The Sun. — London, England, 1857-05-09 00:00:00

REPORTS OF PARLIAM ENTARY AND PUB. LIC PROCEEDINGS. Lord CAMPBELL rose and said,—My lords, Isbell detain you for a very few minutes in moving for the re appointment of the select committee which was appointed during the last session to inquire into a very important and difficult subject—namely, whether the privilege now enjoyed by reports of the proceedings of courts of justice may be safely extended to the reports of the proceedings of the two Houses of Parliament and of other public as semblies. At present,according to the established law, the proceedings of courts of justice may be published with im punity if they are fair and bona fide. The greatest benefit has arisen to the public from that privilege, but it extends no further--not even to the proceedings of the two Houses of Parliament. It has lately been decided—and I believe the decision is allowed to be a sound one—in the case of " Davison v. Duncan," that if, except in the case of proceedings of courts of justice, the editor of a journal publishes accounts of any other proceedings at all crinai natory of any individuals the proprietors of the journal in which the report is given are liable to an action. It was stated by my distinguished predecessor Lord Den man, that there was no immunity for a fair and faith ful and accurate account of the proceedings of this or the other House of Parliament. Now, there does seem to be a grievance here, because although ac tions are not frequently brought in consequence o the reports of proceedings of either House of Parlia ment, there is no doubt they may be brought. Con siderable anxiety prevails lest actions should be brought under such circumstances, and if actions are brought there can be no defence on the part of the most distin guished and trustworthy journals of this country. It seems to me, my lords, that this is a state of things whick ought not to continue if it can be prevented. A remedy has been proposed to which I certainly can by no means accede—namely, that all distinctions between verbal and written slander shad be abolished, and that it ! shall be a complete defence of a written libel if the de fendant can show that the same statement has been made by any individual. This proposition is supposed to rest upon what is called " Lord Northampton's Case ;" but as my noble and learned friend on the cross benches well knows, it is founded upon an utter misconception and misrepresentati ne of that case. The dictum of the judges who sat in the Star ens's:ll)er went, if properly under stood, no further than this—that when what was said by another was repeated upon a proper occasion it might be defended ; but to allow that what has been whispered in a corner may be published in every journal in the empire with impunity would be wholly inconsistent with the protection doe to the characters of individuals. If all that is said at a public meeting, or in an assembly that may be called a public meeting, is to be pub lished without any remedy being provided for those whose characters may be attacked, the most mischievous consequences will ensue. Public meetings may be got up for purposes of calumny, and the person who utters the calumny may be a man of straw, who will fly the country as soon as he has uttered his slanderous etete relent. I think, however, tha- a remedy may be devised which will, at all events, mitigate the evil that exists at present. Some years ago I myself proposed that com plete immunity should le g iven to l a i r reports of what took place i n e ith er H ouse of Parliament. My proposition was supported by the late Lord Denman, but, unfortu natoly, it was not successful. I certainly cannot conceive any welag.ounded objections to that proposal. All the arguments by which you suport the privileg e of reports of law proceedings will equally apply to the proceediue s of the two Houses of P. t rli anieut. W hat is the founera tam of teat immunity of law reports ? The per lic good. 'Well, I suppose your I , r,lships and all the memeers of the other house are of opinion it is for the public good that the proceedings of both Houses of Parliament should be made known to the country ? (Hear.) Teere are, ho ever, other assemblages with whose proceedings it is desirable that the public should be acquainted. This day, I believe, Convocation aesetabled, and Isuppose that to morrow we shall have an account of the speeches f our most reverend and .right reverend frien is. Notwithstanding the grave character of that a semi lv, statements are sometimes made there which might form the grounds of action • aid it would he e x t reme l y h er d it proceedings were taken against the Times or any other journal for accounts of what had been said by the Arch bishop of Canterbury or by the Bishop of St. David's. (Hear, hear, and a laugh.) It may be urged—but I only throw out the suggestion, an 1 give no opinion on the matter—that the immunity should be extended to all meetings held under the authority of an Act of Pasha went, and to which the public may rightfully claim ad mission. Some line must be drawn, for it would be monstrous to contend that anything that can be called a. public assemblage should be privileged. If that were the case, no doubt Mr. Ernest Jones's meetings and the Sunday assemblages in Hyde -park would be rxiuca fre quented by those who wished to calumniate their neigh bours. Some line must be drawn with regard to the pub lic meetings to which the privilege is extended • but, if this cann ot b e done, it is m c atter - lor consideration ' t d whe ther it mi g h t not be en tb •tif a fair ac count o f what has tak en place at a no real public meeting is give n , an d damage is inflicted upon the char ac t er o f any one by such publication, the ?.t,,, t ,,, ti i , d urymglat be ent i tl e d, i n case of au action being broue verdict for the de fendant. Until very lately if a jury found (j a verdict for a farthing damages full costs l , but the law in that espect is altered. your JordsLipe, however, to consider the case of an a, here the plaintiff has euffered reacdtiacnnat:: libel but whether the proprietors of the j iurnel against which Pay very proceedings are taken are obleeed to sour as - costs, independently of the anxiety a e( ' heavy di,ie agreeable consequences which the mere fact ot having on action brought against them meat occasion. I Merely offer these suggestions in order to induce your lordships to institute an icepiiry on the subje c t, and I trust you will consent to the renewal of the cumulate:: which was appeinted last session, Lord Campbell then proceeded to say that he also wished to take the oppor trinity of calling their lordships' attention to the manner in which oaths were administered to witnesses who were examined before committees of that house. When the house was not sitting witnesses could not be sworn, and persons were frequently brought up from the country who were kept in town for some days, or were sent back to their homes and again brought to London to be swore, T or' TRANSIT . either proceeding entailing very coesideraele expense. Mr. W. S. LINDSAY rose to ask for some The shift was So met i mes rreorted toofellowieg witnesses tion regarding the Government t•aisport to give evidence w i t h out being sworn, and of afterwan's ,the eTxrPalnasniat. swearing them at th e b ar of the house to the truth of all On the 7th of April this vessel Sailed from Spithea they had stated- Th e limit serious inconvenience arose having on bo Pithead, from the present practi ce , f or at times 83 great were the rticl 30 o f th e R oyal Engineers, 286 of the 90th Foot, and 119 of the 59i,b, besides officer On A s. crowd and confusion as te e b ar that people were ireelieed , the sth else pa:, back on acco un t o f an accident ; bais a to suppose that a mob had rbed in, and as much alarm .'" brought up " near the Neelles and anchored or the MAYNOOTH. Mr. SPOONER gave notice of his usual motion on Maynooth, on the 21st instant. (Loud laughter.) PUBLIC HOUSE LICENSES. Mr. K. SEYMER asked the Secretary of State for the Horne Department whether the Government intended to propose any alteration i❑ tha present mode of licens ing public-houses and beer-shops ? Sir G. GREY said it was not the intention of the Government t') introduce a measure during the present Session of Parliament. He begged, however, to say that the law, with reference to licensing pubiic•houses and beer-shops, was very defective. (Hear, hear.) It was a question requirirg to be dealt with with great caution from the amount of capital invested in the i