The Sun. — London, England, 1853-03-15 00:00:00

J. Mathison, Med. Est., at Vaniembady, on the 26th Dec. ; Lieut. F. M. Minchin, 35th Regt., N. 1., at Prome, on the 20th Dec. ; Quartermaster R. Palmer, 28th Regt. N. 1., at Perambore, on the 26th Jan. Bengal.—Capt. Turner, 51st N. 1., at Calcutta ; Lieut. G. Miller, 40th N. 1., of fever, at Burmah ; Capt. C. S. Reynolds, 19th Regt. N. 1., at Assam; Major Minchin, 67th N. 1., at Rangoon. (From the Bombay Times of Feb. 12.) We mentioned in our last that the Aeng Pass, through which our troops in Lower Arracan com municate by a short ,cut with Prome, had been strongly stockaded, and that 3,000 of the enemy held a post 5,000 feet high, from the front alto gether unapproachable. A chief named Makeekay having described to us the -enemy's position, Cap tains Nuthall and Sutherland, with a party of the Arracan battalion, proceeded to a place called Thorawa on the ISt of January, where they learned that a Burmese force had left the neigh bourhood to attack Prome, and that the defenders of the stockade had become careless of their charge since the British troops had quitted their neighbourhood. The most careful inquiries have been instituted, and all the requisite arrangements made, the attacking party started before dawn on the sth, and proceeding through the jungle found themselves about nine a.m. within eight hundred yards of the pass on the Burmese side of the moun tain. Here they rested for the day, while Captain Nuthall pursued his inquiries and just before dusk they were moved on to within two or three hun dred yards of the pass, and so as to be within reach of the high road. They were under arms by two o'clock on the morning of the 6th, but so difficult was their progress that it took them two hours to clear the jungle. They now formed, and proceeded in the most profound silence in the direction of the barricades, which they reached, as had been de sired, just before dawn. Captain Nuthall having himself proceeded to inspect the works found the enemy sound asleep, and suspecting no danger. Capt. Sutherland was ordered to advance in full force against the gate, which he carried, and entered the stockade at once,while Capt. Nuthall, who had seized on pur pose an eminence close by, caused a volley to be poured upon the head of the sleepers which spread death and dismay in all directions. The enemy never for a moment rallied, but scampered off as hard as their feet could carry them, leaving the stockade, and everything in it behind, including their arms, all loaded. They had not been allowed so much time as even to fire. This decisive and brilliant affair, the most brilliant and decisive that has occurred during the war, which opened up to US the country at once, shows what our troops can do when disencumbered of a general, and proved how easy it would have been to have pressed for ward on Ava when Prome was captured ten months ago, and dictated our terms in the capital. The enemy having disappeared in considerable strength near Martaban, General Steelmoved out at dawn on the 14th, with the whole force in the gar rison, one company of each of the native regiments excepted. His advance consisted of a party of seventy-five men of the Madras, and a similar num ber of the Bengal Europeans, and companies of the Bengal 10th, and Madras sth Native Infantry, a detachment of Irregular Cavalry, and two 24 Pounder howitzers. The road lay through a thick entaigled jungle, barely passable by carts. The enemy were first seen behind a strong breast-work, stretching along the base of the hill, as our troops cleared the forest, and approached the plain on which they had intended to encamp. We were received by a salute from their guns, followed by a brisk fire of musketry and jingalls, while the men were debouching. A couple of well-di rected discharges from our howitzers, the shells bursting right over them, followed by some rockets, sent the enemy scamp e ring, and when our troops pushed on they found the works, which were singularly strong, abandoned, the place having fallen into our hands without the loss of a single man. The enemy's artillery were found to consist of short pieces of bamboo, bound round with cord—they had all burst on the first fire. Every precaution had been taken to cut off their retreat, but this was found impossible from the nature of the ground. An immense number of carts and 120 elephants had now been collected, and a march in the direction of Shoegeer and Sitang was ordered to commence on the 17th • the force to return by Pegu, within 14 miles of which the enemy were saic once more to have collected. No authentic parti. culars as to their further operations have yet reached us. The mishap said by the Rancoon Chronicle to have befallen them is generally dis believed, and we have little doubt that when we next hear from them, we shall be able to give an excellent account of them, as they will of the ene yA large flotilla of bo a t s , w ith a man - o f- war convoy, started for Prome with commissariat stores on the 25th. A boat expedition was dispatched on the 22d, up the a creek between Donabew and Hen zanda, after brigand,w largewho had been plunder ing the countryband uni of followers. The banks of the creek ' were g s Lp k re i c n ip s it a o fe u t s, and high, so that the enemy could j on the crest, and fire down upon us with fatal effect. They were compelled to return to Ran goon, which they reached on the 24th, without securing their capture—one marine having been killed, and eleven sailors wounded ; one officer was Tery severely hurt. A second expedition against the same enemy was under orders for the 27th, commanded by Captain Lock, with Captains Shad- Well and Rowley Lambert. It consisted of 300 soldiers and 100 seamen, on board the boats of the Fox, Winchester, and Sphinx, and there seems every reason to hope that on the present occasion they will be successful. Such is the string of stir ring events with which the first month of peace Presents us. It is well that General Godwin was not on the spot, or he would, in all likelihood, have still been waiting for reinforcements. With the affairs of Burmah our intelligence for the fort night begins and ends. Profound tranquillity reign s throughout India, and even our north-west frontier scarcely supplies us with an accident or event. COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE. CALCUTTA MARKETS—Fn. 5. (From the Calcutta Englishman.) The Precursor, with the London mail of Dec. 24 last, arrived in the river on the 3d inst., and the letters were delivered yesterday. The advices regarding colonial Markets are upon the whole satisfactory. In our export market sugar has been quiet during the Past fortnight, and operations in it have been chiefly con fined to the lower kinds of new date ; refiners, deterred by the high rates required, are not yet at work on the raw material. 1,445 maunds of raw silk have been exported to Great Britain during last month ; the article is in eager inquiry. Filature silks have been con t rac t e d f or a t 12 to 14 Rs. per seer, and comparatively high prices have been Paid for native produce. A fair quantity of torahs ( 5 9,20Cpieces) had gone forward to Great Britain in Jan. Of late the demand has abated, owing to holders requiring an advance of 2 to 3 rupees, to which only a few parties have been found to submit. The export of saltpetre to Great Britain during the same period has been 45,747 mds. The demand for this salt has fallen or, and its value has declined about 2 annas. per md. Rice has also been sent to the same market in large quantities. The exports in January amount to 291,757 Inds. The finer kinds of jute are nearly out of the mar ket, but the middling qualities are taken up with avi dity at full prices. The crop is stated to be a short one. Turmeric is regaining favour ; 2,717 mds. had been sent to Great Britain and 5,871 to France in January. We regret that we can report no improvement in our import market, which remains depressed. Holders of cotton goods are as anxious as before to realise, while the local inquiry has not improved, and the up-country demand still continues inert. The absence of that demand at this season particularlyis unaccountable, as it is known that stocks in the interior have been reduced. It would be impossible to place goods in quantity at the reduced current rates. The accounts received from home of the ex- Port trade there are also of a nature calculated to have an injurious effect upon our market, inasmuch as the l a r ge pments lately made and in progress, and the speculative s pirit di s pl aye d, t en d t o d es t ro y the firmness of holders, and make them anxious to realise. So long as parties at home continue to throw in larger supplies than can be absorbed by the demand in our market, no improve blent can be hoped for ; on the contrary, certain loss is Sure to result. Copper is dull, and has further receded i n. value. With the exception of bars and hoops, which a ';'e in fair request, and pig, which is in active demand, all descriptions of iron are depressed. The price of sPelter has fallen to Ct. Rs. 7-12 and 7-13. Lead is also dull, and looking down. The Money market keeps well supplied. The share market has been made firmer by the move above re 'erred to in Government Securities. tExch ange a ft er t h e d ate of our last repor t rose to r' lid- and 2s. 11d., although a f ew t r ansactions have anspired on better and some on worse terms. Drawers 1 1 :?now unwilling to part with th e i r paper a t the above `:__t e t c, while remitte rs are h o ldi ng ou t f or t h em . At uto press very little had been done, an d it r emained mnlecid e d which party would give way. weFrereights declined a little, b u t are aga i n muc h as th e y il• Our quotations now are :-3/. 