The Sun. — London, England, 1847-06-24 00:00:00

therefore, quickly to reform, and each attend quietly to your own business, lest not a single sail return, to be the laughing stock of other nations. Carefully consider these things. " Taukwang, the 27th year, 2d month, 25th day. " Canton, April 10, 1847." The Pluto, Lieut. Airey commanding, returned this evening, bringing np some munitions for the gentlemen volunteers, and resumed her former anchorage just above the factories. TUESDAY, 13TH. —During the last few days we have taken some pains to ascertain the state of popular feel ing. On repeated occasions we have landed on Honan, and in one instance entered the large fort on the east bank of the Macao Passage, and in company with two gentlemen walked along the whole battery, mounting 60 or more heavy guns; a Chinese corporal, a soldier, and a few coolies, were all the persons we met in the fort; they seemed pleased with our visit, and said their supe rior, the commandant, had gone to town to buy vege tables for their supper! We have also gone almost daily to some of the gates of the city, and through the streets of the suburbs—everywhere unmolested except by base language. But there is a great deal of excitement among ail classes, and it partakes more of wrath and indignation than of aught else. Many copies of the follow ing proclamation have been posted up, and almost all in the vicinity of the factories have been torn down or defaced : " No. 19. "A PROCLAMATION BY CHANG AND LI, THE MAGIS TRATES OF NANHAI AND PWANYU, &C., MAKING KNOWN STRICT AND EARNEST INJUNCTIONS. " Whereas, foreigners of all nations, in carrying on commerce at Canton, for more than 200 years, have during this long 'period been well acquainted, and on good term- with our people, the said foreigners coming as guests from afar to China; and because it is perfectly natural and no matter of wonder that they should wish to roam abroad and see the places in the neighbourhood of the provincial city, and inasmuch as not only the peace will be injured and serious troubles created if the people of the country assemble and crowd and gaze upon them, but the purpose of our august Sovereign to show kindness to men from afar be greatly frustrated; there fore it is right and proper to put forth strict and earnest instructions. This, accordingly, we herr,by do, expect ing that you, people and gentry of the country, will fully understand that henceforth, if foreigners travel about in the said places, you must not as heretofore as semble and gaze at them, creating broils and giving rise to other serious troubles, so as to expose yourselves to trial and punishment. It behoves you carefully to con sider this and obey. Oppose not our special proclama tion. " Cantou, April 13." " No. 20. " GOVERNMENT NOTIFICATION. " Diplomatic Department. " His Excellency her Majesty's Plenipotentiary, Sze., is pleased to direct that the annexed instructions to her Majesty's Consul at Canton be published for the in formation of British subjects at that port:— " Victoria, Hong-Kong, April 14. " Sir,—l have the satisfaction to state that I hare received from Keying a reply to a note which I addressed to him before quitting Canton, regarding the objection able lane contiguous to the British factories, in which his Excellency does not dissent from the propositions made on that subject. " You will take care that the British mexthants re imburse the proprietors of the house lately pulled down at the eastern extremi'y of the river front, adjoining the creek, and that they agree to a fair compensation for all Chinese property which may be given up for their benefit or convex: ence : On no other condition than this, w hich is the obvious dictate of coulmon justice, w ill I a id, countenance, or permit any measures of the sort. " have, &c., " J. F. DAVIS. " F. C. Macgregor, Esq., &c. By order, "A. R. JOHNSTON. " Victoria, Hong-Kong, April 15. IVBDNESDAY, APRIL 20.—Since the 3d, Hog-lane has been closed, and the prevailing opinion is that it will continue so. Yesterday crowds of people from Canton and Honan thronged the offices of the city authorities, all begging that the street and ferry may be kept open. And to-day rumours are rife that, if compelled to aban don their houses, they will set them on fire! This threat should not be unheeded, for there are thousands that woald exult in its execution. BATTLE BETWEEN THE FRENC SQUADRON AND THE COCHIN-CHINESE ONE THOUSAND COCHIN-CIIINESE KILLED. The following is an account of the late occurrences in Cochin-China, taken from the narrative of the Bishop of Loo Cboo, who was present, and is now on board the steamer Lady Mary Wood, en route to France with the news:— CHINA SEAS, MAY 1, 1847. Several missi 'naries, natives of France, having been pub to death or cruelly punished, within the last twelve years, in Cochin-China, without any crime being im puted to th em b u t th a t o f t eac hi ng the Christian reli gion, Admiral Cecille, commanding the French squa dron in th ese seas, presented to the Cochi n-Chinese Government a remonstrance against this treatment of his countrymen, whereof no notice was taken. M. La Pierre, who succeeded to the command of the French squadron i n th e Chi na seas, resolved to follow up the intentions of his predecessor, and for this pur pose addressed a letter with a similar remonstran ce to the King of Cochin-China, which ha , dispatched on the 19th of March last, from Macao to the port of Touron (situ ate aboutl 50 miles to the south•east of the capital city Hue), by the corvette La Victorieuse, Captain Re gault de Genouilly, who had orders to deliver it into the hands of the prefect of the province. M. La Pierre, in the :frigate La Gloire, followed the Victorieuse on the 23d March, and, arriving in the bay of Touron, was surprised and indignant to find that the captain of the Victorieuse had been unable to obtain any communica tion but with the inferior mandarins, and that all oppor tunity of fulfilling his commission had been denied him. Endeavours were now renewed to obtain an interview with the prefect, either by hi s com i ng or giving permis sion to deliver him the letter. These endeavours were met only with subterfuge and mockery, which, for the honour of the French flag, M. La Pierre deemed it ne cessary to resent. There were anchored in the bay five corvettes, built on the European model, fully equipped, on which M. La Pierre laid an embargo, vowing to retain them till his letter was received and replied to. Anxious to avoid hostile measures, he caused all their sails to be re - moved to two small war junks, which were made to an chor between the French ships, This proceeding seemed to have effect, for the follow ing day, March 31, the prefect appeared at Touron, re ceived M. R. Genouilly politely, and, after some hesita tion, took the letter, promising an answer in tell or twelve days. This period passed without incident. It was, however, observed, that in the forts, on shore, and in the cor vettes, preparations were going on, by increasing very greatly their force in men and otherwise, for hostilities. On the morning of the Ith of April an inferior officer came on board, announcing the arrival from Hue (the capital); of a superior mandarin, bearing the reply, and inviting Commodore La Pierre to land and receive it the following day. To this invitation he replied, that having sent his se cond in command as the bearer of his letter, a corres ponding civility required that the bearer of the answer should deliver it to him on board his ship; at the same time giving assurance that he would be received with the honours due to his rank and station. The Cochin-Chinese evaded this proposition, and con tinued to request the Commodore's presence on shore. Whilst the correspondence on this point was proceeding, several of the officers of the French ships took walks on shore. In these strolls a man seemed desirous to impart some matter to them unseen by his countrymen ; whereon, one of the French officers furnished him with paper and pencil ; he wrote four or five characters, the meaning whereof, on translation, was found to be, " during the entertainment they will surprise and murder you, en masse." On this hint the commodore became more fully re solved not to accept the invitation of the mandarin to go on shore to receive the alleged answer; neither did the mandarin go on board the French frigate. The movement of troops and armament was being carried on with much activity. Arms in considerable quantities were secretly being conveyed on board the two small junks. The commodore, hopeful to avoid the shedding of blood, sent a party, who took the junks by surprise, and made a discovery of the utmost consequence at that moment. Whilst disarming the people on board one of the junks, a midshipman noticed one of them trying to secrete a paper, which he sprung at and seized. This was given to the commodore, who had it translated. This paper, bearing the red seal of a mandarin in three different places, was a plan of a conspiracy against the French. It was intended to murder the commodore and suite at the conference if he was not found sufficiently re spectful and submissive, and by a concerted signal to attack at the same time the French ships, which were . to be reduced to atoms, striking Europeans with such terror that they would not venture to re-appear. The mode of attack, &c., was given in detail. The T ne xt discovery w as ma d e on T ues d ay, ' 13t h April. II ‘ 14 5 . 