The Sun. — London, England, 1840-07-09 00:00:00

"je stand • Acen's carriage at the tim e; as c l ose as I cou ld 1'414. within a verd of it. Th e pr i soner d roppe d hi s , :and stood. He was s urroun d e d, an d I saw no more • - aim. By the CoUltT—Hc fired the second pistol across the road, or rather behind, Cross-examined by Mr. SIDNEY TAYLOR.—When I turned round I se:v the prisoner drawing out the first pistol. Wh e n he fired the secerid pistol he might be about two yards in the rear of the carriage. The second pistol was printed across towards file wall. There are several . trees about there. Re. examined by Mr. Wiens' me N. —The fiish of the pistol ern e over the head of the ce;;lttge ; the whizzing was near my night car. .e7 ,,l esaten—Earanfned be the ATTORNEY-GENE RAL. —1 tnbin , t- atal,er at Prince's-street, Leicester mu ire. was Censtitutien hill on the evening of 1641 ' . Ite last, about 200 Nards from the marble en t rance to re r .'slace un the garden side. I head a pistol fire • Ina? about twenty-five yads from the carr iage; the cats liar,e was nearer the palace ban. I wss ; I was its company `W.th my brother. I crossed the road, aura while runtim e • down when I came abreast of the horses I heard a semen(' report. I ran on; the carriage stripped, and her Mejesty a, ose and Linked round ; I passed it and ran to the tire where I saw the smoke. 1 saw two persons, the eac with his back to the railings on the Park sat e . A tamale pointed and said to me, that is the man that did it ; I judged it to be Albert Lowe. I said, . 4 You confounded rascal, how dare you shoot et our Queen ?" Oxford, the prisoner at the bar, said, " I did it ; I giv e eieelt up ; go quietly." He was theta, taken - inte Custody. The mob rushed in and seized me, /It'd knocked the pistol out of Tay hand. I was seized, and kicked and torn, and was taken into custcdy. The police took me to the station house. I saw the prirener there. I was locked up and searched previously , I saw Oxford in the Inspector's office. I asked fe e - a draught of cold water, and prisoner said be should 'eke a draught also. He turned round and 0 Is t`,le, Queen hurt ?" I said to him, 4 . What did you put 'in the barrels ?" He said, " There have been a d n zeP, persons asking mc questions, and I shall answer no Mere." There was a pistol on the table ; and I wiped ?powder out of the muzzle of it. I had previously wiped powder out of the pistol I had taken from Albert Lowe, and had marked it. I picked it up after the mob had knocked it out of my hand, I never lost sight of it until I had marked it. Lowe and Oxford both had hold of it at the time I wrenched it frors them.—( The pistol was hero produced and Hentified by the witness.) By the COVET—It was fifteen or eighteen yards from *here the carriage stopped that I saw the prisoner and Albeit Lowe. The second pistol must have been fired at a distance of eight or ten yards from the carriage. (This witness gave his testimony in a most eccentric meaner, which frequently elicited bursts cf laughter.) Charles Brown—l am a policeman, and was on duty at Buckingham Palace on June 10th. I was standing on r) .ie steps, at the se teh wing when her Majesty's carriage - 1. „,,,„ ( 1 . I Iseard a shot fired, and went towards the where the 'sound proceeded from. I heard a second sho, and met a gentleman on horseback, who spoke re mc, and afterwards a mob of people having held of the prisoner at the bar. The Lowcs Lad hold of him. Several voices said " This is the man." I laid held of him. The prisoner said, " There is no occasi.en tr u se v i o l ence ; l am th e man ; I'll go quietly." I y.oceeded with him to the station house. Some ore remarked there might be more of them, and the. prisoura said, " I have friends." Police constable came bp. Wepassed by the Wellington barracks, and !! ,. larle doing so some one said I wonder if there was any ball in .he pistol, and prisoner said, if the belt had come in contact "with your head between the carriage you would h Ise known it. I searched him, and found in his pockeis a key, ji knife, and Its. 61 in silver. In his Iron sers-pocket I found a piece of wadding. I found the mark of the cap on Or.e aide and the hammer en the other. I asked him " o ".at it was for ? He said it was to prevent the pistol 4oin g off, as he did not wish to hurt himself. Ile also *aid—lt I was to go up where it had ocete red I should Ind the other piece of wadding. While we were in t h e Inspector's room different gentlemen asked if .. tie ee were ever any h ai l s i n t h e p i stols. The prisoner sa'.d there were balls in the pistols. I searched next day in. the warden, but found no balls. Cross-exatnined by Mr. S. Teveols—Various persons !acre in the room wh en th e quest i e e es were asked. The t laaeetor as k e d t h e pr i soner his name. I think he asked m , i'ocsut the pistols, but not about b ills being in them. t'.e prisoner said the pistols were loaded weh ball. I Tell' not swear positively to the ex sea words. The garden balls in the garden. I search ed - outside the wall about two hours after the time. I ~, opped a quarter of an hour. A sergeant o f p o li ce an d ',thus were searching. We s e a rc h e d with our hands an d swept up the dust. While I was there n° bal l was round. The dust was brought to the Palace to be sifte'", 'I was not examin e d b e f ore t h e P r i v y C ounc i l B y 11"ot:el.—There were ten or twelve people in the room when the prisoner said the pistols were loaded with bait . EV'ENING EDITION .° THE ARCHIMEDES. TUNE--" Through Erin's Isle.' A sage of yore at Syracuse, Who dealt in mathematics, Invented a machine to pump Spring water to his attics; A wondrous screw the water drew, By spiral revolution, And did the sage's thirst assuae..-,, Or serve him with they who came that wa y, And dail y - The mighty screw. when viewing, In cup and tttl all blessed the man, And il - fank success to screwing. Long age! lied, the sage was dead, 1 1aij i .4 the pump was rotten ; The good old screw, its maker too, Were well nigh both forgotten. When a youth who sprang from British blood, One night when be was dreaming, In fancy crossed the channel's flood With screws applied to steaming ; And from his dream he took the scheme, And screwing now his creed is; So screw along became the song ; Success to Archimedes One fine spying n.orn, at early dawn, The youth—we could'ot find him; He'd gone afloat in a little boat, With his magic screw behind him ; We hailed him as we tacked about, To ask Vl hat he w s doing ; Said he, " ' My mother knows I'm out,' I'm only going screwing ; And screw along shall be my song, And if you doubt the plan, boys, Get up your steam and try the scheme, And catch me if you can, boys." We scanned his craft all fore and aft, We saw his genius clever; hrec shouts we gave clung the wave, With—" May he screw for ever !" With steam and sail of no avail, We tried to catch him fl. ing ; We tried till night, and so we might,— We found 'twas no use trying. So screw along became the song, And screwine still the creed is ; In bumpers true we drink the screw, And England's Archimedes. His work is done,—his laurel's wcn,— And, sung through every nation, The name of Smith must be forthwith The wide world's admiration. Philosophy, with vacant eye, Is lost in iltnt wonder; And Theory says, " Really I I'm and I knock under." Su screw along shall be tbo song, For screwing now the creed is ; In bumpers true we drink the screw, And England's Archimedes. Then myriads flocked to see the ark That held the screw so tightly; And Beauty came to bless the bark That crossed the wave so lightly : And bright blue eyes lit up the decks, Afraid of no more losses, And screws were hung on ladies' necks, And worn instead of crosses. , Names Smith examined by the SOLICITOR GENERAL—. tam one of the police force, and was on duty at Buck ingham Palace on the 10th June last. I saw the Queen 'Come out, and heard a sound of a shot come from the direction of Constitution-hill ;on hearing a second report I proceed e d i n t h at di rect i on, and saw Oxfor d i n custod). of Charl es Brown. Lowe had hold of Oxford. Young Lowe h a d a pistol. in his band. On our way to the sta. tion-house I asked where th e pi s t o l w as , an d y oung L owe pulled one from his bosom, and I told him to take care of to In answer to a question put by some one in the crowd if the pistol a w a s l oa d e d w i t h b a ll , t h e pr i soner said—i• If gave your . h o e el had come i n con t act w i t h t h e b a ll you wou l d "av_t and it." I t oo k hi m to t h e stat i on-houso. of _ xf Cr oss-examined_ or by Mr. BODKIN—Was not t h e answer Oxford, If your head had been at the head of the Petrol you would h ave k nown if t h ere were balls or riot ? ess—No Sir, the words were as have stated them. Gre en p Smith 'sl examined by Si r F. Poocx—l was in the ark, about the middle of the Park on the 10th of last. Jun e There was a railing between me and Consti . aution r s cl_t e ilr e I law the Queen's carriage passing. I th e Por't of a pistol, and saw smoke. I hastened to Crh r, ? =, and. saw the prisoner present a pistol and fire at ah "i•nies%y's carriage. I was fifty or sixty yards from my e earr'atre at the • s,. (l _, time. I got over the railings. I