2s. 6d. t o 3/. ss. tp et °ndo re 3/. 7s. 6d. to 3/. 10s. sugar ; an d 4/ . r i ce t o tl ae V.—Soon after the dispatch of our l as t r e p or t, French relaxed in their demand, and as English avers wo u ld no t come f orwar d on t h e same terms, the I:4l.ket became dull, with a decline of about Rs. 10 per whit Wye sales have been held since th e 17th u lti mo, at 1.. 2,988 c h ests were b rought forward, out of which 39 were withdrawn and bought in. Since the 24th whi _ i o no sale has been held, and the only transaction c h es 'in has transpired is one by private contract of 57 A rm r Wise and Glasse's indigo at 160-0. Shippers are d etllt 'n refusing to meddle with the article at the prices arri v T ie d , and holders generally have been waiting th e , ion. n. of th e h ome a d v i ces b e f ore su b m i tt i ng to minces not The mail has just arrived, but sufficient time has e e i v 4r elapsed to allow the effects of the advices re ex,,c, to de ve l op themselves. 9,259 chests have been 4 ' "Id up to the 2d of February, inclusive of which 3,529 are for Great Britain, and 4,458 for France. Business will be resumed next week, when it is hoped prices will be determined. REPORT ON THE STATE OF THE BOMBAY MARKETS. FROM THE 28TH OF JANUARY TO THE 11TH OF FEBRUARY INCLUSIVE. Money continues plentiful and cheap ; and the mar ket for securities of all kinds has been very animated during the past fortnight, the appearance of the notifi cation regarding the payment or conversion of the :Five per. Cent. Transfer Loan having caused all other securi ties to advance in price. Cotton Piece Goods.—Since the date of our last re port, a considerable amount of business has been done, but at slightly reduced rates. • Grey Shirtings.—Of these there has been a large Hale, but prices have declined about two annas per piece on all descriptions. Grey Madapollams have likewise been sold to a large extent, while the value has improved one to two annas per piece. Grey Jacconets have had a fair share of the market, and the sales have been effected at rates a shade higher than those quoted in our last report. Grey Longcloth.—The business done in these goods has been rather small ; the value may be quoted at the same rate as when our last report was published. Grey T Cloth is in good inquiry, at an improvement in value for the higher descriptions. Grey Domestics are in ' (rood demand, at enhanced rates, especially 40 inches, which is scarce. Grey Twills are in fair enquiry, but without improve ment in value. Grey Mulls.— A considerable amount of business have been done in these, but the value has somewhat receded. Bleached Shirtings.—A large number of sales has been effected, but at considerably reduced prices. Bleached Jacconets have been in moderate inquiry. Their value is without change. ~ Turkey Red.—There is not much doing in these, and little or no improvement in value. Fancy Goods.—Lappets, mulls, and checks, are in re quest, while gauze, zebra dresses, and book-muslins are dull. . _ Cotton Yarn.—A fair amount of business has been done at the same rates as we quoted by last mail. Metals.—lron continues to be in good demand at the former rates. Swedish steel continues in request. In copper we have no improvement to note. Lead con tinues in request. Spelter is likewise in inquiry. Red Lead.—Little or nothing doing. White Lead.—Steady at our last quotations. Quicksilver.—Steady at our last rates. Linseed.—ln demand, and is with difficulty procured at the rates quoted by last mail. Woollens.—Very little business has been done. Marine Stores.—The business done has not been very great. Spirits.—ln fair request. Cotton Wool.—The amount of business done since our last report has been small. Opium has risen to Rs. 995 to Rs. 1,000, and busi ness is brisk. Tonnage.—ln consequence of recent arrivals, freights have further declined to V. 12s. 6d. to 3/. 17s. 6d. for London, 3/. 12s. 6d. to 3/. 15s. for Liverpool, and to Rs. 18 to Rs. 19 to China. Exchange.—The rates of the day are 2s. lid. for do cument bills, and 2s. 15-16 d. for credit bills at six months' sight on London ; Rs. 218 per 100 dollars at sixty days' sight on China ; and Rs. 991 at thirty days' sight on Calcutta. CHINA. We have advices from Hong Kong to the 28th January, inclusive. They bring no intelligence of interest. We take the following from the Overland Register of the above date The depression in our market which we had occasion to notice at the departure of the last mail, has continued up to the present time. This has been consequent not only on the approach of the China New Year, but on a scar city of money, which is now felt by all classes of the trading community. What has further induced this de pression has been the high rates of exchange ruling, which has created an anxiety on the part of holders of goods to realise in order to avail themselves of it. Goods, however, could only be quitted by submitting to reduced rates, as the prices which we now give will show. The stock of goods on the market is gradually decreasing, and when business is again commenced, which it will be about the middle of next month, we hope to see some improvement. At the present time the accounts from the disturbed districts are far from being favourable, and the disturbances have a baneful effect on trade. TEA REPORT.—Canton, Jan. 22, 1853.—A great deal of activity was caused in the tea market generally in consequence of the favourable news from England, to Nov. 8. An advance on former rates for congous was made, and there was a considerable demand for other kinds of black and also green tea ; but transactions have been limited from the small stocks of all kinds, except Ning Yong and Oolong. The export to date is 46i millions lbs., against 51 millions lbs. last, and 454 millions lbs. the previous year. RATES OF EXCHANGE AND PRICES OF BULLION IN CANTON.—On England, six months' sight, ss. to ss. ld. per dollar ; on Calcutta, Company's accepted bills, Rs. 234 to 235 per $lOO ; gold, $21.25 per tael of 100-touch; Sycee silver, for duty, 5 per cent. prem. ; Republican dollars, 7i per cent. dis. FREIGATS.—To Great Britain, 31., to outports, ss. per ton additional. Loading for Liverpool, the Leander. • the bill, but at the same time expressing their desire that nothing should be enacted to endanger the diocesan and provincial constitution of the colonial churches, nor their subordination in the last resort to the Crown and to the see of Canterbury. The whole proceedings were distinguished by har mony and unanimity. On Sunday, the 2d inst., the Lord Bishop held an ordination, at which the Rev. T. B. Tithering ton, formerly a minister of the Baptist denomina tion, was admitted to deacon's orders. The new tariff came into operation on the 27th of December. The reduction of the duty on spirits is from 10s. to 6s. per gallon. The new (local) Mercantile Marine Act came into operation on the Ist inst. The chief feature is the appointment of a shipping-master at Port Adelaide, through whom all engagements with seamen for service on board vessels must in future be made. On the 3rd inst. intelligence was received from the Mauritius by the Josephine Loizeau, that the Australian Royal Mail Company's steamer Austra lian had been compelled to put into Port Louis for coals, where she arrived on the 11th November. Having left here on the 7th October, much dis appointment is felt at the apparent probability of her making a very long voyage. The commissioners of the 'hundred of Willunga have called a meeting to consider the expediency of memorialising the Governor for the appointment of a district council for their hundred, under the re cent District Councils Act. On the 4th instant a meeting of the Church of England Society was held, at which it was re solved to dissolve the society, and to hand over its funds and property to the treasurer of the Dio cesan Assembly. AUSTRALIA. (From the South Australian Register of Jan. 16.) By the Australian Royal Mail Company's steamer Sydney, which sailed on the 17th ult., we furnished a summary of the latest South Australian intelligence to that date. The overland escort from Mount Alexander ar rived on the 18th ult., bringing 27,033 ozs. 15 dwts. of gold, worth, at 31. Us. per oz. 95,9691. 16s. 3d. The deliveries of crude gold at the Government Assay-office to the close of the year amounted to 1,443,7611.45. Bd. ; but the total quantity of gold brought into the colony during the year is esti mated at upwards of two millions sterling. The total of gold ingots delivered to the several banks by order of the depositors is 372,107 ozs. 1 dwt. 11 grs. The first delivery of the new 11. gold tokens, coined at the Adelaide Assay-office, took place on the 24th December. The total number of licences issued from the 23d August to the 29th December at the Echunga dig gings was 1,208, of which 166 were renewed once, 64 were renewed twice, and seven were renewed three times. The public sales of Crown lands have been as follow On the 23d Dec., 2,122 acres realising £3,324 15 0 30th „ 1,466 „ „ 1,804 15 0 6th Jan., 3,253 „ 5,166 0 0 6,741 acres, realising £10,295 10 0 And the selections by private contract during the month of November comprised 7, 4 3 5 acres, pro ducing 7,505/. 9s. The sale on the 6th instant exceeded by nearly 1,0001. that o f any one day's sale during the year 1852. The total number of passengers arrived at and sailed from Port Adelaide were as follows : F or the week ending — Arrived. Sailed. 