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 Bunnah ; 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 mad 6, 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 thein 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 infull 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 raffled, 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 inert 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 scampering, 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 said 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 my. A large flotilla of boats, with a man-of-war convoy, started for Prome with commissariat stores on the 25th. A boat expedition was dispatched on the 22d, up the creek between Donabew and Hen zanda, after a brigand, who had been plunder ing the country with a large band o f f o ll owers . The banks o f th e creek werejudulngsti3k in safetyrecipitous, and high, so that the enemy co on the crest, and fire do wn upon us with fatal effect. They were compelled to return to Ran goon, which they reached on the 24th, w ith ou t securing their capture—one marine having been killed, and eleven sailors wounded ; one officer was very 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 b3en waiting for reinforcements. With the affairs of Burmah our intelligence for the fort night begins and ends. Profound tranquillity reigns throughout India, and even our north-west frontier scarcely supplies us with an accident or event. COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE. CALCUTTA MARKETS—FEB. 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 expoi market sugar has been quiet during the past foi ;;ntht, 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 contracted for at 12 to 14 Rs. per seer, and comparatively high prices have been paid for native produce. A fair quantity of torahs (59,209 - pieces) 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 pi.rties 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 off, 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 !rids. 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 he 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 particularly is 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 large shipments lately made and in progress, and the speculative spirit displayed, tend to destroy 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 ment can be hoped for ; on the contrary, certain loss is sure to result. Copper is dull, and has further receded in value. With the exception of bars and hoops, which are in fair request, and pig, which is in active demand, all descriptions of iron are depressed. The price of Bpelter 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 ferred to in Government Securities. Exchange after the date of our last report rose to 2s. lid. and 2s. lidi, although a few transactions have transpired on better and some on worse terms. Drawers are now unwilling to part with their paper at the above rates, while remitters are holding out for them. At going to press very little had been done, and it remained undecided which party would give way. Freights declined a little, but are again much as they Were. Our quotations now are :-31. 2s. 6d. to 3/. ss. saltpetre ; 3/. 7s. 6d. to 31. 10s sugar ; and 4/. rice to London. • lndigo.--Soon after the dispatch of our l as t report, the French relaxed in their demand, and as English b uyers would not come forward o n th e same terms , th e market . b ecame d u ll , w i th a d ec li ne of about Rs. 10 per • Five sales have been held since the 17th ultimo, at which 2,988 chests were brought forward, ou t o f w hi c h I, were withdrawn and bought in. Si nce th e 24 t h ultimo no sale has been held, and the o n ly t ransact i on Which 9 has t ransp i re d i s one b y pr i va t e contract of 57 :chests Wise an d Gl asse ' s i n di g o a t 160-0. Shi ppers are l!in in re f us i ng to me ddl e w i t h t h e art i c l e at the prices u a e rr tnanded and holders generally have been waiti ng t h e ival of th e h ome a d v i ces b e f ore su b m itti ng t o conces 8. I °Pi- The ma il h as j us t arr i ve d, b u t su ffi c i en t t i me has not yet elapsed to allow the effects of the advices re ceivede_e to de ve l op th emse l ves . 9,259 c h es t s h ave b een rted up to the 24 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 OE 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 sale, 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 Ja,ccouets 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 good 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 3/. 12s. 6d. to 3/. 17s. 6d. for London, Si. 12s. 6d. to Si. 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 ; Its. 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. TEAL 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 Nova 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 Ting Yong and Oolong. The export to date is 46i millions lbs., against 51 millions lbs. last, and 45 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, 71 per cent. dis. FREIGATS.—To Great Britain, Si., to outpoi ts, ss. per ton additional. Loading for Liverpool, the Leander. 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. 11s. 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 1/. gold tokens, coined at the Adelaide Assay-office, tooksplace 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, 435 acres, pro ducing 7,505/. 9s. The sale on the 6th instant exceeded by nearly 1,0001. that of any one day's sale during the year 1852. The total number of passengers arrived at and sailed from Port Adelaide were as followsd Sailed. For the week ending— Arrive. 11th December ..................... 966 98 18th „ .................. 401 477 25th „ ..................... 243 1 9 Ist inst. ..................... 