The Sun. — London, England, 1868-06-26 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF DIE PIALITJOURRAIS, The Times devotes its leader chiefly to the answering of Lord Derby. His lordship made, as might have been expected, the ablest speech delivered last night against the disestablishment of the Irish Church. One might almost say it was the best that has been delivered any. where. His defence of the Irish Establishment was intel• ligible and consistent. Lord Derby rested his case on the inviolability of property. The Church, he said, was a corporation in the possession of great property. Part of its endowment in Ireland dated from beyond the origin of parliamentary government, and, indeed, from before the conquest of Ireland, but the greater portion was derived from the grants of estates forfeited after the revolution of 1688. He denied that any Parliament, least of all the present expiring and discre dited House of Commons, was morally justified in touch• ing the property thus held by the Church, and he declared that the proposal had no parallel, save in the spoliation of the monasteries, when the ancestors of some of the pro moters of the present movement were enriched. As to the proposition that Parliament, having endowed tl.e Church (and he denied this assumed fact), could disendow it, it would be as just to say that Par liament could resume possession of Blenheim and Strathfieldsaye. This argument is essentially erroneous. It is not true, in the first place, that the Church is a cor poration. This may appear a trivial objection, and in itself it would not be worth dwelling upon, but it is the clue to the fallacy in Lord Derby's reasoning. The Eng lish nation has never created and endowed a corporation of the Church so as to place it outside and apart from itself. The simple fact is that at different times—and with respect to the greater part of it since 1688—Parliament has enacted that certain property in Ireland should be held upon certain public uses. Parliament has always retained and has constantly exercised its right to super vise these uses. Scarcely a year passes, certainly no ten years pass, but some change of administration or of dis• tribution is introduced which would be wholly unintelli• gible unless Parliament had this right, which would be absolutely unjust according to Lord Derby's hypo thesis. Parliament never for an instant aban dons the control, the exclusive right of legislating with respect to the property devoted for a time to reli gious uses, and this is of course the essential distinction be• tween an episcopal palace, a dozen of which have been sold by prliamentary authority within the present cen• tury, and Blenheim or Strathfieldsaye. The sole questions to which Parliament attends with reference to the pro perty thus under its control are these : Does it continue to serve the use to which it was applied? Is that assumed use still beneficial ? Have any circumstances arisen destroying its advantage and converting it into an injury? Apply these questions to the Irish Establishment. it never has served its intended use. It was meant to Ireland Protestant `• it has converted it into the most Catholic country in Europe. There is not the slightest prospect of its realizing its end; and in the meanwhile it re mains a standing monument of offence and a danger tc the empire. In vain, the Times continues, may arch. bishops prophesy evil and Conservative peers denounce revolution. There is not a member of the House of Lords who is not too familiar with such prophecies and denuncia7 tions. Religion departed, or ought to have departed, from the land forty years ago. It was impossible that the Throne could survive 1832. When the Municipal Corpo• rations Act was passed the security of property received a death-blow. The abolition of the Corn Laws destroyed our aristocracy. The secularisation of the clergy reserves in Canada alienated for ever the last of the Canadian loyalists. And yet there is some religious activity left among us, the Throne was never more secure, property is treated with the same respect, our aristocracy is riche' than ever, and the loyalty of Canada is almost trouble. some. Shall we be told now that the disestablishment of the Irish Church will destroy the religious life of Ireland and alienate the only friends of the Union in the island! We turn away from such prophecies only bent more reso lutely than ever to pursue the course approved by a thousand proofs. The Post remarks that the House of Lords has acquired the habit of discharging its legislative functions with extraordinary rapidity. It frequently gets through its evening's work in half an hour, and, except on compara tively rare occasions, does everything required of it before dinner hour. It is, therefore, satisfactory to the public that on an occasion like the present, whatever may be the opinions of the majority of its members, it should gravely and seriously discuss, not during two or three hours, but during two or three evenings, the most important question which has now been submitted to it Whether rightly or wrongly, the majority of the elective representation of the nation have passed a measure which strikes a fatal blow to the continued existence of the Irish Church ; and if the House of Lords, in the exercise of its undoubted prerogative, proposes to reject that measure, it is but right and proper that it should assign its reasons for so doing. The Herald thinks it a hard task to say whether there be more cause for anger or for ridicule in the language in which, day after day, the Lords have been advertised of the peril which they will incur by rejecting the bill for the ad interim, disestablishment of the Irish Church. The existence of an - Upper Chamber, whether hereditary or not, would have no meaning os use, would be simply an encumbrance to the machinery of the State, if it could not exercise an independent judgment upon great political measures; and it would be difficult to name a case which would furnish stronger jus• tification, in all the attendant circumstances, for the exercise of a suspensive veto, than the present. The bitterest Radical must, the Herald conceives, be aware of this ; to Lord Granville it must be perfectly obvious ; and that noble earl, in moving the second reading of the measure, must have felt that those whom he addressed bad received from those whom he there represented such provocation as made the rejection of his motion a mattes not only of certainty, but almost of duty, or at least of self -respect. The contrast between responsible and irresponsible legislation came out, the Daily News remarks, very clearly in the House of Lords. It is evident that the vast changes of opinion which the prospect of contact with a new constituency has produced in the House of Commons have not had their full counterpart in the Upper House. Their lordships have no fear of constituencies before their eyes, and are inclined to legislate rather from their own inward light than from any re. flection from the opinion of the outer world. The Daily News confesses that there is something melon. choly in this obstructive attitude of the House of Lords The spectacle of the good man struggling against adverse fate has always excited the admiration of mankind ; but unhappily, irreverent caricature has invented a companion picture in Mrs. Partirgton and her mop trying to keep out the ocean. The spectacle which their lordships have determined to present to the world is of course the sublime one ; but to the distorted vision of an unbelieving age they appear in the ridiculous aspect. It is a rising tide against which they are contending, not one of the storms of fate ; and it is not the potent wand of omnipotent justice with which they bid it defiance, but Mrs. Partington's mop. The Standard declares that it is not wise to settle so large a question at so short a notice, and under circum stances which indicate something like a yielding to panic. Nor is it advisable to deal with it after a fashion which will inevitably arouse the bitter resentment of that class of her Majesty's Irish subjects which is at once the most orderly, the most industrious, the most thriving, the most contented, and the most loyal. At least, let the House of Lords effect thus much—that the Legislature shall not act without accurate information to go upon, and without plain warrant from the nation. Lord Grey is slow to recognise the motives which have actuated the leaders of his party in pressing forward the Irish Church question