9 the 14th, the commodore sent a copy to the mandarin, demanding an explanation. In the evening th e mandarin sent an inferior officer on. board La Gloire with a letter, wherein he sought in vain to justify his conduct. To the concerted iF n hirenc s plan h o fficers it appeared evid en t th a t, dis by discoveryd of the p a p er re f erre d to, he was prevented f rom actin g irectly, and only soug ht to gain time. On Thursday, 15th, an attack from the Cochin-Chi nese appeared to be approaching. The fivecorytt were tilled with men , and formed in line towards the s French ships at the mouth of a river which falls into the bey ; a numb:-r of war junks were seen prepared for action ; four others were seen working into the mouth of the bay, probably from the capital, evidently, as the French thought, with a view to attack them on all sides. Thug menaced the commodore had no time to lose ere the enemy hould close upon him. Still unwilling to re sort to extreme measures, he made another attempt at accommodation. lie sent an officer on shore to warn the mandarins that unless an order was immediately sent to stop the junks from approaching he would forthwith de stroy the five corvettes. After this notice he waited fully two hours, when seeing that the junks continued to approach, and that no countermanding vessel was dispatched, La Gloire opened her fire, seconded by the Vietorieuse. This was instantly responded to by the corvettes, the junks, and the forts on shore. The junks were too far off to take effect, but the corvettes and one of the forts were suffi ciently near. The crews of the corvettes had no means THE of escape, and exerted their utmost in vain. In the space of 76 minutes they were utterly destroyed. One blew up, one was burnt, another sank, and ti a oth'r two, being crptured, were set on fire, after the woundLd were removed. From their own report, and according to actual ob servation,:the number ofi Cochin-Chinese killed is esti mated at upwards of 1,000. On the destruction of the corvettes, the junks and forts ceased their fire. Neither was taken possession of, which would have been sufficiently easy. It was, how ever, no part of M. La Pierre's plan either to make war on the Cochin Chinese or to plant the French flag on their territory. His object, in protecting his ships and crews against a conspiracy, and maintaining the honour of his nation, he considered as effected by the utter de struction of the corvettes. On the day following he took his departure, no attempt at farther communication, on either part, having been made. The fire of the Cochin- Chinese, for the most part, fell short or was directed to. . 3 high. La Gloire had neither killed nor wounded, and on' i t , suffered a little in her rigging. La Victorieuse, be; more exposed, had only one killed, and one wounder . the loss of his right hand. The damage to her hal', an d rigging inconsiderable , an d immediately repaired. The Victorieuse reached Hong-Kong on the, 31ct of April, having on board the French Bishop of 100 Choo, who was present. CAPTURE AND CONFAETTAL OF - - - - - TWO LADY THIEVES AT BRISTOL. Two females, dressed in the Fast style of fashion, and of lady-like manners and "addeess, were apprehended yesterday by the Great 'Western Railway Company's police, at Bristol, upon a charge of robbing a lady named Barnard of a parse-, containing bank notes of the value of 251. Mrs. Bal-nartl, who is the wife of a gentleman residing at CheAtenham, was proceeding to a watering- 4 place on the, line of the Bristol and Exeter Railway, called Weston-super-Mare. She had stopped in Bristol for a abort time, and finding when she got to the Bristol and Exeter station that she was a little too late for the train she had intended going by, and having to wait for_ the departure of the next, she sat down and began amuse herself by making entries of some payment s for purchases which she had made. Soon after her`Arrival . she observed the two females in question enter the waiting-room where she was, and commene m a con versation. In a few minutes Mrs. Barnar.d felt her person pressed against, and upon lookin% round she saw the ladies whom she had seen ent',-,r, and whose elegant dresses and manners had str.nek her atten tion, close behind her. She did not for a moment suspect them, and supposing that they had pushed against her accidentally, she v. ent on with her calcula tions. Soon afterwards they again pushed against her, and as she observed that ur?on her looking up they re tired rather hastily, and at once quitted the office, she thought that some'ching was wrong, and upon examining her pocket, four.c: that she had been robbed of a bag and notes of the value of 251. She gave information of what had occurred, to the company's officers, who immediately went ir. search of the thieves, whom, after a while, they found in the London booking-office, where they were probably looking for fresh plunder. They were cap tured, and expressed great surprise and indignation that ladies of their appearance and respectability should be suspected. The police, however, removed them from the London to the Exeter booking-office, and on their way one of them was observed to pass her hand behind her and drop the bag and notes, which, upon being shown to Mrs. Barnard, were at once identified es having been stolen from her. The prisoners were conveyed before the Bristol magistrates, by whom they were com mitted to take their trial for felony. There is reason to believe that they have been earning a handsome living by picking the pockets of passengers by the different railway trains. A BRACE OF MAGSMEN, OR SHARPERS, OUTDONE. On Wednesday last about noon, as Mr. John Harris, a respectable Suffolk farmer, was standing on the north side of St. Paul's, and silently contemplating the beauty and grandeur of that splendid edifice, his attention was somewhat arrested by a person of respectable appear. ance, who stood close to him, and who, evidently address ing him, exclaimed, " Eh, Loord, beant it be a foin building." Mr. Harris replied in the affirmative, and the fellow at once asked him if he had not come out of Suffolk? This question was also answered in the affirmative, and the man instantly said that he was a native of that county, and talked about different parts of it with much apparent freedom. He then proposed a walk as far as Hyde Park-corner, to view the statue of the Duke of Wellington, which, he said, he understood from some of his friend in town, was well worth seeing, and Mr. Harris having no particular engagement, and not having previously seen the statue, said he had no ob jection to accompany him that far. They accordingly walked together to Hyde-park-corner, and having spent some time in gazing at the statue, they bent their course along Constitution-hill ; they next viewed Buckingham Palace, the Horse Guards, Westminster Abbey, and the House of Lords and Commons. and ultimately crossed Westminster-bridge, to go to the Borough. In the London-road Mr. Harris's acquaintance recommended some refreshments, and took Mr. Harris into the Duke of York public-house close by ; there they had some ale, and were joined by a third person. The subject of the danger of carrying large sums of money about the person in London, from the great number of thieves who congregated in its streets, was started, and by great ingenuity and tact the sharpers, for such they were, suc ceeded in learning from Mr. Harris that he had upon his person thirty-five sovereigns and five 51. notes. One of the fellows, the person ho had met in St. Paul's then of fered to put a similar amount of money in a bag provided Mr. Harris agreed to do the same, and leave all in his care. The proposition appeared so fair and so disinterested on the part of a stranger, that Mr. Harris at once consented to comply with it, and a canvas bag was produced. The stranger counted out those which appeared to be real sovereigns, and five notes, which seemed to be for 51. each, and, having put both into a green silk purse, de ' posited the latter in the canvas bag. Mr. Harris in his turn did the same, but the instant he placed his purse in the bag he was seized with a strong misgiving that he was about to be done, and fortunately seized fast hold of the bag itself. The parties made a great effort to get it away from him, but he kept fast hold, and one of them exhibited a second bag, and exclaimed that it was the one which contained the money. The object of having the second bag was clearly to ring the changes as soon as Mr. Harris placed his money in one, and instead of the bag with the money, they would carefully place in his pocket one containing a few pence, or farthings, per haps, and pieces of paper. Mr. Harris was fortunately not thrown off his guard by the production of the second bag. He carefully grasped and held the first, and having disengaged himself from his new associates, he rushed into the street to look out for a policeman to give the parties in charge. They, however, were out of the place nearly as quickly as himself, and scampered off in differ ent directions. On seeing a policeman Mr. Harris made him acquainted with the circumstance, and the officer having ascertained that the thieves had started, took him to the station-house, where he gave a most accurate description of them ; they are the same parties who suc ceeded a few days before in the City tricking a country- man out of a large sum of money. In the present in- 1 stance, however, they were not only disappointed in their ' object, but obliged to submit to a loss ; for in the green 1 purse in which the thirty-five counterfeit sovereigns and the five " Bank of Elegance " notes were placed, there were also eleven good shillings; so that,instead of losing 1 his 50/., which, by the way, he was within an ace of 1 i doing, he w as a ga i ner b y the attempt of eleve n sh illings and sundry treats in the course of the day. MILITARY COURT-MARTIAL AT CHATHAM. The troops of this garrison assembled on the general parade ground on Saturday afternoon, the 19th instant, and the following sentence of the Court Martial, of which Colonel Samuel Burdun Ellis, Royal Marines, wss President, was read in the presence of the troops and the prisoner, a private in the Rifles : "Field Marshal his Grace the Commander-in-Chief having had the honour to lay before the Queen the pro ceedings of