The Sun. — London, England, 1850-04-11 00:00:00

DAY.) ly stationa l. / utton, 29 44 A 3s 8d ; lknw lOs; Mot to 11 a pet 'l2s; Clover to 11 9s Per demand. to al 103; s to 1180 P er s. to-day 0 with eac h I a very d r rom 2s 6,1 ~, is 6d ; Voo's to sink the wand ral? 2d per 81b' d to 43 21! ; and row 8s to 24 8 filch Covr°' is very go I mu. Bee ,n o Gamb, 60 iheep mole d other kind s Mutton' , 35 6d 1* 01 l very d„ 35 to 41 1 Veal, $ s 2 ' Sunl 4 ,l e Pigs, 1 :alf, 161. 1" El CORN Returns 0 f tb . 101 and and Axe. 1 , X , 1,1 8d 1245 e. I 18 01 TINGE ESS.) i s ''' s "' 5 DA)') LL.) to reov it , tiff is 1 41 , 1 : dant is pri' is ntiff, :ted Bow-stre e t and oth ei " , engaged fot , 5s • but ° • uation aer witho• 0 eeover veral pier' and 011° ry ing.' ungodly, clueed (IT; plea, but lJ was a p had be' by order of thst T arid a the C°;l Ue nooc tiff had p ,, 0 1 nuch ab ° " o t u nes W er (i on, and le 'ter.) of hn Fals t „.% ;ea plain i ," el Rion. I m o 1 to do I/ eve BAJJ „v no est ;er was " teo comp() ,1 0 11 ill of cow t. er this - e • the coroP hat on de ; more 0 f ; 1 01 cepted , r ' to Irge. defend.%) ine hip' ti • t pow, the se d sing at id that . 13 ; Pla Wl 4 r Uwe , ll, ' aintiff 39 ed the 1.11 55. wa , mpo doyed "to images as an, , it 01.0 shinty which m g, adored verdict f°l DA Y) D Ena' ) ,lo ho 0 0 10 Moir, - r , goevteia ne iil6 'arrY , : P oi InelD en' 00 ad beeP. o o rapers ° een 0 ° ,4 )-daf. 5 1 a 11$ urue ,0 led to bb iog to ' ht too il3r ostpoo diesti ° it the 0%, r was w ag C 0 1 1; ed in had lid ke J acqu Ole te j. 3ximei g t sake t . n. f e et hat I kinan es i4 i b VC d e ft • ro ar Jo rranto„co enge liP o ~0 Dg of Ite i° 3ill P r ' r • bout fo r; trante then f9' hotO et it- tter l de,folo Duce° and •Gd., and ai on twenty proiicu3 occasions he had given sicuilar intinthtiors of tire, the presumption was that Ile had ueet fire ;,) the prtinies ter the aaka of these gracuitic•„ Severyt v, , tries!,:es were called, whose evidence bore out the statement of tt,e Learned Counsel. Mr. PAYNE contended, on behalf ot the prisoner, that, a 3 there was no intentinn to injure the owner of the pre inises, the only object of the prisoner being to get the fees given by the turncock raid the tire brigade, there was no proof of iucendlarism under the statute, which re quired there should ba some intent against the person Whose property was destroyed. He also contended that no evidence had been adduced which could positively fix the prisoner as the person who set fire to the building. There might be a strong case of suspicion against him; but he had not been seen nearer the building than fifteen yards, even if the evidence of the footmarks were ad mitted; s.nd it was possible that half a dozen parties might have been engaged in the transaction, so extremely inconclusive was the evidence. Mr. Justice ERLE having summed up. The jury returned a verdict of Guilty. There was another indictment against the prisoner, but as the evidence in support ef it was not comple.e, Mr. Ballantine agreed to a verdict acquittal. The sentence or the Court upon the prisoner was de ferred. Ik'EtV COURT. (Before the RECONDER and Mr. Alderman FINN'S.) TUE CASE OF EMMA SANDERSON.—Among the pti iTners who appeared in the dock at the sitting of the Court for arraignment was t.mnia Sanderson, who is charged with the wilful murder of her infant child by st rangulation. The t,risoner, who was supported iu the dock by her husband, appeared in a most weak and dis tressing state, and totally unconscious of what was gonig on about her. Mr. M'Murdo, th e surge o n o f Newgate, and other me dical gentlemen, gave evidence to the effect that the pri soner was insane, and totally incapable of pleading t o the indictment. Under these circumstances she was not called upon by the Court to plead, but ordered to be imprisoned during her Majesty's pleasure. Our readers will doubtless recollect that the prisoner is the wife of a most respectable man who is the fore- Man of a large boot and shoe warehouse in the City. The prisoner and her husband lived most happily together in Napier-street, Iloxton; she had had three children by him, and the one she had strangled, who was about six weeks old, had some mark upon it which distressed her grealy, and she had been often heard to s ay it would be hooted out of the parish. One day she sent the servant out, and upon her return she found the child with a cord round its throat, dead upon the bed, and the prisoner attempting to strangle herself. Sarah Davis, 37, a widow, pleaded Guilty to au in dictment charging her with stealing a shirt, one gown, and other articles, the property cf Charles Benson Jack son, her master, and was sentenced to six months' impri sonment and hard labour. Henry Wilson, 17, and John Feary, 16, were indicted with stealing a coat, a pccket-book, and a 101. Bank of England nit?, the property of Thomas Gardner, and James Webb, 29, and William Graston, 26, were indicted with feloniously receiving the coat, note, and pocket book, well knowing them to be stolen. The jury convicted all the prisoners, and The RECORDER sentenced Feary, Wilson, and Gras ton to six months' imprisonment and hard labour, and Webb to seven years' transportation. THIRD COURT. (Before the Common•SergE ant Burzocx.) RAPE.—Robert Skates, a youth 17 years of age, was indicted for a rape on the person of Elizabeth Munday, a child between 11 and 12 years. The facts are totally Unfit for publication. The jury Acquitted the prisoner. MANSION-HOUSE—(THIS DAY.) THE LATE DARING ROBBERY.—An old vagrant, named James Brown, described as 50 years of age, well known in the metropolis as a " sneak," was placed at the bar before Mr. Alderman Gibbs, on the charge of being Concerned in the extraordinary robbery of the General Post -office letters at the corner of Gracechurch-street on Monday morning. Mr. Peacock, the solicitor to the General Post-office, attended to prosecute. Mr. Inspector Foaberry, of the City police, stated that at . a little after six o'clock last night he was in 13 1shopsgate-street, when the prisoner addressed him and stated that ho wished to give himself into custody, as he was the person who stole the blue bag, containing letters, on Monday morning, at the shop of Messrs. Maine and Reed, at the corner of Leadenhall• street. He saw the bag lying on the sill of the door. It was an oldish -looking bag, and he crossed over the road to it. Ile passed the door two or three times, and thinking It contained old boots and shoes, and seeing nobody in charge of it, he took it up and crossed over to the London Tavern, down Threadneedle-street into Broad-street, down behind the back of the Bank into Moorgate - street, and along to the Finsbury-circus. He had part of an old black bsg, which he put over it. He then went into Long-alley, into a court there, and then into a privy, when he opened the bag, and he found it contained letters. He opened a few of them, and found that some of them contained halves of notes. One had 22 postage stamps in it, and another some mustard. Finding what they contained he became alarmed, wrapped them up in the black bag, and wandered about all day. In the City road he pick e d up a s t one , w hi c h h e p u t in the bag, and at night he went to London.bridge and threw it into the river. At t wo o ' c l oc k t hi s morning witness went with the prisoner to the bridge, and he pointed out the second recess on the right (west) side of the bridge as the spot Where he threw the bag over. Prisoner added, " After I threw it over I asked a man who was . passing Over the bridge to take me into custody for com mitting a robbery, but the man refused, and went on. At the station-house the prisoner was searched. 410 was asked what he had about him, and he pulled from his pocket the half of a 101. note, No. '14,168, date , 41 b February, 1848. Prisoner said that he did not 'Mow that he had it about him, but there were so many in the letters that he supposed the half must have Come from one of the letters. Twopence was found Upon him. Mr. Alderman GlBBS—Where have you been living? how do you get your livelihood? Prisoner—l do nothing. Mr. Alderman Ginns—Well, what answer have you got to the charge. Prisoner (coolly)—I have got nothing to say. Alderman GIBBS—Then you are remanded till Thurs day next. BOW-STREET.—(THIS DAY.) An aged man, respectably dressed, was placed at the bar before Mr. Hull, charged on suspicion with robbing Messrs. Hoares, the bankers, of Fleet-street, of a gallon of sperm oil. From the evidence of several witnesses it appeared that the prisoner was seen very drunk in Broad-street last evening, carrying a large bottle, which a police-con stable thought contained unadulterated spirit. He con sequently stopped him, anti examined the bottle, which contained upwards of a gallon of pure sperm oil. He said that the lamp-trimmer at Messrs. Mares had given it to him. The story appearing to be an unlikely one, he was removed to the station. Upon inquiries being made at the bank, the lamp-trimmer denied that he had ever given him any oil, but, on the contrary, had refused to allow him to loiter about the premises for some time Past, He had been a hanger-on at the bask for the last thirty years, being engaged to run messages, clean the Passages, and such like trifling matters. He had at times access to the oil-room, and a key was found upon him which opened the oil-room door. The under lamp-trim naer distinctly denied ever having given him any oil, but about this there seemed to hang a doubt. Mr. HALL said that the lamp-trimmer would, no doubt, now discover that there had been a very rapid consumption of oil; and he also believed that the pri soner was telling the truth when he said that he had had it given to him by those in command of the oil. He Would, however, remand him, in order to ascertain what the bank thought about the matter. The prisoner said nothing, and was remanded to Monday next. SPORTING INTELLIGENCE. EPSOM SPRING MEETING. EPSOM, WEDNESDAY NIGHT.