trade, as well as other circumstances connected with it. I (Hear, hear.) SUPERANNUATED FUND. In answer to a question, The CHANCELLOR of EXCHEQUER said the report bad not been received, but he hoped it would shortly he laid before Parliament. NEWFOUNDLAND FISHERIES. Sir .7. PAKINGTON gave notice tbat on Monday he should prJent a petition fr.,m Newfoundland on the proposed c. , nditions of the French Government relative to the fisheries of that coast ; and ou the same day he should put a question to her Majesty's Government as to what were the intentions of the Government on that subject. THE ADDRESS, The report of the committee on the address waF. brought up by Mr. Dodson, and read by the Clerk at. the table of the house. On the motion that the aldress be agreed to, Mr. HADFIELD referred to the exaggerated state ment contained in the Royal Speech relative " to the progressive development of productive industry through out her Majesty's dominions," arid denied that the state of the country and our colonies was in such a prosperous condition as to warrant that statement. Mr. BOWYER asked when the committee on public moneys was to be appointed ? Mr. WILSON said he saw no reason why it should not be done immediately. Mr. BRISCOE expressed his satisfaction at e answer of L or d P almerston last night relative to Parliamentary I %forna and church rates. The motion was then agreed to, and ordered to be pre sented to her Majesty, Ow n or t d he eremd°tT n be of takenLordi u P t A o L c ! s E i d R e r S a T ti O u the . ou m a d o d n r d e a s s MPERIALPARLIAMENT., was occasioned as if Lord Geo. Gordon'smob had broken into the house. (A laugh.) The only question was how a I change was to be brought about—whether by a standing l order or by legislstion. He had bee❑ of opinion that le gislation was not necessary, and that theirlordshipspro : prio vigore had power to authorise witnesses to be sworn before select committees. Since be last called their lord ships attention to the subject it had been further inquired into by his learned friend Mr. Macqueen, and the opi nion he had entertained had been fortified by the result. His lordship then referred to the precedent of the tryers of petitions, who examined witnesses no doubt on oath. If such power as that existed, might not the house order its committees to administer an oath ? At the same time he gave no decided opinion on the point, and did not propose a standing order in reference to the mat ter. He believed that the noble and learned lord on the woolsack and the noble and learned lord on the cross ' benches (Lord Wensleydale) felt doubts as the power of their lordships to allow witnesses to be sworn before se lect committees, and untii those doubts were resolved he should by no means propose to move a standing order on the subject. It might be said that the House of Com mons would object to pass a bill empowering their lord ships to swear witnesses before a select committee, as that house had no such power itself ; but that was an anomaly which ought to be removed, and such autho rity ought to be given to the House of Commons. The noble and learned lord concluded by moving for a select committee to consider whether the privilege now enjoyed by reports of the proceedings of courts of justice might be safely and properly extended to reports of the pro ceedings of the two houses of Parliament, and of any and w hat other assemblies or public meetings, under any and what conditions or restrictions ; and also for a select committee to consider and report on the expe diency of altering the present mode of administering oaths to witnesses to be examined by committees of the house. He proposed to add to the committee Viscount Eversley, whose great Parliamentary experience and con stitutional learning would, no doubt, be found of ,great advantage. (Hear.) The LORD CHANCELLOR thought that all/ their lordships would concur in the propriety of the course proposed to be pursued by the noble and learned lord. Both the subjects to which attention had been called were of the greatest importance. With respect to the last alluded to he confessed, looking at the matter with the eye merely of a lawyer, he doubted whether it would be safe to attempt to effect the important change suggested simply by a standing order. It might be possible, inves tigating the subject with the eye of an antiquarian, to discover precedents, leading to a conclusion that the right of delegating to committees of the house to swear wit nesses did exist ; but it must be felt, if such a course were taken and a witness were afterwards charged with per jury for evidence given before a committee, that it would be to the last degree doubtful what might be the decision of the judges on the validity of the oath so ad ministered ; and therefore, in matters which might in volve criminal consequences of great importance, he was satisfied that legislation was the wisest course to pur sue. The object of administering oaths was to give the highest sanction to truth, and it was always said that an oath should b'e administered with the greatest solemnity and by the highest functionaries ; but any of their lordships who had witnessed the administration of oaths in that house must be aware that the object was entirely defeated. His noble and learned friend bad cer tainly not exaggerated the indecorum attendant on the swearing of witnessetee.t the bar of the house. Some times, in consequence of the rushing in of witnesses to be sworn at the bar, there was such a disturbance that the proceedings of a judicial nature which were going on had to be suspended, or else they were continued in the midst of noise made by a crowd at the bar taking oaths. There was the least possible solemnity in the mode of adminis tering oaths, and that the evil ought to remedied he had no doubt. He was sure that a power given to select committees of their lordships house to swear witnesses would work well, and the oaths would then be adminis tered with solemnity. Fie saw no difficulty in the sug• I gestion that the Commons would not pass a bill to enable witnesses to be sworn before their lordships committees without claiming a similar privilege for theinelves, for he saw no reason wby they should not enjoy such a pri vilege if it established an additional security in favour of the truth. In that motion of his noble and learned friend's, therefore, he entirely concurred, although ho would caution him and the rest of their lordships not to be led away by old antiquarian precedents of what had been done by the tryers of petitions in former days, which might afford very scanty security against what might be decisions of Westminster-hall in modern times. With regard to the other motion he entirely agreed in the expediency of removing what he admitted to be an acknowledged and crying evil. He thought that it would be very difficult to arrive at a definition of what should be regarded as a public meeting; but he believed that the suggestion of his noble friend that juries should have the power, in cases where they thought that no damages had been inflicted, of finding a verdict for the defendant which would give the defendant his costs would afford a simple and practical remedy for the exist ing evil. He reserved to himself, however, the right to examine the subject more in detail before committing himself to the approval of any particular measure. The motion was then agreed to. TRA NS PO RTATION. The Earl of CARNARVON, who bad a notice on the paper with regard to transportation and penal servi tude, declined to open the question, perceiving that the Home Secretary had revived his bill on the subject in the other house. Their lordships adjourned at five minutes past six. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—(YESTREDAY.) The SPXASER took the chair at ten minutes to four o'clock, when the swearing in of members was proceeded with, and about a dozen took the oaths and their seats, PRIVATE BILLS. The Clerk at the table read a long list of private bills standing over from the last session of Parliament, and they were advanced to the stage at which they had ar rived previous to the dissolution. CONIMITTEE ON STANDING ORDERS. Col, W. PATTEN moved the nomination of the fol. lowing select committee on standing orders : Colonel Wilson Patten, Mr. Henley, Mr. Sotherton E,tc our t, Sir R. Fergu s o n , Si r J. Y ar d e B uller, Mr. Palmer, Mr. Wrightson, Mr. Brawston, Mr. Thornely, Mr. E. Lock hart, and Mr. Bonbain-Carter. Col. FRENCH complained of the absence of two Irish members on the committee according to the usual practice. - After a few remarks from Col. WILSON 1 2ATTEN, th e motion wan agreed to. • COMMITTEE OF SELECTION. Colonel WILSON PATTEN moved the nomination of the following committee of selection :—Mr. Sotheron Estcourt, Sir Robert Ferguson, Mr. Bonham-Carter, Mr. Palmer, Lnrd Harry Vane, and the chairman of the select committee on standing orders. Agreed to. PRIVATE BILLS. Colonel WILSON PATTEN roved the following re solution :—Tbat the committee of selection have power to form and appoint the meeting of all committees on the private bills referred to them or to the General C. , 11- mitten on Railway and Canal Bills, provided seven clear days elapse between tho second reading of such bills and the sittings of the committee thereon ; and that three clear days' notice only be given by the clerk of the com mittee of selection to the clerks in the Private Bl office of the day and hour fixed for the first meeting of such committee.—Agreed to. Petitions were presented in favour of an amendment in the civil service superannuation fund ; for the amend ment of the Shipping Act ; for a better registration of voters ; for the removal of Jewish disab,lities ; for the repeal of the paper duty ; for the better provision of juvcoOle reformatories ; for the extension of the suffrage, Parliamentary reform, vote by ballot, and direct taxa tion ; amendment of the law for the sale of beer ; COM pliinirg of the present poor-law board control. was necessary to put ballast into them to counteract the lightness of troops ae compared with dead-weight cargo, and to provide against the results of the con sumptiou of water and provisions on the voyage. Into none of them, however, was there put so mush ballast as to sink them below the point • to intended by the buile;eri; be their water-line. In the case of the Tree- • . Admiralty were slot satisfied with the ce esit the iculations slows, but made experiments upon her a'6 'iseeenese, both with troops and with dead-weight, the effect of which was entirely to confirm the;,, . ' A few hours before he came down to theresult:greatthe toheranchor ,and troopships,holeindays' the ships house;'.savingThet.ne House he bad put Maaft7J7W containing an .a m iet ex t ep l eeriumpooonts,thane ia that reparation on Transit, tati written, he believed, by cvno was a witness of the thiegsaiwhich is the article there was the foll o o f r passage : e lf we express in nun' -ears the ratios of the moment of ship under canvas, then wh.l"." Posifeai)rhilelaitusydtitffotfntteehsseSameteflraltill.enetaxe each represented by the n i el bt 51, the Transit will. berapresented by tne number e n'n e. - t e• is when the, veer els r.re light. When th , - .1 , are 'S e t p -L t u h ' e s numbers are ~—,;tea_ and Satellite each e The relative i shiftier see under stet: . and Satellite each 'B2, Transit 116. As a further v y , 91? t o l f ) e t a h r e l and stiiti S: i l t s e o li f i t t e hoeaTe h ra te n e s:t T :stisit 67 ; t n alone a a re d T w r l a t e n when .ii i -1 1 1 c 9 t e ; when ' heav e Peari we maycompare her stability with that of. the .A Aventure (formerly the Resolute), which was justly praised i n the Times of Tuesda Mr. J. Le a r d o f leirkeehead, who built y, Alay 6, by Leer. Thesesh i ps are of als Ju t th e same size, the displace enent or weights .. "Her Majesty's skip, Urgent, Corunna, March 6, 1857. tEor: put‘glBa i2rlD—te!) Corunna. t r g i g i t :le l r u e:l Urgent (rigleancstchoaat shall l a d t t s t a h k e w e Regiment ge t ir h mt their r no tf way m y havingnt laying ' 9 t i h th e fia ß l d i before you the facts. The leaden joints or washers inserted betiveen the blow-off pipe and the,Kingston valves proved rather too slight for their work, and were blown out, thus dividing the pipe by which the water from the boilers is driven into the sea. It is my belief, also, though I have no proof to offer, that some small substance, such as a bit of wood or coa], was driven through the Kingstons, and tem porarily prevented their closing after blowing off. My letter to the Board states the time and circumstances of the water coming into the ship, and which at one time rose nearly up to the fires. Under the circumstances —m a d e so flinch more grave from our not knowinghow to accountfor the leak—we manned all the pumps, made use of the fire-engine, and of all the buckets to bale. The compartments forward and aft were tight, and confined all the water to the stoke-hole, and in a short time we had mastered the water. By 1 p.m. the ship was dry and the cause of the leak discovered. The chief engineer stated that the defect could be made good at sea, but as Corunna was not much out of the way fdeter mined to put in there and coal, instead of stopping at Ma deira for th a t purpose, b y which means the defects would be made good with more certainty and with more setisfac tion to those persons embarked in the ship ; but I have no hesitation in saying that the ship might have gone any where without anchoring to repair the defective joints, al though we should have found ourselves obliged to blow off much of the water in the boilers into the bilges —a very objectionable proceeding, and, of course, involving the ne cessity of pumping it out again. Since arriving here we have made iron joints instead of those broken, and having nearly filled up with coal, I hope to proceed to Barbadoes at 2p m. " Captain Milne, R.N. " C. G. P HILLIPS. " (Hear, hear.) Attacks of this sort were very arousing, because they seemed to imply that it was only Govern ment vessels that suffered from bad weather, but a cir cumstance had come to his knowledge which showed that other vessels suffered also. At the very time the Ur gent went to sea a fine merchant ship did so likewise, and, encountering the same gale, was not injured slightly like the Urgent, but was driven back die mautled. As regarded the Transit, her engines had, as he had already stated, been originally built for the Russian Government, and he woul t frankly ad mit that they had turned out ill, and had broken down ; but all the accidents which had occurred were to be attributed to the engines, and not to the ship itself. During the war the necessity for the services of the vessel was so great that it was impossible to lay her by and put in new engines, and all that could be done was to re pair the existing engines as well as possible, but at the close of the war they had been t a k en out an d new ones substituted' . .or them, and the ship at the present mo ment wee . , ,perfectly L ready to go to sea. With regard to the reticular accident to which reference had been made ,he would i n f orm the house how it occurred. The ship left Portsmouth, and proceeding to the Needles encoun tered a thick fog, and the commander knowing that there was a large number of merchant vessels aeout de termined to anchor. He did so, and in the course of the night, the tide having changed, the ship drifted over the anchor, which upon being raised was found to have had its stock broken, and no d ou bt t h e h ole in the bottom of the ship had been caused by the vessel etiiking the anchor-stock. The conduct of the captain was, no doubt, exceedingly negligent—(bear) —and the court of inquiry had not, as had been stated in the newspapers, acquitted him of all blame, but, on the contrary, had ordered him to be reprimanded, and he had been repri manded most severely. He was an officer of high cha racter, and had served with great credit to himself, and it was not thought that a single instance of carelessness should in his case be visited by his being superseded. Now, although it had been stated that he (Sir C. Wood) ought to be sent to sea in the Transit, and that the Board of Admiralty had been guilty of more than Crimean mismanagement, bow, he would ask the house, could any precaution on the part of the dockyard authorities or the Board of Admiralty have prevented such an ac cident ? Now, with regard to the Transit having put into Corunna, the hon, gentleman had referred to a let ter deseribieg the dangere which the ship incurred iu the Bay of BiecaY. He did not know whether the gentlerean who wrote the letter was suffering from that depression of spirits which sometimes display ed itself on board ship in those not accustomed to the sea, and therefore took a gloomy view of matters ; but he could only say he had received a very different ac count. He would read to the house a letter which be had received from a friend of his, whose brother was in command of the troops on board the Transit : " Dear Sir Charles,—l received last night a letter from my brother, written on board the