in violation of both these conditions. Personal ambition is at the root of it all, and less friendly critics than the noble earl will not shrink 'from saying as much before the debate is brought to a close. In answer to the question why the Liberals did not deal with the Irish question when in office, the Telegraph con- tends that it was impossible. When the Liberals were in office, they had to deal with a weighty problem which was thc question of the day, and which had for years baffled the most strenuous efforts of Tory and Liberal statesmen. :Now arises another great question, and the House of Lords has to shew itself alive to the occasion. But, un happily, the Suspensory Bill will not only be rejected, but rejected by some such majority as 110. Those who are the staunchest friends of the peerage will regret such a result most keenly. Lord Granville impressively warned his fellow peers against provoking the people to say that the effort to establish religious equality has been defeated by aristocratic privilege. If ever that idea should arise, it will be an evil day for the House of Lords. The Star remarks that the peers have entered upon the duty assigned to them by the Constitution, and are expected forthwith to decide against the Irish Church Suspensory Bill. Any other result is probably past praying for. Lord Clarendon prophecies that the bill will be thrown out by a larger majority than that which carried it through the House of Commr.vhs. This being pretty certain, we have simply to watch the incidents of the debate by which the foregone conclusion is to be prefaced. As the bill is to be lost, we can afford to face the catastrophe. That it will cost a little memey is a very small consideration. That it will much embitter the general election is a very serious considera tion. The most important consideration of all for the Peers is, that the affront which they needlessly offer to the representatives of the people will stamp their characterin the minds of the new electors who are henceforward tc) bo pl.l , stmiYi th,q9Aultry, MELANCHOLY .D.E - A - TH OF A r.RENcrit LADY. An inquest has been held at the residence of R. T. Coombe, Esq., late high sheriff for Somerset, Earnshill, Curry Rivel, by W. W. Munckton, Esq., on the body of Schnell, a French lady, who met her death by drown ng. On Sunday morning Miss Coombe, her cousin, Miss Hare, and her governess, Mdlle. Schnell, attended divine service at the parish church. About four o'clock in the after. uoon Miss Coombe, Miss Hare, and Mdlle. Schnell, who was 28 years of age, and had only been with Miss Coombe shout a week, went to a place called the Hatch House, which is situated on the river Isle, about a mile from the mansion. In order to understand the nature of the sail accident it will be necessary to describe the house, which is built on piers, and approached on the Earnshill side by a bridge, the entrance being a doorway from that bridge. Inside the house are five hatchways for the purpose of drawing up the water for supplying the fish ponds and meadows on the Earnshill domain. The bottom of the river in the house is paved, as well as about 18 feet outside the house. On the north side there is a wooden kerb, level with the stones, to pre vent the stones from being washed away, and beyond this there is a hole, eight feet in depth, the water on the pave ment being only three feet six inches. The young ladies, after putting on bathing dresses, descended by a ladder into the river, Miss Coomve having previously pointed out to her governess the hole. Miss Coombe and the governess proceeded to the end of the pavement outside the house, and she told the governess she must not go beyond where she was then standing. In a moment or two more Miss Coombe found herself in deep water, clutched by the governess, but how she came there she knows not. Miss Coombe, with great presence of mind, called franti crlly to Miss Hare, who was then descending the ladder, and she shouted, " Don't be afraid ; I'll come to you." All three were good swimmers. Miss Hare pushed a log of wood towards the drowning pair, and swam towards them, when one of them seized her, and all were struggling in deep water for life. They all rose to the surface, when Miss Hare freed Miss Coombe, and pushed her towards the shallow water. By that time Miss Hare succeeded in getting away from the grasp of the governess, and both ran up the ladder. They were a mile from any house, but with only a gown and shoes on each they ran to the man. sion. Assistance was rendered, and Mr. Coombe found the poor governess dead in a deep hole. The jury returned a verdict of accidentally drowned. LAW AND POLICE. CLAIM AGAINST A RAILWAY COMPANY.—In the Court of Common Pleas a case was heard in which Mr. Jabez Scott, a corn dealer, at Derby, brought an action against the Midland Railway Company for injuries sustained by him in a collision on the defendants' line. The liability was admitted, and the only question was as to the amount of damages. The plaintiff was about 42 years old at the time of the accident, and the net profits of his business were in 1863 £B3l, in 1864 £845, in 1865 £1,322, in 1866 £1,824, and in 1867 £2,741. This last year was one in which the profits in the trade were exceptionally large, and, indeed, the plaintiff made the sum mentioned in spite of the fact that he was able to give very little attention to his business. The plaintiff on being examined swore that he enjoyed excellent health prior to the accident. It was arranged that the verdict should be for £2,500. CURIOUS ACTION FOR INJURIES SUSTAINED.—III the Court of Exchequer, a young man named Hughes brought an action against Mr. Millichamp, the potter, of Lambeth, for injuries sustained whilst engaged on the premises. The facts are some what singular. One afternoon, towards the close of 1862, the plaintiff, having his back turned towards a cylinder, which was worked by a steam engine, was in the act of putting on his coat when it became entangled in the engine, and the plaintiff's arm being drawn within the vortex of the wheel, it was so severely torn and crushed that amputation had to be in stantly performed. After a time the plaintiff returned to the defendant's employment, and continued to receive the same wages as before. The defence was that the acci dent was caused by the plaintiff's own negligence, as he was well aware of the exposed position of the wheel. The jury gave £2OO damages. WHAT Is A WELSHER ?—At the Westminster Police court, John Murphy was charged under Lord Campbell's Act with publishing a malicious libel. The prosecutor, a cigar dealer, had been in the habit of betting and attending races. On the last Derby day he lost a large sum of money, some of which was to the defendant Murphy ; and on refusing to pay, defendant walked up and down in front of the shop with a placard on his back, which set forth that the complainant was a " welsher." The magistrate was clearly of opinion that though the prosecutor had not acted rightly, the action of the prisoner was illegal. A similar case was quoted where the plea of justification was successful. Mr. Arnold replied that such proceedings were calculated to lead to a breach of the peace. The defendant was bound over to keep the peace for twelve months, the magistrate stating that would be over next year's Derby. WHAT IS A LIBEL ?