The Sun. — London, England, 1840-12-22 00:00:00

F, V EN iisTC4 EDITION .; seems iinf Ilisquent period to de- prive any person, on reasonable Lrounds, of the Power voluntarily to give or withhold his assent to measures of far minor importance than the great Measure of founding and forming society. Because every man in the community, the very meanest, may be affected by tke acts of the Government, to constitute which, by the theory of political society being formed by voluntary agreement, he has given his assent, be has an equal right to a voice in its affairs in all subsequent stages. This is the prin ciple of universal t-uffrag,e. It i s objected to this, that no theorists carry out t he principle. They exclude the youth of both sexes, and they exclude females. But youth are excluded from the same cause as they are excluded from managing their own affairs, their inability, and their dependence on parents. Females are ex cluded, not because they are unable or absolutely dependent, but because in the great majority of cases they have no separate interests from their husbands, brothers, or fathers, and therefore do not require to have separate voices. Nature establishes representative for every family as its head, and, while it is not denied that females have rights to defend, as their interests may be affected by the 4 ets of the Government, it is asserted that the machinery will be simplified by confining the votes to their husbands, fathers, and brothers. There are also certain moral causes of incapacity ; 4 nd lunatics or idiots, who, like children, cannot t eanage their own affairs, and are in a condition of helpless dependence on others, arc excluded from a /nice in the Government, as they are from a voice choosing their own diet and lodging. With these e Xceptions, it seems to us, on the principle of society b eing a voluntary union of human beings, and go /ernment the means they employ to obtain the end of that union, the equal happiness of all, that every Person should have a share in the representation, or t hat no other suffrage but universal suffrage is ra tlgnal and just. If, indeed, society be not founded 1 1, 4 a voluntary agreement, if it grow up, we hardly k now how, and conquerors hare had the greatest share i n fashioning its laws, any suffrage, and 14 tticularly universal suffrage, must be fatal to thei r power, and they will struggle against it, bat political society had its origin in conquest s eems to us the more feasible theory of the two, znd vre can look therefore for nothing but contentions v etween those who inherit usurped power, and those who have had a condition of slavey bequeathed to t han. At the same time, whatever may be just in t he abstract, it is quite impossible all at once to k itieve universal suffrage, on which account we presume most of the Reformers at present, except , th e Chartists, confine themselves to demand i ng h ousehold suffrage, and a new distribution of elec -I°lll districts. To them we give our support. We learn from the Herald, that sonic landlords, I° 'whom their toadies ascribe the character of fine 414 English gentlemeu, have given small sums of m oney, or coals and bread, to be distributed li t t nongst the poor living on their estates. While t4 e , e fine old English gentlemen are claiming great praise for petty charities, they are, in fact, levying tax of 0 65,, per quarter on all the wheat these h 1 .(3 r persons consume, and also levying a tax, ll prop ort i on , on every single article they eat and ti except it be water. The generosity of the : 1 1, 4(1 . 10rds reminds us of the brigand who r having de tr%led a tr,veller of much property, threw him it ek a halt-crown to provide him a bed for the : i6 t• Such a cheap way of makin g their : a ce with GOD and their conscience , sm acks tr, ltr° tlgiy of Popish times. The landlords h o p e ' buy absolution for their man! offences 4 ltist the poor by giving them a plum - pud beg at Christmas. We doubt, however, whether Peopl e will be so easily bribed with their own 41i) neY as were the priests in olden times with a th ane of some stolen booty ; and though the peo i)l „, e May take the landlords' presents to p revent im. th e starvation, we doubt whether th e y will g ive it ' e landlords absolution. They are too knowing °* to b e bribed by receiving back a portion of t heir ow n spoils, and they will be only strengthened 11 encouraged by that portion to demand back all their stolen property. t The Herald, which devotes some space almost f ' ' e 'Y day to defend the landlords , has not yet de :l:ldea itself from the charge we made on Thursday, 1 , 11 4 it is advocating a law which, by its own ad wission, taxes the many fur the benefit of the few. e ha ve waited till now for an answer to our state 114'i, but the Herald has allowed judgment to go default. It stated on Wednesday that to repeal th e Coro,laws, would enhance the power of money, t hich w ou ld a dd to the well-being of all those who 4 ive a settled rate of wages or