302 182 1,912 ' 766 The harvest e crops are in general fullyqual to the average of is progressing f avourabl y . The for harvest work are necessarily high, seasons as to quality and yield. littlewagesAltthhoeurgehie i apprehension s , b t u h t e t e h r a e t p , e wwithill ) 11 b e well got in. Our popul a ti on i s returning the assistance of reap great numbers from Melbour ne . The " undertakers" of the Adelaide 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 Go vernmen t assayer, is likely to receive the appointm en t o f eng i neer. The Rev. T. P. Wil son h as res i gne d the in cumbency of St. John' s Ch urc h , S ou th Ad e laide, 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 Penwortham. 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 traffic at the Wellington Ferry (on the Mur ray), on the overland route to the Victoria dig gings, for the months of October and November, was as follows : Passengers. Carriages. Cattle. Goods. October 771 ... 216 ... 1,893 ... 1,794t0 November 529 145 ... 884 1,228 „ ns 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 pr. 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 their approval of the general purport of SPORTING INTELLIGENCE. SPORTING NOTES.—No. CCCXC. WARWICK SPRING MEETING. To-morrow's races commence with the Debdale Stakes, the entries for which are 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 IVIIRABEAu and OLEASTER in the first and second places, but do not know to which to give the preference. The Great Warwickshire Handicap of 20 soya. 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 uncommonly 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 Liverpo o l was so very indifferent 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 l ife, 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 soya., 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 Lainpedo (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 ; CI 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 Hur worth (taken and aft. ofd.) 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, Orestes 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 FIXTURES FOR 1853. The figures within parenthesis denote the number of days' racing. MARCH. Warwick Spring (2) 15 Kiplin Coates (1) 17 Newcastle Spring (2) 23 Leamington (1) 29 Catterick Bridge (2) 29 Northampton (2) 30 Abergavenny (1) 31 AP: Croxton Park (2) 5 Epsom Spring (1) 7 Newmarket Craven (5)...11 Chester (4) 3 Newmarket Sec Sp (3) lO Liverpool Hunt (2) 11 Shrewsbury (2) .... : ll Edi n burgh (2) •"' .2 1 JU2 Newton (3) ................. Ascot (4) .................. 7 Hampton (2) ... . ..... • .... 15 Beverley, Hull, &c. Jl.l York Spring (2) 19 Malton (2) 21 Newmarket F. S. (5) 25 Y. Redditch (2) 15 Bath (2) 17 Manchester (3) 18 Epsom ( 4 ) 24 Newmarket (3) 6 Worcester (2) 5 Carlisle (3) 5 Liverpool (3) 13 AUG Brighton (2) 3 Brighton Club (1) 5 Wolverhampton (3) 8 North Staffordshire (2) Yarmouth (2) 9 Reading (2) lO SEPTE: Warwick (2) 6 Pontefract (2) 8 Doncaster (4) 13 Bedford (2) 20 Leicester (2) 21 OCT Chester Autumn (2)... Newmarket S. 0. (5).. NOVE: Worcester (2) Epsom Autumn (2) 3 Cowbridge Hunt (2) 9 Liverpool Autumn (2), 9 Bibury (1) 22 Stockbridge (1) 23 Winchester (1) 24 Newcastle (3) 28 X. Stamford (2) 19 Nottingham (2) ,21 Goodwood (4) 26 'UST. York (3) • 17 Radcliffe (3) 22 Egham (2) 23 Derby (2) 24 Eccles (3) 29 Lichfield (2) 30 :MBER. Lanark (2) 22 I Manchester Autumn (2)-22 Newmarket F. 0. (3) 27 I Northallerton (2) 29 )BER. Richmond (2) 19 Newmarket H. (6) 24 IMBER. Warwick Autumn (2)..:16 Shrewsbury (2) 23 Aberystwith (3).. Last week THE SUN, 1.443105 - 01, TUESDAY EVENING, MARCH 15, 1853. the bill, but at the same time expressing tlieir 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 eng a ge ments 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 ith 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. 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 Dresb N tery of Caithness against the im position of re li g i ous tests on Scotch professors. VIE MERCANTILE LAW OF ENGLAND AND SCLAND. In answer t o a questio O n T from 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 oFLord 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. M ERCANTILE MARINE. Lord COLCHESTER moved for " A return of the number of persons Who passed their examination for masters and mates of "inerchant ships between the Ist of January, 1852, and the Ist of January, 1553; 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 souse 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 which their lordships were able to ascer tain what passed elsewhere, it was not his intention at the ciuess had come all to enter on the questi on of the light duties, but sim ply to allude to the diff erent laws regnlating the rights and duties of the officers and seamen in the. British mer chant de s r e a rvic tion o service." These Th e late Boardtio n of Trade in the under th the last smother, an d among s t th e gr i e V ances of which course the shipowners complained most leudlY4as 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 importanc e o f s i mplifying and ascertaining the law was prominently dwelt 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 pr,7sed 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 be 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 p ersons, whose opinion on that s u bj ec t 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 knew, were fixed by the 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 attertion 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 o. the act of 1850 had not been carried out. 1 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 Beard of Trade (Mr. He n l e y) t o pass an act explaining the powers of masters of ships to punish for br eac h es o f idiscipline, and to place th e lain 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 des; - able 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 resp- • 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 fun& 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 thesystem of schools which had been thus commenced. There was another point to which he wished to direct attention ; be meant the re strictions requiring a British crew to consist 'of at least three-fourths Mali seamen. It a _ls difficult to overrate the importance of these matters, for no one denied that it ,was necessary for this county 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 lie would express his ear nest hope that hen Majesty's Go'ernment 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, ay t 4 . 