a General Court Martial, held at Chatham Barracks, on the 13th of April, 1847, for the trial of private James Flanagan, No. 2,212, of the second bat talion 60th Royal Rifles, who was arraigned upon the under-mentioned charges—First, for having at Chatham, on the evening of the 27th of March, 1847, when on the Brompton-gate guard, disobeyed the lawful commands of Lance Corporal James Fish, of the Second Battalion 60th Royal Rifles, his superior officer, in having re fused to go on sentry, although ordered to do so by the said Lance Corporal Fish. Second, for highly insubordinate conduct at the above-mentioned time and place in having drawn his sword and wil fully broken a pane of glass in the window of the officers' guard-room of the aforesaid guard, amount ing to the value of 10d.; upon which charges the Court came to the following decision:—The Court having duly weighed and maturely considered the evidence in sup port of the prosecution, together with what the prisoner has urged in his defence, is of opinion that he, the pri soner, James Flanagan, is guilty of both charges. The Court having found the prisoner guilty of both charges, which being in breach of the Articles of War, and taking into consideration his former convictions and general bad character, does in virtue thereof sent ence him, the said prisoner, to be p u t un d er stoppages, not exceeding two-thirds of his daily pay, until the articles enumerated in the second charge be made good, and to be transported as a felon for the term of seven years. Her Ifajesty was pleased to approve and confirm the finding and sentence of the Court, and to command that the prisoner be transported accordingly beyond the seas to such place as ker Majesty, by the advice of her Privy Council. shall think fit to nominate and appoint. (Signed) "J. MACDONALD, Adjutant-General." The prisoner was then removed to the custody of the main guard, and the troops marched to their quarters. DARING ROBBERIES OF PLATE, &C.—Yesterday the police received information of the following robbe ries:—On the 21st instant, from No. 43, Mount-street, Lambeth, a japanned cash-box, containing a chased gold neck-chain, with gold locket and key, a mourning ring, 3 fancy gold ring set with turquoise and pearls, a chased stre°e3. in g si o l l v d er r , in i g ,i ,t i u 4 r / q . u ol i se in the centre, a gold garnet ring, a handsome bead purse, containing ten shillings in gold. On the 20th, from 59, Great Qu een _ plain silver forks, three dessert ditto, two salts4tpt'xseairaaster, must trd spoon, a double cased gold anti outside, sixty silver-hatch. dith the royal arms on the knives (crest, a cat's head, gn drinking cup, two 1 with mouse in mouth), a silver _ mg medals of dif c,insedyen teaspoons, a (crest silver table-spoons, silver table-spoons, two silver milkjug, and other articles, four an arm in ferent orders. On the 20th, from 57, Lower Grosvenor street, Grosvenor -square, five silver teaspoons, pair of sugar-tongs armour, with a ring in the hand). Mr. Mac Donnell, from the Gambia, had an interview with Earl Grey yesterday, at the Colonial office. .^S UN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENINer, JUNE 24, 1847. EAST INDIA HOUSE. The quarterly General Court of the Proprietors of the East India Company was held yesterday, in Leaden ball.street, when PDOLATRY IN . Mr. POYNDER brought forward INDIA his motion on the annuity paid for the support of the idol worship of Hindostan, which he insisted was equally inconsistent with Christian duty and political interests. He believed that there were none of those insuperable obstacles i nterposed before thi s a d vantage, wh i ch the timid Fad the. wavering were so ready to imagine. If the Hindoos were once convinced of the necessity of relying upon themselves for the /support of their own su p ers titi ons muc h o f the mischief would b e a t once su bd ue d , f or, under the pre sent circumsta nces , th e I n di an pr i est h oo d re li ed on the credit of their authority, an d th e moment i t was seen 1 hat that auth or ity was no t b ac k e d b y t h at supreme p ower, which was evident th roug h ou t th e w h o l e o f I n di a, it must cease. There was, therefore, no reason what es •er why the custom on which he spoke should not be ttt iolished; he would, therefore, move " That it appearing that the continued pecuniary 'al lowance to the Temple of Juggernaut (subject only to a recent modification) proceeds upon the assumption of A' pledge presumed to have been originally given upon t'i .e conques t o f C uttac k , an d t h at the late recommenda ion of the Bengal Government for the continuance of this money payment, under another form, appears to require further consideration, it be referred to the Ho nourable Court of Directors to review the arguments for the continuance of this annual payment, having special reference to their own dispatch to the Bengal Govern twat of the 20th February, 1843." The motion being seconded, The CHAIRMAN said, that while the subject which had been brought before the Court of Directors was allowed tta be of the utmost importance, there were considerations tvhich greatly impeded their active interposition, but the Hon. Proprietor might be assured that no efforts would be spared to accomplish that which would be for the advantage of India; and that, under any circumstances, the directors decided that, whatever might be the result, at the proper time they would do their duty. Mr. POYNDER said that, with this assurance, he was satisfied, and would, therefore, withdraw his motion. Mr. THOMPSON also begged to withdraw his motion for the present, and he would therefore give notice that he would bring it on at the next general court. The motion was accordingly p,stponed. RAILWAYS IN INDIA. Dr. SULLIVAN then rose to move for the production of the correspondence and memorials respecting railways in India. In doing so he was exceedingly anxious to avoid anything like reflection on the directors, but the matter which ho had to submit was of too much importance to be lightly passed over, especially as the formation of railroads would materially increase the prosperity of India, and the ex pense of their for ma ti on wou ld b e of butlittle cost to the Company. In this particular respect India was be hind every other country in the world. In the case of that prime necessary of life, the benefit to the Indian residents from the formation of railroads would be immense, for the inhabitants of the coast had only to expose the sea water to the action of the sun, and with but little care the sun would perform the whole duty of evaporation, and sublimation would be done by the sun. Then, with regard to the article of cotton, the advantages of a rapid transit were equally evident, for it was an indubitable fact that the plains of India were competent to produce the whole of the cotton that was necessary fur the manufacturing demands of this country. He was per fectly satisfied, if the Court of Directors would for ward this object, that the districts in the neighbour hood of Madras would alone be sufficient for the purpose. Cuba, and Jamaica, and New Bruns wick had all railroads, and the Mauritius, Ceylon, and other colonies, were about to have them. Seeing then, that there was no insuperable obstacle, and that the outlay would be repaid, not only in the shape of an ample re turn to the revenue, and a large per centage to the proprietors, he would, therefore, conclude with the terms of the motion, of which he had give notice. The motion having been seconded, The CHAIRMAN said that he could assure the proprie tors that the directors were anxious in every way to for ward the object. Twenty years ago he had himself written a treatise to show the value of the cotton culti vation in India. But if railways were made at all there, Bengal, which is as well adapted for the cultivation of cotton as the neighbourhood of Madras, ought first to enjoy the benefit, especially as it is the seat of Government, and, consequently, the centre of intelligence for the territory of the Company. He would not have the slightest objection to produce the papers requested, but he deemed them quite useless until some results had been produced. Of one thing, however, he must remind the Hon. Proprietor, that money was not exactly picked up everywhere, and that it required considerable thought before any plan was adopted. General BRIGGS said that this matter had been under consideration for some thirty years or more, and that it was now high time that they came to some conclusion on the subject, for the advantage to the country was so great and so evident, that the directors ought to proceed immediately. If it were necessary at all to obtain any evidence of the benefit that would arise from the forma tion of railroads, they had nothing to do but to refer to the progress which had been made since the formation of railroads in India. It was a singular, but not the less a substantial tact, that before the formation of railroads in India, it absolutely required no less than 4,200 men to convey one officer to the seat of govern ment; and at a subsequent period not fewer than 7,300 men to carry three officers to the coast. But what would have been the case if a railroad had been made in that direction. Then, again, with regard to the cultivation of sugar, it was well known that sugar is consumed in this country after the rate of 61bs. per head, and that the price paid is from fivepence to sixpence per pound, whereas if it was ob tained from India it would not cost more than from threepence to fourpence per pound. India is at the pre sent moment a large sugar producing country, for it supplies not only its own population, but the whole of the countries both east and west of it for a considerable: distance.? Persia, amongst others, produced no sugar, and derived its whole supply from India. The population of that country alone consumes 580,000 tons, the whole of which is obtained from their own cultivation. For cotton and every other product the advantages were equally manifest. After some observations from Mr.Princep, Mr. Lewis, Mr. Fielder, and Major Oliphant, all of them, excepting Mr. Lewis, supporting the motion, Mr. Sergeant GazeLEE said that it was ridiculous to talk of the want of money for any great public object, when he had himself that very morning, at the Privy Council, seen a brief endorsed with 6,000 guineas, and averse as he was to a profligate expenditure even in law, it did appear to him a little too much to talk of the want of funds fur a great public improvement which would not only return a good per centage to the proprietors, but add greatly to the revenue in the face of this fact. Mr. HILL explained that the case alluded to by the Learned Sergeant was a Crown appeal, in which it was necessary to retain not only the Attorney and Solicitor-General of the present Government, but also those of the late Government, together with standing counsel of the Company ; and that was the occasion of the large expenditure. Dr. SULLIVAN having replied, The Court divided, when there appeared for the motion 26, against it 17. The other motion, for which notice had been given, being withdrawn, the business concluded, and the Court adjourned. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England had a committee meeting yesterday. A MAN KILLED IN A FiGur.--Between eight and nine o'clock yesterday morning, a man named John Watson, a fishmonger, standing at the bottom of Vic• toria-bridge, and another man named Bradley, had a dispute in the Fish Market, about a shilling, which the latter alleged to be due to him from the former. From words they came to blows ; after they had fought for a short time, they fell together over some baskets of fish, but got up and renewed the fight, taking hold of each other by the hair. Watson then commenced " butting" at Bradley with his head; and at the same time a man named Peter Swift, who is in the employment of Watson, came up, and struck Bradley a violent blow with his fist on the temple. Bradley immediately fell down insensible, and he expired as some of the bystanders were taking him to the Infirmary ; indeed, before he was taken far from the spot where the outrage occurred. Watson ran off immediately that the deceased fell, and has not yet been apprehended ; but Swift, who remained, was apprehended by sub-inspector Dixon, who had been informed that there was a fight in the Victoria Market, and came up almost immediately after the occurrence. Swift was brought up at the Borough Court yesterday, when the above facts were given in evidence, and he was remanded till this day. The father of Watson, at the same time, promised that his son should be produced at the sitting of the Court to-day.—Manchester Guardian. IMPOSITION.—This week a respectable-looking old man, who pretended to be a lecturer on " Philology and the powers of the human mind," called upon several par ties in town, representing that he had engaged a public room, and intended to deliver a course of lectures on the above topics. A number of persons bought tickets, but on their arrival at the room in which the lectures were announced to be delivered in, they found that they had been duped out of their money, the room never having been taken for such a purpose.—Glasgow Post. SALE OF TILE EQUESTRIAN STUDS OF THE MESSRS. COOKE.—Yesterday the sale by auction of thirty horses, mares, and poneys, th e p ro p er t y o f M r . T. T. Cooke and Mr. A. Cooke, took place at Cooke's Royal Amphitheatre, Mount-street ; Mr. Fullalove wield ing the hammer. There was a numerous attend ance of the fanciers of horseflesh ; the pit seats being well filled, and a considerable number of per sons occupying the stage ; the animals being trotted out and exhibited in the arena between the pit and stage. Amongst th e p art i es present were, M r. Batty, the well-known circus proprietor; a Mr. Dum bolton, of London, who is said to be in the same line; and a number of horse dealers and proprietors of coaches, &c., amongst whom may be named Mr. Suffiebottom, of Liverpool; Mr. Ri3hardsen, of Salford; Mr. Green wood, of Pendleton ; Mr. Emanuel Ilird, and Mr. Ilengler, of Manchester; Mr. Massey, of Altrincham, &c. We understand that generally the animals fetched good prices ; and that Mr. Batty was a very considerable purchaser, —so that " the well-trained trick horses " are not likely to forget what they have learned. The whole of the harness of the two studs was subsequently sold, and the day's sale did not close till six o'clock. The extensive wardrobes, the muskets, drums, &c., will be sold to-day ; and we are told it is not unlikely that, ultimately, the Amphitheatre itself will come to the hammer. —Manchester Guardian. LAW INTELLIGENCE. COURT OF CHANCERY, June 23. DALE V. HAMILTON. The arguments in this part-heard appeal were then resumed, and occupied the Court the whole morning. This bill was filed by Mr. Dale, a surveyor and land agent at Birkenhead, in the county of Chester, to enforce an agreement by which he claimed to be entitled to a third of the profits arising from the purchase of some building ground in Princes-street, Camden-street, and Lord-street, in the new town of Birkenhead. The de fendants pleaded the Statute of Frauds in bar of the claim, but the Vice-Chancellor Wigram held that it did not so operate. His Honour, however, directed issues to try the facts, and both parties appealed against the order of the court below. The case appeared likely to occupy some days in argument. VICE-CHANCELLORS' COURT, June 23. (Before the VICE-CHANCELLOR of ENGLAND.) His Honour the Viee•Chancellor of England took causes to-day, but no case of any public interest came before his Honour during the morning. (Before Vice-Chancellor KNIGHT BRUCE.) His Honour was occupied the whole morning will bankrupt petitions. (Before Vice-Chancellor WIGRAM.) DELMAN V. PERCEVAL. The further arguments in this part-heard case occu pied the Court the whole day. COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH, June 23. HILTON V. LORD GRANVILLE. This case was again resumed at the sitting of the Court this morning, and witnesses on the part of the defendant were called to show that it was not the cus tom in the duchy to remunerate the owners of houses which might be injured by the working of mines below them. and that the expense of repairing them fell in variably on the owners themselves. The jury returned a verdict for the defendant. RAILWAY COMMITTEES, HOUSE OF LORDS.—(YESTERDAY.) Room A. WATERFORD AND LIDIERICIC. Their Lordships met this day to hear evidence upon this line, and decided that the preamble of the Bill had passed. Rochester (Mr. Bodkin), and the Hon. Member for Bath (Mr. Roebuck), were members. He thought if the Bill was to be altered from time to time—if clause after clause was to be altered er expunged—that it would be better to withdraw it altogether. The clause which they wished to be expunged was the most valuable part of the Bill, because it would reach those who pandered to their base appetites.—(Roars of laughter.) Mr. SPOONER consented to the suggestions of the Right Honourable Gentleman the Secretary of State for the Home Department, and said he, with the aid of his Learned Friends, would remodel the Bill as proposed. The Hon. Gentleman in the chair might now report the Bill. The Hon. Gentleman the Member for Finsbury, had, he thought, introduced the clause for the purpose of defeating the Bill.—(Cries of " Order, order.") Mr. DUNCOMBE denied that he had been actuated by any such motive. The clause was drawn up by the Honourable Gentleman himself, and he simply adopted his words. Mr. SPOONER replied that he drew up the clause at the suggestion of the Hon. Gentleman himself. Mr. C. BERKELEY then moved, as an amendment, that the report be brought up that day six mouths. The Committee then divided, when there appeared— For the amendment 26 Against it Majority against the amendment —55 After a short conversation the report was received, and ordered to be printed and brought up on Wednesday next. POOR REMOVAL ACT AMENDMENT BILL. On the motion for the second reading of this Bill, Captain PECHELL said that there had been no remedy provided by the Committee for what was disap proved of in this Bill, the Committee having con cluded their labours without making any re port. Notwithstanding what had been said by the Attorney-General, he could, if he did not fear to weary the House, show that the retrospec tive working of the poor-law was most unjust. He thought that the House was bound to agree to the Bill of the Hon. Member for Dorsetshire as a means of remedying the evils that existed. That Hon. Member was deserving of the thanks of the country, and how was he supported? Why, there were no less then 197 petitions in favour of the Hon. Member's views, and these petitions contained no less than 30,196 signatures. (The Hon. Member here read some ex tracts from a correspondence that had. taken place on this question in support of his views.) He trusted that the Hon. Member would succeed in his endeavours. Mr. R. PALMER said that he felt bound to support this Bill. He considered that the Bill would be of great advantage. Sir ZPAKINGTON could not agree with the Hon. Gentleman. In his part of the country the Bill intro duced by the Right Hon. Baronet the Member for Dor. chester (Sir J. Graham) had worked well, and had not led to one instance of litigation ; and if the Bill of his Hon. Friend were acceded to the poor would be deprived of one of the most valuable boons which had been conferred upon them.