—The following are the arrivals up to six o'clock:— FOR THE FLIT RACES. Epsom Trial Stakes—Knight of Gwynne, Borneo, Castanet, and br c by Sir Hercules out of Dark Susan. The Two.year.old Stakes—Edward of York; ch c by Velocipede out of Lady Geraldine, lantlae, Buckhound, Jack Robinson. The Great Metropolitan Stakes—Black Eagle, Raby, Clarissa, Snowstorm, Quiver, Ellerslie, Backbiter, Eva, ._Mounseer, Ada Mary, Puffy, Lammermoor, Sir Gilbert, Red Doe, Cheerful, Juggler, Lepidus, Damark, Sister to Pillage, and Valentine. Railway Stakes—Salute, Heroine, Sam Hood, Radul- Ails, Franciscan, ch c by Gladiator out of Khorassan's d am, Vice, Peasant Girl. Surrey Hunt Stakes—Clairvoyance, ch g by Epirus, dam by D'Egville, the Juggler, Christiana, Master Mur aY, Miss Nipper, Diligence, Peasant Girl. Several others expected. STEEPLECHASES, &C. The Great Metropolitan Steeplechase—British Yeo man, Sir Peter Laurie, Proceed, Fugitive, Rachel, Thur carton, Leo, The Thrush, Skim, and Molly. Aristocratic Steeplechase—Leo and b g by Laurel. The Surrey Hunt Steeplechase—Zanga, Molly, and Itecruit. ~The Scramble Steeplechase—Morris De,ley, Outcast, ki.erbert Lacy, Cerberus. A great many others en route. LATEST BETTING. METROPOLITAN HANDICAP. 7 to 4 agst Cheerful 25 to 1 agst Snowstorm 10 to 1 agst Ada Mary 30 to 1 agst Ellerslie 12 to 1 apt Raby 30 to 1 agst Eva 16 to 1 agst Mounseer 30 to 1 agst Lepidus 1 6 to 1 apt Black Eagle 30 to 1 agst Lammermoor 16 to 1 agst Backbiter 33 to 1 agst Juggler 2 5 to 1 agst Sir Gilbert 33 to 1 agst Sis. to Pillage TWO YRS OLD STAKES. Even on Buckhound. p y , CROFTON PARK RACES.—WEDNESDAY. . I •Le Farmers' Handicap of 50 sovs., with 5 for the se cond. Heats, once round. Gentlemen riders. Mr. Goodson's Whitefoot, 5 yrs, llst (Mr. El w es) 1 1 Ht. ; T. U e l ton ' s Mid n i g h t , list 71b (M r. Whi te) 2 2 ti; •IL Hawley's Catmos, 5 yrs. list (Mr. N o el) 0 3 r t r• J. Foster's; Tim Bobbin, 1 Ist (Mr. Park ) ns) 0 dr Mr . Spriggs' The Cull, llst 71b (Lord Cardross) dis Th e ni W on easy. llesdon Coplow Stakes of 15 soya. each, 5 fr, and 20 added. Once round. Atkinson na bg, by Sleight of Hand (Mr. Clarke) 1 Mr . W. D. Bromley's King James, list 51b (Owner) 2 au% Noel' s Paymaster, age, llst 121 b (Owner) 3 6 to 4 on Sleight of Hand gelding. Won easy by a length. TTIE SUN, The Gold Cup, added to a Handicap of 20 sovs. each, h ft. and 5 only it declatcd. Two miles. (13 7 of whom declared.) • Lord Chesterfield na, Mrs. Taft, 5 yrs 1 hit (Clt , .rlti._:) 0 1 Mr. Arrowsniith's Lady Llyltia, 6 1 Itt J b 0 2 3tol on Mrs. Tat;. A fine race from the distance iu a dead best. Deciding heat, 6 to 5 on Mrs. Tait, who wou easy by a lerigih. The Milton Plate of 501., for thue yrs old, Sat 71b; tour yrs, list 31b; live 12st; six yrs r.Lii lige& 12st fiib; half-bred horses allowed 6itis, mares and &eicliegs Sib winners 51bs extra, it' of the Tallyho, Granby, or Coplow, 101bs extra. Granby Course. One mile-and half. Mr. T. Parr's Chorister, 5 yrs... (Mr. Scobell) 1 Lord Clifden's Sagacity, 6 yrs (Mr. Clarke) 2 Lord llowth's The Fidler, 5 yrs (Mr. White) 3 Mr. Green na The Polka, 5 yrs (Mr. Parkyns) 4 Inc follciwing also rau.—Mr. Briggs u Young Sultan, 6 yrs (Mr. Eiiiics), Mr. Tehbutt na Papa, 6 yr. (Mr. Noel), and Mr. o,bortie's Gilnochie, 5 yrs (Mr. Brooke). 6 to 4 agst Sagacity, 2 to 1 agst The Fiddler, and 4to 1 agst Chorister. A good racy with three from the distance. Won by half a length. _ _ _ [ADVERTISEXIENT.]—BETTING.—Mr. John l'Atoore, the Sporting Publisher, St. Martin's-lane (established 1819), ccntinues to lay Tattersall's Odds against all horses for the Metropolitan Handicap, Newmarket Handicap, Lath and Somerset,.hire St,kos, the 2,000 Guinea, and the Derby. Abergatenny and Metropc- Ltati Stecplechae3. Country commissionsfaithfully at tended to on the remittance of a post office order, payable to John Moore, Charing-cross, Llndon. LITERATURE. ESSAYS. By _Archibald Alison. Vol. 1. Several mestiniable volumes of a similar character to the one jutA issued from trio establishment of the Messrs. Blackwood, Edinburgh, have already adorned the shelves of our public and private libraries, tending greatly to the enhancement of the repute of our contemporary literature in this manner. Much, very much, of the genius of our greatest living writers is expended for a considerable time anony mously in our various publications, in newspapers and magazines, in periodicals, variously published daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly. Until a re putation be formed by some, substantial work to which the writer's name is affixed, a thousand, nay, a mil lion chances to one, but his very existence continues a matter of obscurity, and whatever fame is acquired by his anonymous contributions attaches itself not to him individually, hut the general cha racter of the periodical with which he happens to be associated as a contributor. Even when celebrity has been lung achieved by one or other of these contri butors, the authorship of their respective effusions remains a matter of mere conjecture with the unini tiated until such time as they are severally extracted from the original publication, and re-issued in a sub stantial collection. This has been accomplished with admirable success on divers occasions, in regard to the contributions to the dinburgh Review, by certain eminent critical and historical essayists. Thus, for example, we have witnessed the republication of the collected essays of Francis Jeffrey, the essays of Sydney Smith, the essay s of Babington Ma caulay, and more recently we perceive the announcement of a similar accumulation of articles from the pen of Henry Rogers. With Blackwood' s Magazine, the lord paramount of all the magazines, designated, in token of its pre-eminence, by the distinctive appellation of Maga, it has been altogether different. Hitherto its sole republications have been (not critical, historical, or political essays, masterly as many of that class of contributions have unquestionably been), but conversational serials, such as the immortal confabs of his Most Gracious Ma jesty King Christopher, and several renowned and highly popular fictions. With these, however, it must be borne in recollection that long before their collective republication the authorship was sufficiently notorious. Thus, before their appearance in the form of volumes, everybody (that is to say, everybody at all claiming to be considered as anybody) knew per lectly well that " My Cousin Nicholas" was penned by Thomas Barham, that " Ten Thousand a Year" was the work of Samuel Warren, " Caleb Stukely," of Samuel Phillips, the "Memoirs of a Statesman," of Dr. Croly, and the " Caxtons" of Sir Edward Bulvver Lytton. But with the political articles, the critical papers, and the historical essays, it was other wise ; the personality of the writers remained shrouded in an austere indistinctness. Not but that at inter vals it was impossible to avoid the recognition of the master-hand of a great annalist in the rhetorical graces of such contributions, and that on certain oc casiona it was equally *possible not to distinguish his sonorous utterance in the thundering tones of Blackwood. Yet up to the appearance of the adver tisement announcing the approach of the present publication, the individuality of the contributor even in those instances continued to be a matter of dubious conviction. It is consequently with peculiar pleasure that we hail the first volume of the collected "Essays ; Political, Historical, and Miscellaneous," by Archibald Alison, the celebrated historian of Europe. With two more additional volumes the ag gregated publication, under its present form, will be completed. When we observe that the scale upon which the present re-issue is planned tallies, in all respects, with the library edition of the " History of Europe," being a handsome decoy octavo, numbering upwards of 600 pages in each volume, it. must be sufficiently apparent that the form of publication is worthy, in all respects, of the celebrity of the writer, and of the high and brilliant reputation of the maga zine from which his contributions have been ex tracted. All we regret to observe is the non appearance of an engraved portrait of the Essayist and Historian, as a frontispiece to the opening volume. This omission, however, may possibly be rec tified before the issue of the volume des tined to bring the work to a conclusion. Under any circumstances, however, the books will not fail to be welcomed by all those who admire the genius of Archibald Alison, and who respect the abi lity of Blackwood's Magazine. Having already from month to month particularised the various characte ristics of the articles here brought together—articles constituting the most remarkable of the political essays inserted in Maga from 1831 to 1849 inclu sively—it only remains for us now to announce the ap pearance of a work so long and so eagerly anticipated. The fact of its ultimate publication cannot fail by any possibility to enhance and confirm the popularity of the Historian and the Essayist. THE QUARTERLIES. THE QUARTERLY RE VIEW. No. CLXXII. Among the whole of the eleven contributions to the current number of the Quarterly, the most inte resting is the one already noticed in our leading columns, relating to the extraordinary vicissitudes of Louis Philippe—vicissitudes which were brought to such a striking consummation by the days of February in the