printer, at Tile Sun Office , c o tf Dilddlasex, Thursday, Februxry B4s* r , ap p th e 111 lio s ...., Of Qe re q , tlO ll vßfo 4. 4 Litt, , Cl e , l ' t oF,lit