9 urgent importance was admitted by all th e 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 nob'e lord on many of the points he had referred. With regard to the grievance of the mercantile marine arising - from the many and multifarious act's relating to their interests, the subject of the consolidation of those acts was under the consideration of the Government, but while co many bills were at present before the house of Parliament af fecting the mercantile marine, it would not be expedient to introduce any general measure of consolidation at this period of the session, as whatever was done now might have all to be done over again afterwards. With respect to the system of registry tickets for seamen, he admittedthat vexatious evils might have arisen iii 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 ofthe 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 h a d sustained injury by being deprived of the service s of part of his crew. These, he thought, were all the points which the noble lord said he meant to touch upon in relation to the consolidation of the ac t s re l at i ng to the mercantile marine. The noble lord would see that they were not very numerous hi themselves, and if they were all, he (Lord Stanley) would gr an t th a t i t m i g ht be possible to introduce a bill fo r t h e consolidation o f ac ts. But when the noble lord cons id ere d t h a t, thesebesides the points to which he had alluded, there were a lso the questions of pilotage, light-houses, salvage, de sertion, a nd many others, which w ere now the su bj ec t of legislation, he would see that it wou ld be advisable --• to postpone for the present the int ro d uct i o n o f a mea sureof Consolidation. The noble lord h a d ca ll e d 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 in th e sc h oo l s , and should bo sorry to see them falling into decay from want of support, be e !use he was sure they were effecting a great improve ent in the character of the mercantile marine. It was tile 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 bad 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 the 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) had 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 •L'ie 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 brought prom inen tly 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 o 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 proceed with the further measures which his noble and learned friend on the woolsack intended to propose without pretending to unite with them some remedy 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 ac t t o w hi c h 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 20/. if the plaintiff and the defendant r: sided 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 samb judgment was pronounced. After a short interval the same question was again raised in the court of Common 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 three years 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 object, it acted directly the reverse, and left the law precisely as it found it, although lengthy clause had b een i ntroduced to alter it. Ina di another tions clause, almost immedi a t e l y afterwards, some ec were given v6th reference to the accounts lof the treasurer of th e courts, and the same powers were given as were conferred by " the last mentioned act." Now " the l as t ment i oned 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 app o i n t e d to an office the amount Of his compensation was to abate pro tanto 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 who introduced that clause did not take the trouble to read the act, or he would have seen that there was a general clause granting 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 shouh afterwards hold another office, so that in that bill there were two clauses for giving compensation totally at variance in principle with each other. He repeated, that in that particular act there wag 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 to which he had 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, that one of the 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 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 statn tes relating to them first, and turn them into better language and form, and then lay them before the house as a specimen of what could be clone in that respect. When that had been completed, whether it would not be right to extend the work further, and engage a l arger s t a ff for its execution, he would not now speculate. One direction, which he always gave to every person enagaged on this subject, and upon which lie 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 bills reprinted with the amendments that were made 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 have 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 al!, 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- I 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 s 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 mu c h the most self-evident, by much the most c l ear ; and it is the unde niable duty of Parliament to adopt it ; and et also depend upon it, that you will find it y you may far less diffi cult to carry all other amendments than to obtain the sanction of Parliament to • this most important and simple one." He (Lord Brouolam) admitted that there were difficulties in an alteration of the language of acts of Parliament, because the must take care that the new law was framed in language that would suit the former judicial interpretaf But though he acknow ledged the task to be difficult,i. he did not thiik it was im possible, but believed that some means might be disco vered for avoiding gross errors. Th at so muc h might be done, and th at so of doubt. But much would be done, he had no manner