last French Revolution. Taking the lucubra tions of Guizot, of Lamartine, of Blanc, of Caussi diere, of Cnenu, and of Delahodde, of our distinguished nautical writer Captain Chamier as the objects of his criticism, the Quarterly Reviewer retraverses the whole of that long and tedious road passed over by the royal fugitives of 1848, a road which, considering the number of writers that have travelled along it, must be by this time tolerably well macadamised by their footsteps. Of course the whole narrative is replete with that scorn for democracy and that homage for legitimacy (as the rule of the most illegitimate rulers is absurdly called), which scatters ridicule alike over the bourgeois dynasty of the House of Orleans and over the 'revolutionary members of the Provisional Government. The derision felt by the Reviewer to wards the former is more covert, of course, than that expressed openly and emphatically in reference to the latter : in fact, the terms in which the ex-King and the princes are mentioned are not unfrequently terms of sympathy and admiration. Nevertheless, through all this apparent condolence, it is scarcely possible for the discriminating not to recognise a secret predilec tion for the head of the regal house of the Bourbons eclipsed by the shadow of three sombre and terrific revolutions. If the weakness of Copperfield's ac quaintance (Hamlet's aunt, or some other such dis tinguished female) was Blood—Blood also, but more especially Blood Royal, is a decided weakness on the part of the Quarterly Reviewer. He is ready to faint on the occasion when he tells us of the appoint ment of Albert ouvrier to one of the posts of the Republican Government. He goes very nearly into convulsions of disgust when dilating over the rise of certain intellectual parvenus to authority. He evi dently sighs for the parfume de la tour and the bou quet de Versailles to allay the sulphurous stench of the Revolution. So true was that saying of William Hazlitt, that the aristocrats hate " the look of the People, the touch of the People, the smell of the People !" Another, and more coherent reference to the age of continental outbreaks, is the critical notice immediately preceding the one just mentioned, sug gested by several political brochures published in 1850, but especially by Mr. Baxter's "Impressions of Central and Southern Europe." Utterly nauseated as the public is with that everlasting and disgusting topic of Dolly's Brae, a topic rendered infamous by its association with Orange ruffianism in its state of most rampant atrocity, the Quarterly must needs allude yet once more to the debate in the Lords, f o r the purpose of emptying the last dregs of its little paltry vial of wrath on the doomed but still, happily, illustrious head of the Right Honourable the " Lord Lieutenant Clarendon." A most readable and de lightful paper of antiquarian small talk and topo graphical gossip has been penned in the Review by one of the most appreciative of the readers of Mr. Peter Cunningham's " Handbook for London," the critical contribution in which that charming work is considered being enlivened by clusters of agreeable and attractive anecdotes. What shall we say of the little intermediate criticism on a tiny volume pub lished last year by some one who, saving his initials (H. E. 0.), wisely chose to remain anonymous upon the title-page of the "Diary of a Dutiful Son ?" How the volume ever came to be noticed by a Quarterly Reviewer we cannot for the life of us sur mise, unless it was as a random freak of eccentricity. All lovers of the comparatively modern science of political economy will find a very relishable "nut to crack" in the article entitled "Facts and Figures"— a nut which may be rendered somewhat more palatable (excuse the pun, gentle reader !) if taken cum grand sails. In the course of an odd sort of rambling, crabbed, and yet at times well tempered, criticism on the works of the Urquharts—that is to say, the writings of the famous translator of Rabelais, and of the well-known Member for Stafford—one of the Quarterly Reviewers delecteth his readers with a grotesque sketch after the antique representing Fame running away from one of her aspirants with her thumb to her nose, and her fingers spread out deri sively, saying, Eexe rat xg.XE—" Catch me if you c turningn' my fine to, fellowanamusement. " Grote's History of Greece" — that d r The woodcut (p. 430) is worth we warrant will afford some masterly effusion of research, scholarship, eloqu ence , and e rudition—obtains another eulogistic notice from the historic critic of the Quarterly. " Queen's College— London," also passes under the second and revised cons icl• , rat ion of the same periodical. At a period like the present, when Austria and Prus sia are still competing with each other for the chieftainship of the Germanic Confederation, the "Memoirs of the House of Brandenburgh," by the annalist of the Popes, the learned and indus trious Leopold Ranke, must necessarily demand a very large share of attention ; and hence it appears M(ThDAY'S DEBATE. There eas nothing sati f.ctory in Monday's debate beyond the victory woo for the assistant-surgeons in the navy. Certainly it was an edifying spectacle to see Ad miral Dundas and Captain Berkeley—gentlemen living, as Colonel Sibthorp expressed it, " on a comfortable sa lary, with coals and candles, in a house rent free, and in a dry and airy situation," come down to their places to denounce the presumption of poor graduates in medicine humbly praying for something more than 18 inches of hammock-room amongst boys, with the ship's company in front of them. Captain Berkeley's indignation at such audacity knew no bounds. As a guardian of the public interests he declared the attempt to be " one of the greatest blows that could be inflicted on the naval service of the country,'' while, as an advocate of the offi cers themselves, he asserted that the freedom of the ward room would inevitably lead them into inextinguishable debt, place them over the heads of their superiors, and be opposed, after all, to the general wishes of their own class. We are sure that the Gallant Member's impres sions on these points will be better corrected by a little quiet recollection on his own part than by any sugges tions of ours. He must necessarily be aware that the as sistant-surgeon has already more pay than two of the wardroom officers, and as much pay, on the average, as two others; so that all anxiety for the adequacy of his in come to support wardroom mess charges may be dis missed as groundless. The "superiors" alluded to can be no other than mates, but, as they were only ranked with lieutenants in the army by an order of 1844, whereas assistant-surgeons have enjoyed that rank for nearly half a century, it is difficult to see how the alleged " su periority" of position can be substantiated. No person denies the equality of midshipmen in respect of birth or education—the difference, as Captain Berkeley will re member, was in respect of age—midshipmen and mates quitting the junior berth about twenty-one, whereas as sistant-surgeons of that age were just entering it. We have no desire to fight over again a battle so well won, but there is one point on which our information is per haps more accurate than that of the Admiralty authori ties, and we can assure them that if they have been led to believe in any disinclination or indifference on the part of the assistant-surgeons to the proposed reform they have been seriously deceived. We can state, on unquestionable grounds, that the earnestness and unanimity of the petitioners and the profession generally is something extraordinary. After this satisfactory skirmish came the great fight fir the " establishments." Col. Anson made as good a case, perhaps, as his brief permitted; but, in the whole four columns of his speech, what, we ask, is to be found in any degree justifying the enormous de mands on this score? "These establishments of the Ord nance-offices at the Tower and Pall-mall had already," he candidly premised, " been made peculiarly the sub ject of remark and complaint as to their cost." No doubt they had; and what, then, is the apology offered in their behalf ? Was it shown that the duties attached to them were performed in the most effectual and eco nomical manner possible? Was it shown that the least possible waste of power was secured in the general ad ministration, or that the most jealous scrutiny had failed in detecting any weak points in their constitution or management? Quite the contrary. Colonel Anson did, indeed, presently arrive at a conclusion, which he ex pressed as a logical consequence of certain previous de monstrations. " Therefore," said he, "he thought that the Government should have credit for having gradually brought the cost of this department to the lowest point compatible with the actual requirements of the public service." But, when we come to ex amine the source in the premises from which this ergo is derived, we find nothing beyond a simple statement that small reductions have been re peatedly made in the total demand. We say, with Mr. Hume, that 86,9611. per annum is a monstrous charge for "an establishment maintained for the purchase of about 100,0001. worth of old stores a year;" and we are told in reply that there was a time when it cost still more and did even leis. We don't question the accu racy of the assertion—we only demur to its pertinency. The Ordnance-offices undoubtedly cost 101,971/. iu 1828, and 95,5641. in 1848, whereas the figures are now modestly set at some 9,000/. less. But how much does this prove the case for maintaining them as they stand at present? Let the reader consider the facts simply admitted in Colonel