11th December 966 98 18th „ .................. ... 401 477 25th „ ..................... 243 19 Ist inst. ..................... 302 182 1,912 766 The harvest is progressing favourably. The crops are in general fully equal to the average of seasons as to quality and yield. Although wag es for harvest wo r k are ne cessarily high, there is little apprehension but th a t, w ith the assistance of reap ing machines, the crops will be well got in. _ ers Our population i s re t urn ing in g reat numbers from Melbourne. The ‘,‘ undertak ers " o f th e Ad e laide and Port Railway have resolved to appoint their engineer forthwith, and to have a new survey made of the main and branch lines. It is reported that Mr. W. H. Babbage, the Government assayer, is likely to receive the appointment of engineer. The Rev. T. P. WiLson has resigned the in cumbency of St. John's Church, South Adelaide, and returned to England in the Adelaide, which sailed on the 29th of December. The rev. gen tleman has been succeeded by the Rev. J. C. Bagshaw, previously the minister at Clare and Pen wortham. The Adelaide also takes home the widow and family of the late Judge Crawford. Government have granted the Central Road Board a further sum of 5,0001. from the general revenue for the repairs of the main roads. The trade at the Wellington Ferry (on the Mur ray), on the overland route to the Victoria dig ging,s, for the months of October and November, was as follows Passengers. Carriages. Cattle. Goods. October 771 ... 216 ... 1,893 ... 1,794 tons November 529 145 ... 884 ... 1,228 The' Adelaide races took place on the 28th, 29th, and 30th December. A corps of twelve native policemen have pro ceeded to the Port Lincoln district, for the protec- tion of the settlers. A letter from Mr. Bates, a settler at Mount Gambier, seems to place beyond doubt the fact of the existence of the " Bunyip." The Adelaide took hence 40,677 oz. 15 dwts. of gold (in dust and ingots), 4,228 cakes, and 5,694 ingots of copper, 1,521 bales of wool, and sundries ; the total value being considered as nothing short of 200,0001., being the most valuable cargo ever taken on board here by any sailing vessel. The Diocesan Assembly met on the 30th Decem ber. The Lord Bishop delivered a highly interest ing pastoral address. The Rev. W. J. Woodcock was elected clerical secretary, and Dr. Wooldridge the lay secretary. Mr. Gladstone's Colonial Church Bill was considered, and after some discussion a resolution was unanimously passed by the Assembly, declaring theix approval of the general d purport of BPORTING INTELLIGENCE. SPORTING NOTES.—.No. CCCXC. WARWICK SPRING MEETING. To-morrow's races commence with the Debdale Stakes, the entries for which Aro not yet made. The Two-years-old Stakes of 10 sovs. each, with 50 added (five furlongs), will be materially influenced by the running for the Woodcote to-day. Mr. Stanley's Mira beau, and Lord Clifden's Oleaster, will, I have no doubt, when seen, monopolise the attention of the ring. John O'Bruges is not forward enough in work to do anything good at the present time ; and I think the same may be said of Ptolemy. Contender is a large slashing animal, and something may be anticipated from him, but it will not be in this race. The First Lord is very inferior, and at present there is not much to say in favour of Lurley. In short, I expect to see MIRABEAU and OLEASTER in the first and second places, but do not know to which to give the preference. The Great Warwickshire Handicap of 20 sovs. each, h. ft., with 50 added (two miles), obtained thirty-four subscribers, twenty of whom are contented with the im posts placed upon their horses. Cariboo, at Bst. 71b., heads the list, but does not run. Captain Lane's Con more has arrived, and in tolerable good form ; and al though the distance is a little too far for him, I expect to see him run uncommo ily well. Le Juif I think, may as well stay at home, being made safe by Conmore. Poodle, at 7st. 41b., comparatively with some others in the race, is decidedly over-weighted ; but notwithstand this, and his not being quite up to the mark, will run into a place, if not finish A 1. Koh-i-noor, at 41b. less than the preceding, is of no use. Doubt, at 6st. 111 b., were she not so uncommonly stale, would be pretty nearly a cer tainty for this event ' • but her running at Liv er p oo l was so very indi ff erent that I cannot place any faith in her ' for this journey. The Irish Isabella is a runner—more I care not to say in her favour. Lerrywhent, at 6st. 61b., and Little Davie at 21b. less, are so close together in their respective forms, that I anticipate seeing them finish in front together. Harp is no go. Happy Joe is let loose at 6st., but for all that will do nothing. Waterfall, a five-years-old, with sst. 121 b. on his back, slow coach as he is, ought to finish in the rear of the leading horses. Corybantes represents Mr. Stanley's stable ; and I have not the slightest doubt but that he will beat the three-years-old class, notwithstanding that he will have to concede a considerable weight to each. Llanforda's chance looks very rosy at the weight, but somehow I scarcely fancy that he is meant for this stake. Feramorz, at the feather of 4st. 41b. who a year ago, in his pranks, disabled Robinson for life, may give us a specimen of his capers here, though, I believe, he is intended only for the Free Handicap. To con clude, I expect that in POODLE or MONTAGUE we shall discover the winner ; Little Davie and Conmore finish ing in the next two places. A Handicap Plate of 50 Bove. ' over the T.Y.C., and a Sweepstakes of 5 sovs. each, with 25 added (mile course), bring the day's racing to a terminus. About a week ago a rumour was in circulation to the effect that Hobby-horse had broken down, and several bookmakers took liberties with him accordingly ; his real condition, however, is so good that at " the Corner" yesterday they advanced him to the rank of first favourite for the Northamptonshire Stakes. THE SPIRIT OF THE TURF. TATTERSALL'S—MONDAY. METROPOLITAN HANDICAP. 7to 1 agst Contentment. 11 to 1 agst Lampedo (taken). 12 to 1 agst Snowdon Dunhill (taken). 17 to 1 agst Pug Orrock. Contentment was backed by several parties at 7 to 1, the odds, however, being obtainable up to the close of the betting ; irrespective of this animal, the only in vestments of any consequence were on Lampedo, who left off at an improvement of a point on the opening quotation. NORTHAMPTONSHIRE STAKES. 7to 1 agst Hobby-horse (taken and aft. offd.) Bto 1 agst Defiance. 12 to 1 agst Maria (taken). 15 to 1 agst King of Trumps (taken & aft. offd.: NEWMARKET HANDICAP. 5 to 1 each offered agst Ethelbert and Contentment, but no blow struck ; 6 to 1 would have been taken about either. TWO THOUSAND GUINEAS. 6 to 4 laid and afterwards offered agst Sittingbourne and West Australian. Offers to take 4 to 1 about Sittingbourne. CHESTER CUP. 15 to 1 agst Trifle. 20 to 1 agst Lady Evelyn (taken and aft. offd.) 1,000 to 20 was laid two or three times agst The Sutler, and 1,000 to 15 afterwards offered. DERBY. 9to 1 agst West Australian. 12 to 1 agst Orestes. 13 to 1 agst Cineas. 17 to 1 agst Sittingbourne. 18 to 1 agst Pharos. 20 to 1 agst Umbriel (taken). 22 to 1 agst Honeywood (taken). 25 to 1 agst Ethelbert (taken). 25 to 1 agst Hurworth (taken and aft. offd.) 33 to 1 agst Filbert. 2,000 to 60 agst Contentment (taken). 40 to 1 agst Queen Colt (taken). West Australian was backed for about 4001. at 9 to 1, Orgstes for half that amount at 12 to 1, and Ethelbert for between 3001. to 4001. at 25 to 1, the layers in each case being willing to go on. 600 to 400 was laid on West Australian agst Cineas. OAKS. 9to 1 agst Catherine Hayes (taken & aft. offd.) 7to 1 agst The Queen (taken and aft. offd.) 14 to 1 agst Mistletoe (taken). RACING FIXTILRES FOR 1853. The figures within parenthesis denote the number of days' racing. MARCH. Warwick Spring (2) 15 Kiplin Coates (11 .17 Newcastle Spring (2)....23 Leamington (1) 29 Croxton Park (2) 5 Epsom Spring (1) 7 Newmarket Craven (5)-11 Catterick Bridge (2) 29 Northampton (2) 3O Abergavenny (1) 31 York Spring (2) 19 Malton (2) 21 Newmarket F. S. (5)., 25 Chester (4) Newmarket Sec Sp (3) 10 Liverpool Hunt (2) 11 Shmwsbuty (2) .. . ll Edinburgh (2) l2 Redditch (2) 15 Bath (2) 17 Manchester (3) 18 Epsom (4) 24 Newton (3)...........•••••• 2 Ascot (4) 7 Hampton (2) 15 Beverley, Hull, &c. (2) 15. Bibury (1) 22 Stockbridge (1) 23 Wincliester (1) 24 Newcastle (3) 28 LY. Newmarket (3) 5 Worcester (2) 5 Carlisle (3) 5 Liverpool (3) 13 Stamford (2) 19 Nottingham (2) 21 Goodwood (4) 26 AUG Brighton (2) 3 Brighton Club (1) 5 Wolverhampton (3) 8 North Staffordshire (2) 9 Yarmouth (2) 9 Reading (2) lO SEPTE Warwick (2) 6 Pontefract (2) 8 Doncaster (4) 13 Bedford (2) 20 Leicester (2) 21 Chester Autumn (2). Newmarket S. 0. (5). OCTO: .. 4 ..10 UST. York (3) 17 Radcliffe (3) 22 Egham (2) 23 Derby (2) 24 Eccles (3) 29 Lichfield (2) 30 MBER. Lanark (2) 22 Manchester Autumn (2)-22 Newmarket F. 0. (3)..,.27 Northallerton (2) 29 NOVE: Worcester (2) 1 Epsom Autumn (2) 3 Cowbridge Hunt (2) 9 Liverpool Autumn (2) 9 Richmond (2) l9 Newmarket H. (6) 24 IBER. Warwick Autumn (2) 16 Shrewsbury (2) 23 Aberystwith (3)..Last week THE SUN, LONDON ) TUESDAY EVENING, MARCH 15, 1853. IBER. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS—(YESTERDAY.) The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack at five o'clock. The Bishop of EXETER presented petitions from the Dean and Chapter of Winchester, from Devon, and other places, against the admission of Jews into Parliament. Other petitions were presented by Lord Colville, the Earl of Shaftesbury, and the Marquis of Breadalbane, to the same effect. The Marquis of BREADALBANE presented a peti tion from the Presbytery of Caithness, against the im position of re li g i ous tests on Scotch professors. THE MERCANTILE LAW OF ENGLAND AND T SCO . In answe r t o a question from LAND Lord BROUGHAM, The Earl of ABERDEEN said it was the intention of her Majesty's Government to institute a commission to inquire into the Law of Partnership ; and that the sub ject of the assimilation of the mercantile laws of Eng land and Scotland would form a fit subject for inquiry for that commission. PRIVATE BILLS. On the motion of Lord REDESDALE it was re solved, that the house do receive petitions for private bills on the first sitting day after Easter, provided that such petitions shall be lodged at the Private Bill-office on or before Monday the 21st of March. MERCANTILE MARINE. Lord COLCHESTER moved for " A return of the number of persons who passed their examination for masters and mates of merchant ships between the Ist of January, 1852, and the Ist of January, 1853 ; also, any correspondence between the Board of Trade and the Committee of Council on Education, relative to the estab lishment of schools for merchant seamen and appren tices." He wished to take that opportunity of putting some questions as to the consolidation and amendment of the laws relating to the mercantile marine. After the statement which had been made by the President of the Board of Trade in another place, as he learned by the indirect means in whi c h th e i r lordships were able to ascer tain what passed elsewhere, it was not his intention at all to enter on the question of the light duties, but sim ply to allude to the different laws regulating the rights and duties of the officers and seamen in the British mer chant service. These questions had come under the consideration of the late Board of Trade in the course of the last summer, and amongst the grievances of which the shipowners complained most loudly was the uncer: tainty of the laws existing for this purpose. There were no less than eight or ten different acts of Parliament relating to the persons employed in the merchant service, independently of the general laws bearing on the sub ject • and the impo r t ance o f simplifying and ascertaining the law was promi nen tly d we lt upon in a pamphlet lately published by the well-known eminent shipowner, Mr. Lindsay. He wished to know whether it was intended to include in the act now to be passed such amendments of the existing regulations as had been found necessary in practice, and also to carry out to their full extent the principles of the acts passed in 1850, which hitherto had not been fully acted upon, in consequence of opposition by persons engaged in the shipping trade. Those amend ments related to a great variety of subjects, of which the first he might mention was that of registry. By the pre sent law every person wishing to enter the sea service, whether in the royal navy or the merchant service, must be provided with a register ; he was required to go to the proper office and obtain a register ticket, describing his person, place of birth, and other points fixed by the schedule of the act. If this ticket were once lost, he could not again be employed until he obtained a new ticket. This he might do by going to the registrar, and showing that the ticket had not been lost by any fault of his, when he would obtain a new one without payment ; but if he could not satisfy the registrar on this point he was liable to a penalty. This was looked upon by the seaman as a considerable hardship, and had induced many of them to quit the service of their country in order to obtain employment from foreigners. He believed the registry ticket was regarded by many persons, whose opinion on that subject was valuable, as a mere incum brance, because it did not produce the effect of detecting a deserter and bringing him to punishment. The pre sent regulations, as their lordships k new , were fixed Trythe act of 1834, passed when the right hon. baronet now at the head of the Admiralty was First Lord in Earl Grey's administration, with the view of enabling the Government to know the number of seamen through out the country who were available for the public service, and to call them out when an exigency arose. Another point to which he wished to direct the attention of the noble earl related to the ex isting provision for the health and comfort of sea men on shipboard, which was generally admitted to be very inadequate, and on this point he believed the enactments of the act of 1850 had not been carried out. There were other provisions relating to discipline which also required revision. It had been the intention of his right hon. friend the late President of the Board of Trade (Mr. Henley) to pass an act explaining the powers of masters of ships to punish for breaches of discipline, and to place the law in an intelligible form, and also to extend the powers of the marine boards appointed under the act of 1850, for removing masters who were rend ered incompetent to command ships from insanity and habits of drunkenness. Another clause in the act of 1850 related to men volunteering from merchant ships for the navy, a matter which, if he was not mistaken, had attracted the attention of her Majesty's Govern ment, and on this subject he thought it would be very desirable that regulations should be passed respecting the payment of wages, which would prevent temptations to the seamen to leave their ships. Another point re spected the examination of masters and mates respect ing ability to take the command of ships. He believed the number of those who had passed the regular exami nation last year, was about 6,000, the total number of masters being 18,000. At first no means of educating persons to be called to these duties existed, but by the act of 1850 the Board of Trade was empowered to apply surplus funds at its command, arising from certain spe cified sources, to any purpose for the benefit of seamen, and in the course of 1852 it was determined to institute a number of schools proportioned to the funds that might be in hand. Liverpool and London had both sailors' homes, and it was desired to establish schools in connec tion with them. The Committee of Council on Educa tion communicated with the Board of Trade, requesting instruction as to the best mode of carrying out this ob ject, and communications were held on the subject with London and Liverpool. He wished to have copies of these communications produced, in order to show what were the intentions of the late Government, and he wished to know whether it was the intention of the pre sent Government to carry out the system of schools which had been thus commenced. There was another point to which he wished to direct attention ; he meant the re strictions requiring a British crew to consist of at least three-fourths British seamen. It was difficult to overrate the importance of these matters, for no one denied that it was necessary for this country to have a sufficient number of seamen to man the navy ; and if these were not procurable from British merchant ships, where should we be able to find them when the exigency arose ? It was a provision of the existing act that no foreigners, after having served a certain number of years, might be considered British seamen. He could not help thinking that, if it was intended to throw open the manning of British ships to foreigners this might hereafter be a sub ject of the deepest regret, and he would express his ear nest hope that her Majesty's Government might be in duced to reconsider this point. With regard to the comfort and welfare of the seamen, that was an object on which he need not enlarge, as its urgent importance was admitted by all the foremost shipowners of the pre sent day. It was well known that the ships of Mr. Green, whose attention to the moral and physical wel fare of those in his employment was above all praise, never wanted men ; and this was a proof that seamen knew how to appreciate integrity and kindness on the part of their employers. He should be glad were the noble lord opposite to favour the house with some infor mation as to the points on which he had touched. Lord STANLEY of ALDERLEY trusted that he would be able to give a satisfactory answer to the noble lord on many of the points he had referred. With regard to the grievance of the mercantile marine arising from the many and multifarious acts relating to their interests, the subject of the consolidation of those acts was under the consideration of the Government, but while so many bills were at present befo re the house of Parliament af fecting the mercantile marine, it would not be expedient afterwards. With res p ec t to introduce any general mea sure o f consolidation at this of the b e e done session, overa s again whatever Was done now m i g ht to the system of registry tickets f or seamen, he admitted have all all to e that vexatious evils might have a r i sen in the carrying of that system into execution ; but it was well known that the registry was established as much for Admiralty pur poses as for the mercantile marine. The subject, how ever, was before the attention of the First Lord of the Admiralty, by whom the whole matter would be consi dered. With regard to the subject of the naval courts abroad, it was very desirable that those tribunals should possess some greater powers ; but this point involved the calling upon the naval courts in foreign ports to assi milate their law