income, whether cheY he manual labourers or Commissioners of Ex -1:43e1 and whether their income be paid daily, 0 040 11 y, or yearly. Why is the Herald silent on l i 4 topic ? We copy from the Scotsman an Address, which 3 4id to speak the sentiments of all the Dissenters Scotland. It is of great importance, from point tile out s evera l error s committed by the WhiLl i s n : .4 tion to them, and from laying down those prin -4314 by which the bulk of the Dissenters may be illPected to be guided. Their conduct, too, will attended with important political results. If E e Y should form a union with the Dissenters of ngland, they will be so powerful as to have great W higs over the fate of every Ministry. If the w higs will be unable to stand bereft of their 411 Pport, the Tories will be unable to extend, or l'ert to continue the present oppressions of the I lissenters. We have been for some time con- / 'inced that the conduct of the Dissenters has falle 41 ' short of their political and religious principles, 1, hey have been seduced into acquiescence, when t hey ought to have stoutly resisted. The day of su ch unvtorthy submission is now, we believe, t °4 ' 2 ; and the Address of t he Scotch Dissen ter' is the beginning of a ca reer, which will show that the patriotic and disinterested Non-Conformists ° f this age are worthy of their sires, who con q uered fo r liberty, or laid down their lives for its defence. By the arrival of the British Queen at South 411 IPton we have received New York P a p ers of the 4.t inst., being only one day later than the last ar tivkl by way of Liverpool. The British Q ueen br ings four thousand dollars in specie, and sixty passengers, among whom are Baron NORMAN, Of B elgium, Mrs. BUTLER (FANNY KENIELE) and I children, and Mr. LEFFLER, the vo calist, I ' v hose h ea l t h i s sa id to be impaired by drinking the b ad water of New York. Thus tee-totalism has 44 penalties attached to it, especially on the other liide of the Atlantic. The American Papers bring 110 news o f a n y moment. They contain accounts 1 r cnn Mexico and Texas, but they are mere repe litinns of the intelligence already published in The We have extracted from the Nero York ' r lerald some account of the state of theatricals in United States, which shall appear to-morrow, " .111.1 (1 here subjoin the only news likely to interest our Political and commercial readers W. D. MIKENZIE.—The Rochester Daily Advertiser qi) lutains a long report of an examination, held before i tl e a st t ie s e ev :hrler, on the complaint of W. L. M•Kenzie, several r p e e e r d sonsno a w or - late of Rochester had con ,lll,Pired and upon plan, in connexion with the per- L' 1,1" in charge g of the Canadian steam-boat Gore, to carry .1, 1 by force to Toronto, in order to claim the 1001. . 4.°ll".e l d at f" fhimh by e the British Bank,G ve r n T m u e r n o t n . t fir. was C r e a p rn r e e: 4 elited to e o be t e a prime mover ha the :flair; and, in the .°t lrse of the examination, it being ascertained that he I tS still at the Rochester-house, a warrant was issued for 3 2iS Fkrr7 . .t, .(1. l.n .ra! ncrordingly brought before the Court, accumpauied iy couusei, and gave bail for him ap pearance at trial. The Daily Advertiser cautions the pub lic to suspend their judgments until that time." (Flom the Courier and Inquirer of December 1 ) TUESDAY NIGIIT. We find but little to remark on the state of this money market. Money is abundant. Good paper has been taken within a few da•,s at 61 to 7 per cent. per annum. In regard to the general state of bu iness, we think prospects for the Spring business are decidedly good. At the present dull season of the year, little change either for better or worse can take place. The last accounts from Europe being of a pacific character, babe greatly con tributed to remove alarms s‘hich were felt by some on that score, and the certainty of a fine harvest in England, and consequent removal of the principal cause of the embar ra,sinents felt there, it is hoped may give activity to the manufactuiing interest, and produce a rise in the present depressed value of cotton in the English market. In stocks there has not been much activity of tate, ex cept in a few of the fancies. Delaware and Hudson is rapidly rising and in demand. The time of the next divi dend is the 10th init. We annex quotations of stocks:— Offered. Asked. N. Y. State Fire per Cents, of 1845, 94 96 '45, '47, 'SO N. Y. State 5 1-2 per Cents Pennsylvania do. do. 1850, '66 94 941 Phil. cur. Ohio Sixes, 1330 '56, and '6O 9B 98 Ohio Fives, 1850 and '56 lil'n pis Six per Cents., 1860 and '7O 76 791 InJiana Fives, 1863; and 'B9 N. Y. City Corporation Five per Cents., 1850, '3l, '56, '5B, '6O, '6B .. 89 891 Arkansas Sixes , Kentucky do Bask cf United States, in Penns 66 6bl Bank of Commerce, N. Y ... 