hurt euct m a in doing so. The prisoner was at the time in to, a r. I saw Clayton with a pistol in his hand, and t aaJit'i into custody. I took him to the station house. ook the pistol from him. He was searched. I gave ' h er.istol to him to mark, he marked it, and delivered it to " sector Partridge. _ .. er Cross - examined by Mr. S. TAYLOR—There were out vbt_d. Fay s in att en d ance upon h er M a j esty ' s carr i age. I can nt" ay wh e r e th e y were —th ere were not many p eo pl e i e o a l. ,i ta . e carriage. They were scatt ere d a b ou t on Constitu ;it°i'l• He was about ten er t we l ve y ar d s o n the aide of the carri age w h en be fired the second pistol. It was far directed in a slanti ng di rec ti on towar d s th e t o p o f sao •stituti on-hill, Fred er i c k B arry, examined by Mr. ADOLHIUS--I am in the has employ o f M r . W. H ase, as a genera l sa l esman . H e two shops, one i n Bl ac kf r i ars . roa d, w h ere I atten d as sh been P a r n am I remember the rumour of the Queen having fire', at. About three weeks or a month before that bare sa w p r i soner a t t h e s h o p i n Bl ac kf r i ars - roa d. H e P' aloe for a p a i r o f pi s t o l s an d a p ow d er -fl as k. The r n a e °1 produced has Mr. Hays 's pi ivate mark on it, iv have had such pistols as that recently examined. There acre the pistols bargained for with the prisoner. I asistal t wo guineas f or th em . H e wante d to k now w h a t they w o uld carr y. I sa id 20 or 30 y ar ds. He offeredi t wo sove reiens. I said if lie would not give more , Must take it. He then asked about a powder-fissk. I took one f rom t h e outs id e o f t h e s h op , f or w hi c h h e gave me two shillings. He also purchased two bags for the pistols. These are the bags and flask. I had 11 : n er seen him before. He was bargaining shout ten itr i l utes. lam quite sure he is the man. I know the bee n agai n . Ab ou t t h ree d a y s a f ter the Queen h a d shot at, he saw the prisoner and the articles. Cross-examined—The prisoner was alone when he pur chased the articles. Ir. W. S ampson H ase exam i ne d b y M r . W i on-rman_ have a shop in Blackfriars-road where fire-arms arc sold. The,. • There an entry of the sale of pistols on May 4th in my d al-book, John Joseph Gray, examined by Mr. G U RNEY-31y hi ther keeps a shop in Bridge road, Lambeth ; I assist him ; 11 _ sell caps. On Wedsesdav, 31 June, prisoner bought "ta percussion caps; he bought half a hundred; he asked if I kept bullets. I told torn no. I recommends d tins to a • a a gunsmith Parliament-street. He wanted to know if I had any small canister gunpowder. I shoved him t ome, whi e h h e sa id was no t sma ll e nough ; he did not uY any. He tried four caps on his pistol. I had known the prisoner some years back in the same row where I am l iving now. I was at school with him about eight or nine Years ago. He said he was the same person, when I feigned not to know bim when be first came in. I asked I; 41 1 wh at h e b a d b een d o i ng . He said he had lately come r eal Birmingham, and was in the public lire. aidY the COURT—I feigned not to know him because I not wish to renew the acquaintance. I did not observe an ything odd in his appearance. o Sir H enry Wh eat l ey exam ined from the B e nch—l am Two statements, said to have been made by this Keeper of her Majesty's Privy Purse. I went t o the sta- miscreant on the Friday and Sunday before his ex. ti u house where Oxford was in custody, and saw him in ecution, have been published under the sanc tion o f the cell. He came forward when the door was opened, the Chaplain of Newgatts. They were written, ac and said, " Is the Queen hurt ?" Some conversation en sued. He "said he was a bar-boy, and bad been out of cording to the newspaper accounts, in French by place about ten days. do not r ecol l ect that h e said an y Ceurvoisier for the Rev. J. Carver, and of all the t hing about the pist o ls. He said be had been in the Park disgusting, fictitious, and canting effusions that about four o'clock, and had seen the Prince coming as he have ever issued from the eels of n.urderers, these °unposed from Woolwich. Lord Uxbridge was with me. are, without exception, the most offensive. The Lord U x b r id ge —O n June 10, I saw the prisoner at the b ar. On opening the cell door he asked if the Queen m an who murdered his master for the sake of his was hurt, I sa id, o How dare you ask such a question ?" property, and who afterwards adopted the most in- He said he had been shooting a good deal lately—that be genious mode, perhaps, ever contrived of concealing was a good shot with a pistol, but a better with a r i fl e. his horrible crime, is made to say in one of these He said the pistols had been given him on May 3, and effusions, that he is not the guilty person, but Satan m oney also, and that he could have as much as he liked. I said, " Th en , Si r , you have fulfilled yeur engagement?" alone is to blame, and in the other that Christ is his He said be had not. I said, " You have as far as the friend, and promised him repentance and admis attempt is concerned ?" and he was silent. sion into the kingdom of God. We can hardly Cross.examined by Mr. BODKIN—I did not state who I conceive it possible that the Chaplain of Newgate, or w a'n There was no reluctance on his part to answer me. minister of the' French Protestant church, Samuel Taylor—l have known tire prisoner about twelve the months. I r emember hearing the Queen had bee n fired would have encouraged the miserable wret c h I t. I saw prisoner the evening before that. He showed to outrage religion and virtue by such indecent and tte a pistol, and said he had been firing at a target. I such immoral statements, but at the same time we asked him if the pistol was loaded, and he said it was. must say they have incurred great responsibility by Thoma s Greenwood Lawrence—l live in Victoria-street, White Conduit fie lds, and am a p erfumer. I know a pub. allowing them to go forth to the world with the Ij e•hnese called the Hog in the Pound, Oxford - street. sanct ion of their names. We give two extracts, „ risoner was barman there in Fsbrusry last. I went one f and we think these will satisfy every impattial '",Y with kim and a man named Roach into Hyde Park atea(le - r r that a Swiss valet ne v e r before known for about four o'clock. There was some conversation about t he Queen. I said to Oxford I suppose the p‘ Nile are an y thin g like religious feelings, but accordin g t o hi s '' • f'a'king for the Queen. sle said they will be disappointed, own confession a confirmed liar and a dehauchee, f Jr she is at Windsor. He quitted his service about May ! was not likely to make such wild demonstrations of • One evening whits I was there in the parlour atter he Left he came i n and said he had lost half a sovereign in a bet piety arid repentance, cr draw them u p i n such a t the Shooting Gallery, Leicester-square, respecting language. The first part relates to Satan, anti of sh oot i ng at the bull ' s eye ; h e showed nie a flatten , d bail , all the crimes in which this personage has been roach ca.d thst he aas Innis; fit so shoot at a I'+,s-stack impliented this is ccrtaiiily not the 1r oust, These than as a target. 1 arc the w ord. of Cour voisier its certified by Mr. The Hon. .1: A. Murray—Examined by Mr. WIGHT -11". --I am a brother to Lord Elibank. I was oa Con. Carver a tNion-hill on loth June; the prisoner was close o the time I was at Carnden-hill I read a " During So screw along is still the song, And screwing now our creed is ; With Europe's fame is wreathed the name, Of England's Archimedes. COURT CIRCULAR. The Duchess of Kent visited her Majesty yesterday. Viscount Melbourne had an audience yesterday of the Queen. The Royal dinner party at the Palace last evening, in cluded the Earl of Surrey. Earl of Uxbridge, Viscount Melbourne, Lord Barham, Lord Frederick Filzclarence, and the Hon. William Cowper. The Band of the Royal Regiment of Horse Guards was in attendance at the Palace during the evening. The Duchess of Kent visited the Princess Augusta yesterday at Clarence House, St. James's. The Duchess of Gloucester and the Duke of Sussex also visited her Royal Highness yesterday. Tire Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, attended by Lady Augusta Somerset and Baron Knesebeck, honoured Mon. Guizot, the French Ambassador with their company at dinner last evening, at the residence of his Excellency in Manchester-square. The Duchess of Gloucester and the Duke of Sussex, visited the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge yesterday. A Cabinet Council was held yesterday afternoon, at the Foreign office. It was attended by all the Ministers. The Council sat four hours. The Judicial Committee of her Majesty's Privy Council sat yesterday. The Lords present were Lord Brougham, Mr. Baron Parke, Mr. Justice Bosanquet, Mr. Justice Erskine, and the Judge of the Admiralty Court. Sir Frederick Pollock and Mr. Burge, Q. C., for the appellant, and Mr. Sergeant Stephen, for the respondent, were beard in an appeal from Grenada, Wells v. Sanderson. Lord Brougham, on the part of their Lordships, reversed both orders of the Chief Justice, the respondent in the case. STATE OF TRADE. (From the Manchester Guardian.) The market yesterday was exceedingly dull, both for goods arid yarns, especially the litter. The wet unfavourable weather we are having appears to exercise a very depressing effact upon business, coming, as it does, in addition to the local causes of flatness ; and the tendency of the market was downward, though many manufacturers preferred holding on to accepting ab•olutely lower prices at present ROCHDALE FLANNEL MARKET, MONDAY, JULY 6. —We have had an extremely flat market to-day—in deed very few buyers have attended—and the business transacted has been less, if possible, than that of last Monday. There is a prevailing belief that wool will be loser, and that has its influence in preventing mer chants from purchasing. The wool market has been quite as gloomy as the piece market, and the manu facturers have bought very sparingly. HUDDERSFIELD MARKET, JULY 7.