Anson's own statement. During the time that the country had been charged with 100,000/. a year for the maintenance of these esta blishments, " the store accounts had been shown to have been kept in a most imperfect and unsatis fictory manner," though the difficulties in the way of improving the system were in reality so small as to be " readily " overcome by a method " pointed out" by the deposing witness. Other suggestions were confessedly calculated " materially to facilitate the transaction of business." When we come to the system actually existing, we find it described as " occasioning great loss of time to the clerks, incon venience to the members of the board, and consequent disadvantage to the public." This "point," we are then told, " had been attended to," from which admission we presume we may infer that the alleged clumsiness and costliness of management were not denied. Now, is it not demonstrable from these acknowledgments that we were paying, but a few years back, enormous sums for work very ill done, and that at this moment, - while the cost is but little diminished, the returns are but doubtfully increased ? It is surprising that the advocates of establishments should not see what conviction they are bringing home to themselves by arguments like these. The Dockyard and Admiralty authorities took just the same ground two years ago; but what would be said of a tradesman who should challenge public support and sympathy on the score of having instituted, in his twen tieth year of business, a system of book-keeping by which he might know how much he expended and how much he received, and whether his servants did or did not perform the work for which he had been paying them? We assert that " establishments" in which so little was done, through so long a period, for so much money, and in which the very commonest suggestions of prudence, economy, and good management have teen only adopted after years of ignorance or wilfulness, in otedience to pressure from without, are plainly convicted of radical rott-nness, nor can their tardy amenability to public opinion be set against their, proved propensities to ex • travagance and their notorious liabilities to abuse. This much, we say, can be demonstrated from facts admitted on all sides. We will go further and assert, that the costliness and inefficiency of the Ordnance-offices could be inferred from their very constitution, and that if they were really found to work satisfactorily, the result would be a miracle. There are at present no fewer than six offices, departments, or establishments con nected with the administration of the army. 1. The Secretary of War and the Colonies. 2. Horse Guards. 3. Ordnance. 4. Secretary at War. 5. Paymaster of the Forces. 6. Adjutant-General. The reader will be aware that without the co-opera• Lion of the establishment standing No. 3. on this list, and which has been characterised in the foregoing remarks, the Commander-in-Chief could not sent a single gun from London to Bristol, and we have heard of a corre spondence between No. 3 and 4, touching the account ability for a certain rope which lasted for several months, and was ultimately re'erred to the Treasury for arbitra tion. The true function of the Ordnance-office, in so far as it is not an actual impediment to the efficiency of our military administration, is the supervision of stores, and it costs very nearly half as much to keep these stores as to purchase them. A homely proverb says, that " stores are no sores," and people usually find a consolation in reflecting that such inanimate bar gains " don't eat and drink." But our public stores do eat and drink, through their keepers, and with a very steady appetite too. The Ordnance office alone, with its Master-General and 220 subordi nates, costs nearly twice as much as the three officers and 2,182 non-commissioned officers and men constitut ing the corps of Royal Sappers and Miners; and the " Ordnance establishments at home and abroad," even in their revised form, cost no less than 432,829/. per annum, while the charge of the whole regiment of Ar tillery, with its 544 officers and 10,755 men, all miscel laneous expenses, allowances, and contingencies in cluded, is but 465,584/. We remember an instance of an Irish union, where the entire sum collected from the ratepayers just amounte i to the expenses of the work ing staff, leaving a remainder of 01. 0, Od. for the said staff to distribute. If Mr. Hume cou!d carry his motion for unconditional retrenchment, the Ordnance staff would find itself in much the tame predicament; but John Bull has a long purse, and can keep up a lively game.— Times. BRUTAL CONDUCT.—On Monday last, two men named Edward Craine and Thomas Gill, proceeded to a hill side on the estate of lienabb, parish of Maughold, for the purpose of procuring a bundle of heather for the making of brooms; while thus engaged the proprietor of the pre mises observed them, and remarked that he should quickly make them remove their quarters. In accordance with this determination, he at once set lire to the dry furze and heather, directly under the place where the poor men wore engaged as above stated. The fire spread with great .fury, and it was only by rolling himself down the brow of the hill, and fallicg over the edge of the precipice into the river under neath, that Gill escaped, whilst his unfortunate companion, who was a pensioner, aged 80 years, and quite a cripple, was left in his helpless state a prey to the devouring ele ment. After the flame had subsided, Gill went in search of Craine, whom he found burnt to a cinder. The proprietor of the heath has been apprehended.—Manx Liberal. LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL U, 18M. that that standard work is passed under review in the second contribution to the present instalment of the Quarterly—the first article being dedicated to a con sideration of the genius and the career of Giacomo Leopardi. This commemorative chapter is entitled to the profound btudy of those who are intel lectually ambitious. THE WESTMINSTER REVIEW. No. Cl TILE _FOREIGN QUARTERLY. AY). LXXXIX. United together these two eminent periodicals contrive every quarter to make a somewhat goodly appearance—the articles of both con trasting agreeably with each other. Foremost among those dedicated this month to the maintenance of the reputation of the Westminster is an acute and earnest criticism on the writings of the late Lord Jeffrey, but more especially upon his in. genious and felicitous theory of beauty. 'l'nose who love the analytical writings of Alison will be de lighted with the effusion here particularised, an effusion evidencing the utmost refinement of tact and the utmost delicacy of perception. Another paper of a curious but most fascinating character, suggested by the labours of Major Rawlinson, in &cyphering and translating the Persian inscriptions at Behistan, will be found embodied in a graceful and scholarly c adribution, entitled " Persian Cuneiform Inscrip tions." Mr. Samuel Elliot's volumes on " The Liberty of Rome " are subsequently passed under review, obtaining their due meed of commen dation. At this period the work itself and its review in the Westminster acquire a singular and prominent importance. After this comes an entertaining paper on the prospective " Industrial Exhibition of 1851," in which his Royal Highness the Prince Consort is thus quaintly apostrophized:— " Prince Albert'.—royal artist,—prince amongst mer•. chants,—universal patron of Europe's future metropolis, —shunner of the 'Fields of Cloth of Gold,'—scorner of Eglington tournaments ; Haroun Alraschid of the universal bazaar; II Boudocani of the revolutionary ruin, bidding beauty rise and chasing away gloom and despair; genius of the modern day; hero of the hundred embraces, and hater ' of the hundred fights;' from the hearts of all high-souled men will well up loyalty to this royal progress !" _ Thereupon follows a paper, " The Probate Courts," to which the attention of every legal reformer should be sedulously directed. After a brief and, to our thinking, somewhat insufficient reference to the me. trical writings of the late gifted Ebenezer Elliott, the Corn •law Rhymer, the Westminster contains a copious and laboriously careful estimate of the advantages and disadvantages of the various routes marked out in the narrow isthmus cf Central America for the junction of the two oceans, the Atlantic and the Pacific. Last but not the least attractive among the contributions will be found the paper dedicated to the consideration of the present position of the "Church of England," a position of late very powerfully affected by the redoubtable case of Gor ham v. Phillpotts. Besides a plentiful assortment of miscellaneous notices, the supplemental Quarterly contains some very able though condensed criticisms on the last romance of Hendrick Conscience, and on the " Memoires de Philippe de Commynes." The re views will eminently repay a perusal by affording a glimpse into the state of foreign literature. FREEMASONS' QUARTERLY MAGA ZINE AND REVIEW. No. I. This is the first number of a new Masonic periodi cal, intended to succeed the defunct Freemasons' Quarterly (with the conductors of which the editor of this magazine disclaims all connexion) as the organ of the craft. Since the discontinuance of the Free masons' Quarterly Review the necessity for the exist ence of some such organ has been ,universally acknow ledged by the craft, and the present periodical appears to us well calculated to meet the necessity. A PRAYER FOR SABBATH OBSEVANCE BY EBENEZER ELLIOTT. Lord! grant to poor o'er•labour'd man More leisure, and less pray'r; More Church, less priest—and homes for inns I More