—At the Hammersmith Police court, Mr. N. T. Hicks, a retired comedian, was charged with using threatening and abusive language whereby a breach of the peace might have been committed. The defendant went into the shop of Mr. Wiggins, a butter man, to whom he was indebted, and held up an envelope, which he had received from a collector, on the corner of which was " Debt Department," and told the complainant that a man who sent such a thing as that to a gentleman ought to be kicked, and used other abusive expressions. Mr. Selfe said that the defendant had acted wrongly, but such an envelope as the one produced was calculated to make a man angry, and if a person were summoned before him for sending one like it, he should view it as an insulting libel. The defendant entered into his own recognisances, and so the affair ended. STRANGE DELUSION. —At the Marlborough - street Police-Court, two cabmen, named Webster and Syett, were summoned before Mr. Knox, for assaulting Mr. William Milton, of No. 8, Booth-place, Oxford-street. The complainant said be was a publisher. He had pub lished works of his own composition. These works had excited the animosity of the medical profession, and various schemes were practised to stop the sale of his publications and to annoy him. While selling his publications in Regent-street, one of the defendants purposely drove his cab against him and hurt his side, and the other used his whip over him. He was satisfied that the cabmen had been set on him by certain persons of the medical profession. The complainant had published a work on the flyleaf of which was his portrait, which was said by him to be the means of preventing him from being kidnapped. The contents of the pamphlet were to the effect that the author had discovered the secret of causing lunacy as practised by the medical profession. There were at this moment 41,276 pauper lunatics, but how many among the noble and wealthy he had no means of ascertaining. The secret of creating lunacy was by the administration of strychnine in a peculiar way. A certain heat was emitted with particular classes, especially bakers, which caused sickness and feverish anxiety. The complainant had written to the Clerkenwell News warning him of the designs of the medical profession towards Prince Alfred and the Royal Family that in furtherance of these designs the Prince had been decoyed to Australia, the setting fire to the booth erected to entertain him at Sand hurst having failed of its purpose. In addition to the lunacy project there was another dreadful scheme afloat, which had already brought under subjection 39 clergymen, 8 judges, 197 lawyers, 340 merchants, 680 mechanics, 466 farmers, 240 gentlemen, 805 women, and 1,300 rich men's daughters. The new scheme could be practised as secretly on the bishop as on the most depraved, on the teetotaler as on the drunkard. The publication went on in this strain, and was evidently the production of a disordered imagination. After a good deal of argument by the complainant, who appeared perfectly rational, the defendants denied being at the place where the assault was stated to have been committed, and Mr. Knox dis missed the case. THE IRISH Cnuncu.—We understand that a petition to the Queen from the women of Ireland has been received at the Home Office against the disestablishment and disendownwnt of the Irish Church. The petition has been signed by 143,235' persons, and it is stated that more signatures might have been obtained if further time had been allowed for that purpose. —Timm FIELD DAY AT WOOLWICH. - Thursday was a grand field day for the troops at Woolwich, a large por tion being reviewed on Woolwich Common. The following troops took part in the movements : Two batteries of Royal Horse Artillery, Lieutenant-Colonel Mitchel com manding I) battery, and Major Saunders E battery ; five troops of the 17th Lancers, under Lieut.-Col. Lowe. Colonel Phillpotts, Royal Horse Artillery, commanded the whole, under the superintendence of Major-General G. C. Warde, C. 8., commandant of the Woolwich gar- riscm. TITZEE CHILDREN 131,TESED TO DEATII.—A few days ago, at Douse, near Edinburgh, three children were burned to death under the following distressing circum. stances. A man named Gillies, a porter at the railway station, went to his work as usual, and shortly afterwards he was followed by his wife, who locked the door, leaving her three children, one of G years, another of 2 years, and an infant, in the apartment. She returned in the space of an hour, and found the house in flames. An alarm was given, but all attempts to rescue the children were unavailing. When the fire had burned out the (lanai remains of the three children were found amono the Ruins 9i OP .4.9%Wf " H • - THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVEN cated ; and as for the qualification that, at all events, Par liament might take away what Parliament had given—iu the first place, Parliament could not properly take away what it had given (else Blenheim and Strathfieldsaye were not safe) ; and, in the second place, Parliament did not give the Church of Ireland its property. But what, he asked, was the Roman Catholic erievanco which called for so violent a remedy as this ? The Catholics in Ireland had at present equality, unless equality implied equality of possessions. They had, in fact, everything they wanted, except their neighbours' goods. The present movement was, in fact, due to a strange combination of Catholics and of enemies of all religions endowments. How novel a view it was that such a disendowment could be legitimate he showed by quotations from Lords Plunkett, Palmerston, and Grey, and Mr. Gladstone. After adverting to the special difficulties of a gradual dis-establishment, and to the impropriety of call ing on her Majesty to act in direct opposition to the terms of her Coronation Oath, he dilated on the positive evils which would result from depriving Ireland of the class of resident gentry supplied now by the clergy, and the sub stitution of a more intemperate ministry. It would be a conclusion dangerous to England, and inconsistent with the preservation of the Union ; but to Ireland it would be fatal. Ho warned the house not to shrink from deciding as it thought right by the fear of a conflict which it had not provoked with the other house, or with a current of public feeling of which ho doubted the existence. The Earl of KIMBERLEY missed in the preceding speech any reference to justice to Ireland. Ho himself still saw a distinction between private property, to which there were natural heirs, and Church property, to which he thought the whole nation was heir; and ho could not perceive the distinction between the principle of the pre sent proposal for dealing with Church property, and the not very distant dealing with tithes, which was not usually represented as confiscation. Ho defended, moreover, the plea for the bill drawn from the consideration of Fenianism. It would be dangerous to legislate in a panic on threats of disaffection; but it was wise, when there was disaffection to legislate with a view to remove its cause. As for the kind of legislation, he himself had at one time been some what in favour of concurrent endowment ; but to carry out that the consent of the different religious bodies must be obtained, and it now appeared that they repudiated any such plan. The Bishop of LONDON explained certain expressions of his which had been construed as imputing unworthy motives to the author of the bill. He denied that this bill was founded on the precedent of that of 1833, or of any other Suspensory Bill, and showed that the present bill would entirely stop the action of the Church wherever a vacancy occurred. But his main objection was that there was not before them any scheme of disestablishment. When there was, their lords Lips would doubtless consider it carefully ; but at present, besides discovering numerous difficulties in the way of forming such a scheme, he could not discover the need for it, or, indeed, among moderate Irish Catholics the desire for it. Peace was what Ireland required. Tho Irish Church Establishment might be modified with advantage ; but to destroy it would he to hand over Ireland altogether to the Roman Catholic Church, and to bring on the repeal of the Union. The debate was adjourned on the motion of Lord Lyttelton. The house adjourned at 35 minutes past 12. HOUSE OF COMMONS-LAST EVENING. The SPEAKER took the Chair at 4 o'clock. NEW MEMBER. Mr. HEYGATE took the oaths and his seat for Stamford. THE BRISTOL ELECTION PETITION. Mr. HOWES brought up the report of this committ 0 which stated that Mr. Miles was not duly elected, and that the last election for Bristol was a void elec tion. That bribery had been committed to a great extent, but that it was not proved to have been com mitted with the knowledge of Mr. Miles. That personation and treating took place, but the committee wore not of opinion that extensive corruption had taken place considering the large number of registered electors for the city. _ . . Mr. Sergeant GAZELEE gave notice that to-morrow he should move that the Attorney-General be instructed to prosecute the parties found guilty of bribery at the last election for Bristol. ITitPERIAL PARLIAMENT HOUSE OF LORDS-LAST EVENING. The moving of the second reading of the Established Church (Suspensory) Bill in the House of Lords, this evening, attracted a very large attendance of peers. The space at either side of the house was thronged, and the galleries around the house were filled with very elegantly-dressed ladies, and the benches occupied by the bishops, there baing no less than 18 of these dignitaries present. The task of