—This was much of the sante sort of market ap last week ; at any rate nn worse. Buyers were numerous, and a fair quantity of goods changed hands ; but they do not advance in price, nor can a profit be realised generally upon the nrinufacture. The unsettled state of the weather ope rati s unfavourably, rise a more animating state of trade would exist. Wools may be quoted as firm at last week' prices. The warehouses are doing an ave rage trade for the season. COURVOISIER. Tlll4 l , SUN. LONIION, 113 USDA, JULY 9 ; 184 t me when be fired the first pistol ' • my horse reared I book containiN the history of thieves and murderers on hearing the report ; I saw the prisoner take a being under tile dominion of Satan (I read it with second pistol from his breast and take deliberate pleasure), I did not think that it would be a great sin air„ ; he was about twenty yards off; I tried to ride to place myself among them. On tlae contrary, I ad at him—he fired and smi:cd. I saw a rna:k on the wall in mired their skill and their valour. I was particularly rather a slanting direction from where he stood. It is such i struck with the history of a young man who was a rn.y.rk as a bullet might have made, about the size of the I 1 born of very respectable parents, and who had -- palm of my hand. A white mark. I have no doubt on his property in gaming and - 1 ' and - ruc my own mind that it was ptodueed by it. t r var . ds went c- .... ~,euattehery, a*- , Cr3Fs-examined—l looked for the bullet but found none. ..u.ii place to place stealing 411 he. eonld. Nor did I find any piece of brick. Re-examined-1 have frequently seen r , • - . aamired his cunning., instead . c.sf fe'...line h6irilled at it ; (laced by firing bullets against ....„ marks pro. and now 1 r ea p but 'c o b we ll t h e f ru i t o f t h ose papers - - fired in a slanting dir . _WAI i. The fist shot was and hooks which I had too long suffered to supplant hill. ..,etton ; the second was fired up the d evot i ona l wor k s, and th i s book—yes, thiS book-- - :ca' * ' Hon. W. 0 Stanley—l was in the Park on June 10, Inst I was about 200 yards from the spot when the pistols were fired. I w , s cumin. from the reservoir. I went to the wall about ten minutes after the pistols were fired. I saw a mark which aprared ti 'nave been decidedly made by a pistol. I have frequently seen marks made by pistols. read by roe with MOre attention roan the Holy Bible, Why so? ilc.s.cause my heart was under the dominion bt Satan, ar.d I had forgotten for more than a month to pray to God, or to read his word ) and per. haps I had not prayed to this Divine Saviour sincerely and from the bottom a my heart for twelve months. ' Thou honourest me with thy lips while thy heart is Crost-exajnined by Mr. S TAILOR—Where the bullet oreck it appeared to me that the milt was circular. About fourteen yards yards higher up the road there was another fresh mark. I examined the wall twenty yards on either side, and found no marks. I to-eked on the ground, but s,itc no bullet. I m.ide no search, for I d'd not think it likely I should find one. The height of the wall is 14 or 15 feet. Re-examined—l have no doubt in my own mind but that the marks in the wall were produced by a bullet. The Court then adjourne 1 for refreshment for a short time. (To be continued in our SECOND EDITION.) far from me, wherefore thou honourest me in Vain, am thy words condemn thee instead of justifying thew But all I have just said did riot satisfy the wicked desires of my heart. I have not been contented with robbing my master, having satisfied the devil, when slave [ was. My master thought the his guardian and the protector of his property. Oh, what a Judas I have been—of what sins have I not been gUilty 7 if I ask myself what toentnandinint have 1 transgressed ? my conscience tells Alas, I know well that 1 have taken 'ratan as my God ; this is contrary to the first commandment. 2d. I have 'adored the riches and the pleasures of this world, and I have loved them ►more than God. 3d. I have often taken the name of the Lord in Vain. 4th. I have made the day of the Lord my day of pleasure and amusement. sth. I have disobeyed tkly parents. 6th. I have murdered. 7th I have been in company with notorious debauchers. Bth. I have robbed. 9th. I have spoken ill of my nlghbour. 10th. I have desired the wealth of others. God says, however, that he who transgresses only one of his commands shill be excluded from the kingdom of Heaven. He says that neither hypocrites, nor liars, nor thieves, nor murderers, shall enter the kingdom of God. I am, however, guilty of all these ; and the good actions that I have done during my short life will not weigh as much in the balance of the justice of God as the wicked thoughts of my heart. If the transgression of a single commandment couses me to be condemned to death by the hand of man, what do_ deserve at the hand of God after having disobeyed all the law, which is the commandment of God ? What punishment do I now deserve ? If, when I enjoyed a good character in the eyes of men, I was an abomination in the sight of God, what am I now before the Eternal? If I am the greatest of sinners in the eyes of my feiow-creatures, how shall I appear in the eyes of Him who knows all my actions, my words, and my thoughts ? Condemnation and eternal sufferings are the portion I deserve." The following statement however shows that he had no occasion to dread either condemnation or eternal punishment—on the contrary, that he was assured of being received into the kingdom of God : " Oh ! my God, how guilty have I not been with regard to thee ! Oh, wretch that I have been, have I not rebelled against thee ? have I not done what is con trary to thy commandments ? and, however, after having done all that is hateful in thy sight, yes, to thee alone can I look for refuge and consotatien. Oh, Lord receive see into thy eternal happiness, for the sake of that Divine Saviour whom I have crucified afresh ; yes, that Jesus, of whom, like St. Peter, I have denied again and again ; whom, like Judas, I have betrayed with a kiss ; whom I have scorned ; and after all I have committed against him, he deigns to call himself my friend, my Saviour, my advocate and intercessor with God his Father, and promises me, at the same time, repentance and humiliation, and through the precious bloo I of the Lamb of God, I may be washed from all my sins, and be fitted to be received into the kingdom of God." This is certified by C. Bauf, Minister of the French ProteSta.nt Church in London. THE BANK OF ENGLAND. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. SIR—As your paper is to be found at all commercial houses throughout_ the length and the breadth of this land, and much nonsense is continually current respect ing the actual security of the issues of the Bank of England, and its ability to discharge its obligations in specie, miy I be permitted to notice through the medium of your columns the extreme ignorance, which even in otherwise well-informed circles appear to prevail on this very important subject. The cap:tat of the Bank of England is £14,553,000 Surplus as per last statement, Juno 23, 1840 2,249,800 Total £16,802,800 Of this the Bank has— Lent to Government £14,686,800 Bullion in hand, June 25, 1840.. 