100 102 N. Y. Life Insurance and Trust Co. 170 174 Farmer' L , ,an and Trust Co B4 841 American Trust Co., Baltimore Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Co 92 93 N. Am. Trust and Bank Co 261 281 Camden a►id Amboy RR lO9 110 Phila. cur. 13oston and Providence RR 931 931 New Jersey RR and Trans. Co 76 sales Mohawk and Hudson R R 7O 71 Utica and Schenectady RR 129 1291 Syracuse and Utica RR llB 120 N. Y. Gas-light Co l2l sales Manhattan Gas-light Co Bll 82 Merchants' Exchange Co 43 44 There has been a brisk demand for European Exchanges, and rates have advanced. The cause of this increased de mand is no doubt to be attributed to the remittances making by States and Companies to pay the interest on their loans falling due on the Ist of January. We quote: — London, 1081 to 1081 Paris, 5 171 to 5 181 Amsterdam, 401 to 401 Hamburgh, 361 Bremen, 77 3-5 to 781 The British Queen steam-ship, which leaves here to morrow, will take out about $400,000 dollars in silver. The whole amount in specie taken out by the packets to morrow will be about $600,000. There is no change in the value of specie since our quotations of Saturday, but the rates will no doubt fall after to-morrow. Domestic exchanges are to-day rather inactive, though of late there has been a great deal doing in them. The Paris Journals of Saturday have all been received, but those of Sunday are still in arrear. The Moniteur of Saturday contains the following official contradiction of a statement which, rather unluckily for the Times, forms the subject of a leading article in its columns of this morning : " Several of the French Journals having announced, on the faith of letters from Constantinople, that the Divan had rrj'•cted the proposition for revoking the deposition of Afehe.ret Ali, and appointed another Paclr , of Egypt in his place, neither the French nor the English Government has received any such news. At the date of the accounts upon which the above report is founded, the Divan was not only ignorant of the convention concluded between Com modore Napier and Mehemet Ali, but even of the pro positions which were to be made to him, in the name of the Four Powers, by Admiral Stopford. This report, therefore, is destitute of authenticity ; and it cannot be doul.ted that, if there were any hesitation at Constanti nople, the Four Powers would induce the Porte to grant to Mehemet Ali what they have offered to him. It is be sides false that a Pacha of Egypt has been appointed. ;net Mehemet, Commander-in-Chief of the Turkish Army in Syria, and provisional Governor of Egypt, having been named Pacha of Adrianople, Zokeria Paella has its placed him, but with the same title of Commander of the Army and Provisional Governor." We ourselves contradicted on Saturday last the report of the rejection by the Divan of the proposal of the Four Powers to restore to MEHEMET _ALI the hereditary Government of Egypt. The Evening Goverinnent organ, the Messager, has likewise the following observations on the statements of the Commerce and the National that the Government had ordered the suspension of the works for fortifying Paris : Several journals announced that the works of the for tifications arc suspended. This assertion is unfounded. The Government has come to a resolution to centralise all that is connected with the fortifications at the Ministry of War, and it is in this sense that the Bill upon this subject has been presented. The Ministry of Public Works has, therefore, had to transfer to the Ministry of War the por tion of the works which had been attributed to it ; but the works have not, on that account, been suspended, and orders have been given by the Minister of War to continue them on ell points." The Journal des Debuts complains with grea asperity of the tone recently adopted by the Eng. li3ll journals towards the war party in France. As the Journal des Debuts has hitherto ably supported the peace policy of the SOULT-GUIZOT Cabinet, we quote the greater part of this article for the purpose of making a few plain, and, we trust, not offensive remarks upon it : " When we are told that there exist among us certain incorrigible parties, acting on old instincts, old passions, and old crimes, which await but an external complication to raise whirlwinds to which our laws, society, and civiliza tion would be the fist victims, we cannot deny that there is at bottom an unfortunate and fatal truth. We consent to say so ourselves, because the matter concerns us, but we do not like others to say so, because it does not con cern them. When we are told that the real mission of France is to improve her agricultural system and the breed of her horses, or that our money would be much better employed or. the docks of Havre than on the port of Dunkirk, we are assuredly much touched by the interest thus tending to make us so many Cincinnatuses ; but we do not like courses of agriculture in English ; and with respect to our money, we prefer spending it unnecessarily in our own way to employing it advantageously through the advice of others " When we see the English journals, because it pleased a Minister of the Administration of the Ist of March to make known his undigested reveries