to ours, and whatever was done to in crease the power of those courts must be done with due care and deliberation. He believed the plan that had already been proposed in the other house of Parliament would not differ materially from the scheme of the noble lord opposite for the consolidation of these acts. The present Government proposed that the sailors on board of merchant ships should not be deprived of the right of volunteering to enter her Majesty's ships in foreign ports, but it was not intended that the captain of the merchant ship should be required in all cases, as had hitherto been the practice, to pay all his wages to the seamen so volunteering, and transfer all his property to her Majesty's ship. The men's wages would not in future have to be paid till the ship returned home, and compensation would be allowed, upon certain conditions, to the captain of the merchant vessel who had sustained injury by being deprived of the services of part of his crew. These, he thought, were all the points which the noble l•rd said he meant to touch upon in relation to the consolidation of the acts relating to the mercantile marine. The noble lord would see that they were not very numerous in themselves, and if they were all, he (Lord Stanley) would grant that it might be possible to introduce a bill for the consolidation of these acts. But when the noble lord considered that, besides the points to whichie had alluded, there were also the questions of pilotage, light-houses, salvage, de sertion and many others, which were now th e su bj ec t of legislation, he would see that it would be advisable to postpone for the present the introduction of a mea sure of consolidation. The noble lord had called atten tion to the system of examination for masters and mates of the mercantile marine. That system was working exceedingly well, and he trusted that the effect of it would be to place the masters and mates of the British merchant service in a high position as compared with any foreign merchant service in the higher branches of education. The noble lord said that we ought to estab lish a system of instruction whereby masters and mates would be qualified for undergoing the examination, and that during the last year he had established two schools for that purpose, the expenses of which were to be de frayed out of the surplus funds in the hands of the Board of Trade, arising from the fees payable by masters and mates passing the examination and from other sources. He (Lord Stanley) believed that the Board of Trade was empowered by act of Parliament to appro priate this surplus in such a manner ; but it was only right to say that certain local marine boards had ob jected to such an application of these funds. An appli cation had been made to the Committee of Privy Coun cil on Education for pecuniary assistance to these schools ; and he trusted that that department would be able to give the case a favourable consideration, for he felt a very great interest i n th e sc h oo l s, and should be sorry to see them falling into decay from want of support, be cause he was sure they were effecting a great improve ment in the character of the mercantile marine. It was the wish of the Government that no further fees or dues should be required from the mercantile marine in respect of lights, pilotage, ballasting, the examination of masters and mates, or the engaging or discharging of seamen, than such as were absolutely necessary for maintaining the establishments in efficiency ; and they wished, also, that they should be responsible to Parliament for the expenditure of the funds so raised. They desired, fur ther, that the local boards and local authorities should have the management and direction of such matters as could best be conducted by them ; but they thought, likewise, that there should be a control and superintend ence on the part of a responsible department of the exe cutive. The noble lord, in conclusion, said that there would be no objection to the production of the returns which the noble lord opposite asked for. The Duke of NORTHUMBERLAND asked whether the promise made by the late Government, that a nauti cal school would be established at Shields, would be rati fied or not by the present Government ? Lord STANLEY of Alderley was understood to an swer that an application for a contribution in aid of the school at Shields had been made by the President of the Board of Trade to the Committee of Privy Council on Education, but no reply had yet been received. The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said that he hoped there was no intention on the part of the present Go vernment to do what their predecessors in office had pro posed to do—that was, to deprive the royal navy of its existing rights as to anchorage. Lord STANLEY of Alderley was not aware of any such intention on the part of the present Government. As far as he knew, the rights of her Majesty's ships as to anchorage had never been considered by the mercan tile marine to be a serious grievance. The motion for returns was then agreed to. CONSOLIDATION OF THE STATUTES. Lord LYNDHURST then rose to put a question to he Lord Chancellor upon the subject of the proposed consolidation of the statutes. He said it would be re collected that his noble and learned friend on the wool sack had made a statement soon after the resumption of the sitting of Parliament with respect to the course which the Government intended to pursue relative to the amendment of the law ; and he (Lord Lyndhurst) bad collected from the usual sources of intelligence that one of the measures proposed upon that occasion referred to the revision of the statutes, and that his noble and learned friend intended to strike out from the collection of statutes a great variety of acts, and to classify the re mainder and purify them to a certain extent from the ambiguity and defects by which they were characterised. He certainly did not envy the learned gentleman who had been selected to perform this laborious and not very inviting task, but it was only fair to state that in his (Lord Lyndhurst's) own opinion, and in that of other noble and learned lords, no individual could have been chosen to discharge this duty whose appointment could have given more satisfaction to the public than the learned gentleman to whom he alluded—looking to his long ex perience, his general attainments, and his extensive know ledge of the law. But so far as he (Lord Lyndhurst) could collect, he understood that the work assigned to him was to refer entirely to the correction of past errors and defects, and would not extend to any measure to prevent the recurrence of irregularities and inconsisten cies in future acts. If that was the course which was intended to be pursued, he ventured to say that it would not be quite satisfactory either to the profession or to the public. No person in the habit of attending our courts of justice (and no one was more conversant with their proceedings than his noble and learned friend on the woolsack) could have failed to hear complaints from time to time made by the judges of the defective and careless manner in which their legislation was con ducted. It continually happened that hours were wasted in our courts of justice, and in some cases days, in endeavours to reconcile obscurities, to clear up incon sistencies, and to produce, as it were, light out of dark ness, and this very often with a very unsatisfactory re sult. But no only so. Learned counsel were employed, at great expense to the suitor, to conduct subtle and in tricate arguments directed to the same object. It was remarkable that these evils were allowed to continue to accumulate without any attempt being made to remedy them. Their lordships would, perhaps, recollect that this subject was b roug ht prominently forward by the late Lord Langdale, who pointed out with great par ticularity the evil and inconvenience of the system that had been pursued, and stated, without the least ex aggeration, that it constantly happened that acts were so framed as almost to defy interpretation. His noble and learned friend (Lord Brougham, we understood), in a very able and comprehensive speech respecting the amendment of the law, in 1848. brought evidence to the same effect before the attention of their lordships, carry ing conviction, he believed, to the minds of everybody who heard him ; but unfortunately those efforts also tended to no practical result. A day or two ago he (Lord Lyndhurst) had seen a volume of reports of the Court of Chancery, and he was struck with a statement of one of the learned judges in that court, of high cha racter and great learning, who said that it was almost impossible to form a satisfactory or competent opinion upon the construction of the particular act before him, so full was it of ambiguity and obscurity. Was it pos sible, then, that they could p rocee d w ith t h e further measures which his noble and learned friend on the woolsack intended to propose without pretending to unite with them some remed v y for the evils which he had complained of ? If he were asked what was the par ticular cause to which these errors were to be ascribed, he should, in the first place, point to the manner in which amendments were introduced into bills during their progress through Parliament by some noble lord or member of the other house, who had, perhaps, not taken the pains to read the act to which they applied. Per haps the amendment was inconsistent with the general scope of the bill—it might not even be in accordance with the particular clause upon which it was engrafted. Could they be