libraries, and feN er sins; More music, and less care! And when the tardy Sabbath dawns, Bid townsmen leave behind The goldfinch, smother'd on his perch, Gin-shop and chapel, jail and church, And drink the mountain wind. Or teach the artisan to seek Some village house of pray'r, And kneel (an apparition pale, Amid the rustics red and hale), And humbly worship there. Or bid him (in the temple, built By Skill Divine for all), Expound to pallid listeners near, While rose-cheek'd pilgrims stop to hear, The words of Christ or Paul. LOMBARDY AND AUSTRIA. The following has been handed to us for publi cation : TO THE EDITOR OF THE MORNING CHRONICLE. Sir,—When Baron Wesenberg made proposals to the.. Provisional Junta of Milan, the Lombards de clined to treat for their own independence, unless their fellow countrymen the Venetians were included in that treaty. This noble act of self-denial, which deserves the admiration of the world, is made a theme of insult in your journal of the sth instant—insult worthy of an Austrian partisan, worthier of the im partial Times newspaper. I myself, a participator in the late fatal struggle of the Lombardo-Venetians, and commanding a regi ment, can assert that the Lombards fought gallantly on every occasion. Unfortunately, they placed re liance on Charles Albert, who, to say the least of him, abandoned them to the overwhelming force of their oppressors. Milan was handed over; men, women, and children w e re flogged, imprisoned, and shot. Deep misery and despair is now the doom of the land. Is it just, generous, or English, allow me to ask, to add contumely to such heavy misfortunes ? I have the honour to remain, Sir, your obedient servant, CH. SCOTT, Ex •Aide-de-Camp of General Pepe. THE ROYAL MINT. We understand that the Deputy Master of the Mint has tendered his resignation, and that it has been wil. lingly accepted by the Treasury, that functionary being found the greatest obstacle to the reform of that estab lishment. Captain H arness , secre t ar y t o th e R a il w ay Commission, has been appointed to succeed him. We are also informed that notices are in preparation at the Treasury to terminate the contracts of the moneyers and melter, the Government being determined to carry out the recommendations of the Commissioners as to the substitution of fixed salaries for rates in these departments. This consummation has, in some measure, been has tened by the notorious fact of these parties receiving from year to year enormous sums of public money, while at the same time they have thrown all their duties on subordinates and apprentices. The officials of the Mint, who are supposed to have a control over these parties, have attempted all through the inquiry to con ceal the fact of habitual non-attendance; but now it has been elicited that often during the greatest pressure of business—as the re-coinage of light gold—the melter and some of the moneyers were found absent from their posts, and that with the full cognizance of the governing powers. Nor were sufficient precautions taken on such occasions, to guard against loss and waste ; the paucity of hands, and consequent do fective supervision, rendering di 3 care and: vigilance almost impossible. The strict inquiry to be inskitutAl by Captain Har ness—a man very well chosen for this new appointment —will prove what we are well informed of, that there are officers in the Mint who have for years enjoyed such lucrative sinecures, by the delegation of their duties to others, that they are as practically ignorant as when first appointed. These, no doubt, will be pensioned off, and their places supplied by more active and useful men. The whole establishment must be thoroughly sifted and purged before it can be put on an efficient footing ; and on the right exercise of patronage will greatly depend what the public look for—a better and more economical management of that important but expensive establish ment.—Morning Paper. NINEVEIL—We hear that additional information respecting the interesting country to which the researches of Mr. Lavard have of late directed so much attention, will shortly be laid before the public in the shape of two volumes of travels, by the Rev. J. P. Fletcher, who resided some years at Mosul, during his i nquiries into the condition of the Oriental churches. The travels will embrace not only Nineveh and its antiquities, but various new and interesting particulars respecting the Yeztdees and Oriental Christians, as well as notices of he country between Mosul and Aleppo, which has been explored by few European travellers. The intimate relations with the natives of the country entered into by Mr. Fletcher, in his official capacity, have furnished him, we are informed, with a vast fund of anecdote and illustration. Much new information respecting the Nesto riar.s and the early history of their once widely-extended church, with an account of the Kurdish massacre, and the causes which led to it, it is said, will be given; also disquisi tions on the ancient cities of Mesopotamia, and on the suc cessive empires established between the Tigris and Euphrates, with remarks on the hypothesis advocated by Majorßawlin son as regards the early Assyrian Kings. THE CONVICTS AT PORTSMOUTH.—The emeute on board the Stirling Castle convict-ship, at Portsmouth, was put an end to on Monday evening by the superintendent of the ship seizing up and flogging several of the ringleaders. On Tuesday morning several boats' mates, with a guard of marines, went on hoard the Stirling Castle. 'The emeute on board the Stirling Castle, which commenced on Friday, was followed by one on board the York, on Monday, when the convicts refused to go to work, and commenced with the legs of their stools to batter the bulkheads, and to use all sorts of abusive language to their keepers; but Mr. Barrow (we be lieve), an old army officer, who has charge of the ship, promptly seized two of the ringleaders; one of these men received two dozen lashes, and he then asked for a glass of water, which being given him, he told the officer he did not care, and that he might flog away ; his request was complied with, and he was ordered to receive two dozen more, when he altered his tone and begged off. This prompt and decisive conduct on the part of the superintendent crushed the imeute in its bud. SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS. FttoM TIM MORNING FAPERS OF THIS DAY. U'rvlES.—lt is a striking fact that a Government which is in perfect possession of an adequate worle. ing majority on most of the important mesures which are submitted to the consideration of Parliament should, notwithstanding, have been three times de feated, and almost on three successive nights. We speak of three defeats; two were complete, and in the third instance—that of the window-tax—the ma jority obtained by the Treasury was so small that the division virtually resulted in a defeat. But with re gard to the assistant-surgeons employed in the navy, and to the extension of the county court jurisdiction, the Ministry has been left, as it well deserved to be, in an absolute minority. As will be seen by our Parliamentary report, the second reading of the County Courts Extension Bill was carried yesterday by a majority of 144 to 67, considerably more than two to one. The majority was composed of the in dependent Members of the House, of the men who felt themselves free to act according to their convic tions ; the minority, of the members of the Govern ment itsel", and of those on whom the influence of the Government, direct or indirect, could be brought to bear. All the ingenuity of Mr. Tufo&l, all the per suasive eloquence of the Home Secretary, all the dim, mysterious denunciations of the Attorney -Ge neral, as to the evils that must result from the inter ference of laymen in the technical regions of the law, were of no effect. But sixty-seven men, including half- a-dozen Cabinet Ministers, could be found to file off with Sir George Grey and Sir John Jervis, for the purpose of inscribing their names as opponents to the salutary changes in the administration of the law contemplated by the proposed Bill. Of the Bill it self we need say very little. It is merely a propo sition to derive practical advantage from the result of a successful experiment. The history of the esta blishment and of the successful working of the county courts might furnish a standing precedent for cau tious legislation. There was, from first to last, no rash dogmatising, no hasty and premature action. The evils of dilatoriness and expense inseparable from the old Westminster-hall system were acknowledged on all sides ; but still the question remained, whether a worse state of things might not be produced by an ab rupt departure from the old traditional forms of prac tice. Over and over again the matter was debated before the final resolution was arrived at, and even then the resolution was but to make an experiment upon minor interests. Should this prove successful, then it would be possible to advance with confidence upon a path which time and experience—the two great elements in all permanent reform—should have proved to be a correct one. From 201., the jurisdiction of these new courts would, in course of time, be naturally ex tended to higher amounts, should their working give satisfaction and attract public confidence. We have now had some years' experience of these new tribunals, and even those who oppose any extension of their jurisdiction are forced to confess that if the public voice is to be accepted as any test of the policy of such an extension, they are fairly beaten. It is a fact that under the new system the payment of debts which, with the old machinery, would have been given up for