4,434,00(, Total. £19,120,800 And their circulation at the same date being only 16,871,000 Leaves a surplus of - £2,249,800 in favour of the Bank of England. So that if the present was a time of panic, and the public should think proper to run on the Bank of Eng land, all that it would be necessary for the Bank of England to do, would be to pay away specie to the extent of 2,184,200/. being the difference between 14,686,800/. lent to Government, and 16,871,0001. the amount of their circulation, and then to turn round on the,Government, and say, have the goodness to give us back 14,686,8001. of our notes. The Government would turn round on the people and say," We have had of the Bank of England, tor your use, and expended in your" service, 14,686,800/. of their notes, and as you are become so clamorous that nothing but gold shall circulate amongst you, we must now trouble you for these notes back again through the channel of either loans or taxes, and there will be an end of your ability to run on the Bank. of England, and of the Bank of England's liability to yin, or any one else, for one farthing." In fact, we are arguing in a circle. The Bank of England, after pa)ing in specie 2,184,2001., owe the public 14.686,0001. in respect of its circulation of notes, and the public, by the Government, owe the Bank 14,686,800/. ; ergo, the public have Government secu rity for every shilling of bank-notes in circulation, and the Bank of England could pay in specie every note that could be brought against it. We have at the present time a Bank Committee sit ting, to discover, if they can, a remedy for the evils of the present system. We have Joint-stoek Banks with thousands of partners and millions of nominal capital stopping payment, and throwing the whole country into confusion. What is the only remedy? I will tell you. Compel every concern, either joint-stock, individual, or by whatever name it may be called, who may be allowed the privilege of issuing promissory notes, to do what the Bank of England in reality has always done—deposit in the hands of the Government full security for every shilling of paper money they may be allowed to issue, and then let them manufacture Is., 25., 55., 10s., or any other denomination of note that may suit their fancy, to the end of time. _ _ The partners or contributors to such a security fund will be apt to be very cautious on what security they give out their notes, and may often quake for their re turn ; but no panics could a rise, because the poor holder could in no case be turned from the counter unpaid, and the trade and commerce of the country instead of fluc tuating, as it now does, more often than the daily tide, would not be exposed to the inexperience of some, or the infatuation of others, but would be confined within legitimate channels, and restricted to the wants of the community. The great prudence with which the Scotch banks have conducted their concerns would almost warrant their exemption, but their system, in principle, is equally vicious ; and therefore, Sir, before permanent security can be obtained for our circulating medium, panics pre vented or counteracted, and the trade of the country " can hold on the even tenor of its way, to this corn plexion must we come." A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER. Edinburgh, July 3, 1840. [ln inserting this letter we must remind our readers that we regard banking and the issue of notes as mere private business, with which the Government has no more concern than with weav'ng or spinning. We do not agree with our Correspondent, therefore, in requiring security from bankers any more than from other traders, that they shall not issue any paper which they cannot redeem. That must be left to individual prudence. His is Mr. M'Culloch's plan, but we have never seen reason to assent to it. The money lent to Government is so much capital abstracted from use, and those who are called on to lend it may not at the same time, though they may be able to drive a flourishing business as bankers, have, moreover, enough to carry on their busi ness. The Bank of England, it is plain, has not. Money vested in public securities cannot be realised on a sud den, and though it would be an ultimate security, it would be no guarantee, as we know from what happened in 1826 and 1838, against a run on the Bank, and against the danger of stopping. We have too little con fidence in the wisdom of statesmen to encourage them to extend their meddling, and we would rather that they should allow banking and banks to settle their own affairs than interfere with what they do not comprehend. Our acute Correspondent, too, omits to notice that the Bank of England receives interest on the fourteen millions it has advanced to Government, but it pays no interest whatever on the fourteen millions borrowed from the public ; on the contrary, in so far as it puts its notes into circulation by discounting bills, it takes interest from individuals for the use of the money it borrows at no interest from the public. Does our Cor respondent mean that other banks are to play the same game? Whether he mean it or not, they would ; and the public would be taught by the Government taking their security, that they had the sanction of the Legis lature for playing it. Though we do not agree with our Correspondent, and have taken this one opportunity to express our disagreement, and to make it once for all plain that We a! .511311 be glad to hear e not bound by his opinions, we from him again. —ED. SIN.] imMIt4RAII6N_ IN THE WEST INDIES. •To 7.118 Liii7Ok bl' 11-ft SUN. Sir—ln /'he Sl u t of Monday, the itb, is an atticle irPon ,in the Colonial Gazette, entitled " now to s ave th e W es t I n di es a nd aboliah Negro Slavery," in which you lean to the opinion that the Weit India proprietors are not earnest in Anonr desire for the immigration of free labourers, and that you discredit that the Government and abolitionists throw obstacles in the way of such immigration." Should you be disposed to look further into the ease as regards the West India proprietors; you will find that those of British Guiana at least have most anxiously at heart the immigration of free labourers, and most natu rally have, as being the only means of saving their pro; poetics froth ruin, and tile only possible way they can look forward with hope to the resources of that invalua able colony being called forth. Any one that has vi sited it will be ready to admit from the luxuriousness of its soil, and the extent of its territory; that with suffi cient free labour it would not only be able to supply Great Britain with sufficient colonial produce, but pro bably the whole of Europe. Can any one then, for an instant, doubt that the proprietors of British Guiana rest all their hopes on a plentiful supply of free labour, under whatever salutary restrictions this necessary boon be granted % Now, as to the difficulties and obstacles which they have hitherto had to encounter in oba taming immigrants. In the first place the Coolies ars prevented from emigrating by Orders in Coun cil, but even were they permitted to leave India the expense of their voyage, outfit, and provision oh the voyage would have to be defrayed by the parties who sought their services, which, as matters stood, they could only securely advance by having a guarantee under the form of an indenture, or some engagement that such men, on landin g in the colony they were engaged to come to, would either give their services for hire to the parties that had brought them, or, at all events, until such time as the expense incurred had been redeemed or otherwise reimbursed. But, by way of a total bar to this end, they are met on arrival in British Guiana and such other colonies or islands as are governed by " Order.: in Courier (as British Guiana, Trinidad, St. Lucie, &c., &c.) by an Order in Council which cancels all agreemeets made except after arrival in the colony itself. Thus arc the importers of the free labourers Fable to be deprived, not only of all direct benefit for the trouble and expense they have put themselves to, but lose the whole outlay so incurred. So far from the proprietors in British Guiana, at least, being supine as to the immigration of agriculturists, they are making the most strenuous efforts to induce free blacks from the States of North America to come to the colony ; and, from the very favourable report made by delegates from the States that visited British Guiana, to their fellow-race on their return to the States, great expectations are 'entertained that in time a consider able influx of labour will arrive from thence ; in fact already a ship had arrived with about 80, but pro bably of a more independent class than the general mass will be, as these first must in all probability have defrayed their own expenses of passage, &c. It may be wondered why free labour cannot be obtained more easily from the old and worn-out islands, or such as have more labour than they require. The answer is, most or nearly all of these have legislatures of their own, which are naturally jealous of losing their labourers, and pass all kinds of enactments throwing obstacles in the way of their people emigrating. It may be said that these enactments are not law until they have received the approval of the Queen in Council ; but they are in force out there, until disapproved of from home. I have not by me the means of quoting from any such enactments, such as, for instance, passed at Berbadoes by the Legislature there, but any one that will give hanself the trouble to search for these where such in formation can be obtained, will at once recognise the difficulties of " emigration." But should these be sur mounted, there is again the same obstacle on arriving at their destination that is experienced with other immi grants—namely, that no agreement previously signed between the parties is binding on the labourers, and the employers are exposed to lose the expenses they have been put to in bringing them to the colony, un less the immigrants on so arriving will renew their agreement or indenture, being otherwise perfectly at liberty to go to whom or where they like. It. is ob jected to the West Indians, why did they oppose the Government measure for permitting the experiment of Hill Coolies to the Mauritius ? For the best of all rea sons, because the West Indies are not the Mauritius. The