respecting the Bale aric islands, accuse us of usurping territories, we allow ourselves to consider such a charge as rather strange on the part of those who have property of others in every part of the globe. " And, moreover, when we hear them say that the Mi nisters of the Ist of March, whom certainly we do not like, and to whom we show that we do not, have deserved a rope from Europe and the guillotine from their fellow citizens, we feel ashamed and huniilated by this rude assistance, ssbich we reject; and we inquire what right others have to place their foot on men who belong but to the justice of this country ? It was a fatal day when these men represented the country ; but if they have re presented the country amiss, it is our business, and not yours ; it is we, and not you, who bear and pay the penalty. When we see the memory of Lord Holland abar.doned to the hatred of his f e llow.citizens, and his remains scarcely illuminate, to the scurrility of the press, because he is sus pected of having loved France, we ask ourselves what, in fine, are the real sentiments of the people which still terms itself cur all), and with whom it is a crime not to curse us. " Iu truth, we thought that the English journals would have known better how to support what they call their victory ; but it acts on their brain as if they were unaccus tomed to such things. They cannot even preserve that re serve arid dignity which are so easy for those who have suc ceeded, and so painful for those who have failed; they en joy their success as upstarts enjoy their fortune, with inso lence, prodigality, and bad taste. " Al; I we prefer stopping here and being silent to an swering by useless words, since the time is not come to convert them into acts. Let us tell thorn merely that con quering toasts are not lost — th a t every blow tells, and may make wounds that will bleed lon g i f they wish it to be so—that those who still preserve in their hearts regret for an alliance so deplorably broken off, may feel that regret stilled and dinnieished daily, and may also feel that of all resentments, the one which augments the most and forgets the least is the resentment of the vanquished. Madmen that they are not to think that nations heap together, in silence, anger upon anger l" We highly approve of the zeal with which our respected Parisian Contemporary seeks to impress upon us the danger of intermeddling with the inte rior state of public opinion in France. But the Debut, chooses to . forget that we deal not with French politics or French parties as they relate exclusively to France, but as they concern the fate of Europe. It is not because M. TR IERS and his supporters are Frenchmen that we cast odium upon their policy, but because were they to obtain the ascendancy in the councils of the KING an European war, in which we would be unavoidably involved, would be the consequence. Neither is it at all from a spirit of busybodyism, as the Debuts inclines to think, that we point out to Frenchmen how they might better employ their money than in building for tresses and preparing naval armaments, but from a mingled feeling of apprehension for the general peace endangered by such a rmaments, and from an honest desire to see France more prosperous, and necessarily more interested in cultivating amicably relations with her neighbours. France is not one THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1840. ROLLS' COURT.-(THIS DAY.) The Master of the Rolls, on coming into Court this morning, gave judgment in the following cases : IN RE SHARP'S PATENT. On the Bth of October,lB36, John Sharp obtained a r,atent for an alleged invention "for converting ropes into tow, and the improvement of machinery for preparing hemp or flax for spinning," and the specification of the invention was enrolled on the Bth of April, 1837. On the 31st of May. 1838, the petitioner, Mr. Wordsworth, obtained a patent for an alleged invention of improvements in ma chinery " for heckling and dressing flax, hemp, and other fibrous materials." After the date of tbis patent in Sep tember 1838, and before the specification of the peti tioner, Wordsworth's invention was Enrolled, Mr. Sharp btained from the Solicitor-General an order di rected to the Clerk of the Patezts, whereby it was certified that the Solicitor-General had granted leave to Sharp to sign a certain memorandum of alterations in pur suance to the Statute of the Bth and 6th William IV., chap. 83. The specification of the petitioner's invention was enrolled on the 30th April, 1838, before the petitioner was informed of the memorandum of aleration filed by Sharp, and the petitioner Wordsworth alleged that the machinery described in Sharp's memorandum was in sub stance the same machinery invented by him, and therefore prayed that such portions of the memorandum as were descriptive of the invention of the petitioner might be ex punged from the memor a ndum of alterations, and taken off the Rolls. The MASTER of the ROLLS, after shortly recapitu lating