surprised, under such circumstances, if errors and inconsistencies of various kinds would arise in their legislation. If they would allow him he would refer to one or two instances in illustration of what he had stated, and show how these evils were continuing, and continuing in an aggravated form. He would first take an act referring to the county courts, which pro vided that where a party sued for a sum under 201., if the plaintiff and the defendant resided twenty miles or more apart, the judge of the court in which the case was tried might award costs. Now, what had been the result of that act ? An action was brought a very short time ago in the Court of Exchequer, which might have been brought in a county court (there being in this case a con current jurisdiction). The plaintiff received 131. odd, and applied for costs. A question arose as to what was the meaning of the act in the clause that he had men tioned, and whether it was imperative or at the discre tion of the judge to allow costs. The point was argued at great length in the Court of Exchequer, one of the judges of which—perhaps one of the most experienced judges on the bench—stated that there were doubts as to the act ; but, after a long hearing, the Court decided that the word "may" must receive its ordinary inter pretation, and that it was at the discretion of the judge to give costs or not, as he thought proper. The same question came before the same court again two or three weeks afterwards—another argument took place, and the same judgment was pronounced. After a short interval the same question was again raised in the court of Comnuin Pleas, and deliberately argued, the decisions of ' the Court of Exchequer being cited and commented upon at great length. After a discussion which lasted an entire day, the Court took time to consider its judg ment, and some short time afterwards the Chief Justice delivered an elaborate judgment, deciding that the word " may " was not to be taken in a discretionary but in an imperative sense, and the court awarded costs. Now, their lordships must observe how easy it would be to obviate such a difficulty of construction by introducing the word " shall," or some equivalent word or words of an imperative import, and thus have prevented all the waste of time and unnecessary expense which occurred on the three different occasions to which he had referred. These irregularities and errors were sometimes even of a ludicrous character. Some years back there was a clause in a statute respecting the insertion of false entries in a registry of baptisms. A pecuniary penalty was attached by the bill to this offence, and, according to th e usua l custom. A subsequent clause in the bill provided that one-half the penalty should go to the informer and the other half to the poor of the parish. In the progress of the measure through Parliament, it was considered that a pecuniary penalty was improper, and 14 years' tran sportation was substituted. But the other clause to which he had referred was not struck out, and on the construction of the bill it turned out that the poor of the parish were to have one half of the penalty, which was seven years' transportation, and the informer the other seven, (Laughter.) He mentioned this as a striking instance of the carelessness with which bills were passsed through Parliament without proper supervision. He would give another case - that of a particular bill relating also to county courts, which was originated in that house, and passed two or th ree y ears ago. The bill consisted of about 25 clauses on its first introduction, and passed through that house without any material alterations. It went down to the other house of Parliament, were 16 of its clauses were struck out, and 18 other clauses were inserted. It was five months in its progress through Parliament ; it came out of that house at the close of the session, and passed, he supposed, without much inquiry; and the result was that there was not a single clause in that bill free from error. One object of the bill was to give county court judges the power of executing process out of their own jurisdiction in certain cases. That was the evident ob ject of the party proposing the amendment, but, so far from effecting that obje c t, i t ac t e d d i rectly the reverse,and left the law precisely as it found it, altho lengthy clause had be en i n t ro d uced to alter a a another clause, almo s t immediately afterward * In directions were g i ven w i t h reference to therdasee' osu°n-ti of the treasurer of the courts, and the same powers were given as were conferred by " the last mentioned act." Now " the last mentioned act " referred to an en tirely different object, and there was no previous statute relating to the same subject at all. Again, in the same act there was a clause giving compensation to persons whose offices were abolished, with the usual provision at the end that where a party received compensation, and was afterwards appointed to an office the amount of his compensation was to abate pro Canto as long as he held the office. All that was only reasonable and in the ordi nary course ; but during the progress of the bill through the other house it was proposed that another class of per sons should receive compensation, and a clause was in troduced to that effect. But the party wlso introduced that clause did not take the trouble to read the act, or he would have seen that there was a general clause granting 1 compensation, and that all he had to do was to add a particular class of persons to this particular clause. How ever, he not only introduced a distinct clause to effect his object, but he omitted any provision to make the compensation abate if the party entitled to it should afterwards hold another office, so that in that hill there were two clauses for giving compensation totally at variance in principle with each other. He repeated, that in that particular act there was not a single clause into which some error of more or less importance had not crept in the course of its passage through the house. He might multiply similar cases almost without limit but those to which he had just called their lordships' attention were not so strong as those which were adduced by his noble and learned friend on the occasion to which he had referred. He (Lord Lyndhurst) had selected these instances on account of their recent occurrence, and for the purpose of showing their lordships how this evil, which was one of the gravest kind, was suffered to continue ; and he exhorted their lordships, in the strongest manner, to devise some remedy against the continuance of such a vicious system. It appeared to him that it would not be difficult to discover some remedy. For instance, if some person of competent in formation and knowledge were appointed by the Govern ment, with such assistance as might be necessary to make himself master of every bill introduced into that house, and to watch it through the whole of its progress, and to communicate from time to time some authority in that house any alterations that were introduced into it upon either its original or its amended state, he thought that this evil, if it would not be entirely got rid of, would at least be very much mitigated in its operation. How ever, it was not for him (Lord Lyndhurst), as a private individual, to enter into the details of this subject—it was a proper subject for the consideration of the Go vernment, and one of very great importance, and he took leave, therefore, to conclude the short statement that he had made by asking his noble and learned friend on the woolsack whether it was his intention to accom pany, or to follow up, his measure for the revision of the statutes with any measure for the purpose of remedying the crying evil t o w hi c h h e h a d referred ? (Hear.) The LORD CHANCELLOR said that he was sure their lordships always listened to any statement made by his noble and learned friend with so much pleasure and attention that he could not but rejoice at the circum stance that the announcement which he (the Lord Chan cellor) had to make at the opening of the present session had led to the inquiry which his noble and learned friend had just addressed to him. He could assure their lordships that he felt as strongly as his noble and learned friend could feel, the absolute necessity of coming to some arrangement whereby their legislation for the future might be made more perfect than it now was ; and when he announced, on the first day of their meeting, the intention he had formed of endeavouring to consolidate the existing statutes, he stated then, and he had not the least difficulty in repeating now, to his noble and learned friend, th a t one o f t h e main objects which he should always have in view so long as he had any connection with the work of consolidating the statutes, would be not only to devise the best mode of consolidating the legislation that was already passed, but also to pro vide for a better mode of legislating for the future. At the same time he did not wish to mislead his noble and learned friend by inducing him to believe what was not the truth, that he had in his mind at that moment any definite plan with regard to this subject. He had stated on the first day of their meeting that the best chance of arriving at such a result was not to speculate any longer as to what was the best mode of proceeding, but to pro ceed at once to do something. With that view he had, since he announced his intention a month ago, secured the services of a very learned gentleman to whom his noble and learned friend had alluded, and who