lost by any prudent man, is every day enforced. It is a fact that the mercantile and trading classes of the country have confidence in the county courts, and they evince it by daily resorting to them for the establishment of their just claims. It is a fact that the county courts have greatly tended to discourage those Bedouins of society whose object it was to live in idleness by fleecing the industrious classes of the community. It is a fact that the suitors themselves defray the expenses of these useful tribu nals; and it is also a fact that the costs of proceeding before them will be lessened the more their jurisdic tion and their business are extended. Under these circumstances, the very reasonable proposition is made to extend the jurisdiction of the county courts from debts of 201. to debts of 50/. ; and in actions for tort and slander frOm Si. to 201. And how is the proposition met ? Certainly not by any fair and direct arguments, which would suggest a probability of the injurious working of the plan. Sir George Grey is apprehensive, " that if no injurious results follow from the adoption of that course, the House might be called upon next year to extend the jurisdiction of these tribu nals indefinitely." It; by "not injurious" the Home Secretary means " beneficial," we do not conceive that, in the House or out of it, there would be two opinions upon the subject. Mr. Henley, ever great at an objection, is apprehensive that the county courts, of which, nevertheless, he approves, might become overwhelmed with business, should their jurisdiction be extended—a strange admission in favour of the policy of the change! The Attorney- General, who is after all the leading counsel against the Bill, certainly from feeling, and possibly from conviction, could produce no sounder arguments than inuendoes and sarcasms respecting the proposed in crease in the salaries of the judges, and the alleged methods in which petitions had been got up in fa vour of the Bill. " Besides," said he, " with such an extended jurisdiction you would require a compe tent bar to watch, inform, and check the judge." Why should there not be such a bar? Surely these county courts would prove the most valuable of all schools to the junior members of the bar, and fit them for appearing in due course of time with credit before the superior courts. We can readily understand that Sir John Jervis, as the representative of the monopolists of practice, should object to its more even distribution ; but it is quite retreshing to turn from his narrow-minded and bigoted speech to the manly, straightforward spirit, in which Mr. Cock burn met the question, and stood forward the advo cate of this, as of other useful changes in the law, and its administration. The position of the Government, after this rude check, cannot but lower Lard John and his Cabinet in public respect. The fault lies mainly at the door of the First Minister himself. We find him quite strong enough to carry any important measures he may take in hand to a successful issue. He can grapple with the Protectionists on one occa sion and with Mr. Cobden and his party upon another ; on every great question he is supported by an ample majority, and yet Lord John Russell now stands before the country in the position of a defeated Minister. How is this ? We believe the truth will be found to be, that Lord John, able as he is to carry through what ever he takes personally in hand, trusts too much in affairs of less importance to the subordi nate heads of departments. How is it else that a man in the position and with the experience of a Premier of this country could for a moment allow himself to be identified with Captain Berkeley's absurd escapade the other night about the assistant-surgeons of the navy ? How, again, could his eyes be so shut to the condition of public feeling, and to the merits of the case, as to oppose a proposition for the extension of the jurisdiction of the county courts ? We can rea dily enough conceive how irritating it is to the head of a Government to see measures which should have been introduced by his own colleagues proposed and carried through by independent Members of the House. But an opposition to such measures, when introduced, added to the preliminary neglect of not introducing them, is merely cumulative impolicy. In such a case as that of the African squadron Lord John might still safely calculate for support upon a mass of prejudice and ignorance out of doors. Upon such a question as the one on which he was defeated yes terday he may rest assured that, with the exception of two or three Queen's Counsel and a few half-shelved barristers, there is not a man in the three kingdoms who will not very heartily rejoice at the result of the division. CHRONICLE.—" Human life," said Jeremy Taylor, "is like playing at tables : the luck is not in our power, but the mode of playing the game is." What is true of life in general is pre-eminently true of politics. Accidents will happen in the best-regu lated Cabinets; but three such mishaps as those which have befallen the present Government within three successive days can hardly, by any stretch of charity, be attributed to ill-luck. Lord John Russell is no longer, as we formerly hinted, " one of these valetu dinarians in reputation, who, being conscious of their weak part, avoid the least breath of air, and sup ply the want of stamina by care and circumspection" —he is a kind of chartered libertine, who answers the kindly voice of warning by a shout of vogue la galere, and bids bolddefiance to the opinion of the world. Never again should a Prime Minister spend his Easter holi days in Manchester. His Lordship has certainly.leet, in prudence, in tact, and in that fine art of divining national impulses and exigencies which constitutes the better half of what is usually termed states manship, far more than he has gained in mechanical knowledge. After summing up the Ministerial ex ploits of the Bth, 9th, and 10th of April, we are involun tarily struck by the reflection that they are of a cha racter commonly and popularly supposed peculiar to the first. Surely it was very ill-advised, not to sa y foolish, to oppose Captain Boldero, s well-considered and propular proposal on behalf of the assistant- surgeons of the navy. Lord Duncans motion for th e repea l o f the window-tax was made in accordance with some of the best financial heads of the empire; if the divi sion had taken place an hour later, he would have obtained an actual as well as a virtual victory ; and . the whole Budget would have had to be reconsidered on an entirely new basis. Then came Mr. Fitzroy's Bill, a hich was notori ously introduced in obedience to a general call from the classes most interested in securing cheap and easy access to justice, and best qualified to pass au opinion upon the efficiency of the means hitherto adopted for providing it. Why, then, was such a Bill opposed—eagerly, vehemently, and persever ingly—on behalf of the Government, by the Home Secretary and the first law-officer of the Crown ? If we turn to the report of yesterday's debate in the hope of finding a solution of our difficulty, we are sadly disappointed, for Sir George Grey's and Sir John Jervia's speeches do no contain a single argu ment of sufficient depth, breadth, or weight to sug gest so much as an apology for their suicidal and most discreditable course. Sir George Grey appeared to be haunted with the apprehension that, if the prin ciple of extension were acceded to, and worked well, Mr. Fitzroy would come forward next year and move that the jurisdiction of the county courts should be indefinitely extended, and the salaries of the judges as well as of the officers of the courts, increased as a necessary consequence. In fact, the Home Secretary is so completely wedded to the existing state of things, that no experiment, be it ever so successful, can induce him to risk a change of any sort. The Attorney-General flew out into the most i uncom promising denunciation of local courts n general. In his opinion, locality is the most objectionable of all imaginable elements or qualities in a tribunal. A resident judge and a resident jury would naturally and necessarily give rise to suspicions of partiality ; i and moreover, as " lawyers had known instances n which plaintiff and defendant had sworn point-blank against each other," the parties to a cause could never be admitted to tell their own stories without producing a fruitful crop of perjury. It had escaped the learned gentleman's recollection altogether, that a Devonshire or Somersetshire cause is tried by a Devonshire or Somersetshire jury ; that a county court judge cannot be resident in more than one parish of his district, if in any, and that parties have been allowed to give evidence in their own behalf, not only in cases under 201, but in cases of every amount before arbitrators and in the equity courts, without producing any one of the lamentable results deprecated by him. The only earnest support given to the Government on this occasion was—by Mr. S. Martin, who sagely stated that, dear as law proceedings might be in West minster Hall, they were dearer under the Dutch law in the Cape of Good Hope, and under the French law in Canada—by Mr. Beckett Denison, who had cun ningly discovered a snspicious analogy between Mr. Fitzroy's Bill and a Bill before the House " for raising the summary jurisdiction over accused persons from the age of 14 to the age of 16 "—and by Mr. Henley, who feared that the unprotected local judges would be overworked, and that trial by jury would be eventually knocked up like his favourite sliding scale. On the other side, Mr. Christopher pointedly urged that " the measure was