Transit, at Corunna, the tone of which is so different from that of one which I have just read in The Times that I think it right to let you know what he says. My brother is in command of the troops on board. and though by no means given to grurnb litig, would not be likely to conceal from me any serious complaint in such a matter. He says that the Transit hail to encounter a four days' gale in the Bay of Biscay, the wind blowing right in their teeth ; that they shipped a good deal of water (n o ment i on of any leak), and that their foremast rigging having got loosened, they have put into Corunna in order to get it put to rights, and expect to be off again the fel:owing, morning. He speaks in high torme of the general arrangements for the comfort of the troops, who he says are in perfect health, and is warm in his praises of Captain Chambers. His whole letter is written in the best spirits, and certainly conveys no idea of any misgivings as to the safe arrival of the Transit." It was by no means an unusual thing for the rigging of a newly-rigged ship to stretch, and the rigging of the Transit had no doubt stretched and required to be set up. He had been told by a naval officer an instance of a ship which, after having been at Portsmouth ten mouths, went across the Bay of Biscay, and in that case the rigging was so stretched that it was necessary to set it up. The operation of setting- up the rigging of a ship might he understood be performed at sea, but in the present instance it had been thought more convenient to do it at Corunna. He would read an extract from the report of the sailing qualities of the ship Transit, dated the 221 of August, 1856, signed by the somma.nder, master, and the carpenter:— " Does she ride easy at anchor? —Yes, so far as tried. " Does she roll easy or uneasy in the trough of the sea ? —Deep, but easy. "Is she, generally speaking, an easy or uneasy ship 1 —Easy." Twit statement would, he thought, serve to show the house that the Transit bad been tried in every possible way. He might add that there was now no complaint made with respect to her engines, and be was sure the house would not fail to see that the first accident which had befallen her was not to be attributed to any omission on the part either of the Admiralty or of the authorities at the dockyard, but rather to negligence on the part of her commander, while the accident which had happened to her in the Bay of Biecay was one to which any ship might tinder similar eitturnstanees be liable. He trusted he had now satisfied the house upon the subject, and would venture to express a hope that what had fallen from the hon. member for Tynemouth would induoe the observance of more caution and more forbearance in lay irlq Mich letters as they have read before the public. (Hear, hear.) lie should 'not of course in the slightest degree complain of any attacks which might be male upon the Board of Admiralty. It was but natural that they should • xpect to be found fault with ; but such statements as had been put forward were cruel to the relatives of those whose safety was connected with the seaworthiness of a particular vessel, while they were not calculated to effect any good whatever. (Hear, hear) When a ship went upon a long voyage a considerable time must elapse before any informa tion could arrive with respect to her crew, and much unnecessary at - aiety wad caused by communications which, while they raised alarm, rendered it impossible in the absence of authentic information thatthe alarm should be removed. Admiral WALCOTT said that if the question under their notice had not been introduced by the hon. gentle man the member for T nernouth he should have felt it y to be his duty to submit it to the house. The subj ect had now, Ilea ever, been fully entered into, and he should make only a few ob, ervas 4- ior • sw, th respect to it. In refe rence to the circumstance of the Transit having grounded her anchor at the Needles, he must say that he very much doubted w h e th er s h e oug ht t o 'have anchored in such very shoal water, while he admitted the force of the statement which had been made by the right hon hart,, to the effect that a great fog had prevailed at the time. HOUSE OF LORDS.—(YEsTERDA.Y.) The LORD CHANCELLOR took bis seat op the woolsack at 5 o'clock. The Earl of ALBENIARLE presented a petition from a person named Williams, who took an interest in institutions for the benefit of the poor, praying for an extension of the elective franchise to persons who had purchased a Government annuity to the amount of 101. The noble lord called the attention of their lordships to the act 16 and 17 Vic., chap. 45, for the facilitating the purchase of annuities to the smallest amount for 11. up to 301. He believed it was one of the measures calculated to confer great benefits on those for whose benefit it was mainly passed. He thought that , the person who possessed a Government annuity was as much entitled to vote as those persons who possessed ' the 40e. franchise. THE DEBATE LAST NIGHT. The Earl of CARDIGAN rose to put a question to the noble I)rd the Secretary of State for War. He regretted that he was absent last evening when the subject of China incidentally arose. Certain charges had been made against a gallant officer who was in command of a important expedition that was now on its way to China. He was very glad that the noble lard opposite had made such good remarks in reply, highly condemnatory of the conduct of those officers who had made themselves parties to anonymous statements re flecting upon the character of an officer who was not in a position to defend himself. He entirely concurred with the opinion expressed, that such officers, who were guilty of such attacks, should not be further employed by the Government, and asked if, in the present state of affairs it would not be advisable to institute proceedings. When an officer publicly avows himself to be the author of such statements, he should be compelled to prove them, add in the event of his not being able to do so, whether he ought not to be dismissed from her Majesty's service. It was high time that some check should be put upon conduct of that character, for he hetieved if it was allowed to continue much longer the discipline of the army would be destroyed. Lord PANNIURE said in the case where junlDr offi cers, anonymously or otherwise, made attacks upon su perior officers, he should feel it his dnty to give the Commander-in-Chief every assistance to maintain the discipline of the army. With respect to the charges that had been made against the noble earl himself, who had been made the subject of some attacks in a book published in the first instance a❑onymously, he (Lord Pan. muse) advised the noble earl to have confidence upon the honour and gallantry of his own con duct and character, and to treat such charges with the contempt they deserved, but if the noble earl wished to take any steps in the matter, he (Lord Pan mere) would afford him every assistance in his power to bring the libellers to justice. He would take that opportunity of setting himself right with the public press. It was reported that be had said that be did not think it was right for public journalists to criticise the appointments that had been made by Government. Now, he never had the folly to make such a remark. On the contrary, be held it to be the proper vocation of the public press to make such remarry as they thought necessary upon the appointments made by this or any other Go vernment, because the press was sumosed to be the organ and guide of public opinion. He did but com plain of the manner in which the attacks had been made upon General Ashloninaham; namely of allowing the appointment to be made, and then three leeks after wards to elapse before the General left the country with out saying a word against that officer, and only bringing forward those accusations when the General had left the country and had arrived at Malta on his way to the aceue where his important lab mrs were to be brought into action. After a few words from the Earl of CARDIGAN, The Earl of HARD WICKE said it was most un seemly for any person to make such anonymous attacks. Wheu such charges were made, it was most disgraceful that the parties did not append their names to the statements. THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, MA Y 9, 1857. differing only by three tons—that of the Transit being 2,751 tons and that of the Adventure 2,748 tons. The sta bility of each of these ships was estimated approximately; the decks, engines, 'nesting gear, equal weights of