West Indians cannot stand by and see the Mau ritius favoured at their expense. They expect either to be, from the first, placed on the same footing as the Mauritius, or if they are not to be admitted to the same boon, they will unhesitatingly continue their resistance 'to its being granted to the Mauritius. Is there anything unreasonable in this ? Let it be remembered, that from the Mauritius the scheme to carry out the immediate emancipation of the apprentices received the greatest opposition, long after it had been cheerfully carried into effect in the West Indies; nor was it effected until strenuously urged upon them from home. In addition to this, the Mauritius are far less deserving of the first fostering attention of the mother country, for, before the emancipation, it is well known that a large proportion of the negroes wera liable to the suspicion of not being even then lawfully held. have omitted to observe that the - proprietors of British Guiana to evince their sinc ere anx i ety for the immediate - introduction of supplies of free labour, have many of them agreed among themselves ti;w . tax themseves two per cent. on last year's . crop, to form an immediate fund to defray the expenses of importing immigrants. and if they are cordially assisted by the Government in their efforts, and the proper regulations and provisions are made to ensure the comfort, protection, and prosperity of " the welcome agriculturists," plenty and abundance will soon make their appearance, the possibility of slave labour in the foreign colonies, competing with free la bour in our own, will be completely routed, and a more than sufficient cheap supply of colonial produce be se cured to the mother country. I have been induced to offer for your perusal these few remarks upon a subject which is not to be viewed with all the calmness and dispassionate examination it deserves, owing to the heat of parties, and, perhaps, co ntending interests. _ _ I can hardly expect you will think them deserving of insertion in your valuable and widely-extended Journal, but I offer them with diffidence, to correct, if possible, what I conceive to be a wrong impression you have been led to form with regard to the %Vest Indians on the subject of immigration. I have myself visited the West Indies, and have seen what a jewel in the Crown of Great Britain British Guiana might be rendered by able and fostering Go. vernment. I visited it nut as a planter, but in the ser vice of my country. Begging to subscribe myself Your very obedient humble servant, A SOLDIER, Queen's Hotel, Cheltenham, July 7, 1540. RAILWAYS. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. Sir,—lt was only to-day that I read some remarks in your paper signed " A Friend to Railways," impugn ing an article of mine in the Railway Magazi ne , on " Railway Income." The a ssertions of your Corre spondent are two-fold—first, that I have understated the revenue and profits of railways ; and, secondly, that I have said it is the fault of the agriculturists that the amount of railway income is not doubled. With regard to the first point, I admit it readily ; all the items ex cept the Leeds and Selby—which is an error—were purposely under-estimated, and the expenditure over estimated,. that I might not in an approximate calculation of such a nature be exposed to the contrary charge, that of exaggerating the income and profits. am well aware that the amount of revenue of the Bir mingham and others during the last half year is in a greater ratio than I have stated ; I believe myself that such ratio will be maintained ; but knowing, as y ou r the count r y generally does not Correspondent must also, that the l ast s i x months ' traffic in a year is of a different c h aracter from that cf the first six months , I should not have been justifi e d in taking the larger sum as an estim ate. With regard to the second poi n t, your Correspondent n m e u v s e t r said 0 equally contribute in some prop ortion to th e traffic of the exist ing lines—that the extor tion of lan downers and agricul turists prevented the income f rom amounting t o five millions—or that the a gricultural interest rimplied have misunderstood that w h at I wrote. I were adverse to the extension of the railway sys tem. What I said then, and what I say now, is that a lamentable apathy exists among the agriculturists with regard to the rail vay system, and that they were suffering by allowing the manufacturing districts to have the monopoly ; that they had created great diffi culties to the existing railways by the exorbitancy of their demands ; and that if railways existed in the dis tricts now destitute of them, the income would be at least doubled. If your Correspondent had taken the trouble to have read what I wrote, he has sufficient knowledge of the subject to have solved all the difficulties he has started, and have saved himself and me the unpleasant task cf intruding upon your valuable columns. I am, Sir, your moat obedient servant, HYDE PARKE. 10, Great Ormond-street, July 8. The Bishop of St. David's was also Dean of Durham, the income of which was, we believe, about 3,000/. a-year. What a noble reward it may be made for liberality in:Churchmen. Of the 160 pigeons sent , off from P ar i s t h e ot h er morning, between six and nine o'clock, and which belonged to two societies at Liege, twelve arrived at that town by half-past eleven the same day, and in the course of the next day on hundred in all had returned home. Mr. Townley has paired with Mr. Sotheron from Monday, 6th July, to the 17th. LfTEIIATuitk. . _ THE S',2'AGE. Vols: Bentley, London, 1840. From the motto affixed to tbd title-page of these volumes we were prepared for much personality ; an d we have not been disappotntee. Mr. pun, conceiv ing himself, to have received injury at ,the hands or certain individuals, expresses his opiniond of those indiViduals is no very gUarded terms—in fact, shows himself quite a ho! cross-bun. (This is a villainous pun, but the temptation td perpetrate it was iN resistible' and we trust, therefore, that oe'r readers will generously accord us their forgiveness.] Without entering inio i,113 qtiestion of Mr. Bunn's likes and dislikes, with which we have kitaiit to do, and which can be a matter of moment solely to the parties coneerhed, we may say that he has produced a very readable work, full of anecdote, not wanting in brief but racy sketches of character, and penned in an easy colloquial. style, Mg against one of the author's peculiarities, we must beg to enter otir most serious— our most impassioned protest. He is cruelly addicted to quoting his own poesy, which is a lamentable weak ness, and prbduees the. most distressing effects on the reader's nerves. So long as he confines himself to plain prose he acquits himself passably enough ; but the instant he " ritehes into rhyme," he administers so potent a soporific, that it becomes a matter of very consider able doubt, whether or not the reader will ever wake again. Let Mr. Dunn take the friendly hint, and henceforth diligently eschew the poetics As regards his defence of his long management of the two patent theatres, we must do him the justice to say, that we think he hag made out a strong case in his favour. It was his duty, as manage!, to cater for the public taste ; and if he found that Macready's representations of Sbakspeate's characters did not attract the plays goers. he was perfectlY justified in having recourse to melodrama and opera. In the course of his volumes he frequently discusses the question of the present detaining state of the stage, which he attributes in great part to the enormous salaries paid to a few principal performers, which have the effect of crippling the manager, and re stricting the sphere of his exertions. Doubtless this is true, but it is not the whole truth. The great cause of the decline of the drama, we take to be the dearth of first-rate tragic and comic actors. Ster ling comedy is almost lost to us 1 and in tragedy, we have but Charles Kean and Macready ; and these play, not together, but on difteretit nights: What inducement then have the public to attend the -theatre, where the odds are that they will see a play of , Shakspeare, or of Congreve, Farquhar, or Colman, not efficiently represented, but most villanously bur lesqued ? Mr. Bunn's recollections of Malibran— of whom he seems to have been an enthusiastic admirer—are among the pleasantest portions of his work, and give us a highly favourable impres sion of her character. All his anecdotes of this gifted songstress are told with archness and spirit, but indeed he shows himself, throughout his volumes, an excellent hand at telling a story ; in proof of which, we may refer to his numerous" Eilistonia," which we prefer even to those chronicled by Charles Lamb in his Elia. As the work will soon be—if it be not so already—in every body's hands, there is little or no need fo r us to (Jive extracts from it ; we s h a ll con t en t ourse l ves , therefore, with the remark that it does not disappoint expectation ; but that we should have been better pleased with it, had the author refrained from giving numerous letters from his correspondents, which—so far as we can judge from their contents—were never intended for publication. THE lONIAN ISLANDS. The following extract is at direct variance with the statements of Lord John Russell and Sir Robert Peel in the House of Commons on the occasion of Lord Charles Fitzroy moving an ad dress to the Queen for the appointment of a Commission to inquire into the complaints of the inhabitants against the lonian Government, but we give it, as many of the statements are confirmed by private letters, and also on the principle that both sides should be heard Lord Charles Fitzroy will brim). ° the subject a ga i n before the House on the 16th instant, when we trust' a full explanation will he given, of the steps taken by the Colonial Government to answer the complaints made against Sir Howard Douglas : [From the Greek paper, the 'Ascvv, No. 151, published at Athens.] Since the discovery of the pretended Russian conspiracy in Greece, the lonian Islands have been the-_scene of the following illegalities and persecu tions:— 1. The imprisonment of - M. Maurovenni. 