called for from one end of the country to the other, with the exception of cer tain legal persons in Westminster Hall." Mr. Clay said that he would at least extend the jurisdiction of these county courts up to the point beneath which it was notorious that no sane man would sue in the su perior courts. Mr. Hume reminded the Attorney- General that he had given no answer to the question whether he would advise a client to bring an action for 1001. in either of the superior courts ; and Mr. Cockburn spoke a few daring truths regard ing juries, which would have sounded like downright profanity in the mouth of a distinguished nisi prius advocate of the olden time. "No man entertained a more profound estimation of what trial by jury was in criminal cases, and in civil cases no doubt a jury might be had, in certain localities, to render a most efficient and essential service. But if he regarded the ordinary run of juries, as at the assizes in country towns, he must own that many years' professional experience had not raised his confidence in them, and he thought that a single judge—a man of experi ence, education, and knowledge would decide causes much better. When gentlemen talked of the importance of trial by jury, did they forget that in the principal courts of this country—the courts of equity—property in its masses, and in its most important relations, was dealt with without the intervention of a jury ? Besides, the Bill allowed a person desiring it to call for the appointment of " a jury "—for which as we stated yesterday, they hardly ever do call. In a word, all the en lightened experience, all the improved notions, all the advanced social and juridical philo sophy, and all the popular feeling, were in favour of the Bill, which a liberal Government idly, reck lessly, and ingloriously lent all its energies to throw out, after having been twice already discre• dited in the face of the country within the week. How or where, then, is all this to end? The indi vidual measures may be thought comparatively im material ; but it is obviously of the very highest mo ment that the official representatives of free-trade prin ciples should act with a reasonable degree of prudence, and stand firm. An unscrupulous band, yclept the " Country Party," are watching their opportunity for a dash. Their longing desire at present is to bring about a crisis—to create n period, however passing, of em barrassment, confusion, and distrust—during which they may haply acquire a factitious value. We have repeatedly warned Lord John Russell and his colleagues against this particular danger. Three times, in as many days, have we endeavoured to im press upon them, that if they would only follow in the wake of enlightened public opinion, and act upon the broad recognised principles of justice and expe diency, they are safe. But, to judge from the results, it is vain to try to teach foresight or sagacity to poli ticians who could be influenced, in times like the present, by professional prejudices (naval and juri dical) of the pettiest sort, and by the oldest, narrowest, and most indefensible dogmas of finance. PROPOSED LITERARY INSTITU TION FOR POPLAR AND LIMEHOUSE. A public meeting cf the inhabitants of Poplar, Limehouse, and Stepney, which was fully and most respectably attended, was held last evening at the Town-hall, Litnehouie, for the purpose of considering the propriety of adopting immediate measures for es tablishing a literary and scientific institution for the use of the inhabitants of that district, and for the erection of a suitable building for that purpose. The chair was taken by G. F. Young, Esq., MP. On the platform we observed J. T. Fletcher, Esq., T. K. Bluck, Esq., J. B. Spence, Esq., T. Price, Esq., Lieutenant Stone, Dr. Bain, Dr. Ellis, &c. The CHAIRMAN said he felt the greatest pleasure in being called upon to preside at a meeting which had for its object a matter so congenial to his own views. The importance of the extension of education was too generally admitted to render any argument necessary in support of such a proposition. But he conceived there was a great error which some parties fell into when speaking of education in general. They were too apt to restrict the period of education within their schoolboy days, that the period of education ceased when they left school, and that in setting out in life with the stock of education they had then laid in, they had sufficient to enable them to pilot their way through life. To his mind, however, it was with the cessation of boyhood and the commencement of manhood that the period of real education commenced. It was, therefore, by means of institutions such as that it was proposed to form that people could have au opportunity of edu cating themselves in a manner which would enable them to act their part in a proper manner in the great drama of life. It was not only the education given, but it was the inculcation of sound principle and good habits that made a man a good member of society, and it was always found that in districts where such institutions were extensively taken advantage of, where people were taught to reflect, and where they gave up their leisure time to useful study, there society was in an advanced and healthy and vigorous state of action. It therefore became those who occu pied a position in life which put it in their power to aid such institutions, to do all they could to promote the extension. Such an opportunity now presented itself, and he trusted it would be largely and liberally taken advantage of.—(Hear, bear.) Mr. BLOCK than moved the following resolution : " That in the opinion of this meeting it is desirable that an institution should be formed in the eastern portion of the Tower Hamlets, for the acquirement of literary and scientific information, combined with a large hall for rational amusements and public meetings ; and it is further their opinion that if such an institution be founded on a liberal basis, there will be every proba bility of its permanent success." He should give the institution, should they agree to establish it, all the support he could, as he was satisfied it would be pro ductive of the best results.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. LEONARD seconded the resolution, which was supported by Mr. Evans and Mr. Clay, who suggested that the vacant space of ground in the vicinity of Mr. Green's Sailors' home should be purchased and laid out as a public promenade, but the chairman having stated that such a proposition was not within the scope of the present meeting, he contented himself by pointing out the usefulness of such institutions as that proposed. - Mr. Tuos. PRICE also supported the resolution. As an evidence that such an institution was much needed in this district, he might state that the population of the parishes of Limehouse, Stepney, and Poplar, at the census of 1841, was 115,000. He had no doubt that, at the present time, the population amounted to 10,000 or 15,000 more, and that, by the time the proposed building would be erected, it would reach 130,000.—(Hear.) The resolution was like wise supported by Dr. BOWKETT and Dr. BROOKES, and after some remarks from several gentlemen in the body of the meeting, the Chairman put the resolution, which was cordially adopted. Mr. G. OFFER, jun., moved the second resolution, which was—" That to obta.n the necessary funds for the erection of the building for the purposes of the institution referred to in the preceding resolution, 500 shares shall be issued, at 101. each." Had it been possiblP, he would have rather that fiere should have been 5,000 shares, at Ti. each; hut he believed that the promoters of the institution had found it im possible so to geaerali,e the matter. He would, how ever, recommend, that in the managetment of the in stitution no distinction should be made between the shareholders and the s u bscribers—all should be con sidered equally eligible for any office is the manage ment of the institution, and that would prevent any bad feeling arising in connexion with it. For the information of the meeting, he might rstate that the rinlual subscription to this institution was to be 10s. 63. per annum, which would make it appear evi dent that there was nothing exclusive a bout it. Mr. W. J. COTTON having seconded tile resolution, Dr. BROOKES suggested that it should be in the power of individuals to obtain half .shares, should they think fit, as some might take half a share who would not take a whole one. The CHAIRMAN having stated that he had the au thority of the promoters of the institution to state that they would act upon the suggestion of Dr. Brookes, Mr. PELHAM said, he thought it would be better at once to make the number of shares issued 1,000, instead of 500, and the price of them 51. instead of 101., and be would accordingly mode an amendment to that effect. Mr. ETANS seconded the amendment, and after some conversation, the general feeling being that the lower the shares there Would be the greater chance of their being taken up, it was agreed to alter the original motion in terms of the amendment • which having b een pu t to t h e meet i ng , so amen ded, Was unanimously agreed to. On the motion of Dr. BOWICHTT, seconded by the Rev. Mr. STEPHENS, a committee was appointed to carry out the foregoing resolutions ; after which, a cordial rote of thanks was passed to the Chairwan, who having acknowledged the same, the meeting separated. PARLIAMEN TAR Y DI VISIONS. From the votes and Proceedings of the. House of Cosmoses.' WEDNESDAY. APRIL 10. COUNTY COURT EXTENSION BILL. Order for Second Reading read ; Motion made, and, Ques tion proposed, " That the lull be now read a second time :" Amendment proposed, to leave out the