ballast, &c., being taken into account; and while the stability of the Adventure was found td be 5,130 tons, that of the Tran it was no less than 8,484 tons." He hoped, therefore, that the house would be satisfied that both by calculation and by experiment the Transit had been proved to be as steady a vessel as could be sent to sea. The expetiments of which he had spoken were tried after the poop and • forecastle were put on, and therefore showed the quality of the vessel, not as she was when she was purchased, but as she was at the present .time. The hon. gentleman (Nlr. Lindsay) had referred to the case of the Perseverance. It was true that an accident occurred to that ship when in dock at Wool wich which occasioned some alarm, but since she bad been at sea she had done her duty remarkably well. On the-day of the naval review complaints were made by bon. members of a delay on the railway, but he was not aware that any bne had roads any complaint of the ac commodation on board the Perseverance, or of the man ner in which that vessel had performed the service for whi c h she was appointed. About a week ago he had received a letter from Captain Macdonald, one of the officers present on board the Perseverance at the time of the accident to which the hon. gentleman had referred. That letter stated,— " You need not be in the least anxious as to this ship's being top-heavy ; for onlour arrival at Barbadoes we had only four tons of coal dust aad a very few days' bread and provisions left." The Perseverance, therefore, had performed its duties without the slightest complaint of any sort or kind. With regard to the next ',vessel to which reference had been made, the Urgent, he could only state that he was not aware that any well-founded complaint had been made against that vessel as distinguished from her en gines. It was true that, as regarded her engines, a complaint had been made about an occurrence which took place when first she went to sea, but the house must remember that the engines of these vessels, and the machinery connected with those engines, were not ma nufactured in Government dockyards, but by engine makers in different parts of th e country. The engines of the Transit and Urgent were built by the Messrs. Napier of Glasgow, builders of great celebrity, for the Russian Government, and they had been seized at the commencement of the war and placed in those vessels Now, what had happened in reality to the Urgent ? It was perfectly true that an accident happened to the Urgent in the Bay of Biscay, but the accounts which had appeared in the newspapers were founded rather upon the imagination of the writers of them than from the real facts of the case. In order to show to the House what actually did occur, he would read the letter which had been received from the commanding officer, and which ran as follows : It had been stated in the papers that the commander o tin, vessel had been fully acquitted ; but it appeared the Beard of Admiralty bad fund him guilty of great ne glect, and he (Admiral Walcott), as a naval officer, must confess that he had, in his opinion, been deserve sly re primanded, inasmuch as he had not taken those precau tions iR the p4tion of the ship which the c:rcurustances of the case demanded. The hon. gentleman the member for Norlo'k had alluded to the fact as somewhat singular that the water bad risen to sn-h a height in the ship without being observed, and with respect to that point, he (Adtriral Walcott) could not help thinking that some degree of neglect had taker place. It was not without cJnsiderable pain that he felt it to be hie duty to utter a word against the conduct of a brother officer, but he thought the couduct of the cimmander in the present instance was such as to cal for cinsure. The Transit, however, subsequently got into heavy water in the Bay of Biscay, and, as every naval officer must know was the case when a ship with new rigging encountered a severe gale in that sea, her rigging had stretched. Under such circumstances there was a clear course for the command ing officer to adopt. The technical mode of proceedii g in such a state of things the gallant admiral pointed out by holding out his hat before him and manoeuvring it in ex planation of his views. He could not:exactly understand why the ship had put into Corunna at all ; be that as it might, he now felt p er f ect l y persuaded that she was seaworthy, and instead of foundering at the Cape of Good Hope, would be found to make a prosperous voy age to China. With respect to the mast of the vessel, he would only say that it was quite evident she was not overmasted or overtopped. Ths subject was then dropped. CHAIR OF MILITARY SURGERY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH. Mr. BLACK asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if it was the intention of the Go vernment to make an appointment to the chair of mi litary surgery in the University of Edinburgh, which had been vacant for more than 12 months ? Sir G. GREY said that the appointment lay in the hands of his noble friend the Secretary for War, who had selected an officer for the purpose. That gentleman would, he believed, enter upon thenischarge of his duties on the 15th inst. The motion for the adjournment of the house until Monday was then agreed to. TRANSPORTATION. Sir G. GREY moved for leave to bring in a bill to amend the Acts of the 16th and'l7th year of her Ma jesty, substituting, in certain cases, other punishments in lieu of transportation. The bill proposed to carry into effect several of the recommendations made by the committee which had sat upon the subject of se condary punishments last session, and if the house would permit him to lay it upon the table that evening, he should fix an early day for the second reading—Mon day next—if that day should meet with the approval of bon. members; inasmuch as he was anxious to have some decision upon the measure before the estimates, which would occupy a considerable time, were brought under discussion. Leave was given to bring in the bill, which was read a first time. HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY. Mr. LABOUCHERE moved for a select committee to consider the state of those British possessions in North America which are ucder the administration of the Hudson's Bay Company, or over which they possess a license to trade. After a few words from Mr. ADDERLEY and Mr. WYLD the motion was agreed to. PRINTING COMMITTEE. On the motion of Mr. WILSON a select committee was ordered to be appointed to assist Mr. Speaker in all matters which relate to the printing (xecuted by order of this house, and fur the purpose of selecting and arrang ing for printing returns and papers presented in pursu ance of motions made by members of this house. REGISTRATION OF LEASES, &c. SCOTLAND. Leave was given to Mr. DUNLOP to bring in a bill to provide for the registration of long leases in Scotland, and assignations thereof. The bill was read a first time. INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL BILL. Leave was given to Mr. ADDERLEY to bring in a bill for establishing industrial schotls in England and Wales. The bill was read a first time. KITCHEN AND REFRESHMENT ROOMS. On the motion of Colonel FRENCH the following were appo wed a standing committee to control the arrange ment of the kitchen and refreshment rooms in the de partment of the Sergeant-at-Arms attending this house : —Colonel French. Colonel Boldero, Mr. Alderman Cribitt, Mr. Sqmotir Fitz Gerald, Mr. Hume, Mr. Robertson, and Mr. Braneley-More. JUDGMENTS EXECUTION BILL. Mr. CR A.UFURD moved for leave to bring in a bill to render judgments or decreets obtained it) certain courts in England, Scotland, and Ireland, respectively, ' effectual in any other part of the United Kingdom. Mr. WHITESIDE congratulated the hon. and learned member on his perseverance. Defeat made no impression upon him. Four times the same bad been discus• , ed and debated, and he was rather surprised, con sidering the fate of this bill in the early part of last ses sion, that the hon. and learned member should have brought it in again. Would it not be better to refer this bill to the department which was about to consider the law bills, for which department he also had a budget ? He assured the hon. and learned member that his bill was worth nothing; that it would encounter the same oppo sition as on former rccasions ; and that it would meet the same fate. The bill was not quite worthy of a place in the programme which was rather sarcastically called law reform in the Queen's Speech.. Col. FRENCH said that the hon. and