to his general qualifications added the peculiar qualification upon this subject that he was practically the only re maining commissioner who framed the report suggesting the mode in which the statute law should be consolidated. Being necessarily unable, from his other avocations, to attend to the practical details of the matter himself, he (the Lord Chancellor) had secured the services of a few efficient men to devote themselves exclusively to the task. He had not wished that it should commence be fore the Easter recess, because he could not, till then, give his personal attention continuously to the subject ; but he had put the matter into such a train that he be lieved in the first week of next month the work would be begun, and an attempt would be made, as he pre viously intimated, in the first place to ascertain precisely and exactly of what the statute book now consisted, for I he believed there were thirty-esght quarto volumes printed, not above six or seven of which were now in force. That being done, he would take one or two rather easy subjects, and consolidate the statutes relating to them first, and turn them into better language and form, and then lay them before the house a> a specimen of what could be done in that respect. When that had been completed, whether it would not be right to extend the work further, and engage a larger staff for its execution, he would not now speculate. One direction, which lie always gave to every person enagaged on this subject, and upon which he would always fix his own atten tion, was not only to endeavour to render in a more de finite and intelligible form the statutes that were already passed, but to discover and suggest a practical mode of reforming all prospective legislation likewise. (Hear.) The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said that when it fell to his lot, some years ago, to have the charge of measures in their passage through Parliament, it was his practice to have the hills reprinted with the amendments that were mule in them, and he found that course to be one that was attended with very great advantage. He wished also to observe, that if their lordship's house was to continue to havd a great number of bills thrown upon its attention at once at the end of a session, no arrange ment that they could make could by possibility save them from the discredit of passing acts which nobody could comprehend. Lord REDESDALE must say, with regard to the language of acts of Parliament, that the judges had a little to do with it as well as the houses of Parliament. If the judgment of the Court, which held that the word " may" was only permissive, had been questioned by another Court, considerable doubt and difficulty would have been saved. Lord LYNDHURST said that for a lengthened pe riod of time there had been disputes as to the meaning of the word " may" in acts of Parliament, whether it was imperative or permissive only. Lord ST. LEONARDS said that it should not be for gotten that the moment they touched the formal lan guage of an act of Parliament, they made a new statute. The difficulty which had been felt with regard to the word " may," whether it was imperative or permissive, would give their lordships an idea of the consequences to which the slightest alteration in an act of Parliament might lead. The moment they attempted to alter the formal language of an act of Parliament, they at once established a code ; and if they were to have a code at all, it must embrace both the common and the statute laws. Some of their lordships who had examined in com mittee the question of what the probable operation of a code would be, were aware of the great difficulties which stood in the way of codification. It was suggested that the proper course would be to entrust the framing of all bills to competent persons, and that when the bills were prepared, no alterations should be introduced into them without being submitted to the framers. But still this mode of proceeding would not be free from difficulty, be cause, in committee, an alteration might be suggested and adopted, and then, when the bill came to be exa mined by the person who understood the whole of the measure, it was hopeless to expect that he would find it free from very gross errors. They must take blame to themselves for many of the errors which appeared in acts of Parliament; for bills did not receive that deliberate consideration and discussion in committee which was re quired. Their lordships had it in their own power to see that alterations should be openly mentioned and dis cussed before they were allowed to be passed, and if that care were taken, he felt perfectly satisfied that a great part of the mischief would be remedied ; but no body of men could be responsible for a vast number of bills sent up from the other house at the end of the session, and thrown i together on their lordships' table, when there was not sufficient time to consider the provisions of each. The Earl of ABERDEEN said that her Majesty's Go vernment were anxious to facilitate the progress of bills by introducing them at as early a period as possible into their lordships' house. Lord BROUGHAM was rejoiced to hear that the noble earl's attention was addressed to this most important subject. Upon a former occasion, when he (Lord Brougham) had brought forward the question of the manner in which our laws ought to be made, his late la mented friend) Lord Ashbuton, had said to him, " You may depend upon it, that of all the amendments in the law which you are proposing, this is by much the most self-evident, by much the most clear ; and it is the unde far lessd i nav the to niable duty of Parliament t o a d opt it ; and yetmay cult dteopceanrdryupaolln other t t , h t e h r a a t in y e o n u d w in i e ll nts fi nt d han it obtain you sanction of Parliam en t to this most important and simple one." He (Lord Brougham admitted that there were difficulties in an alteration of the language of acts of Parliament, because they nmet take care that the new law was framed in langua e gthat would suit the former judicial int ' erpretatio But 1-1- 11. tn oli he know ledged the task to be di oli o ac know he did not think it possible, but believed that some means might be disco vered for avoiding gross errors. That so much might ' done, and th at so much would be done he had no manner of do u bt . But he w ould do doubted whether they enough if they only from getting prevented grosser errors into the care should statutes. He thought that grea t be taken in the • • h act—that equal original framing of each . of its clauses, care should be taken in the discussion especially with regard to the changes that Made in the course of that discussi on ,_ greater care must be taken their lordships' terations introduced were house from ano ther talways amendments. But that all that might be 0 and that still bill came back to wei place where the al terations in the nature of not could be done by the superintending care of an individual be utterly den i and for this reason—that the best security against over sights was to be found in more minds than one being ap plied to the subject. His noble and learned friend near him had said that it would be better if more care were taken by their lordships in working out the details qj measures both in committee and at subsequent stages. He (Lord Brougham) would not say it was hopeless that their lordships should take more care, but that he should ever see that assembly remaining there from about the t p i pre e nbtahl half - b u u r, u r h a 0 1 f f - p t as b t six o'clock, eevening-(laughter)—he en iug oaug through bte the o _b e n c d iy ueuxlpyecsteittdiu;gatnbdrutuhgatb t h b e a s t h d o l u ffi ld cui s t ee buu th r e u ir f t l h o e rd u s i h g i b p t s : b n u o t t for four or five hours longer, in order to get through the measures before them—he would not say that he de spaired of such a result, but his hopes were moderate. (Renewed l aug ht er. ) S t ill h e b e li eve d i t to be highly desirable, and by no means impossible, that they should avail themselves of the knowledge and labours of learned persons in framing bills by way of what the civilians would call an adminiculunt. Some time ago he had laid before their lordships a proposal of this kind in reference to proceedings upon private bills, and had no manner of doubt that a board of this description, acting under the stilierintendenc e of his noble friend on the wooisack, and in communication with the Government, would enable their lordships to secure a due, wise, and safe prepara tya of acts of Parliament. lie had always been of opi nion that the app oin t ment of a minister of justice would be a highly expedient measure. Many agreed to the thing who objected to time term, and he thourat that the late changes in his noble and learned frien•i's court by which Lords J us ti ces were appointed in addition to, the Vice-Chancellors, had substantially given to the Lord Chancellor the power of acting as a minister of justice. Many improvements still remained to be effected which prejudice had been so powerful as hitherto to have pre vented, and on this ground he would take leave to read to their lordships the words of a dear and lamented and most venerable friend of his, Sir Samuel nomilly, who, upon his failing for the third or fourth time to ob tain the assent of Parliament to some of those enlight ened measures for the amendment of the law which he so often proposed, said—" I am not so unacquainted with the nature of prejudice as not to have observed that it strikes deep root and flourishes in all