—(Hear, hear.) He did not deny that cases of hardship had occurred under the Act— (Hear, hear)—but they arose simply from the conduct of the boards of guardians, and not from their adhering to the Act. Hardships had been inflicted upon aged and infirm poor by guardians driving them from one parish to another, in order to get rid of the responsibility of keeping them. The Act to which he had referred was passed to amend the anomalies and hardships in the old law, and as it had worked well he thought it should continue. If the Hon. Gentleman the Member for Dorsetshire (Mr. Bankes) were to refer to the report of the Poor-law Commissioners for the present year he would find that he was correct in saying that the law had been a great boon, and that where hardships arose they were not attributable to the law, but to the guardians of the poor. The ratepayers, he was sure, would not refuse any additional burden which might be cast upon them by the additional cost of supporting those who had expended their labour and their days amongst them; at the same time he admitted that the law of settlement required great alteration. He regretted to hear that the Committee which had been appointed on the law of settlement had agreed to resolutions and had afterwards rescinded them, and had, therefore, come to the determination to keep them to themselves.—(Hear, hear, and laughter.) Such was the nature of the rumours which had reached him. He hoped, however, that the Government in the next session of Parliament would take the whole sub ject of the law of settlement and rate-paying seri ously into their consideration, and bring forward measures for the purpose of amending them. Ho begged to move, as an amendment, that the Bill be read a second time that day six months. The motion having been seconded, Sir G. GREY said, in submitting the ground of his objection to the Bill, he begged at tha outset to say that it was now his intention to offer the Bill that op position which he stated on its introduction it would have to encounter from him in its subsequent stages. What did the Bill propose to do ? It did not propose to amend the Bill of last session, but absolutely to repeal the very essence of it, which was one of the most valuable and important Bills that had ever received the a ssen t of that House, as it was calculated to confer the greatest advantages upon the poor. The principle embodied in the Bill of last session was this—that residence for a certain term should entitle a person to claim exemption from removal, so that a person who had lived and worked in a parish for a given number of years should not be driven to another, and a perhaps distant one, for support in the hour of need. When the Bill of last session was proposed very great objections were made to it, but they were not to look to the inconvenience which had arisen from the Bill in one or two, or in any number of instances, and infer that the Bill had not worked well, because if they were to do so they would overlook the nume rous beneficial instances which had resulted from it. It was to prevent localities from being bur dened with the support of those who had no claim upon them that the Bill was passed. The re movability of persons after a lengthened residence in a district was admitted on all hands to be a grievance requiring the interposition of the Legislature, and there fore this Act was passed, confirming the principle that persons should be irremovable after a residence of a certain term. It had generally worked well he believed, and he was glad to hear from the Hon. Baronet that it had worked well in his part of the country. Notwith standing the objections which had been made, he be lieved the balance was much in favour of the poor, and ho feared, if they repealed it, that they would inflict the greatest and most irreparable injury upon the poor. These inconveniences were incidental to a change in the law, and he believed that after all changes there would be found considerable difficulties in the administration of it. If the inconveniences complained of by his Hon. Friend had been removed by length of time, -- why should it be proposed that the parish officers should again be thrown into uncertainty as to their duties under the law, by a repeal of the present law, and the sub stitution of a new one? It was no objection to this 'Act to say that litigation took place under it, for unless it could be shown that any new law would remove the system of litigation, the objection was not valid. The real question to decide was, whether the case was one of such present emergency as to require that, at the end of a session, and without the presence of those who were most interested, the whole of this law should bo repealed, and a new one substituted upon an entirely diffe rent basis. He was quite sure that the resolutions of the Committee upon the law of settlement had been rejected, and refused to be reported to the House by a small majority, but that did not remove from the House the power of now considering the matter. These reso lutions would shortly be reported to the Hou>e, and there seemed to prevail an opinion that an extensive change in this law was necessary, by means of a change in the area of rating. Sir F. Pigot, before the Committee, stated that he did not think that there was any immediate necessity for a change in the law, as it created very considerable confusion in the unions which had just adapted their operations to the existing law. He thought that any change which should take place immediately, and with out the full concurrence of the whole House, would be most mischievous in its consequences both to the public and to the poor ; but he thought that that forbearance now would by no means interfere with the full discussion and consideration of the question at a very early period in the ensuing session. For these reasons he hoped that the House would not consent to the repeal of an Act which could not be properly discussed at this period of the session, and which involved so serious and exten- sive a change. The Marquis of GRANBY said that it did not appear to him that the Right Honourable Gentleman who had just sat down was very confident in the success of the measure before the House. He believed that the law of last session had acted most injuriously, and that the ratepayers of towns had been great sufferers in consequence. It did not confer the benefits which it intended, nor remove the evils which it proposed to obviate ; and he should, therefore, support the motion of his Hon. Friend. After a few words in explanation from Sir JOHN PAKINGTON, Mr. SPOONER said he would not go into the question whether the Bill was or was not a boon to agriculture. His object in supporting the Bill of last session was because he was of opinion that the parish which received the benefit of the poor man's labour should support him in his distress. He adjured the House to put a stop to those evils which had hitherto arisen in the larger towns by the repeal of this Bill, which was not only injurious to the poor them selves, but also to those whose duty it was to afford them the means of relief. Mr. V. SMITH said that his great objection to the Bill was, that as soon as the ratepayers found its operation in any way disagreeable they would avail them. selves of the only obvious remedy, viz., by making the poor suffer greater hardships than they did at present. the moment the present Act was passed a considerable amount of confusion was created, and although they had been told by the law officers, that the portion of the Act referring to industrial residence was to be interpreted by the rules of common sense, and on their finding that common sense was inapplicable to the law, and again applying to the law officers, a totally new construction of the Act was given to them. There had been, notwithstanding all that had been said, a very considerable amount of legisla tion under this Act, and there were already a con siderable number of legal questions dependent upon it. The question was submitted to a Committee in the be ginning of this session. It had been in labour for the whole session —(Laughter) —but as yet no result had appeared to the House or the world. The Committee was truly a secret as well as a Select Committee, for not a word could they get out of them, and this was the Committee on which they were to depend. And let the House remember that next session was a new session — Of Parliament, and the persons then coming in would not be bound by the wisdom of their ancestors.—(Laughter.) He should, after a careful examination of all the circumstances, give his vote for the Bill of the Hon. Member opposite. Mr. RICE said he was very anxious that a gentle man who possessed considerable experience on this sub ject should be examined before this Committee. He had a letter from that gentleman deprecating the principle of non-removal. He hoped that lion. Gentlemen would agree with the motion of the Hon. Member for Dorset shire. He did not think that they should lose sight of the ratepayers, and the effect of this law had been to re lieve the rich and impose the burden on the poor. Sir J. GRAHAM said that it would not be necessary for him to detain the House for any length of time. Considering the merits of the question, he agreed with the Hon. Member, who said that it did not matter what was the principle of that Bill. He then expressly stated that he did not propose any compensation, because he was aware that if any such pro position were made, the Bill would have been rejected. He would read, the clause respecting the removal, which was brought forward in 1844, and which was identical with that introduced by him last year. (The Hon. Member here read the clause in question.) He joined issue with the Honourable Gentleman who contended that this was a law for the rich and not for the poor. But there were other classes operated upon by the Act of last session ; but another class d er i ve d grea t benefit—the great cass resident in districts in which they were not settled before the passing of the Act, and who were not in receipt of relief, from their legal settlements, and who had never ventured to apply for relief