moving the second reading was undertaken by Earl Gran ville, who rose as soon as the hour for public business arrived, at which time the attendance on the Government site showed that a most determined opposi tion was about to be given to the motion. The interest created by the motion for the second reading was not con fined to the two great political parties in the house; but the anxiety amongst the public to obtain admission to the Strangers' Gallery was quite equal to anything that has occurred for some years. The Loitu CHANCELLOR took hia seat on the Woolsack at five o'clock. ESTABLISHED CHURCH (IRELAND) BILL. Earl GRANVILLE, in moving the second reading of this bill, said it was not the first time he had proposed a measure of importance to their lordships, and certainly not the first time that it required all his energies to perform the task. No one was more aware than himself of the skill which the noble earl whD had proposed an amendment couli bring to the matter, and he had no doubt that the noble earl would lay down the most repugnant arguments, and also that similar ones would be laid down by the noble and learned lord on the Woolsack. (Hear.) The attack in Canada and in this country with regard to Fenianism had filled the public mind with great horror. Since, however, the passing of the Emancipation Act, Ireland had improved in a social, a political, and a moral sense, doubtless partly due to a milder sys tem of legislation. The present bill had found favour with a large number of persons in Ireland, and it was the duty of the Government to provide remedial mea sures for the benefit of the community in that country. Lord Mayo had said with regard to Reform that there ought to be given to Ireland also primary education and several other important institutions. With regard to the Church of Ireland, the noble lord went into longer details. He de precated the whole measure, and proposed further delay. He would not object to an alteration, but not at once. He also did not object to all Churches being made equal. He (Lord Granville) believed that alteration would be . _ most satisfactory to the majority of the House of Commons, and also to their lordships house. He was aware that expla nations had been made with regard to the change in the Irish Church, and he believed that it was tho duty of the Opposition to take the course they had done ; and in the first instance it was shown that her 3lajesty's Government did show some disposition to assist the Irish people ; and, secondly, it was the duty of the Opposition to bring in some bill which would assist them. He was strongly for party Government, but at the same time to adopt any principle that one did not believe was dishonourable, but to adopt a great prin ciple and adhere to it was most honourable. (Hear, hear.) He regretted very much a speech made by a right rev. prelate the other day. He did not complain of the speech, but he did feel hurt that mean motives should be im- puted by him to those who differed from him, and he did think that on reflection he must have felt that he was wrong. He had two thoughts in his mind when thirty years ago he entered the House of Commons; one was the indefensible position of the Irish Church, and the other the thought that he should never see during his political career the change which he now was so glad to perceive would be likely to eventuate. The task of dealing with the disestablishment of the Irish Church was at last undertaken by the Opposition. A number of resolutions wore submitted to the other house, and he need not inform their lordships that they were carried after a most severe and animated debate, the Government being on each of the divisions left in very large minorities. The present bill was the result of the pass ing of those resolutions. He felt that the passing the bill would be attended with the greatest possible bene fits, and he could not think that any one having the best interests of Ireland at heart should make a despe rate effort to retain that which was against the feelings and wishes of a large majority of the people of Ireland. There was, according to the last return, not 700,000 Anglicans in Ireland, and yet they had upwards of seven millions of Roman Catholics excluded from the benefit of an Established Church. That statement does show that the bill is most just. With re spect to the position of the Roman Catholic clergy he might say they were mostly poor. In conclusion, he ap pealed to the house, by at leastallowing the bill to proceed to a second reading, to show its readiness to give the mea sure its grave consideration. Lord GREY justified his taking from the hands of the Government the task of moving that the bill should be read that day six months on the ground that it was desir able this should not appear a mere party vote. His own belief had ever been that the existence of the Irish Church was a gross injustice ; but he thought the present proposi tion to suspend the filling up of ecclesiastical vacancies was not the right mode of remedyingthat injustice or even of carrying out the end proposed by the advocates of the present measure. Ho argued that machinery which at present did not exist in the Established Church, and which this bill did not attempt to provide, ought to be first created with reference to the disposal of the property, which—fol instance, the proceeds of private munificence —it was conceded on all hands must be left to the Episcopal Church in Ireland. The present proposed course was unjust and needlessly offensive. What was not to be done was explained, but not what was to be done. Still further, he complained of the policy by which a measure of this kind, which it was especially expedient to reserve for calm deliberation, had been made the occa sion of a great party fight, and he vehemently deprecated the advocating its acceptance by appeals to the fear of Fenianism. This vast and difficult question, which in volved the gravest religious changes, could be settled only by a compromise between different parties, or by doing way with all religious endowments. He was himself in favour of a compromise, for he was convinced that reli gious peace, which ought to be the object of any measure, would certainly not be furthered by throwing the minis ters of religion wholly on the liberality of their congrega tions. But he regretted the introduction of the bill, par ticularly as forcing the Government to make up their minds hastily, and thus tending to raise an additional ob stacle to the final settlement of this question, which he was of opinion did require speedy settlement by well-con sidered and thorough legislation. Lord MALMESBURY, after expressing his surprise that the Resolutions of the House of Commons had not been, in accordance with precedent, communicated to their lordship's house before this bill was flung upon their table, and dwelling upon Mr. Gladstone's inconsistency, as proved by his own speeches and letters to his constitu ents, went on to argue that the present bill was really no partial measure, but in effect covered the same ground as the first Resolution of the House of Commons. The de struction of the Irish Church Establishment was indeed the real question now at issue, and he failed to see or to find from declarations, extracts from which he read, by leading Roman Catholics, such as Archbishops Cullen and Manning, the necessity or use of such a result as a cure for the alleged grievances of Ireland. This mea sure was, moreover, a first step to disestablishmont ge nerally. Mr. Gladstone might deny this, but who, if he came into office, would be among his colleagues ? In par ticular he claimed sympathy with the Establishment now assailed as an institution which existed for the benefit of the poor, and appealed to those Dissenters who were said to be in favour of the bill to reconsider a measure which would overthrow a bulwark of Protestantism. He con cluded by reading copious extracts from Lord Plunkett and others in favour of Church Establishments. Lord CLARENDON showed that Lord Grey had for merly used a very different tone from that of his speech that evening. On the merits of the question, he argued that if we had a tabula rasa to fill up we should never at this date think of erecting such an institution as the Irish Establishment, and that there was no sufficient reason for our not removing it now if it were an injus tice. What a scandal it must be in the eyes of un friendly foreigners might be imagined from criticisms, to which he referred, by friendly