soils, and spreads its branches in every direction ; but I have observed also that, flourish as it may, it must by laws sacred and immutable wither and decay after the powerful and re peated touch of truth." And, he added, " Whatever may be my fate, the seed which I have scattered is not fallen upon stony ground." It had not fallen upon stony ground ; for every one of those measures—and let every moderate and judicious amender of the law take comfort from this fact —every one of the measures which that il lustrious man had propounded had now become the law of the land, together with an amount of other improve ments which even he, sanguine as he was, had hardly dared to expect. (Hear.) COUNTY ELECTIONS POLLS BILL. The house having, on the motion of the Earl of CAR LISLE, passed through committee on this bill, Lord BROUGHAM said that he wished to take the present opportunity of expressing his gratification at the introduction of this useful measure, which he believed would tend, in some degree to diminish the expenses of elections, and also to abate in some measure the crying evil of the time, namely, the system of bribery and cor ruption at elections. He (Lord Brougham) wished to see the suffrage extended in safe and well-considered directions, though God f or bid i t s h ould become univer— sal ; but he did not wish for the extension of suffrage with the view of preventing corruption, for it was per fectly clear that that would not be prevented by extend ing the number of voters. If there was a place with 1,000 voters, 900 of whom were on one side, it was not there that attempts would be made to bribe. It was where there were 600 on one side and 400 on the other, and it was with respect to the balance that bribery took place. (Hear, hear.) Might not the same thing happen where there were 10,000 voters instead of 1,000 Take the case of any great city where there were 10,000 or 12,000 voters. The respectable part of the constituency came forward, and gave their votes, and there remained a difference between the parties of 200 or 300. It was to that difference that the corrupting party addressed himself, and the result was that as much bribery took place in that great city as in any small borough of be tween 800 and 1,000 voters. (Hear, hear.) Therefore, it was not by extending the suffrage, neither was it by secret voting, that bribery was to be put down. He (Lord Brougham) had the misfortune to differ from a great many able and excellent men who thought that the ballot was the true remedy for the evil ; but after all the pains he had taken to make himself master of their argu ments he was not able to agree with them. It was cer tain that the ballot would prevent the detection of the offence—(hear, hear)—but that was a very different thing from preventing the offence itself. You could not by the ballot prevent a bargain being made between the voter and the candidate. The voter might be told, " Let so and so be returned and you shall have 51.," and thus he would be converted into an active agent for the return of that party, and would be interested not only in voting himself for that party, but in getting others to vote along with him. He (Lord Brougham) would beg to ask his noble friend at the head of the Government whether or not he was prepared to frame some measure for endeavouring if possible to extirpate this great evil from our constituencies, either by prosecuting the offend ers at the public expense, or by increasing the punish. ment of the offence, not to the unhappy voter, but to the party bribing ? He trusted that his noble friend could give him hopes that the attention of the Government was directed to this subject. (Hear, hear.) The Earl of ABERDEEN said he could assure his noble and learned friend that it was impossible that he could be more anxious to check the present system of bribery and corruption than her Majesty's Government were. That being the case, of course the subject occu pied their most serious attention, and he did trust that something might be done. His noble friend the member for the city of London, if he had not yet given notice of a motion in the other house of Parliament, at all events had his attention occupied with the subject, and they had a hope of diminishing the evil t o w hi c h hi s no bl e and learned f r i en d alluded, and which, if it were to con tinue as it existed at present, would go far to bring the whole of our representative system into contempt. (Loud cries of " bear, hear," from Lord Brougham.) He was not prepared to say that there was any measure at this moment ready for Parliament, but that something would be done he thought he might confidently say. And he did hope that that house would give its active co-oper ation in framing such a measure, and would not receive it with any indifference or reluctance, but would lend its hearty assistance to that which has now become a mat ter of necessity. Lord WHARNCLIFFE said that the time bad come when it was incumbent upon Parliament to take mea sures for preventing the present system of bribery and corruption. He had not the slightest doubt that their lordships would do all in their power to give their co operation and ready and anxious assistance to any meas ure calculated to attain that end. But he must say that he thought they should not lay too much stress upon the exposures which were now being made. He had no wish to explain away the nature of the transactions which had been brought before the public, but it had been said that at the last general election there had been greater cor ruption than had ever existed before, and that the crime of bribery was on the increase. Now, for his part, he greatly doubted the truth of that assertion, and be did think that it was not desirable that it should go forth to the country and to the world at large that the whole of the Parliamentary constituency of this country was in a gradual course of progressive corruption. The truth was that changes had been introduced into the mode of in vestigating these cases. Some short time since it was indispensable not merely to show that bribery had exist ed in any case, but to connect it with the candidate him. self. That practice was now entirely altered. It was only necessary to prove one single case of an offence of that description in order to invalidate the election, and to displace the person who had been returned. It was his (Lord Wharncliffe's) belief; from the experience which he had had in transactions of this kind, that there wa s n their scarcely a member ever in Parliament who would not ei,e.oeffounsthetito have been unseated if all the circumstances connected with his contested elections had been known. No contest, desiring, u e Iposition, fn ot ht who had gone through a contested election coulal be ig e norant that when men were engaged in a keen ntrn„o,4e. of that kind, there were men who would act ac friends, act, cause, butand ww would hthe wehxco excited e l ad theceb y the he candidatesthemselves in continuance ctho would be induced to do acts of this kind desiring to throw the responsibility of b even a -without one but themselves. If a single case ofbriber on any could be proved to a committee, it wa this des cription unseat a candidate, and to brand s now suffi dent to stigma of corruption. For this r the place With the him to be just to the constituenciesaon it did ap pear to conclude that they We atthis of of this coo retry to re than at a former period. He d.d mo ment more corrupted excuse such practices as had did not mean to palliate or thought it the duty of both been complained 4. He their best energies to the houses of Parliament to apply thought their lordshi reparation of the evil, but he and to the Ps would be doing injustice to them selves to the country at large if they were to pro claim world that because they , had been more successful than usu l •corruption , therefore a in detecting that more corru an on any former occa s i on. lon had prevailed than (Hear.) The Earl re d in the spirit of CARLISLE fully concur fallen from his noble of the remarks which had just friend, whose experience in the matter of l . eq . ili s ns o had been somewhat analogous concurrptli. s with wish to check wn. And yielding, as he did, no to man h i t n it would not be for and prevent bribery, he still thought the pursuit and to make me • the benefit, even of virtue itself,ious go on with so much running down of what was vicious include in it what the want of discrimination , as to never regard as wholly general sense of mankindreprehensible. For instance, the act of a and equally lof beer to a voter who had made a man who gave a glass long journey to support a candidate, ought not be looked on in the same l ig ht as a person committing direct and d o wnright acts o f bribery. He trusted the bill no w under cons ideration would I found serviceable, becau se it had been f ound from experience that the secomd d a y' s imposedly considerable additional expe nse poll not on b t had a tendency to le-d parties to °n the candidate,u h av e recourse to bribery and other discredit,:,,le nets, which he was glad to observe the Legislatur e sh ow i ng a strong disposition to discourage. (Hear, hear.) INLAND REVENUE OFFICE BILL. On the motion of Lord STANLEY of Alderley, this bill passed through committee. COMMONS INCLOSURE (No. 2) BILL. On the motion of the same noble lord, this bill also passed through committee. OFFICE OF EXAMINER (COURT OF CHAN ERY) BILL. C The LORD CHA NCELLOR, in moving the com mittal of this bill, said he wished to make a single re mark with reference to a petition which he had pre!