learned mem ber's bill had been not four times, but five times brought before the House, and it had been opposed by every Irish member, except the late member for Clare, who had lost his seat. The Government ought not to support the in troduction of idle measures of this kind, when the time available for the business of the session was so short. Mr. BLAND could assure the hon. and learned mem ber that every kind of opposition should be given to his Leave was given to bring in the bill, which was read a first time. On the motion of Mr. GROGAN certain returns relative ;o the Mercantile Marine Fund were ordered. MALT, &c. On the motion of Mr. Bess returns were ordered of the number of bushels of malt brought to charge in each of the four years ending the sth or Ist day of April, 1854, 1855, 1856, and 1857, as the years may end on one or other of those days ; of the average price of barley for each of the four years above-named ; of the amount in "old duty" charged on English hops for each of the be fore-named four years ; and of the number of cwts, of foreign hops imported in each of the same four years. ELECTION PETITIONS. Petitions were presented against the returns for the boroughs of Athlone, Cambridge, and Huntingdon. The house then adjourned. POLICE INTELLIGENCE—May 8. MANSION-HOUSE.—Mr. William Cockburn and Mr. William John Lawson appeared before Mr. Alder man Bale, in discharge of their recognieances, for hav ing combined and conspired together to injure the repu tation and character of the Bank of London. Mr. G. liooper—l am a clerk in the City of London Union. Mr. Lawson has also been employed there. I am acquainted with his handwriting. The letter now shown me and the other documents (slips of articles printed in the John; Stock Companies Journal) I believe to he in his handwriting. Mr. Hughes, ledger-clerk to the City of London Union, and Mr. Paul Graham and Mr. Argent, printers of the journal, gave similar evidence to that of the last witness. Mr. Bodkin said he had now closed the case for the prosecution and asked for a committal. The magistrate called upon each of the defendants to enter into his own recognisances in 2006. to appear at the Central Criminal Court, which they immediately did and left. GUILDHALL.—John Hind May, of Iluzgin-lane, City, and Stanley-stitet, Pimlico, and Wm. Taylor, of No. I, Church-passage, Gresham-street, were again brought up (the latter on bail), before Alderman Hum phery, on the charge of conspiring to defraud Mr. Gor man, of Lurgan, in Ireland, of a quantity of cambric handkerchiefs to the value of 5001., and Mr. Lawson, a manufacturer of the same plac e , of similar goods to he amount of SOO/. Mr. Morgan, of the firm of Humphrey?, Son, and Morgan, appeared, as before, for the prosecution. Mr. Huddlsstone, instructed by Messrs Sole, Turner and Co., attended for Taylor ; and Mr. Woutner, de fended May. Mr. Bodkin, instructed by Mr. Pontifex, attended to watch the case for Mr. Meeking, of Holborn-hill. It will be remembered that Taylor, who bad been au thorised by Mr. Gorman to dispose of his surplus sto ck, . . on cornmiasion, wrote to him, representing that " Mye,-4 and Co., late of Ludgate-hill, had bought the goods, to the net value of 6471. 141, Bd., for cash 1001. on I delivery, and the rest in bills." These terms were accept. ed by Mr. Gorman, but after several other letters from Taylor about the transaction, be received one from Taylor to the following effect Sir,—l had sent over to me on Satnrcley afternoon a cheque from Myers eked Co., for 811. 10s., and gold 181. 10s. by May, the par ty who sold the handkerchiefs for Myers and Co., avid thinking it strange that Mr. Myers did not come, I wro to to his private house to say I was surprised he had not called with the cash and bills himeelf. He has teen here, and I find that May is an out-and-out villain. He has intercepted the goods, sold them in his own nai no, and it is said received the cash, pocketed the won or, with a lot more, and has bolted. * * * I bad no idea in the world that Myers had not seen the got. cis. He says he bas never gem them, and did not know tlreey had been delivered. * u * I have ever found 3 Lay honourable," &e., &c. On the 9th of April Mr. Gorn )an received another letter from Taylor, enclosing a che,iue from Myers for 1001., and stating that May was very• ill in bed, and unable to leave London, and expressing I lie own conviction that M)ers was responsible for the voile, as the instructions given by Myers for their r le livery had boon carried not to the letter. On the 10 ith of April Mr. Gorman came to London and asi - sed Ta y lor why he bad let May have the goods, and the prison ,er replied that May had obtained theta when he wa S 01 it. Several other interviews took p'.ace between Mr. GI or- Taylor, and Mr. Turner, the solicitor, to eon. tic er what means there were of obtaining redress, and the , re sult was that May and Taylor were given into cuett ody. Woodward, one of Mr. Charles Meeking's buyers, rie. posed that he purchased these goods of May on two dtl Te rent days, amounting to 3541. 14s. 6J. and 591. 3s. th I, and that he paid for them in two cheques, one for 250. 1 . and another for the balance, payahle lo May. There was a good deal of additional evidence taken, and several of kao witnesses, connected with the estab. thillraeutti of ""4-14 and of Myers, were cross-?Narnined, with a view to show that they were partners. There was great confusion and contralietion in the statement of the witnesses, but the result was that Myers was direct ed to stand in the dock together with the other two pri soners, being duly given in charge by the pro , iecutor. The prisoners were then remanded, bail being accepted for each of the prisoners in two sureties of 2501. and their own recognisances irk 5001., with the (xc , ,ption of May, whose-hail _ was rejected, who was consequently eonveyed back to Newgate in the prison van. Taylor and Myers having put in the required sureties, were liberated at once. BOW-STREET.—Henry Harris Davis, a medical student, was charged with violently assaulting Jane Quinnell. Complainant stated that the defeadant and one of his companions had accompanied her and another girl to a house in Eagle-court, at eleven o'clock on Thursday evening. The defendant, after remaining -there some time with complainant, endeavoured to leave the place without giving her any money. She stood at the doer to prevent his going out, upon which he seized the can dlestick and struck her a blow on the head, causing a great effusion of blood. She followed him into the court, where he again struck her twice. The defendant admitted the assault, but said it was only in self defence. She took the poker from the fire place to strike him first. With respect to the half-sove reign, which complainant said he bad promised her, no such bargain was male. On the contrary, he told her that he had got no money, and she said it did ❑ot mattt r. Mr, Jardine said no doubt there had' been excess of violence on the part of the defendant, in trying to t ffect his escape from the house. But, on the other hand, the complainant had cl ally no right to detain him there, any more than a tradesman bad to detain a customer who refused to pay for what be had purchased. It was simply a debt or breach of faith. The assault, however, seemed to have been unnecessarily severe, and therefore defendant must pay a fine of 403. The fine was paid. CLERKENWELL.—rhomas Scott, a brass finisher, residing at 11, North-terrace, Gray's-inn-road, was placed at the bar before Mr. Tyr what, charged with committing a murderous assault upon Matilda Hatton. It appeared from the evidence that the prisoner and the complainant had been living together, but last week they parted, and on Sunday night, during the temporary absence of the woman, the prisoner went and broke several articles of furniture. On Thurs(ay night 'she was going into a public-house to attend a concert when the prisoner followed, took hold of her dress, and struck her several times on the bead and body. When she got outside he again struck her a violent Ll ,- )vv on the face, from the effects of which the whole side of her head was very much swollen, and she had great difficulty in open ing her mouth or swallowing any food. She had co habited With him about a month, the home being her own, but his tomper was so bad and his conduct so violent that she was compelled to get rid of him. The prisoner, in defence, denied striking the com plainant, but said he threatened to " warm" her for leaving him. Mr. Tyrwhitt said it was a very unmanly assault, and sentenced the prisoner to two months' bard labour in the House of Correct.on. Pris.ner—When I come out I'll let her know ; I wi'l smash her, the -- _ _ _ Mr. Tyrwhitt said the speech of the prisoner just showed what a beastly ftllow ho was. In addition to the two months, he should order him to find good bail for three months more, and in default of doing so, he would be imprisoned for that period. The prisoner, who seemed rather surprised at the de cision, was then I ,, cked up. From the London Gazette of Last Night. WAR-OFFICE, MAY 7. The Quecn has been graciously pleased to give orders for the appointment of the undermentioned Officer of the Marine of his Imperial Majesty the Emperor of the French to be an Honorary lember of the Military Division of the First Class, or Knights Grand Cross, of the Most Honour able Orier of the Bah, viz. : M l'Amiral Hamelin (Ferdinand Alphonse), Senateur, Ministre Secretairo d'Etat au Department de la Marine et des Colonies. LEGION OF HONOUR. MEMORANDUM.