2. The banishment of the clergymen and five gentlemen from Cephalonia. 3. The banishment of four citizens from Zante, and one of the most venerated of the clergy. 4. The banishment of a citizen of Ithaca. 5. The banishment, without trial, of two youths from Corfu. 6. The sufferings of Dr. Pilarino and the re corded order for his banishment. 7. The death of the virtuous liazi from political persecution. ..s _ 8. The blockade of the whole country as regards Greece. 9. The seizure and confiscation of private letters at the pelit4ffliiii, 10. The offered to the Greek. Consul by the absolutistu,of Sir H. Douglas. 11. Thelkinticiliiiri visits upon M. Mustoxidi, the Counts Capo d'lstrias and M. Petrizzopu!o, .and the seizure of all their papers. 12. The double prorogation and subsequent dis solution of the Legislative Assembly, for its op position to the plans of Sir H. Douglas, &c., &c. Sir Howard_ Douglas, as every one knows, is seated on the throne of Ulysses, but unlike that hero, he plays off his tricks, not upon his enemies, but against those whom he was sent to protect. Why is Sir H. Douglas, the worthy follower of Maitland and of Castlereagh, allowed by Lord Palmerston, a Liberal, to give to the world such proofs of his liberality and philanthropy ? In a sudden fright at some phantom of a plot, he seizes on the papers of the most distinguished citizens, without knowing why ; and then dis patches his son to Athens on an embassy, to find out a reason for it. The son sends him word that there is a great deal to be told, but that he knows nothing about it. In the interim Sir Howard picks out a new Assembly to his liking, banishes the most eminent citizens, persecutes and insults the Greek Consul, makes a vast noise throughout Eu rope, and then comes back the son to say that he has found out nothing, that there is nothing to be found out, and that not a doubt, or even the shadow of a suspicion can be entertained against M. Mus toxidi, the Counts Capo d'lstrias, and M. Pc trizzopulo. Thus, then, lonian citizens are insulted, banished, imprisoned, tortured ; the most venerable and vir tuous of the lonian clergy degraded and banished ; eminent men without guilt and without trial de prived of their liberty ; private letters broken open ; the prosperity and commerce of the country ruined ; tire divine gift of the press chained up ; books and newspapers prohibited to be introduced under pain of imprisonment and torture ; the unfortunate pri soners flogged at discretion by the guards of the pol ce ! And for what ? Because Sir Howard Douglas, the representative of the Protecting Sove reign, wills it. RAILWAY COMMUNICATION. FOURTH REPORT. THE SELECT COMMITTEE appointed to inquire into the STATE OF COMMUNICATION BY RAILWAYS,IO whom several petitions were referred ; and who were em powered to report their opinion and observations, together with the Minutes of Evidence taken be fore them, from time to time, to the House, have further considered the matters to them referred, and have agreed to the following Report : A. considerable number of petitions have been referred to your Committee, suggesting the justice and expe diency of altering the present system on which railway passengers are taxed. Much evidence upon this subject was collected by the Committee on Railways during the last Session of Par liament, and your Committee have also entered fully into the same inquiry ; from both which inquiries your Committee are satisfied that this question is of great importance to the public at large, and especially to the poorer classes of the community ; and that, in propor tion as railway communication is extended through the country, the unequal pressure of this tax will be more severely felt, inasmuch as it will be found to limit the accommodation which railways might otherwise bene ficially afford to the labouring classes. _ _ The great advantage which would result to these classes from the establishment of railway communica tion was repeatedly urged as an argument in favour of these undertakings. To convey the labourer cheaply and rapidly to that spot where his labour might be most highly remunerated, was frequently stated to be one great benefit which would be derived from opening these new channels of intercourse, while it was added that the hoalth and enjoyment of the mechanics, artizans, and poor inhabitants of the large towns would be pro moted by the facility with which they would be en abled to remove themselves or their families into healthier districts and less crowded habitations. Your Com mittee believe that Parliament would devly regret to find that the tax imposed on railway passengers had a tendency to deprive the labouring classes of these pro mood advantages, and especially when it is seen that in those parts of the country where the pressure of this tax is most seterely felt, the revenue derived from it is insignificant in amount. The income derived from the duty on railway pas , sengers during the last six years has been, in the years ending olh January 1835 -0,852 8,6g3 1e37 10,296 1838 16,892 1839 39,570 1840 72,716 • . _ A reference td the Appendix will show th a t of the sum of 72,000/ 4 derived from this tax during the last year, 53,0001. was received from the five following lines, namely, the Grand Junction, Great Western, LiverpGol end Manchester, London and Birmingham, London and Southampton ; so that those Railways in Scotland and in the North of England, which derive their income, as connected with the conveyance of pas sengers, chiefly from the poorer classes of society, and which suffer most from the present tax, contribute in a very small proportion to the revenue. The effects of the present system of taxation are very clearly pointed out by witnesses practi ca lly conv ers a nt with railway communication. The present duty on railway passengers is fixed by the Act 2 and 3 Will. 4, c. 120, which states that the proprietor or company of proprietors of every railway along which any passenger shall be conveyed for hire, shall pay for all such passengers at the rate of one halfpenny per mile for every four passengers so conveyed." Every passenger therefore, whatever may be his fare, is taxed to the amount of one-eighth of a penny per mile. It is obvious, that while the tax is the same on each passenger, the proportion which it bears to the fares of different classes of passengers must vary considerably. The operation of this tax is well illus trated in the observations of Mr. Smith, the assessor of stage-coach duties : " Suppose a line of 120 miles and three elasses of carriages ; suppose the first class tire to be 3d per mile or 305., the second class to be 205., the third class to be 10s., the duty on each pas senger would be 1,5 d." This is a large proportion on the lowest fare, end it; effect must be to prevent railway Directors reducing their charges for the accommodation of the poorest class of passengers. A c o izparisr of the mileage duty with the fares of di ff erent ran.:2ys will be found in the Appendix, from which it will be seen that the proportion of the mileage duty to the fares on the London and Birmingham is 1-22 d, while on some of the Scotch railways it amounts to 1-102 d, and in one case even to 1-6th. By examining the fares actually paid on different railways, it will be found that, while, in some cases, the first-class passenger pays a tax of only 31d. per cent on his fare, the third Oa:, passenger is taxed 12, and in some cases 1.5 per cent. The inequality of taxation tends materially to di minish the profits arising from the third-class passen gers, and thereby operates as a discouragement to Railway Companies giving that accommodation which the labour ing class might otherwise derive from railways. The real hardship of this result deserves the greater attention on the part of the Legislature, because railway commu cation ha§ superseded, and in many cases destroyed the conveyance by means of waggons, rati3, and carts, which afforded a cheap though dilatory mode of travelling to the labourer and his family. How much the poorest members of society are interested in some alteration of the present duty may be seen by referring to the evidence of Captain Lawes, in regard to the hand-loom weavers, and also in the answers of Mr. Lindsay Car