from the parishes in which they resided, from the fear of being removed to their legal settlement. They constituted a very large and a very suffering class, and the Bill, therefore, of last session was of the most beneficent nature to them. There was, for instance, the industrious lrish,"of whom there were such large numbers in the manufacturing districts, who after having laboured in a district for a period of five years, and contributed during that time to its wealth, were told, immediately on applying for relief, that they mast be removed ; and upon this class of persons it conferred the greatest advantages. By far the most numerous class were either entirely injured from the Act, whilst the other received the greatest benefit from it. The Hon. Gentleman the Member for Bir- mingham (Mr. Spooner) supported the Act of last session, and he did not now regret that he had given it that support. Still he (Sir James Graham) was perfectly willing to concede to him and to other Hon. Members that the Act of last session bad received a more extensive operation than was originally intended, from the construction put upon the words introduced into the Bill during its progress through the House. He asked them, therefore, again to try the Bill by this test—were the poor injured? The construction put upon the Act by the law officers of the Crown, and which bad led to this extended operation, was most humane and beneficent ; and if they had any regard for the interests of the poor, that was an additional reason why this Act should be maintained in all its integrity. —(Hear.) The Hon. Gentleman who had just sat down had made some remarks upon what he (Sir J. Graham) said, at the time the Bill was before the House, with respect to ratepayers, but he (Sir J. Graham) did not wish to retract one word which he uttered on this part of the subject on that occasion, yet he could not but admit that although the Act had worked most bene ficially as far as the poor were concerned, yet its cost had fallen heavily upon the ratepayers ; and when the subject of the law of settlement and of the removal of the poor was before the House he trusted that the expediency of giving a more extended area to the rates would be also taken into consideration. The Committee on the law of settlement, of which he was a member, had sat five months, and collected a vast mass of evidence on the subject, but he regretted that the Committee, by a majority of one, had determined that the resolutions which they bad adopted should not be reported to the House ; yet by a wise regulation of the House their proceedings would become known to the House and to the country—how each member of the Committee voted would be seen, and also that the resolutions which they had passed were to the following effect :—First, that the law of removal ought to:be abolished ; and, second, that the area of the rate ought to be extended. He hoped that the evidence collected by the Committee would enable the public to estimate the real nature of the question during the recess, and that it would afford the Government an admirable opportunity of ascertaining the public opinion upon the question ; he hoped also that her Majesty's Govern ment, without any undue prejudice, without reference to the part which the Members of the Committee had taken, would in the new Parliament be prepared to bring forward a Bill on the subject and that the Hon. Gentleman (Mr. V. Smith) who had so well played the part of the Young Member, would give them his support. He should give his decided opposition to the repeal of the Act of last session. In fact, the statement of the Right Hon. Gentleman (Sir G. Grey) went to show that there were no petitions in favour of the Bill of the Right Hon. Gentleman. He quoted, it was true, the opinion of a gentleman at Bath, and the opinion of the editor of a York newspaper, but these were the authorities on which they were to rely for the necessity of the Bill, and the repeal of the Act passed during the time he held office. Ho did not wish to detain the House, or he might quote the opinion of several competent persons to show that the Act had worked well. Mr. Hall, one of the Assistant Poor-law Commis sioners, whose district in London comprised a population of I,Boo,ooosouls, reported that no complaints were made by the recipients of relief with respect to the working of the law, and the complaints of the ratepayers were few, and rapidly diminishing. As he believed that the passing of the Bill of the Hon. Gentleman would throw the state of the law into complete confusion he could not hesitate as to the course he should pursue. He should offer the Bill his most strenuous opposition, :and hoped that the House would reject by a large majority the proposition, which he considered a most dangerous one. Mr. MILES said he had heard it stated that Mr. Hall was one of the witnesses who, when before the Commit tee condemned the present law—(Hear),—and a refer ence to the evidence would show that that law was not so much approved of as the Hon. Baronet seemed to suppose. In fact, with the exception of Mr. Hall, all the witnesses reprobated the law. They had only been informed yesterday that the Committee had come to the decision referred to, and that they thought it would not be well to mix up the law of removal with the law of settle ment. He had always been in favour of an industrial resi dence being taken as the right of a person to receive relief. The subject was a difficult one, and required the utmost consideration ; but the House should recollect before they rejected the Bill of the Hon. Member for Dorset shire, that it would afford great benefits to the rate payers, whose interest ought to be remembered in a question of this nature. The Act of last session was found fault with both by the ratepayers and the poor and infirm themselves. If he saw any prospect of an early adjustment of the whole question he would advise his Hon. Friend to withdraw the Bill, but, as he saw no such prospect, he hoped that his Hon. Friend would persevere with his Bill. Mr. C. BULLER said that much dissatisfaction had been expressed at the result which had been arrived at by the Committee on this subject, of which he (Mr. C. Buller) was chairman, and the Honourable Member for Northamptonshire was very witty at their expense, but he (Mr. Buller) did not see that the duties of a Committee were other than this—to bring before the House and the country a mass of evidence which would enable the House to come to a conclusion on this subject. It had been said that the Committee had done no thing ; he maintained that they had done a great deal. If ho had acted upon the hints which had been made to him with respect to the examination of all witnesses, he believed the next Parliament, if it sat for seven years, would not see the end of the examination. The course then which was adopted was, to make the best selection of witnesses they could, and he would leave it to the House to form its opinion of the judgment which had been exercised in this respect. Another duty also was to get as many . practical men before them as they could, and the Committee freely discussed resolutions which were proposed for the alteration of the law. The Hon. Mem ber for Stroud, the Hon. Member for Leeds, the Hon. Member for Finsbury, and the Hon. Member for Ro chester, severally brought forward plans, all of which were rejected, with the exception of a portion of that proposed by the Hon. Member for Stroud, which was adopled by the Committee, and added to the resolutions to which they had come themselves. The conclusion to which he had co - me, after a full investigation of the whole case, was that the law of settlement and of removal should be abolished. He had thought it dangerous to interfere with that question, but he now believed that the law of removal was injurious to all classes, and especially to the industrious classes. After expressing this conclusion he had no doubt as to the course which he should feel it his duty to take with regard to the motion of the Gentleman opposite. They were asked to repeal the Bill. The House last session ordered that the removal of the poor man should not take place excepting under certain circumstances. What would be the effect of this repeal ? That the poor man who was not removed last year would be liable to be removed next year. Was the Committee to move the House to bring to light a law of this nature ? For the last fifteen years the law had been against the poor. Under th e old law a poor man could earn a settlement by hiring himself in a district for a certain period. The Act of the last session was humane and beneficent; but now comes the Hon. Member for Dorsetshire, and with out substituting anything better, he proposed to repe a l the only law which had tried to better the condition of the poor in the last 15 years. Mr. BANKES replied. The House then divided, when there appeared-- For the second reading lO2 Against it Majority against the Bill HEALTH OF TOWNS BILL Mr. HUDSON inquired when it was intended to pro ceed with the further consideration of the Health of Towns Bill ? Lord J. RUSSELL —I had intended to bring it on to , but if it will suit the convenience of Honour able bring it on on F r id ay. to morrow, r Lo r GordwenGtim.eßEe'n we said that in thin case notice had given it would not be brought forwa r d t hi s week. ben Believing such to be the case, several Hon. Gentlemen had made engagements which would preclude them from attending on Friday. Lord J. RUSSELL hoped that no objection would be made to Friday. The matter then dropped. The other orders of the day were then disposed of, and the House adjourned at Six o'clock. The Judicial Committee of the Council sat yes terday, and heard a number of motions and petitions from New South Wales, Bengal, and Bombay. The Lords present were the Master of the Rolls, Lord Brougham, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Cornwall, and the Judge of the Admiralty Court. Room B. CALEDONIAN ErtANCILES TO CANOBIE. Their Lordships met this day, at the usual hour, for the dispatch of public business. The evidence was again proceeded with, but was of a wholly similar nature to that already given. Room 1). NzwisonT, 8 8ERtaAVENrnr, AND HERE FORD (EXTENSION TO T.arr VALE). This case came on before their Lordships at eleven o'clock this morning. Mr. TALBOT opened the case for the promoters of the railway. Ile proceeded to point out the advantages of the line, and objected to the Taff V a l e C om p an y appear ing in oppos . :tion. The Committee decided that the Taff Vale had a right to appear, not against tho general principle of the line, but against the junction. Mr. Merrjweather was heard for the Taff Vale Company. HOUSE OF COMMONS.