he doubted whether they enough if they only prevented 0.. er errors from getting would ( o into the statutes. He thoughtgrth"at great care should be taken in the Original framing of each care should be taken in the discussion ofhat especially with regard to the made in the course of greater care must be takenwh en their lordships' house from that discussio n a, al terations introduced were not al ways amendmouto. But that all its clauses, act— . that equal might be changes- and t that still bill came back to ther place where the ano in the nature of this could be done by the superintending care of an individual he utterly den 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 of 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 s h ou ld ever see that assembly remaining there from about the present hour, half-past six o'clock, through the next cri tical half-hour of the evening—(laughter)—he hardly expected ; and that he should see their lordships, not only sitting through that difficult hour of the night, but 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 laughter.) Still he believed it to be highly desirable, and by no means impossible, that.the3 . - should avail the mse l ves o f t h e k now l e d ge an d l a b ours of learned persons in framing bibs by way of what the civilians would call an ad2niiticuluin. Some time ago he had laid before their lordships a proposal of this kind in reference to proceedings upon private bibs, and had no manner of doubt that a board of this description, acting under the superintendeneJ of his noble friend on the woolsack, and in communic,4tio n w i t h the Government, would enable their lord s hi ps to secure a due, wiye, and saf. prepara tin's of acts o f P ar li ament, lie had always been of opi nion• that the appointment of a minister of justice would be a hig!ily expedient measure. Many agreed to the thing who obje c t e d to time term, and lie thought that the late changes in his noble and learned frien , i':; curt, by which Lords Justices were appoiti:ed in addition to the Vice-Chant.illors, 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 Romilly, 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 forbid it s h ou ld b ecome 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 irnpossi!)lc that he could be more anxious to check the preseirt system of bribery and corruption than her majesty:, Government were. That being the case, of course the sultject occu pied their most seriouf attention, and he did trust that something might be done. His noble friend the in:lnber for the city of London, if he bad 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 to whi 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 liar to bring the whole of our representative system into contempt. (Loud cries of "hear, 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 had 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 lie 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 he 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 txist- ed in any case, but to connect it with the eand;dute hint- 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 elocti on , 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 was scarcely a member ever in Parliament who would not in contest, t h e e st i e ii : have been unseated if all the circuinstanc;.;s connected with his contested elections had been known. No one who had gone through a contested election could be ig norant that when men were engaged in a keeii saNtriu,t,itul of s th eb, a ua t tn k wd i h a vve d o: uetlxhdceirpteedlaow by re ythteh m me e s e t w etsi h ni o nu at w nh o ce u er l o d ofsi a tti ! Ile ° o f f 'llis eZseorniptainoyn friends, with whom the candidates could not. refusetheir act, but be induced to do acts of this kind even ro w the fresponsibility single case o d n es e ir l i m n i g t themselves. th could be proved to a committee, it vas unseat a candidate, and to brand now sUfticient to stigma of corruption. For this reasonthe place with the him to be just to the constituencies it did appear to conclude that they were atthis of this country to than at a former period. El e • moment more corrupted excuse such practices as h d did not mean to palliate or thought it the duty of both abeen complained of. He their best energies to the houses of Parliament to apply thought their lordsh. reparation of the evil, but he selves and to the ips would be doing injustice to them claim to th country at large if they were to pro successfuleworld that, because the had b e en more than usual in . ption therefore tietecti g that more corru corruption n-corruption , on any' former occasion. (Hear.) 1 ) lon had prevailed than The concurred in the spirit Earl of CARLISLE fully eonell of the remarks which had just fallen from his noble friend, whose experience in the matter of e l ections o had been somewhat analogous concurren tly with in his vish to check wn. And yielding, as he did, to no man ihtit would not be for and prevent bribery, he still etil3foitng make _ e a k the pursuit and the benefit, even of virtue itself, go on with so much running down of what aswas vicious to include in it what the want of discrimination , would never regard as wholly general sense of mankind For instance, the act of a and equally reprehensible . man who gave a of beer to a voter who had made a long journey to su pp o r t glass a candidate, ought not be looked on in th e same light as p ers on committing direct and d o wnright acts of a , ry, He trusted the bill now u nder consideration of wouldbribe be found serviceable, because d from experience that the second day's poll not only it had been fou ii l y imposed considerable additional expense but had a tendency to lead parties to o n the candidate, bribery and other discreditable acts, have recourse to .. he was glad to observe the Legislature showing a w hich 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 CERY) . • The LORD CHANCELLOR, BILL in moving the com mittal of this bill, sa i d he wished to make a single re mark with reference to a petition which he lad pre!