foreigners. Ho called for the measure as required by the feeling in Ireland of a grievance. This reform would not at once cure rancour, the growth of centuries, but it would be a step in that di rection, and, indeed, whatever its expediency, it was de manded by our conscience. The Liberal party had been taunted with not having brought forward this question when in office. If they had, they would have been re viled as traitors. But the Conservative party had passed through a process of development 311:1C0 then. After re viewing and disposing finally of the several objections to the bill, he lamented its rejection, which he anticipated, as Niel' because ho foresaw the acceleration which it would lend to feeling on this special subject as from regard to its effect upon the reputation of that House, which it was pe culiarly important to maintain in view of the coming House of Commons. The Archbishop of CANTERBURY said that he had always been a supporter of Catholic Emancipation, but he denied the justice or expediency of concessions like that now demanded. It was the land question which engrossed eviusive interest in Ireland. Lord DERBY, who began by apologising on the ground of infirm health, but spoke with great animation, after criticising the conduct and motives of Mr. Gladstone, denied the moral competency of Parliament to carry such a measure of spoliation as had never been accomplished, except in the case of the monasteries, against ecclesiasti cal property in this country. If a certain length of possession gave a title to private property, prescription reaching far beyond the Reformation ought surely to insure tranquil possession to the Church of Ireland, unless indeed the old maxim, Nullum tempus occurrit Ecclesite, must be read liackwards. On the principle on which this bill was supported, the property of tha vat, City Ccaipanieg; might ba equally cor,ifiz- THE NEW LAW COURTS. In reply to Mr. BENTINCK, Mr. BOOTH said he could not state whether the judges were unanimous in favour of the external elevation of Mr. Street. With respect to placing the design in the library he could sae no advantage to be gained by so doing. The whole of the papers upon the matter would very shortly be laid on the table of the house. THE CARRIERS ACT. Mr. CARTER asked the Vice-President of the Board of Trade whether her Majesty's Government, in withdraw ing from the Railways Regulation Bill the clauses they had inserted in it for amending, in certain respects, the General Carriers Act, are satisfied that the provisions of that Act, passed forty years since, are suitable to the re quirements of the present day; or whether the Govern ment are still of opinion that the Carriers Act requires amendment, and ought to 1.3 r0vi..3,1 by Parliament. ➢lr. CAVE said that after the greatest consideration the Board of Trade were of opinion that the Carriers Act now in force was not suited for the present time. Au inquiry would ba made next session, after which he hoped a new act would be introducad to Parliament. POSTAL CONTRACTS. Mr. BAXTER asked the Sicrotary to the Treasury what was the present position of the negotiations between Her Majesty's Government and that of the United States on the subject of a new Postal Convention ; And whether the Government, in making new contracts for the conveyance of the mails, intend to place all the coin panies on the same footingas to terms of payment and con ditions of service, carrying out the declaration of Mr. Chan cellor of the Exchequer on the 20th of March, " that the present arrangement was faulty, because it was wrong that the companies carrying mails to America should be under different terms with the Government.'" Mr. BOOTH said the matter w&s still under considera tion, therefore he could not furt her refer to it. With respect was t t h o si t r h i e nt l e a n t t t i e o r n p t a o rt ca o ry question,frtho e uttherecommendation recoof he had to say it his right hon. friend. THE NEW LAW COURTS. Mr. M. CHAMBERS asked the First Commissioner of Works if the intention of the Government to appoint Mr. Street (whose design was approved by the judges for elevation only) solo architect of the New Law Courts was communicated to the Royal Commission, and whether the Royal Commission had expressed any opinion on the ap pointment. Lord J. MANNERS said the decision had been com municated to the Royal Commission, but there not having been a meeting of the Royal Commissioners no opinion on the matter had been expressed. The first business on the paper was supply, but before getting into committee there were two or three lively dis cussions on various topics. The first was raised by a motion to remove the Peel statue from its present site in Palace-yard, made by Lord Elcho. He criticised sharply the artistic merits of the statue, pronouncing it a disgrace to Peel's memory, and suggesting that it should either be melted down, buried, or put under "Buxton's Extin guisher" on the other side of the way. Lord Elcho took the opportunity of generalising at some length en the ornamentation of the metropolis, and suggested that all these matters—statues, bridges, and the like—should be placed under the control of the First Commissioner of Wcrks, assisted by a council of taste. Mr. B. HOPE also condemned tho statue, and recom mended the amalgamation of the Vice-President of the Council and the First Commissioner of Works into one first-class Minister, to whom might be committed the charge of matters of art, with an Under-Secretary. Mr. CARDWELL, the honorary secretary of the Peel Statue Committee, explained that the original and the present sito had been chosen with the assent of Baron Marochetti, the artist, Mr. Barry, and the past and present First Commissioner of Works. The removal of the statue was supported by Mr. Gre gory, Mr. Layard, Mr. H. Baillie, Mr. Bromley-Davenport, and Mr. Osborne, who denounced it in his usual trenchant style as a "hideous effigy" and a "horrible abomination." Lord J. MANNERS explained the share the Board of Works had in the erection of the statue, but without making any particular defence of it, and on a division Lord Elcho carried his motion by a majority of 111-182 to 71. The next topic was Mr. Disraeli's recent speech at the Merchant Taylors' dinner, and for an hour or more the house was plunged into one of those angry and excited bursts of recrimination which, earlier in the session, were of almost nightly occurrence. Mr. GRANT DUFI - led off by reading this passage from the speech :—" When we acceded to office the name of England was a name of suspicion and distrust in every foreign Court and Cabinet. There vas no possibility of that cordial action with any of the great Powers which is the only security for peace, and in consequence of that want of cordiality wars were frequently occurring ;" and he asked Mr. Disraeli whether, when he made this speech, he was aware that in 1866 Lord Derby had earnestly re quested Lord Clarendon to retain the seals of the Foreign office ? With a sneer at Mr. DiBraeli's tendency to indulge in post-prandial vapourings, Mr. Duff reminded the house that in 1858, at the Slough Banquet, ho had made exactly the same charge, and he wound up with a bitter and care fully elaborated personal attack on the Premier.. Mr. DISRAELI, dismissing Mr. Duff's philippic with the remark that the "exhibition" hardly repaid the House for the waste of time, replied to his question that the re port he had quoted was substantially correct, and asserted emphatically that it was a fair representation of the literal truth. But he disclaimed all intention to attack Lord Clarendon, who had only been Foreign Minister a few mouths when the late Government wont out. It was the system prevailing during Lord Russell's seven years' mis management of the Foreign-office which he had de nounced. Lord Clarendon had the misfortune to inherit difficulties from his predecessor, and had transmitted them to his successor. Mr. LAYARD refused to be put off with "chaff," and demanded a tuere explicit answer. What were tb.o " wars NG, JUNE 26, 1868, frequently occurring ?" w ou f,l Mr. Disraeli mention half-a-dozen, say ? In what foreign Court was the nam e of England "a name of suspicion ? , Lord Russell, he maintained, had preserved the peace o. f Europe in the Danish and American wars, when the Conservative party did everything they could to involve the country in war; and, provoked by the loud denials of the Ministerialists to this sweeping statement, Mr. Layard launched into a sharp