-(YESTERDAY.) GROUP VI. BRISTOL AND EXETER (TAUNTON AND CASTLE CARY BRANCH, AND BLEADON AND WELLS). The Committee met at the usual hour, and were occu pied the whole of the day in hearing evidence on behalf of the promoters of the line. The Committee adjourned at four o'clock till twelve to-morrow, GROUP X. This Committee met at the usual hour ; Lord Clive in .he chair. EASTERN COUNTIES (ILFORD TO TIL BURY PORT AND SOUTHEND). The opposition of the Thames Haven Company having been closed, Mr. AUSTIN replied at considerable length. The room was then cleared, and the Committee having consulted for a few moments, strangers were read mitted, when The CHAIR3IAN announced that the Committee had decided that the preamble of the Bill was proved, The Committee then adjourned. GROUP XXX. AXHOLINIE (mom LEEDS AND SEL7/3Y), The Committee met at the usual hour. Witnesses in favour of the Bill were examined during he whole of the day. The Committee adjourned till twelve to•inorrow. GROUP XXXIX. The Select Committee appointed to consider the merits of the Bills comprised in this group re-assembled at the usual hour this morning; Lord Charles Wellesley in the chair. YORK AND NEWCASTLE (AMENDMENT _ _ Or MAIN LINE), The Committee were engaged the whole of the day in receiving local, general, and engineering evidence in favour of this Bill. The Committee adjourned at four o'clock. STANDING ORDERS COMMITTEE. HOUSE OF LORDS.—(YESTERDAY.) The following Bills were declared to have passed : Oldham Alliance Bill Yorkshire, Doncaster, and Goole Railway (the opposi tion having been withdrawn). South. Eastern Railway. Widening of the Greenwich Railw a y, an d E n l argement of tho Londo- bri,lge Station. Liverpool, Manchester, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne Railway. REGISTRY of BIRTHS and DEATHS DURING THE WEEK ENDING JUNE 19. 1 Deaths registered in the week. Births registered in the week. Males ... ... ... 537 Males ... ... ... 620 Females ... ... 441 Females ... ... 558 Total . . 978 Total ... 1,178 IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT HOUSE OF COMMONS, June 23. SEDUCTION AND PROSTITUTION BILL. (Continued from our Afternoon Editio❑ of yesterday.) Mr. SPOONER said that the Hon. Gentleman who had just sat down objected to the Bill because it was not fairly within the province of legislation, but he (Mr. Spooner) contended that this objection applied with equal force to the suppression of every sort of crime.— (No, no.) The llon. Gentleman then entered into a general defence of the measure, which he maintained was called for by the wide-spread and lamentable crime against which it was directed. After a few words in explanation from Mr. ROE BUCK, Mr. O. BERKELEY thought that this Bill would have the effect of increasing rather than diminishing the crime against which it was directed. He should, there fore, move that the Chairman report progress, and ask leave to sit again, as he believed the Bill would never effect the good anticipated from it. Sir J. PAKINGTON urged most strongly upon the llTise the pr o p r i ety of proceeding with the Bill. The objections made against it on the ground of its not being within the province of legislation, and of its opening the door to conspir acy , were of no force and should not weigh for a moment agai ns t i t . ' The LORD ADVOCATE was of opinion that much good might be done by the Bill in its present shape, and he would therefore give it his support. He thought th a t in order to place a Bill of this sort upon a right footing it was necessary to put the definition of the offence more clearly, and with a better protection to those who might be unjustly accused under its provisions. After a few words from Mr. TRELAWNY, which did not reach the gallery, Mr. R. YORKE said that in his opinion it was the province of the House to put down every abomination that came under its cognizance, and therefore he came with the intention of supporting the measure of the Hon. Gentleman opposite; but on a revision of its enactments he had come to the conclusion that it would give faci lities to ill-disposed persons to get up false charges against persons who were perfectly innocent of them, and yet afraid to repel them publicly, and taking that into consideration he thought that the measure was not one which could be safely carried out, however good its intentions might be. Mr. BANKES said that offences under this Act could not always be proved when charged, for the previous immorality of the accusing party was necessary to be proved, and how was that to be done? Even though the accusing party proof of her misconduct =light be wanting, and could might be notoriously immoral, still th e not be obtained. After a few words from Mr. B. DENISON, Mr. ROEBUCK objected to this measure, as throwing upon every man in d ecen t soc i ety a r i s k o f accusat i on which he did not incur at the present moment. The Bill would not prevent the evil it was intended to remedy, bat would merely g i ve r i so to another. Under the provisions of this Act no one would be safe, from the Memberhop himself. Wh at reme d y was t h ere pro of Cant er b ur y d ownwar d s — nay , even the l A lo re n i . th i 3 vided? None. Ia fact the accused was destitute of all means of defending himself, while every facility was open to the accuser. Sir G. GREY said that considerations of great im portance had b een urged against the last clause, upon which they then were, and it was stated that the only remedy was to reject it. T o that course he would give all the opposition in his power, as he thought that it would be very unfair, after having assented to the mea sure so far. Lord SANDON approved of the suggestions of the Right Hon. Gentleman, and advised the Hon. Gentle man (Mr. Spooner) to adopt them. Mr. BODKIN said the difficulty with respect to the second clause could not be got rid Of by its omission and the substitution of another, owing to the difficulty of reaching those who set the procurers and pro curesses in motion. He had had much experience of the great extent t o w hi c h the system was carr i e d ; but still an innocent and respectable person was rarely convicted by a jury of an offence unjustly imputed to him. Mr. DUNCOMBE supported the clause as it stood. Ile had proposed the insertion of the words in C?ix i mittee; it was agreed to nemine contra di cen ti i n a Committee of which the Lord Advocate, the Judge Advocate, the Honourable Member for DESTRUCTIVE FIRE AT LIVERPOOL.--"A most (1 ;; structive fire broke out last night, about half-past eleven o'clock, on the extensive premises of Mr. Henry Ju rci s . and Son, Vauxhall-mill, opposite Tatlock-street, ir'l`.l hall-road. Mr. Hewitt, accompanied by 'Mr. DoWIII and other officers of the constabulary with six e e g i. ju r t e r were at the scene of devastation in less than a 11 11 — e i of an hour after the alarm was given, and rendered feri. cious and lofty, being valuable assistance. The premises, which are very sl 3s ' d completely crammed from the basement floor with I n d n• about ten stories in height , A% corn and meal, surmounted by a heavy portion of lr. ci d . work, necessary for carrying on the operation of gl'l l we ing the . wheat, and other articles of grain, weigh/DP n . are informed, upwards of three tons, were soon e— veloped in flames, and from the immense quantity of cobi; bustible material, but a very short period had elapse before the flames attained the top o f the build inw But a very small portion of the contents could be 5 1 3 : cured, and in less than an hour from its coramencenief the buildin was reduced to a mere shell. From the r.t mense weight of metal at the top, it was suspected tu" the framework would burst, and should this ha ve , ) , °° ,; curred it is fearful to sur m i se th e d es t ruc ti o n of life "-- might have ensued. Me s sr s . J u mp, w e are informed, are insured to a pretty considerable sum in several 'in sirance offices, but to what a m ou nt we were unabl e (L I: tinctly to ascertain. It appears that the machinery ea kept at work night and day, and a different set ef are in charge during the night. It was not for some tan. after the alarm was given that the water from one branch could be obtained, but this was obviated in a great• rtelise sure by the engines stationed on the margin of About an hour after the commencement of the above, another alarm was given of a warehouse in Ala, street . being on fire, but this, fortunately , extinguished. The SOUtb' CONTINENTAL COMMUNICA.TIoN. Company Eastern and Continental Steam-packet Comp steam-ship the Lordleft Folkesto nestrWarden arrived logne at SA. M. yesterday. The Prince EA ag ain left at Folkestone from Boulogne at 7 • gers, was quieltil Folkestone for Boulogne at 4 P.M., with 116 promDou and the Lord Warden arrived at Folkestone r logne at 5 P. m., with 50 passengers. f "1 Let- CURIOUS CIRCUMSTANCE.