—CoIoneI John Wm. Gordon, C. 8., of the Royal Engineers, has received her Majesty's royal li cense and permission to accept and wear the Fourth Class of the Order of the Legion of Honour, and not the Fifth Class, as stated in the supplement to the London Gazette, of Friday, the Est inst. FOREIGN-OFFICE, 31.1 Y 7. The Queen his been pleased to approve of Mr. M. W. Pileher as Consul at Geelong for the Free Hanseatic city of Hamburg. BOARD OF TRADE, WHITEHALL, MAY 7. The Right lionlurtbla the Lords of the Clnunittce of Privy Council for Trade and Plantations have received, through the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, a copy of a despatch from her Majesty's Ambassador at Paris, enclosing a decree, issued by the French Government, opening the port of Rouen to the importation of spun cotton BOARD OF TRADE, WHITEHALL, MAY 7. The Right Honourable the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for Trade and P:antations have received through the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, a copy of a despatch from her Majesty's Minister at St. Peters burgh, enclosing a communication from the Russian Government, stating, with reference to the notification of that Government published in the London Gazette of the 29th of April last, that the certificates required in that notification will not be demanded from vessels proceeding from ports in the Baltic, the North Sea, Holland, Great Britain (except Gibraltar and Malta), and the French ports in the Channel and on the Atlantic, unless laden with Egyptian corn. COMMISSIONS SIGNED BY THE QUEEN. 76th or Inverness-shire, &c., Highland Light Infantry . Regiment of Militia—John Sharp, Gent., to be Quarter master; William Donaldson, Gent., to be Adjutant, vice Goldie, resigned. COMMISSIONS SIGNED BY LORD-LIEUTENANTS. County of Dumbarton—Walter Buchanan, to be Deputy Lieutenant. Royal Pembrokeshire Artillery Corps Militia—Owen Tucker Edvvardes, Esq., to be Captain, vice Stokes, re signed. BANKRUPTS. William Stephens, cattle salesman, Gloucester, to sur render, May 25 and June 16, at eleven, at the Bristol Dis trict Court. Miller, official assignee, Bristol ; Wilkes, Gloucester. Henry Wheeler, painter, Derby, May 2,1, and June 9, at half-past ten, at the Shirehall, Nottingham. Harris, offi cial assignee, Nottingham ; Bawley and Ashwell, Notting ham ; Foottit, Derby. Thomas Davies, contractor, Neath, Glamorganshire, May 1) and June 16, at eleven, at the Bristol District Court. Acrawan, official assignee, Bristol ; Bevan and Girling, Bristol. Thomas Bradley, apothecary, Kidderminster, May 22 and June 12, at half-past eleven, at the Birmingham Dis trict Court. Christie, official assignee, Birmingham ; Boy cott, Kidderminster ; Knight, Birmingham. William Ogilvie Cameron, export oilman, Camomile street, City, May 19, at two, and June 23, at twelve, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Stansfeld, official assignee ; Buchanan, Basinghall-street ; Chidley, Basinghall-street, James Catt, brewer, High-street, Southwark, May 19, at two, and June 16, at one, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Lee, official assignee, Aldermaubury; Piercy and Hawks, Three Crown-square, Southwark. James Swift, statuary mason, Milton-road, Gravesend, May 19, at eleven, and June 18, at twelve, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Bell, official assignee, Coleman-street buildings; Buchanan Basin hall-street. • Thomas Stately, builder, &c., Sheerness, May 25, at ono, and June 29, a t t we l ve , a t the Court of Bankruptcy. Nicholson, official assignee, Basinghall-street ; Selby, Cole man -street. James Summers, wholesale jeweller, Hatton Garden, May 20, at two, anti June 16, at half-past oue, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Graham, official assignee ; Law ranee, News, and Boyer, Old Jewry-chambers. William George Brown, clothier and outfitter, High street, Dartford, Kent, to surrender t[ay 2.3, at 11, and June 19, at 12, at tho Court of B Inkraptcy. Cannan, official assignee; Chidley, Basinghalt-street. Robert James Norton, outfitter, Fleet-street, May 19, at half-past one, and June 16, at one, at the Court of Bankruptcy. Graham official assignee ; Cattlin, Ely-place, Holborn. Thomas Riley Ebswortb, of No. GO, Wapping-wall, and of No. 2, Forest Villa, Forest-hill, Sydenhatn, ale and beer merchant, dealer and chapman, May 22, at Half-past twelve, and June 19, at eleven, at the Court of Bank ruptcy. Canaan, official assignee, Aldermanbary; Well bore, Duke-street, London-bridge. SCOTCH SEQUESTRATIONS. James Hamilton, general merchant and baker, Stone house, Lanarkshire. Patrick Alexander Falconer, clothier, &c., Glasgow. John Fitzroy Young, St. James's-square, Edi n b urg h . Andrew Bremner, formerly writer in Edinburgh. Roderick Chisholm, tea merchant, Inverness. James Macpherson and Company, plumbers, brassfoun dors, and gasfitters, Leith. :NGLAND. rth and Bth Victoria, cap, 32, for 3 7 , the 2d day of May, 1857. iIaMENT. Government debt.... 11,015,100 Other securities.- 3,159,900 Gold coin and bullion 8,854,595 Silver bullion .... .... - £23,329,595 r. MAR MIALL, Chief Cashier PB.JITMENT. Government securities (lueludg.Doad Weight Annuity).— 11,300 223 Other securities...—. 18,410,823 Notes .... 3,5.53,385 Gold and silver c01n... 701,232 BANK OF Au Account pursuant to the Act ' the Week ending on Saturda tssuz DEP, Notes Issued £23,329,593 Dated tho 7th day of May, la BANKING DE Proprietors' capital .. 14,553,000 Rest ...... • • Public deposit fi (in cluding Exchequer, Commissioners of National Debt, Say ing's Banks, and Dividend Accounts) 5,890,160 Other deposits 9,191,211 Seven Day and. other Bills ........ . 755,370 £33,968,643 £33,968,643 M. MARSHALL, Chief Ce.st4ier. Dated the 7th day of "Sty, 1857. AVERAGE PRICE OF SUGAR. no Average Price of Drown or Muscovado Sugar, com puted from the returns made in the week ending May 5, 1557, exclusive of the Duties of Customs paid or payable thereon, on the importation thereof into Great Britain : 8. d. From the British Possessions in America 4O 4 Muscovado, the produce of the Mauritius: Average of the above descriptions. The Austrian Correspondence announces that a financial measure for some time past contemplated by the Vienna Government has been at last adopted. The parties to whom railways have been conceded will not be allowed to issue any new shares before ~ the close of the year. DARING BU;XLARY AT IFBIL APPREHENSION OF TWO DESPERATE CHARACTERS. -- A daring burglary was committed very early 011 Wrcbirsday mo rn i ng l as t, a t I ver L o d ge, I ver, the re'idence of Mr. Miichell, the eminent librarian and music-seller, of Bond-street. The thieves ob t quell entrance to the ground floor premises 11 1 forcing a window frame communicating with the garden, and cuttin g away th e i nner shutters f ro m their Lieges. The shutters were lined with sheet iron, and strongly barred. They then ransacked • all the drawers, chiffoniers, work tables, and wrlt ing-desks in the dining-room and library, collecting toge'her a quantity of silver articles, spoons, 3 valuable silver sugar basket, some shawls, and two handsome sideboard clocks. The thieves then cut through a strong dor}r opening to the entrance-hallt but were heard by a servau t man, who cou rageou sIY prepared to attack the scoundrels, notwithstanding their threats to " blow out hit - brains if he did not keep quiet." They contrived, however, ti get away, after blowing out their lights, and tAk with them all the property which been got together. An alarm was instantly given, and messengers de spatched to