attack on Lord Stanley's foreign policy. Mr. COCHRANE retaliated that Mr. Disraeli's langusge was absolutely true, and described the results of Lora Russell's " meddle and muddle" policy. Mr. GLADSTONE protested earnestly against the strain of this and other orations which Mr. Disraeli was in the habit of making to similar sympathetic audiences. These inflated eulogies of himself and sweeping condemnations of his opponents were part of a system of which Mr. Glad stone remarked that it must bo more damaging to the Go vernment than to its opponents. He refused to allow Mr. Disraeli to take refuge in the pretext that it was only the general foreign policy of the late Cabinet which he had attacked, for during a great part of that administration Lord Clarendon had frequently been consulted on foreign affairs, and had been charged with an important mission. On this and on other occasions Mr. Disraeli had done his best to injure Lord Clarendon, but on each occasion it was in the teeth of direct and emphatic testimonies by Lord Derby to Lord Clarendon's public services. Lord STANLEY brought the controversy to an end by a brief defence of the acts of his foreign administration impugned by Mr. Layard, particularly in regard to the Alabama claims, the Spanish claims, the Luxembourg guarantee, and the Cretan insurrection. In Committee of Supply, Mr. HADFIELD made his annual motion for the reduction of the Regium Donutn, but, yielding to the advice of several Irish Liberal mem bers, he did not press it, but allowed the vote to be taken in its entirety. A number of votes in Class VII. of the Civil Service Estimates were agreed to, as well as a vote of £300,000 on account of the Packet Servica Vote. The house then took up the Corrupt Practices Bill. On clause 5 a third or fourth discussion of the main principle of the bill was raised by an amendment of Mr. Craufurd, to retain the jurisdiction in the hands of the house, instead of transferring it to two Judges. Mr. HARDY'S reply to the proposal was a very distinct intimation that as the GoiTernment considered the transfer of jurisdiction the essence of the bill, they would hardly think it worth while to go on with it if the change were made. This was repeated by the Solicitor-General, who argued that the house had really parted with the power when it consented to allow election petitions to be tried under statute, and dwelt on the importance of a local inquiry. The amendment was supported by Mr. Sandford, Mr. Wykeham-Martin, Mr. Denman, Mr. Paul, and others. Mr. MILL argued in favour of a preliminary local in quiry by a revising barrister at the public expense ; and Mr. CHILDERS, admitting the importance of a local inquiry, suggested that it should be confided to a barrister who would collect evidence, and lay it afterwards before a select committee, which should have the power of de termining whether the election were void or not. Mr. lIIBBERT, who was generally favourable to the bill, replied that Mr. Childers' plan would double the ex pense. Mr. LOWE pointed out as arguments against the pre sent tribunal that it was composed of men liable to suspi cion of political bias, and that it sacrificed the advantages of prompt and local inquiry. In favour of it there was but one—the importance of retaining the jurisdiction in the hands of the house—to which he replied that the house, as a body, had long ago parted with it. The only fault he found with the bill was tho selection of two judges to try these petitions, preferring that they should bo referred to the whole body of the judges. . . Sir R. PALMER and Sir G. GREY wore in favour of re taining the present tribunals with amendments, and Sir Roundell looked for the cure of corruption to the encou ragement of a healthier public opinion. Lord AMBERLEY and Mr. T. CAVE made some observa tions to an impatient house, and on a division the amend ment was rejected by a majority of 20-178 to 158. A lengthened squabble on the question of adjournment followed. A motion by Mr. Bouverie to report progress was defeated by 201 to 68, and Mr. Esmonde, though there were loud protests from all sides, next moved that the Chairman leave the chair. In the course of a somewhat heated conversation, the Chancellor of the Exchequer charged Mr. Gladstone with obstructing the bill by voting for reporting progress, which drew an angry reply from Mr. Gladstone. More than an hour was wasted in this conflict, and in the end the further progress of the bill was adjourned until Monday. The Irish Reform Bill was read a third time and passed, and some other orders of the day having been forwarded a stage, the house adjourned at 10 minutes to 2 o'clock. PRIVILEGES OF THE POST-OFFICE. At Bow-street Police-court, yesterday, Sir Thomas Henry was occupied during a considerable portion of the afternoon in investigating a series of charges against the Circular Delivery Company for infringement of the privilege conferred by statute upon the Post-office authorities. The specific charge related to the delivery of four letters or circulars, and the summonses were eight in number —fur against Mr. Manuel Eyre and four against the company generally. The prosecution was conducted by Mr. Poland, instructed by Mr. Peacock, on behalf of the Post office authorities ; and the defence by Mr. Merri man, of the firm of Merriman and Buckland. Mr. Poland, in opening the proceedings, ex plained that they were instituted under the Ist Vict., c. 36, s. 2, prohibiting (with certain excep tions) the conveyance of letters otherwise than by post, and imposing penalties of £5 per letter, or £lOO per week as long as the infractions were con tinued. He observed that the law applied not only to individuals, but also to bodies corporate, and that the exceptions applied to letters sent by the hand of a private friend, and having relation to the private affairs either of the writer or of the person to whom such letters were addressed. It would be super fluous to enter on this occasion into any discussion of the question whether this exeeption applied to letters such as those which the defendants were charged with carrying and delivering. That ques tion was fully considered in August last, when Mr. Eyre appeared as defendant in a similar prosecu tion, and had the opportunity of hearing the judg ment of the learned chief magistrate upon the point. Sir Thomas henry inquired whether Mr. Eyre was the person who appeared as defendant in the former ease ? Mr. Poland said he was the same person, and Mr. Templeman who then appeared for him, argued the question very fully. Mr. Templeman, he ob served, was one of the directors of the present com pany. Mr. Merriman objected to any reference to the proceedings upon any former occasion. H e was here to defend a common law right, and he was not bound by anything which Mr. Templeman or any one else might have said previously. Mr. Poland proceeded—The letters were not all of a private nature. They were of an ordinary business character. They were circulated for the pecuniary benefit of the shareholders forming the company, at a rate of charges fixed by a tariff, viz., one farthing per letter, or one halfpenny per news paper, so much per lb. for parcels, &c. The evi dence would show that the business of delivering these letters, &c., was carried on somewhat exten sively, for the profit of the shareholders, and in contravention of the prerogative of the Postmaster- General. A copy of the prospectus of the company was handed in. Mr. Willis Clare said he was - inspector of letter carriers. On the Bth May last he was, at Pimlico, and saw a man named Newnham, at present in court. He was carrying a bag with him, and was watched by witness, who saw him enter the house of Messrs. Nevill and Son, 5, Eccleston-street, where a letter gummed and fastened in the ordi nary way was delivered. It was directed as it now is. It was opened in witness's presence, who took possession of it, and found that it contained a printed document—a circular. It had a red stamp on it, with the words " Circular Delivery Company (Limited), 317, High Holborn." 'Witness next saw Newnham deliver three other envelopes, now produced, addressed as follows : —R. Harris, Esq., 21, Coleshill-street, Euston-square ; also T. Arch butt, Esq., 26, Victoria-road, Pimlico ; and Messrs. Arehbutt and Co., Motcomb-street, S.W.