—In the barn-yar, h . o toch (Mr. Morrison's farm), near Beauly, a poor en and a ' ' lineirtridge are laying their eggs in one nest. . „ hers 'e is robbad of n every morning, bu t of course, thelitytridge eggs are left in the nest, and q uite a little war is waging betwixt the fowls for the privilege of sitting upon them. Should the barn - door h en be trium phant, it will be interesting to notice how she will treat the young birds, and how the young will treat her. Mr. Morrison has taken every precaution to secure the nest and the hens from marauding enemies.—lnverness Courier. SERIOUS ACClDENTS.—Yesterday the following ac cidents occurred, one of which, it is feared, will end in loss of life :—The first happened to a youth named James M'Gregor, aged seventeen years. It seems that he was employed on board the Victoria, a trading vessel, belonging to Goole, Yorkshire, and whilst in the act of ascending a ladder he missed his footing, and fell a depth of twenty feet down the hold. Ho was raised up in an insensible condition, and carried ashore at Hay a Wharf, Tooley-street, Southwark, and from thence to ;the nearest surgeon. He had received a severe scalp wound, dislocation of the clavicle, and concussion of Oa brain, and was in such a condition that it was necessary to remove him to St. Thomas's Hospital, where he now lies in a very precarious state. Another accident oc curred to a man named George Wright, a bricklayer , living at No. 25, Essex -street, Gravel-lane, Southwark. He was at work on the roof of a house, when be, by some means, lost his equilibrium, and fell into the ya rd at the rear of the building, whereby he sustained a frac ture of the thigh, and such other contusions, that he w_as . taken to Guy's Hospital. He is progressing very fa' vourably. BIRTHS. On the 21st inst., Mrs. J. W. Scott, of Abney-place, Stoke Newington, of a daughter. On the 21st inst., at Lawn-place, North Brixton, Mo. ( 7 ' Fraser, of a son. On the 21st inst., at Albion-place, Hyde-park-sq uare , the lady of Charles Crokat, Esq., of a daughter. On the 21st inst., at Dunstable, the wife of John Pease, Esq., of a daughter. On the Al. D. , of a son. 22 di n st. ,in Bedford-square, the w ife of Patrick Black, On the 22d inst., in Belgrave-square, her Grace the Duchess of Montrose, of a son and heir. On the 12th inst., Mrs. J. R. Rogers, of Pomeroy-street, of a daughter. On the 18th inst., at Park-place, Loughborough-roa Brixton, the lady of W. J. West, Esq., of a daughter. On the 18th inst., at the Mount, Sheffieli, Mrs. Willott, of a son, still-born. William O A 1 nthelley, Esq., 9frthins of a daughter.t.,atEdinburgh, the lady of F rederick On the 20th inst., th e l a dy of Ephraim Mosel}', Esq., ° f Grosvenor -street, Grosvenor-square, of a MARRIED. On the 23d inst., at Bow, Middlesex, by the Rev. Thotras Watson, M.A., Edward Eyre, Esq., of Maryland-point, Stratford, to Margaret Julia, only daughter of Godfrey God' dard, Esq., of Wood-street, Cheapside. On the 17th inst., at St. George's, H anove r •square, Ric har l d _ Bland Lucas, of South Audley-street, to Eliza, daughter 0 Mr. Richard Edwards, of Betshanger, Kent. On the 19th inst., at St. Saviour's, Southwark, George Rowland, Esq., of Holly Lodge, Heacham, Norfolk, to E liza, third daughter of the late Rev. James Wright, Rector of East Harling and Hi n d ere lay, in the same county. On the 19th inst., at St. John's, Notting - hill , Robert Barnes, M. B. ,of Park-road, Notting-hill, to Eliza , el dest daughter of J. Fawkener, Esq., of Norland-place, Notting" hill. DIED. On the 7th inst., at Arezzo, in Tuscany, Mary ed Anne llawkes, wife of Philip Lovell Phillips, Esq., M.D. , a g . 0n the 19th inst., in Baker-street, Portman - squa re, CAP' tam Thomaa Smee, late of the Hon. E. I. C.'6. Service. On the 19th inst., in London, G. R. Daniel, Esq., Q.C. On the 20th inst., in Gloucester-row, Weymouth, Frances, eldest surviving daughter of the late T. Oliver, Esq. On the 20th inst., in Gloucester-place, Portman-squar e, Clarkson Palmer, Esq., aged 82. On the 21st inst., at Gravesend, James Smith, Esq. On the 21st inst., at Brighton, Mrs. Sarah Small, aged 82. On the 21st inst., at Gravesend, Mrs. Twiss, widow of the late W. Twiss, Esq, On the 21st inst., at Brighton, Susan, the younger daughter of Charles Hindley, Esq., M.P., aged 12. Lon on : vented tui.l t'ublislied by airuDo YOUNG, of No. 1 12 , Strand, Printer, at The Sun Office, N 0.112. Strand. in the Precis°, of the Savoy, in the County of Middlesex, Thursday, June 24, 1847. • RAILWAY SHARE MARKETS , LIVERPOOL, .luNit 23. STOCK EXCHANGE.-The sales are-Blackburn, Clitherneo &c., Preference, 1% p.-East Lancashire, 14 dis.-East colnshire, 1 p. ex int.-Glasgow and Dumfries, paro--Glas. gow, Paisley, and Greenock, Preference, par-Groat North' em, 112 dis.-Huddersfield Canal and Railway, 5, 6 Y . "' Kendal and Windermere, 2 dis.-Leeds and Thirak, 6 die. Leicester and Bedford, ii,dis.-Liverpool, Crosby, and South port, 1% p.-London and North-Western, New Quarters, 11 p.-London and South-Western , 67 ":: Manchester and Leeds, 321. Shares, par-Ditto, Halves ("- L. and B.), p.-Ditto, Fifths (late West Ridinf Union), ls. 3d. p.-Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire , 9 ° - .: Lana Ditto (late Great Grimsby and Sheffield), 7% dis. 1251-Ditto, 401. Shares 6% p.-Ditto, New, 3% 1 ) • --l'i ri castle and Berwick, New, 2A p.-North Staffordshir e ', p.-South-Eastern and Dover, New, No. 4, 179 and Newcastle, Preference, 3% p.-Belfast and Bali Me " .7 11 dis. MANCHESTER, JUNE 23. STOCK EXCHANGE.-The sales are-Ambergatr.N otting f ham, and Boston, 14 c. dis.-Birkenhead, Lancashire, an d Cheshire, 1 15-16 dis.-Birmingham and Oxford Junction, 7 1 4 p.-Blackburn, Clitheroe, &c., Preferentials, Northern, 1 9-16 c. dis.-Leeds, Dewsbury, and Manchester, London 14 p.-London, Brighton, and South Coast, 54 3 / 4 - and North-Western, 180-Ditto (Manchester and Birrn in g; Quarter ham), 70 1 / 2 -Ditto, Quarters (B ), P.-Ditto, (C), 6 7-16 p.-Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshiire6o. Quarters, No. 1, 21 p.-Manchester and Southarnpto p '. dis.-Midland Railway Consols, 1241/ -North Statfordsairo 2 p.-North-Western, 1 7-16 dis.-Oldham Alliance , . 1, 7 1., 1N -Gres dis.-Preston and Wyre, Halves (A), 4% n.-Sh, r° P,r,.... Union, 1% dis.-South-Eastern and Dover, No. 4, 78 South Staffordshire, % di s . L JUNE 23. STOCK EXCHANGE. -The sales are-East Lancashire , N evi ' 12s. 6d. c. dis.-Ea s t an d W est Yorkshire, SOS.,„ 6d ',, d , is r Great Northern, 31s. di s .-L ee d s an d Dewsbury, nal,w p.-Leeds and Think, dis.-Ditto, New, sc. dis-Ditte, Preference, 14s. dis.-Leeds Wakefield, and Midland, 225. 6d. dis.-Manchester and Leeds, West Riding Union, 1,1 ,p -North British, Extension, 2s. p.-North Staffordshire, 2,4 p.-North-Western, 28s. n. dis.-York and Newcastle, Pre ference, 3ja p. HULL, JUNE 23. STOCK EXCHANGE. -Th e sa l es are-East LariCAShife, New ) 15s. dis.-Manchester and Leeds (West Riding Union), 25. p.-Newcastle and Berwick, New, 478.-North Brit ish, tension (scrip), 25. 9d. p.-Shropshire Union, 38s. chs' .. York and Newcastle, Preference, 31 p. EDINBURGH, JUNE 22. STOCK EXCHANGE.-The sales are--Aberdeen C 5 1,1 Airdrie and Bathg a te, 3/. 10 s .-A r b roat h an d Forfar, „ 55.-Ditto, Halves, 151.-Ayr and Galloway, 21. 2s. Caledonian, 301.-Ditto, N ew , 2/ . 25.-Caledoian and Do" a bartonshire, 11. 155.-Clydesdale Junction, 421. lax -43e side, 31. 55.-Dunblane, Doune, and Callender, 1/. 7 0 . i j i -Dundee and Arbroath, 381.-Ditto, New, No. 1, 27 , L -Ditto, New, No. 2, 301.-Ditto, New, No. 3, 31 . r t., l „a - e cb -Dundee and Northern Junction, 11. 10s. 6d.v"'3 and Perth, 324 10s.-Ditto, New, 131. -Ditto, Quarters, r Bs.-East of Fife, 14 18s.-East Lothian Central, II 1 1 6d.-Edinburgh and Bathgate, 71. 158.-Edinburg h Glasgow, 691.-Ditto, Halves, 224-Ditto Quarters, 171 ;:„, s. 1 9d.-Edinburgh, Leith, and Granton 181. 10s.-Ditto , `l,‘, fererce, 201. IN.-Ditto, New, 24-Ditto Quarters, 1. 16 ' - Edinburgh and Northern, 18/. 7s. 6d.-Ditto, New, 31 ' I t. -Ditto, Newport, 71. 10s.-Ditto, ditto, New, 21. 9 , •_," eg , -Edinburgh and Perth (New Co.), I/. s.-Ditto, lim' v 4 l4 65.-Glasgow and Ayrshire, 120/.-Ditto, New Stock , 2 10s.-Ditto, Halves, N o . 1, 81. IN.-Ditto, Halves , -' 1 . 41 1,1 , 0 ,. 61. 155.-Glasgow, Dumf r i es , and Carlisle, 51. 45 - -- • ti d, gow and Garnkirk, 38/. 10s.-Glasgow! General T ernun 121. 155.-Glasgow and G reenoc k , 174 'ft.-Ditto, Halm,B/. 155.-Ditto, Preferen ce , 8/ . --Gl asgow , Kilmarnock, a 63. Ardrossan, 4/. 55.-Great North of Scotland, I/. 1 75 6 1 , -Great Northern (late Direct Northern), 4/. 8s• And Ditto (late London and York), 1/. 125.) Newcastle Berwick, 27/. 155.-North British, 32/. 17s. 6d.---1)2,,.; Halves, 15/. 2s. 6d.-Ditto, Quarters, 4/. 115.-Ditto,_l:44,o, Quarters (scrip), 155.-Ditto Thirds, 2/. 12s. 6d.--1/11`1._I Fifths, 6/. 10s.-Scottish Central, 274-Scottish Grand Junction, IN.-Scottish Midland, 181. 10s.-Shrewsbury Hereford, 10s.-Shrewsbury, Oswestry, and ChestetA Ditto, New, IL-Stirling and Dunfermline, 51 . 2 -'• " d91:1 4 u 9 5 / t . i --d r' ling and Midland, 2/. 65.-Wishaw and Coltne ss ' s 63. York and Newcastle, 371. 7s. 6d.-Ditto, -Ditto, Preference, 11/. 125. 6d.-Direct Bombay an d ru ji at dras, 2s. 3d.-East Indian 2s. 9d.-Great North ° • , ,T f i ll re , 2s. 6d.-Great Southern of Madras, 25.-Madras, ° and Arcot, Is. 6d. GLASGOW, Jurrx 22. Nevr• STOCK EXCHANOE.-The sales are-Caledonian, 435. 6d.-Clydesdale Junction, 421,_ New, 141. 12 ithe Dundee and Arbins:_.: New, No. 3, 655.-Dundee and Perth, Quarters, 675. ,!.a . Glasgow, Kilmarnock, and Ayr, 1201.-Ditto Halves, l' ° ln d Si. 195.-Ditto, No. 2,6/. 12:F.-Glasgow, Durnfrie fh g ot - Carlisle, 5/. 45.-Great Southern of Madras, 15. 9d. or chester and Southampton, 10s.-York and Newcastle, Pt ence, 11%. '^ FOCI Le t ...-__ Th, Fi re j At tile Per the t Jo; tbi3r, M Th', wi th /titur 41 40 t Th, lt till bOt, kilo ......_ Tb ?face iDe to' 13 - • IA ,or lfe a , lot 0 1 11 1 kny th e 4Ptc v im Itt 0 the t 410 t, I n %hi( u ne .1 ,- 4- 441 Lo n ti n Ltv e kat Ay trir 1 5 t1 m u , Ito 1 1 In 1111