negie, and other gentlemen connected with the Scotch railways, from whose statements it appears that the tax will, on some of these lines, almost put an end to the passenger traffic, inasmuch as the R iilway Directors mulct raise their fares to an amount which will exclude the chief part of the present passengers from the line. Tna pressure of this tax is now for the first time felt on many lines of railway, because in former years, the Lords of the Treasury have exercised a power given to them by the Act 2 and 3, Will. 4, c. 120, and have allowed many of the Scotch and some of the Eng lish railways to pay an annual composition in lieu of this tax ; this indulgence, however, which was a great accommodation to Companies opening railway commu nications in the poorer districts of the country, is now no longer granted, and your Committee see many ob jections to the future exercise of such a power by the Treasury. In considering the question of railway taxation, Par liament ought not to overlook the facts which were elicited by the inquiries of the Committee of last ses sion, and which tend materially to increase the objec tions to a continuance of the present system. It was stated by the chairman and deputy chairman of the Leeds and Selby Railway that, in the year 1836, they raised the fares on that line to an amount which dimin ished greatly the number of passengers ; but they added, that by this increase of fare, although they lessened their number of passengers by 12,000 in the year, yet they augmented their profits by 1,300/. Evi dence to the same effect has also been given by the chairman of the Bolton and Bury railway ; and a reference to the returns of some of the Railways, con. tained in the Appendix, will further prove the same fact. Wherever the interests of railway proprietors and of the public are at variance, it is probable that the com munity will be in some degree restricted from the benefits which railway communication is capable of affording ; your Committee, therefore, believe it to be inexpedient to continue a system of taxation which tends to separate the interests of the railway companies and of the public, and which will gradually exclude a great number of persons from the benefit of cheap conveyance. Two modes of altering the present system of taxation have been proposed, by which the inconvenience above mentioned would be removed. One suggestion is, to substitute a per centage on the gross receipts derived from passengers, in lieu of the present tax. The assessor of stage-coach duties, an officer in the department o f St amps an d Taxes, has stated that five per cent. on the gross receipts derived from passengers, would produce about the same amount of revenue as is raised under the present system. This would relieve Railway Companies from that inequality of which many complain ; and several of the petitions referred to your Committee recommend this as the best course which could be adopted. Another suggestion has, however, been offered to your Committee, which would be much more favourable to the interests of the public, namely, to establish a graduated scale of taxation, by which the amount of the tax should be made immediately dependent on the amount of the fare ; the great advantage of such a system would be that it would act as a check on high fares, and would hold out an inducement to Railway Companies to ac commodate every portion of the community. A scale of graduation has been submitted to your Committee by Captain Lawes, which will serve to illus trate this plan. Many Railway Companies are limited by Act of Parliament to a maximum charge of 3Nd. per mile for a passenger. Captain Lawes proposes that on all fares exceeding 70 per cent. of the maximum allowed by the Act, a duty of ten per cent. should be levied ; on all fares exceeding 40 and under 70 per cent., a duty of five per cent. should be levied ; on all fares below 40 per cent. a duty of two and a half per cent. should be levied. Mr. Wickham, the Chairman of the Stamps and Taxes, stated his objection to the plan to arise from a belief that such a graduated scale would be evaded, and that the revenue would suffer a loss, or at least would not receive the increase, which may be expected from a continuance of the present system. According to the calculations made by Mr. Smith upon the accounts rendered to your Committee by se, veral Railway Companies, it appears' that there t%ould be a considerable increase of duty by the adoption of tha proposed scale. _ _ _ - Your Committee have examined into the different objections urged against a graduated scale, which are, the danger of fraud, by which the revenue might suffer, and the difficulty of collecting duties varying in propor tion to the fare. It is the interest of every Company that all its ac counts should be kept in a clear and intelligible form, and in this respect the interests of the Company and of the Government are identical ; under a proper system of accounts it does not appear to your Committee that frauds could be practised without detection ; and the mode of issuing tickets adduced by Mr. Edmonstone, or some similar method, would afford considerable facility for the introduction of a graduated scale of duty. Your Committee do not recommend that the scale proposed by Captain Lawes should be adopted, because they think that the duty of 10 per cent. would be too high ; but they would recommend, that wherever no maximum has been fixed by Act of Parliament, 3(1. per mile should be considered to be the maximum, f or the purpose of this graduated taxation ; and that on all fares exceeding 70 per cent. of this maximum, a duty of 7} per cent. should be levied ; on all fares exceeding 40 and under 70 per cent., a duty of 3 per cent, should be levied ; and on all fares below 40 per cent. a duty of per cent. should be levied. They believe that a scale thus graduated would be found more just than the present system, and that, while it would not diminish the revenue, it would afford relief and continued accom modation to the poorer classes of the community Your Committee would further suggest, that if it be expedient that such an alteration should be made, it is desirable that it should be carried into effect with as little delay as possible, because every al teration in the principle of a tax becomes more difficult in proportion to the extension of the traffic to which it applies ; the traffic itself is thereby more deranged, and especially in this case it is expedient that in those dis tricts where railways have been allowed to compound for the existing tax, a substitution to the graduated scale should enable them still to afford accommodation to the labouring class, before they have been induced to aban don their present system of cheap conveyance. Two other subjects have been incidentally brought under the notice of your Committee, on which they are desirous of offering a few observations to the House, The rapid conveyance of troops from one part of the country to another is occasionally an object of great national importance ; and, for this purpose, provision is annually made in the Mutiny Act, whereby in cases of emergency " all justices are required within their EVENING gDITION, several jurisdictions to issue their warrents for the pro s ision not only of waggons, wains, carts, and cars, k€pt by or belonging to any person, and for any use whr..!o- . ever ; but also of saddle-horses, coaches, post-cht.isss, chaises, and other four-wheeled carriages kept far bite. and also of boats, barges, and other vessels used - for-the. transport of any commodities whatsoever upon -any . ,;: navigable river." Your Committee recom mend that Mtn: Lit powers sh ou ld b e ta k en w ith regar d to railway conveyanct;, on payment of a reasonaoe sum in consideration of the ace6:3lmodation required. • - It appears that on the Great Western Railway periments have been made to a considerable extent - , with the view of ascertaining the best means of cou ve3 in: intelligence through the medium of electricity.. There is no necessary connexion between railways a nd this new mode of communication, except that a railwa % possesses continuity of property between two distant. places ;" and, also, that the numerous servants of an establiihed railway are available to protect the ma chinery required for the purposes of this communicein4. Mr. Wheatstone, Professor of Experimental PlAle sophy in King's College, has for some years turned his , attention to this subject, and has, in conjunction with Mr. Cooke, obtained patents for his inventions. From his evidence, which is especially deserving of notice, it appears that there is no difficulty in conveying intelli gence to any part of the island, with an almost instarf taneous rapidity, by means of a few copper wires, and small galvanic batteries. There is great ingenuity in the various modes in which Mr. Wheatstone has applied the power of electricity to alphabetical communications, and your Committee believe that in a short time fur , ther improvements in this mode of intercourse will sim plify the machinery, and render the correspondence be tween distant parts of the island more speedy and cer tain than by means of such telegraphs as have been usually employed. Mr. Saunders, the Secretary of the