—all of which were fastened in the usual way, and opened at the addresses at which they were delivered, All contained similar documents to the one before alluded to. None of the envelopes had Post-office stamps upon them. Witness spoke to Newnham at the time, and ascertained that he did not belong to the Post-office. Charles Edward Newnhain, residing at 37, St. James-street, Lisson-grove, was next sworn, and stared that he went in May last to the office of the . Circular Delivery Company, 317, High Holborn. The words " Circular Delivery Company" aro writ ten on a pane of glass on the door. After giving' testimonials, and calling several times, he ulti mately obtained employment from Mr. Eyre, now present, who asked witness what district be pre ferred. Witness replied that, having been a draper, he knew most parts of London very well, but the West-end the best. Mr. Eyre gave the witness some circulars and newspapers, at the same time :inquiring if he knew anything about the neigh bourhood of Pimlico. Witness, on replying " Yes," received from Mr. Eyre some circulars, in directed envelopes, and newspapers for delivery. Witness denied directing any of them himself. The sorting-office, which is on the first floor, con tains a long table, with pigeon-holes, into which the circulars, &c., are placed. Owing to witness being the last man employed, some eight or ten men in the office started to deliver the circulars before he did. Witness, after seeing the envelopes stamped with the company's stamp, proceeded to Pimlico with a bag containing some of them, amongst which were the four produced, addressed just the same as they now are. Witness remembered being accosted by a gentleman (Mr. Clare), and, after delivering a great many of the envelopes., that day, he returned to the office, and acqua=inted Mr. Eyre of the fact of his being stopped 'oy a gen tleman, who asked what witness was doing, and what he was delivering. Witness said that he had given his name and address to the gentleman, and the place where he was employed, and thought it was his duty to inform Mr. Eyre that he had done so. Mr. Eyre took it all down in writing, and requested witness to inform him if he heard of the matter any further. Mr. Eyre then reinarked that the people at the Post-office had tried it, on before, and he should not be astonished on seeing an article in the papers about his men being followed. Wit ness had visited the office two or three times since he left it, and had seen Mr. Eyre, who said he had heard nothing. Witness said he was paid nothing, nor bad he seen any circulars at the office like the one produced. He was not employed by Mr. Hewell. Cross-examined—The witness stated that he had seen Mr. Clare before, but had not received a frac tion from the Post-office authorities. George Deane, examined, said he was assistant registrar of joint-stock companies, and produced the memorandum of the Circular Delivery Com pany (Limited) Association. It was registered on February 22, 1868, and dated the 18th. He also produced articles of association of that company, and the produced certificate is the certificate of in corporation. Cross-examined—The certificate produced has been duly issued from the office. The names of Mr. J. Baxter Langley, Mr. J. H. Hodges, Mr. W. Felix Robinson, Mr. J. L. Merriman, Mr. T. Horton, Mr. Templeman, and Mr. Eyre are among the names of the company's directors. Mr. Merriman contended that, on behalf of the prosecution, no case had been made out which he could be called upon to answer. The allusions which had been made to the former proceedings only tended to prejudice the case. He maintained the common law rights of the defendants to deliver their own letters or circulars their own way. The real question at issue had been evaded by the pro secution. It was this. Did the company really infringe the statutes passed to maintain the prero gative of the Post-office, interpreting those statutes in the light of the old statute against monopoly, 2d James 1., which, as he could show by reference to Blackstone and other eminent authorities, made large exceptions, in consideration of common law rights and privileges of her Majesty's subjects. Sir Thomas Henry—You do not mean seriously to contend that the statute of monopolies applies to this case ? Mr. Merriman did not wish to urge anything about which he was not serious. At the same time it would be waste of time to argue the point if the magistrate had already made up his mind. He should hardly have allowed himself to be made a director of the company if he had not satisfied him self of their legal rights. Indeed he had been per fectly satisfied with legal opinions in his favour. He contended that, except so far as the Post-office statutes ruled otherwise, the statute of monopolies applied. Sir Thomas Henry observed that this was the en- tire question. Mr. Merriman said he claimed that they should be interpreted in the spirit of modern legislation, and in the spirit of free trade. If a company of merchants found that they could by combi nation get their circulars distributed more promptly, regularly, and economically than by the ordinary course of the post, he contended that they had the common right of citizens to unite for that purpose, and could do so legally. If one man could send out his two clerks with circulars, another man could send out six or eight. If a coal merchant and a wine merchant chose to unite for the same pur pose the wine circulars might be despatched from the coal-office, or vice versa. The de fendants maintained their right to carry on their own trade in the best way in their power, for all the officers in the company were share holder; working for their mutual benefit. Wishing to act thoroughly bona fide, he took care at the starting of the company to apply to the Post-office solicitor to define their exact rights, according to his estimate of them, and the only answer vouch safed to him and his clients, after a considerable lapse of time, was the service of the present series of summonses. Sir Thomas Henry said that Mr. Merriman had asked them to do what was impossible. Mr. Merriman said that at all events they were entitled to be told what was the exact pre rogative of the Postmaster-General, and they had not been supplied with that information. For instance, he should like to know whether the Crown would be content to allow them to dis tribute these circulars and letters unsealed. if six people could combine to send out their trade circulars, he contended that two hundred could do the same. Sir T. Henry observed that the company did not profess to carry on any specific trade. Mr. Merriman said they carried on their own trade, and the onus rested on the Post-office authorities of showing that they had infringed the law. Sir T. Henry said that on the former occasion he had explained his views of the question, and it was then proposed to submit a case to the superior courts. Mr. - Merriman said that was the course he should now be anxious to adopt. There were, however, one or two points which it was neces- sary should appear on the depositions. He there fore called Mr. Thomas Horton, the secretary of the company, to prove its formation and registration, and produce the register of share holders, list of officers, &c. Mr. Michaud was the representative of the company in the same way that the agent of Messrs. Pickford represented their firm ; but he had paid 11 as a shareholder. No letters or newspapers had been delivered. They only sent out printed matter, and undertook to print circulars if necessary. Cross-examined—With the exception of Mr. Langley and himself, nearly all the directors were solicitors, or solicitors' clerks. He thought himself quite safe, being among so many lawyers. Messen gers were paid from 21. 61 to 3s. 6d. per day. Newnham never applied for his money, or returned to the office after delivering the circulars in ques tion. After considerable discussion it was agreed to draw up a case to be argued before the superior courts. 