word •" now," and at the end of the Question to add the words " upon this day six months." Question put, "That the word' now' stand part of the question." The House divided :- --- - - MAJORITY—AYES, 144. Adair, R. A. Forster, Mathew Patten, J. W. Aglionby, 11. A. Fortescue, J. W. Pechell, Sir G. Alcock, Thomas Fox, W. J. Perfect, It. Arkwright, G. Fuller, A. E. Peto, Samuel Barrington, Viscount Gibson, Thomas M. Pigott, Francis Berkeley, Henry F. Gooch, E. S. Pilkington, JameS Blackstone, W. S. Greenell, Gilbert Pinney, W. Blandford, Marquis Grenfell, C. P. Plowden, W. H. Bramston, T. W. Grenfell, Charles W. Plumptre, J. P. Bremridge, Richard Hall, Sir Benjamin Pugh, David Bright, Jelin Hall, Colonel Rendiesham, Lord Brockman, E. D. Halsey, T. P. Ricardo, Osman Brown, W. Hardcastle, J. A. Richards, Richard Buck, L. W. Harris, Richard Romilly, Colonel Buller, Sir J. 1". Headlam, T. E. Sanders, George Busfeild, W. Heald, James Scholefield, William Buxton, Sir E. Henry, Alexander Sibthorp, Colonel Carew, W. P. Herries John C. Sidney, Alderman Castlereagh, Vis. IleywoOd, James Smith, John B. Cavendish, G. H. Hcyworth, L. Sotheron, T. H. S. Chatterton, Colonel Hildyard, R. C. Stafford, Augusta, Christopher, R. Hodges, T. L. Stuart, Lord D. Christy, Samuel HernbyaJohn Stuart, Lord J. Clay, James Howard, J. K. Stuart, Henry Clay, Sir W. Howard, P. H. lhicknesse, R. A. Clive, Henry B. Hume, Joseph Thompson, Colonel Cobden, Richard Kershaw, James Thomely, T. Cockburn, A. J. King, P. J. Townley, R. G. Colebrooke, Sir T. Knox, Colonel Townehend, Captain Collins, William Lacy, Henry C. . Tyrell, Sir J. Colvile, C. R. Langston, J. H. Vane, Lord H. Conolly, Thomas Lennox, Lord A. Verney, Sir H. Cotton, W. H. Lindsay, Colonel Villiers, F. W. Currie, Henry Lopes, Sir Ralph Vyse, H. Currie, Raikes Loveden, Pryse Waddington, H. S. Darner, Colonel Lushington. Charles Walmaley, Sir J. Deedes, W. Mackie, John Walpole, Spencer Dod, J. IV. Meagher, Thomas Walter, John Douglas, Sir C. Manners, Lord J. Watkins, Colonel Duckworth, Sir J. Matheson, Colonel Wawn, J. T. Duff, G. S. Meux, Sir Henry • Weethead, J. P. Duncan, George Mitchell,..T. A. • Williams, John Duncombe, 0. Moffatt, George Willoughby, Sir H. Egerton, W. T. Molesworth, Sir W. Wilson, Matthew Emlyn, Viscount Morris, David Wodehouse, Edmund Evans, John Naas, Lord Wood, W. P. E wart, William Norreys, Lord TELLIES. Fitawilliam, G. W. O'Connell, M. Z. Fitzroy, Henry Forester, G. C. Packe, C, W. Awnings, J. B. MINORITY—NOES, .67. Armstrong; Sir A. Grey, Sir George Mulgrave, Earl Baines, M. T. Grey, R. W. Napier, Joseph Baring. Sir F. Raiford, Sir H. Newdegate, C. N. Bouverle, E. P. Hatchell, John Paget, Lord Clarence Boyle, Colonel Hawes, B. Palmerston, Via. Brotherton, Joseph Hayter, W. G. Parker, John Chaplin, W. J. Henley, J. W. Power, Nicholas Chichester, Lord J. Hobhouse, Sir John Rich, Henry Childers, J. W. Howard, Lord E. Romilly, Sir John Cowper, W. F. Howard, C. W. Russell, F. C. Craig, Sir W. G. Jervis, Sir John Seymour, Lord Dalrymple, Captain Lascelles, W. S. Shell, It. L. Denison, Edmund Law,:C. E. Somerville, Sir W. Denison, J. E. Lewis, G. C. Spooner, Richard Divett, Edward Lockhart, W. Strickland, Sir G. Dundas, Sir David Long, W. Tufnell, Reary Ebrington, Viscount Lygon, General Wall, C. B. Elliot, John E. M`Nagaten, Sir E. Wilson, James Fellowes, E. !WNW', Duncan Wyvill, Marmadake Fergus, John Martin, Samuel Fordyce, A. D. Motile, Fox French, F. Moody, 0. A. Grace, 0. D. Morgan, H. R. Greene, Thomas Morison, Sir W. TELLER'S. Hill, Lord Marco/ Bellow, R.• M. PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND MUSEUMS BILL. Order for Committee read; Motion made, and Question proposed, " That Mr. Speaker do now leave the Chair :" Amendment proposed, to leave out from the word " That" to the end of the Question, in order to add the words "this House will, upon this day six months, resolve itself into the said Committee," instead thereof:—Question put, "That the words proposed to be left out stand'part of the Question." The House divided : MAJORITY—AYES, 99. Glyn, G. C. Pechell, Sir G. Grace, 0. 1). Peel, Frederick Greenall, G. Perfect, Robert Greene, John Peto Samuel Greene Thorns Ul Pilkington. James Grenfell, Charles W. Pinney, William Hall, Sir B. Plowden, W. H. Harris, Richard Romilly, Colonel Hatchell, - John Roanily, Sir John Hayter, W. G. Russell, F. C. 11. Headiam, Thomas Sandars, George Heald, James Scholefleld, W. Henry, Alexander Shaft.), It. D. Heywood, James Sidney, Alderman Hobhouse, T. B. Smith, J. Benjamin Hodges, T. L. Sotheron, T. Horsman, Edward Strickland, Sir G. Jervis, Sir John Stuart, Lord J. Kershaw, James Thicknesse, Ralph Lewis, George C. Thompson, Colonel Lindsay, Colonel Thornely. Thomas Littleton, E. R. Villiers, Charles Locke, Joseph Wa'lnsley, Sir J. Loveden, Pryse Watkins, Colonel Lushington, C. Wawn, J. T. Mackinnon, W. A. Westhead, J. P. lichen, O'Gorman Wlllcox, Brodie Marshall, J. G. Whams, John Matheson, Colonel Willoughby, Sir H. Mitchell, T. A. Wilson, Matthew Morgan, H. K. Wodehouse, E. Muntz, G. F. 'Mum. Paget, Lord C. Ewart,;Willlaol Patten, J. W. Hume, Joseph Adair, R. Shafto Aglionby, H. A. Ansley, Thomas C. Armstrong, Sir A. Baines, M. T. Berkeley, C. L. G. Bernal, Ralph Boyle, Colonel Bright, John Brotherton, J. Brown, W. _ _ Bruce, Lord E. Busteild, W. Cavendish, G. H. Chaplin, W. J. Chichester, Lord J. Clay, James Cobden, R. Cockburn, Alex. Colebrooke, Sir T. Cowper, W. F. Craig, Sir W. G. Dalrymple, Captain Devereux, J. T. Duncan, Cieorge Egerton,;Sir Egerton, W. T. Elliot, J. E. Fergus, John Fordyce, A. 1). Forster, M. Fortes Cue, J. W. Fox, W. J. Gibson, T. M. MINORITY-NOES, 64. Arkwright, George Baillie, 11. J. Bankes, George Bernard, Viscount Blackstone, W. Bowles, Admiral Bremridge, Richard Buller, Sir Y. Carew, W. P. Chattel ton, Colonel Christeslisr, It. A. Clive, It. 11. Clive, 11. B. Cocks, lhomas S. Codrington,lSir W. Coles, Henry B. Colvile, C. It. Conolly, Thomas Deedes, W. Denison, J. E. Disraeli, B. Duckworth, Sir J. Duncombe, A. Duncombe, 0. FeHowes, E. Fuller, A. E. Gooch, E. S. Gordon, Admiral Halford, Sir Henry II alley, T. P. Henley, J. W. Herries, J. C. Hildyard, R. C. Horn by John Knox, Colonel Lacy, li. C. Law, Hon. E. C. Lennox, Lori A. Lockhart, W. Lopes, Sir Ralph Lygon, Gen. M`Ncill, Duncan Manners, Lord J. Mcux, Sir H. Mullings, J. R. Nass,:Lord Newdegate, N. Oswald, Alexander Paeke, C. IV. Palmer, Roundel Plumptre, J. P. Ricardo, Osman Richards. Richard Smyth, J. G. Spooner, Richard Stafford, A. Stanford, J. F. Stuart, John Vyse, Howard: Walpole, S. U. Walter, John Wegg-Prosper, F. Wellesley, Lord C. TELLEIII. Sibthorp, Colonel Buck, Lewis W. COURT CIRCULAR. The Queen and Prince Albert, with the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, and the Princess Alice, took an airing yesterday in an open carriage and four. Lord Charles Fitzroy and Lieut.-Colonel F. H. Sey mour, the Equerries in Waiting, attended on horseback. His Royal Highness Prince Albert rode out on horseback yes terday morning, attended by Lieut.- Colonel F. H. Seymour. llis Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, attended by Mr. Birch, took a carriage drive yesterday. Their Royal Highnesses the Prince Alfred and the Princess Louisa, took an airing in a carriage yes terday. Lord and Lady Seymour and the Hon. Miss St. Maur, the Right Hon. Sir Charles and Lady Mary, Wood, Lord George Lennox, and Sir George Couper, had the honour of dining with the Queen, at Buck. ingham Palace, yesterday , evening. The band of the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards was in attendance at the Palace during dinner last evening, and, under the direction of Mr. Tutton, performed the following pieces : Overture, " Iphigenie" Gluck. Waltz, "Lucretia" Selection, " Le Prophete" March, "Spanischen Nobel Garde" Polka, " Whittington" Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, attended by Baroness de Speth, left Frogmore at three o'clock yesterday afternoon for town, in a carriage and four, and arrived at her residence, Clarence Honse, St. James's, at five o'clock. Lady Anna Maria Dawson has relieved Lady Fanny Howard in her duties as Lady in Waiting to her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent. His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge honoured the establishment of Mr. C. F. Hancock with a visit yesterday, to inspect the silver mess-box about to be presented by Prince Detnidoff to the 79th Regiment of Cameron Highlanders. A Cabinet Council was held yesterday afternoon at the Foreign-office. The Ministers present were Lord John Russell, the Marquis of Lansdowne, Sir George Grey, Viscount Palmerston, Earl Grey, the Chan— cellor of the Exchequer, Sir Francis Baring, Sir John Hobhouse, the Right Hon. Henry Labouchere, the Marquis of Clanricarde, and the Right Hon. Fox Maule. Tne Council sat two hours and a hall Sir Edward Disbrowe had an interview with Mt. Labouchere yesterday. The Lord Chief Baron Pigot had also an interview with the Right lion. Gentleman yesterday at the office of the Board of Trade. Viscount de Moncorvo, the Portuguese Minister, transacted business yesterday at the Foreign-office. The Finance Committee of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, consisting of the Earl Granville, Sir Alexander Spearman, Mr. F. Baring M.P., Mr. Peto, M.P., and Mr. T. F. Gibson, met yesterday at the Board of Trade. Colonel Reid was present on the part of the Executive Committee. The Archbishop of York bad an interview with Lord John Russell yesterday. Sir William Clay had an interview with Earl Granville yesterday, at the Board of Trade. The Earl of Carlisle arrived in town last night from his seat, Castle Howard, Yorkshire. \ i