Great Westerr' Railway, states the expense of constructing the eke trical telegraph on the line of that railway to have been from 2.50/. to 300/. a mile. This description of telegraph, however, when once constructed, is work , .; at a very trifling expense, whereas the telegraph rnyw in use between London and Portsmouth, independent of the original outlay, costs about 3,300/. a-year, and the lines of telegraphic communication to Plymouth, `1 Yarmouth, and to Deal, were abandoned in the year 1816, on account of the expenditure required for their inainLPance. wh enevei • t telegraph shall have been laid down 1 , e.! tween London aid the other ports and tnereanli.:C cities of the island, it toi! 1 give to its proprietors great advantages in obtaining and transmitting informatioe. which must be attended with most important results. For the purposes of the railway itself this telegraph may also be frequently used to prevent the risk of nee-- dents, and to obviate delay and inconvenience. Your Committee are of opinion that circumstances may arise in which it may be very inconvenient tc leave in the hands of a private Company, or possibly of an individual, the exclusive means of intelligence which this telegraph will afford ; and it cannot fail to be of paramount importance that the Government should be furnished with similar means of procuring and trans mitting intelligence, and they believe that no Railway Company will object on fair terms to give every facility to the Government for establishing a line of electrical communication over the whole length of their Your Committee are aware that they have not fully dev - 3loped the great and increasing importance of this sub ject, which perhaps does not fall strictly within the terms of the subject-matter referred to them, but they are most anxious to fix the attention of the House and of the public on a discovery which is no less susceptible of useful than of dangerous application. July 2, 1840. AN TIQUITIES IN DUNDEE. For some time past workmen have been busily en g.tged demolishing the old house, of three stories, ad joining the east end of the Calendering Works of Messrs. Shaw and Company, on the north side of the Cowgate, without the Port, to make way, as we under stand, for the erection of a place of worship in con ncxion with the United Secession Church. It will. he remembered that the ground floor of this tene ment was considerably higher than the level of the street ; and, in digging away the earth, in the course of this week, a large quantity of human bones, with several skulls, were turned up by the labourers. Num bers of these were greatly decayed, and others were in a ,:; . I : :rable state of preservation—one skull in particular, apparently that of a young woman, had the greater part of the teetn remaining, beautifully white, • and . firmly fixed in the upper The bones were found lying without regard to any part;;:nlar direction, as it' they had been hastily huddled together, pnd generally from twelve to eighteen inches only below the level of the floor. The site of a large house, as well as a large surrounding space, in former times bore tit' name if the " S?ikmcnis Zeardis " (Sickmen's Yards), from having been the place where the booths were erented for the accommodation of such as were infected with the plague, when that dreadful scourge depopulated the town between the years 1540 and 1545 ; and thus the faCt of such a quantity of bones ben found at present is easily accounted for. 'Wino Monk stormed. the. ..town in .the year 1651, the assault was made at the east - end adjoining the Cowgate Port, and at that point the carnage would doubtless be considerable. But these relics of morta lity cannot be the . remains of any of those who had fallen in defence of the town ; for this reason, that the house was erected long anterior to that period, as the evidents of the property bear dates so far back as about t he year 1600—hence the bones must be referred to t he era of the pestilenco.—Dundee Advertiser. INFLUENCE OF THE MOON ON THE WEATHER. (Royal Society, 14th May.) " Tab!es of the variation, through a cycle of rin , years, of the mean height of the barometer, mean ten,- rrature, and depth of rain, as connected with prevailieg winds, influenced in their direction by th,-, occurrence of the lunar apsides, with some concludiu,! observations on the result, by Luke Howard, Esq.''-- From the tables here given, the author draws the fo:- i lowing conclusions :-Ist. The barometer is higl'er under the lunar apogee (that is, when site iS f'art'hest from the earth), than under the perigee (when nearest I the earth) ; the mean height in the former case. being 29.84317, and in the latter :29 75542. 2d. The temperature is lower under the apogee than under the perigee ; that of the former being 4S deg, 7126, and of the latter 49 deg. .0336. The mean of the whole year was 48 dcg. .7126. 3d. The .rain of the weeks following the apsis (the point of extreme dis trance), exceeds that under the perigee ; striking exceptions. in the annual result of,nine4ears, the ono in the wettest, and the other in the ; elrieit,.,s:ear tof the e die. With regard to tar wind', -the titithor remarks that those from the north, nortir r east * .and east, prevailed under the apogee 0n,., thirty-eight slays. under the perigee on twenty-one days,; .andihne.from the south, south-west, and west, prevaii . e4Tur;d'e'Ohe apogee en twenty days, under the perigee on thirty eight days. It appears, therefore, that in the clatate of London, the moon in her perigee brings oyer., ua the southern atmosphere, which tends to lower •tlie density. and raise the temperature of the air, oecatiion ing also a larger precipitation of rain. In the apogee on the contrary, there is a freer influx of air from the northward, a higher barometer, a lower temperature, and less rain ; subject, however, to a large additi3n of rain under this apsis twice in a cycle of nine, years, at the times when also the extremes of wet and dry tJtoe place on the whole amount of the year. (The moon is about one-tenth part nearer the earth in her.perigee than in her apogee, a change equal to 24,0011 miles.) THE GREAT WIZARD OF THE NORTH.— This ur;uce of wonder-werkiug has announced the likelihood of his splendid temple of necromancy being closed shortly, net • withstanding the noble patronage with which he has been honoured at the St. James's Bazaar. Leave when he may, we presume there are many thousands in the metropolis who own themselves his debtor for numbers of hours of excikirig amusement. For our own part, on account of the freshness of style with whiok he performs senmingly his marvelloir feats, we can always see him again with the same gratification as if he were a novelty. Yesterday, when we visited his elegant and spacious saloon, we left with the desire of availing cur sidves of repeating the visit at our earliest convenience. his name, when he is gone, no doubt will be long remembered. Her Majesty the Queen Dowager, attended by the Earl Howe, goes on a visit to the Archbishop of York. at Nuneham, Oxfordshire, in the course of the ensuing week. Hi!! Grace has left town, accompanied by Misses Harcourt, lee the above seat. We regret to learn, by our Paris express, that the Right Hon. Stephen Woulfe, Baron of the Exchequer in Ireland, died at Baden-Baden on the 2d. His Lordship bad been for some time in delicate health. ' ARCHIMEDES STEAMER.—The Archimedes steamer, which has created so much interest at the various ports of England and Scotland which she has visited within the last two months, arrived at Blackwall on Tuesday evening, at half past eight o'clock, from Hull, in twenty-nine hours, having contended with a perfect gale of wind and a Geary sea. which for the last twent v.four hours was directly a•head. The Mo narch, a larger and mote powerful vessel, left Hull an hour and a quarter later, and arrived about two o'clock on Ween e ,d a y morning, being thirty-four hours on the passage, under the same circumstances of wind.and sea, which at times flew e 6 1 , 1, pletely over the top of the funnel of the Archimedes; thus showing the superior qualities of vessels fitted with the awes* propeller in a heavy sea, &c. APPEARANCES OF TILE COUNTRY.---Ti:* present state of the crops in the North and East Ridings is such as. to promise the blessings of plenty. The corn, upon the whole, is in a flourishing state, and much more forward than at the same period of last year. Although we cannot, by prescnt appearances, term this a first-rate year, we ma,, safely pronouncc it so far as being not below - , but rather above an average. The turnips are in a forward and healthy state, in some places having passed through the process of hoeing. The later meadows are luxuriant and in full bloom, while in many localities the by n l e n r a thel ly t e e i neighbourhood el o d f s S h e a a v r , - b h o ar ro ve u s g t h, ha w s h f e u r ll e y t e i o „ mm ha e y ne is ed g . been mown, and have yielded well. 1 farmers are, in many instances, nearly a month forwarder with their field business than astyear a this time.—Hull Observer. • The weather, we regret to say, continue:,. wet and cold, and the barometer holds out no hope of a epee change for the better. —Dublin Evening Mail, --,-