4 Sir Thomas Henry inflicted a nominal penalty of £5 in the case of Mr. Eyre, and another £5 against the company. The remaining summonses were disposed of•by a nominal penalty of one shilling in each case by con sent. Sir Thomas Henry said that notice of appeal must be given within three days. During a quarter of a century Ilorninzan's Teas have had an immense sale, and as they aro now Bd. per pound Cheaper, in consequence of the Reduced Dutil, the demand will doubtless be even further extended. sold, secured in Packets; genuine aro signed "Ilornincut and Co., Lon don." ALLEGED NEGLECT OF SICK PA2IEN7S IN ST. LUKE'S WORKHOUSE. A very lengthened inquiry was held on Wednes day night by Mr. Richards, deputy-coroner, re specting the death in St. Luke's Workhouse of an inmate named Frederick James Tame, aged 39 years. Mrs. M. A. Tame, 8, Bartholomew-square, mother of the deceased, identified the body. His father, long since dead, was once a lawyer's clerk, and he had been reduced to sell earthenware about the streets. For twenty years he had suffered from epilepsy, which slightly affected his mind ; and for years past he was an inmate of St. Luke's Workhouse. He complained to witness that he was made to carry water, &c., to and from the sick wards. Tie said that if he objected he would be obliged to leave the house. An extra ration of bread and cheese was given him for the performance of that duty. George Evans, paid wardsman, said that the de ceased was one of twenty-eight imbeciles under his care in one ward. Ten of the imbeciles were epileptics. Lie had two old pauper attendants under him. Their duties lasted from six in the morning till ten at night, and as they had to wash and attend to all the imbeciles, get them their food, &c., they could not be expected to stay up at night. No one stayed up at night to watch the patients. On Thursday night last deceased went to bed as usual at eight o'clock. At half-past one in the morning witness, who had been out late, and had not yet gone to bed, found de ceased in a fit. lie gave him a glass of water, and recovered him, and then went to bed. At six in the morning the bell rang, and as deceased did not rise, one of the attendants went to him and found that he was dead. He had been dead about two hours. Evidently he had been seized with a second fit, and being still weak from the first he died in it. Several of the jurors said that the system was clearly in fault. If an attendant had been watch ing, the deceased would not have been allowed to die in the second fit. Twenty-eight imbeciles cer tainly required night attendance. The witness said that he thought so himself, and had said so, but both he and the pauper attendants were fully occupied during the day. They all slept in the ward, and were awakened by the patients when any of them had a fit. Dr. H. C. Harris proved that deceased died from epilepsy. He had been placed in the imbecile ward for his better protection, on account of his being subject to fits. A juror asked if the doctor did not think it dan gerous to employ an epileptic patient like the de ceased to carry things up and down stairs to and from the sick wards. Dr. Harris said that it might have been better if he had not been so employed, but no accident had happened. The work was light, and another epi leptic, named Bob, and two other inmates, took it in turns with him. If he objected he would not have been turned out of the house. He did not object, for he did not like to lose his extra ration of bread and cheese. The two pauper wardsmen were examined, and they said that the slightest noise of a fit, &c., was sufficient to awake them at night. But it appeared that one of them heard nothing of the two fits the deceased had on the night of his death, and the other was only slightly disturbed by the first fit, and he heard nothing at all of the second. The jury returned a verdict : " That the deceased was found dead from epilepsy from natural causes, and the jury are of opinion that it is improper and dangerous not to have an attendant to sit up during the night in the imbecile ward, where there are 28 imbeciles, ten of whom are subject to epileptic seizures ; and they request the coroner to forward this verdict to the proper authorities." PETROLEUM FOR IV AVIGATIOIV. The Moniteur gives an account of some interest ing experiments which took place some short time back on board the small yacht the Puebla, which the Imperial family use for their excursions on the Seine. The Emperor and Empress were both on board, the former having, a few months pre viously, recommended II 'AL Sainte Claire- Deville and Dupuy de Lome to examine the question of substituting petroleum for coal in steam navigation, and being therefore desirous of witnessing their first attempt in that direc tion, those made in England and America having been practically failures. The apparatus employed on board the Puebla was a vertical grate fixed to the mouth of the ash-pit The door of the fire place was blocked up, and its horizontal grate re placed by a vaulted ceiling of refractory bricks rest ing on the floor of the ash-pit, slightly inclined inwards. The petroleum, contained in a special re servoir, passes through a main tube provided with a stop-cock, which can, at an instant's notice, cut off the supplyof oil from the smaller tubes, 13 in number, which terminate the bars of the vertical grate above described, each letting out a thin jet of the inflam mable liquid, and being provided with a separate stop-cock to regulate the emission. The oil flows down each bar in the shape of a thin stratum, and thus reaches the floor, where it has to feed the flame. The old grate of the Puebla, measuring 23 square metres, could, when heated with coal, pro duce a 63-horse power with 240 turns per minute, under a pressure of 5 atmospheres. With petroleum, the number of turns was 242, and the horse-power 65, the liquid consumed being 2 kilos. per hour, or 147 kilos. per hour, and horse set down at 75 kilos. As the corresponding consumption in coal would be 2.25 kilos., the ratio of combustion of the petroleum to the coal is repre sented by 0.66. The former will turn 13 litres of water into steam for every eight vapourised by coal. All danger of an explosion is obviated by the cir cumstance that the reservoir in which the petroleum is kept is of iron. Were it kept in a wooden tank, it would gradually ooze through the pores, and thus, by impregnating the air with its emanations, prepare the way for an explosion at the slightest contact with a flame. DEMOLITION IN THE STRAND.--Yesterday several of the houses on the north side of the Strand, lying be tween Wellington-street and Catherine-street, were closed, prior to demolition, for the purposes of the new circus which is to be erected there. The building known as the Strand Music Hall is to be in a great measure rebuilt, and yest , 3rday a large body of workmen were busily engaged on that part of it which forms a large portion of the west side of Catherine-street. On the site which the houses closed occupied, a grand entrance to the new circus will be erected. TIIE BIRMINGHAM HORSE SHOW.—Among the prizes awarded for horses at this show in addition to those published there aro in Class 18—stallions for getting' hacks, &c., first to Captain Barlow, Castle Donington ; second, to Mr. John Edwards, Sudbury Paddocks, Middle sex. An extra prize was awarded to the Marchioness of Hastings for the most entire pony, " Bobby." With re ference to the classes for Foxhounds, " Unentered Pup" pies," the awards were the reverse of what we gave yes terday. Mr. C. Colemore obtained ;the first and the Earl of Yarborough the second prize. Births. DIcKsoN- 7 0n tho 23d inst., at 27, Albany-street, Edia. burgh, the Hon. Mrs. David S. Dickson, of a son. DEVONSHIRE —On the 25th inst., at Page Heath, Bickleit the wire of T. 11. Devonshile,' Esq., of son. VCE:UX—On the 24th inst., at 4, Great Cumberland-plac e r the Lady Alice Das Vceux, of a daughter. Marriages. CHANDLER—FORCE—On the 24th inst., at St. Clement% Arundel-square, Thomas Chandler, of Purley Oaks, t ° Charlotte, surviving daughter of the late Edward Force, Esq., of Kensington. GREEN—TABOR-On the 24th inst., at St. Nicholas, T halal Ditton, Captain Francis J. Green, 68th Regiment, sou ° W. A. Green, E3q., Eucleston-square, to Mary Tabor , eldest daughter of J. Tabor, Esq., of Earl's Hall, Esse%* Deaths. BRENCHLEY —On the 23d inst., at Twickenham, Russell Bronchley, aged 71. BARTER—On the 24th inst at Sarsden, Oxfordshire, the Rev. Charles Barter, aged'B2. ELLMAN—Oa the 23d inst., at Cliftouville, Brighton, a°°. Imam, Esq., aged 72. LowTuEh 7 Ou the 23d inst., at 9, Park-street., Grosvenor, square, Sir John 11. Lowther, Bart., aged 75. MARTIN—On the 2lth inst., at 21, Gloucester-stre et " Queen's-square, Mr. James Martin, aged 38. Loudon : Printed and Published by WiLLIA.M. ANDREW S ,' of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at TR& SUN 0203, NO Strand, in the Precinct of the 'Savoy, in the 0011 . 11 " lailllesex.—Friday, Juno 23, ISGS. RE This Prins 31 It is I Sold the Age Obser han's L: ~~~L 14, n ADvAis hod or able we , rorna„ Ro' Miss Mini 81‘,TITI J. 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