Slough, Uxbridge, and West Drayton. Fortunately two of the men were captured between Hayes and Ealimz, and numerous articles found upon their persons. Otio of the men turned out to be a discharged soldier from the Coldstream Guards, named Dagarell, and the other named ' Birch, formerly a resident of Iver. Both of them are well known to the police as desperate thieves, and suspected of being implicated in numerous robberies which have recently taken place in the neighbourhood. The fe!lows were safely lodged 1 0 Slough lockup-house before 12 o'clock the same morning, and were brought up yesterday before the sitting magistrates at Eton. The evidenee gone into was c9nsidered quite c9nclusivo, and both min were comm!tted to Aylesbury Gaol, to take their trials at the neat assizes for the county. Country Markets. LIVERPOOL—fifer 8. The corn exchange this morning was slenderly attended by millers and dealers, and the transactions were upon & limited scale, at much the same prices as were current on Tuesday last for all articles. If holders would have made a moderate concession on wheat, flour, and Indian corn, better business would have resulted. WAKEFIELD—May 8. Wheat was 1s per qr. dearer, with a fair demand for fresh parcels. In barley there was no material change. Beans and peas were is per qr., oats Ott. per stone, and shelling Is to 2s pei load dearer. . _ _ Averago price; of grain —Wheat, 56s 81d ; bailey, 45s 6 , 1; oats, —s —cl ; beans, 423 3d ; peas, 47s Od ; rye, EXETER-MAY 8. CORN.—Whoat, is to 7s 9il ; barley, 58 Od to 5s 6d; grinding do., 0- Od to N Od. Oats, 3s Od to 3s 4d. Beans, Os 0.1 to 0 Od. Peas, ON Oct to 00s Od. FLOUR.—Fine, 42s Od to 44s 01; seconds, 408 Od to 4 2 g Od per sack. CATTLE. —There was a full supply of bullocks. Beet beef, from lls Gd to 12s per score ; inferior, 9s 6d to lls pet score ; fat calves, —d to 6,1 per lb ; barrenuers, Os Od to 0: Od. per score ; cows and 'calved, 121. to 16/.4. s ; butchers calves, Od to 7d per lb., rearing calves —s to s each sheep, ewes and lambs, 2/. Os to 31. per couple; ewes. 0 4 to 8d; wetbers, 8d bid; lambs, —to Od per lb. Pigs, large size, —s to —s ; second size, —s to —s ; slips, —4 to —s ; suckers, —s to -- s. Rough fat, 4.1,d per lb. Pork carcases from lOs Gd to uls 6d per score. BRISTOL SUGAR-MAY 8. The market continues very strong, and prices are gill on the advance, those paid this week averaging fully is 6d per cwt. above the cur re n c i es o f our l as t report. O n the spo t, the sales are confin e d t o about 2:.0 bhds BaTbadoes, pot landed, at from 56 s t o 62 5 . ; an d t o arr i ve a b out 2,000 tolls; chiefly in Mauritius, Brazils, and Havannabs, have found buyers at very full prices. Refiners' produce is still in excellent demand, and some large sales for distant delivery have been made this week et fully 2s per cwt. advance. Of rum we are without any supply. COAL MARK . Prices of Coals per ton al s. d. Howard's West Hartley Netherton lB 0 Davison's West Hartley 18 3 North Percy Hartley _l5 0 Bates's West Hartley .._l6 6 ranfield Moor l3 3 Walker Primrose l4 Wylam Wallaend, &c. Eden .16 6, Halton Riddell )5 0 South Hartlepool l6 6 Ships at market the close of the market Wsllsone, se s cl i ; Rraddyll l7 0 Frainwellgate l6 6 Flatten ... Igrown's 3leor High Main 15 0 Fitewart's 18 3 , south Hetton 18 ', Cassop 17 '.: Pees lB ~?; Northumberland l5 v Gambtou l7 ‘ 9 ., Russell's Hetton 17 u ,t, 28 ; sold, 21. :ET.—Mar 8 COURSE OF EXCHANGE. -YESTERDAY. 11 17% Ditto, three months .. 12 Rotterdam ............ 12 Antwerp •• •• .• •••• •••• 25 5.5 Brussels 25 55 Elainburgh •••••• e• •• • • 13 9 Altona .. •• •••• ••• • • • _ Pari5............ •• 25 ?O I)itto, three months .. 25 75 Marseilles ............. 25 75 Bourdeaux ............ Frankfort-ou•%laine .... 120 Berlin •••••••••••••• •• Vienna•••••• •••••• •••• 10 35 rrieste•••• •••• •..... I() 36 Petersburg •• •••••••••• 37% Cadiz ••••••••• • • • • •• •H• 49 ', 7 4 Barcelona •••••• •• a• Seville.. •• •• •• •• •• • • ••••• Gibraltar .• •• •• •• •• Leghorn •••• • • • 29 5 , 731 Genoa .......... ;5 Su titan .• •• •• •• •• •• •• •• Venice Naples .. ..„ 4254 Palermo .... „ „ 130% Messina .. Lisbon ..............•. 5236 • Oporto .. Rio Janeiro ..... ..• Buenos Ayres...... New York ,60 days' sight Philadelphia PRICES OF BULLION PER 05. Foreign Gold in Bars £3 17 9 Portugal Gold Coin .. 0 o 0 !Vlexican Dollars .... 0 0 0 New Dollars 0 0 0 Silver in bars 0 0 0 LOCAL SHARE MARKETS. LIVERPOOL, AIAT 8. STOCK EXCHANGE. —The market has been very stoma! to-day, and there is still an evident downward tendenei• Grand Trunk of Canada, 131. 18s. 9d. 16 Dl—Caledonian , 354 .I—Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincoln, 40/ t 1 11- - London and North Western, 1054—South Eastern, 22. —Lancashire and Yorkshire, 1011 /--Midland, 82$ North Eastern, Berwick, 21/ -- Ditto York, 32/--Black' born, 84—Great Western of Canada, 241. MANCHESTER, MAY 8. STOOK EXORANGE.—The market opened with an active demand, and prices went easier. There was a consider able rise in Sheffield stock. Edinburgh, Perth, and Dundee, 8 3-16--Grand Trunks, 153 --Londons, 105 k- -; Sheffields, 4! 824—Great Western, 67—Ei" lmeashire, 98—Dovers, 223—Leeds, 1011—Berwickst 21 11-16—Canadas, 211.. 13/11MINGHAIII, MAY S. STOCK EXCHANGE. This market was not so brisk to-day. Great Western, 67k, sellers—Midlands, 83- -- South' Staffords were quoted at 91—Birmingham Bankivg Company 314---Birmingham New Union Mills, 2i—ion don and North-Western, 1 034—General Steam, 253. [ADVERTISEMENT.I—AILIOng the numerous extraordinarl cures without medicine of Indigestion (Dyspepsia), Flatulency Constipation, Nervous, Bilious, and Liver complaints, Cough , Asthma, Consumption, and Debility, effected by Du Barry delicious health-restoring Revalcnta Arabica Food, the follolf ing are not the least remarkable :—Cure No. 47,121.—"1" 11 Elizabeth Jacobs, of Nazing Vicarage, Walthamcross, Herts : • cure of extreme nervousness, indigestion, gathering, low spirit at and nervous fancies." Cure No. 48,314. —" Miss Elizabeth Yeoman, Gateacre ' near Liverpool: a cure of ten years dyspepsia and all the horrors of nervous irritability." Curl No. 3,906. Thirteen years' cough, indigestion, and general debility have been removed by Du Barry's excellen t Revalenta Arabica Food. —JAMES PORTER, Athol-street, Pert supported by testimonials from the celebrated Professors 01 Chemistry, Dr. Andrew Ure ; Dr. Shorland ; Dr. H a rveY Dr. Campbell; Dr. Gattiker ; Dr. Wurzer ; Dr. Ingrain; Lord Stuart de Decies ; the Dowager Countess of Castles stuart ; Major-Gen. Thomas King, and many other respectahl l persons, whose health has been restored by it, after all other means of cure had failed. For further particulars respe o t ins this invaluable food our readers are referred to Du Barry a advertisement in another part of this paper. B I It Tiff S. OF A SON. On the Gth inst., at 4, Grosvenor-square, Viscounts ,. Milton. On the 7th inst., at No. 5, Harley-street, Mrs. Mitchell Henry. OF A DAUGHTER. On the Bth inst., at Lansdowne-circus, the wife of R• A' Withall, Esq. On. the 7th inst., at Down House, Bromyard, the wife the Rev. S. F. Denning. MARRIED. On the 7th inst., at St. Marylebone Church, Mr. Thonia:° Forbes, of 12, W e lli ng t on - square, Chelsea, to Sarah 1 3, °°' the eldest daughto^ of Edward Clifford, Esq., of Grosvenor street, Grosvenor-square. On the 7th inst., at P ec kh am, J osep h Taylor, jun., ° f 54, Old 'Broad-street, son of Joseph Taylor, of Midell es bro'-oi l ' Tees, to Elizabeth, dau g ht er o f th e late ' Wm. Cash, of Pe a ' . ham-ryo. DIED. - ut g, r On the 6th inst., a t F arr i ng d on Rectory, Alton, La the Rev. John Bonn, aged 92. On the 7th iust., at 63, Oxford-street, W., Mr. Beeia n3ll3 Spices, aged 45. Oa the Bth inst., Miss Mary Macleod, at her residence , 4 ' Foley-place, Langliam-place. On the 7th inst., at Belmont-house, Hampstead-road, T. ~5 ° Jacl:son, Esq., of F anu i ngs t own , i n th e coun t y o f Limerick' aged 74. On the 7th inst , at Limehouse, Saml. Hall, engineer. Ou the 7th inst., J a mes Cadge, E s q., c l er k of the joiall3' Hon% of Commons, and of Blackheath, Kent, aged td. •„to On the Gth inst., at Weston-super-Mare, Harriet, four daughter of the late Sir Joseph Huddart, of Brynliir, C3cr narvonshire, aged 41. tt .0a the (ith inst., at Wareham, Dorsctshire, Chas. il lske Esq., aged 70. LONDON : Printed and Pubtiihod by MURDO so „ of No, 112, Strand, Printer, at The Sun Oftio , ty 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, iu tbo c " 7l of Middleiies, Slit'arday, Nay 9, 117. u: int wi wi its