the facts, said the question was, whether he had authority to do what was asked, and he was clearly of opinion he bad not. Patents of inven tion were granted on condition that the specifications were enrolled la hisin a certain time. His Lordship had no authority to make any alteration in the enrolment of the patent or specification. The party enrolling the specifi. cation did so at his own peril; and if, in the specification; he stated something by which the patent was rendered invalid, he must submit to all the legal consequences; and those who wished to take advantage of it must do so in a legal course. The statute of William IV. authorised dis claimers and memorandums of alterations to be en rolled with the leave of the Attorney or Solicitor.. Generals ; and if it was filed or enrolled, the same must be deemed to be taken as part of the specifica. tion. Considering the memorandums of alterations as now being part of the specification, his Lordship conceived it ought to be dealt with as such, and not otherwise. If it e ere alleged the enrolled memorandum of alterations con tained clerical errors, and sufficient evidencewas given ofthe fr. c , he should think himself authorised to make the enrol ment accord with the true intention of the party, but it had never been supposed the Master of the Rolls, as keeper of the records, had power to expunge any part of the document. He had delayed his decision (the case was argued on the 6th of November) for the purpose of collecting information, and he found, it had been usual to correct clerical errors. In a case before Lord Gifford the word wire had been written instead af dire, and the amendment was ordered. So also in cases before Sir John Leach the word which had been written int,tead of wheel, and increase instead of inverse, and there were many similar cases, in all of which it had been plainly intended to do no more than to amend tie clerical errors of the agent of the party who had made an enrolment, which was not a true statement of that which the party intended. Being of opinion he had no jurisdiction to make any such order as was asked, the ',petition must be dismissed with 110I.Mfill V. THE CORPORATION OF ARUNDEL. This was a motion to take exceptions off the file for ir regularity, and to discharge an order for settirg them down to be heard. Is Loaosnie granted the motion. WEST V. SMITH. In this case a motion had been made to discharge an order made upon a petition. The objection to the order was that the order itself and the petition on which it was founded, were instituted in a cause which never existed. if S LORDSHIP in giving judgment observed that the order had appeared to him to be clearly irregular, but it had been argued the order could not be discharged on motion, it having been made on petition. He bad inquired into the practice, and was of opinion that the order might be dischartzed on motion.—Order discharged with costs. The consent petitions and short causes having been dis posed of, the Court proceeded with the case of the " Attor nej-General v. Dulwich College," which was not con cluded when the Court rose. COMMON PLEA S.-(THIS DAY.) (Sittings in London at Nisi Prius, before the LORD CHIEF JUCTIcH and a Special Jury.) DE VEAUX V. DILL. This case, which occupied the whale of yesterday, was resumed at the sitting of the Court, when ,The ATTORNEY-GENERAL addressed the Court for the defendant. The Bcngalee was insured in November, 1835, in the sum of 60,000 francs (2,4001.), upon her en suing voyage from Bordeaux, in France, to the isle of Bourbon (not, as through mistake, appears in another part of this paper, Mauritius) and back. The insurance was to expire on the 17th of November following, and he would show that the case now set up by the plaintiff was based in fraud. The Bcngalee, on her voyage out, was somewhat damaged by collision with another French East Indiaman, the Aline, and her captain took her from Bourbon to Mauritius to be repaired, having armed himself with a certi ficate from the Vice- Admiralty at that post against any objec tion on the part of the underwriters for deviation from the course. The cost of those repairs formed part of the present claims upon the defendant, although, in fact, the oe ners had recovered from the captain of the Aline, by whose fault the collision was occasioned. It was alleged that, after terrible suffering in the seas of the Cape, on her return voyage, by which the ship was dreadfully shat tered, and a large quantity of the cargo wes con sequently thrown overboard, the Bengalec arrived at St. Helena. She remained three days, and resumed tier voyages The Captain however made no protest against that part, as to the state of the ship, the loss of the cargo, or the da mage she had suffered since she left Bourbon. Neither did he take in provision to replace what he had thrown into the sea, under pressure of the storm, and in fact did no mere than procure the usual supply of fresh water at that place. But, most remarkable of all, he did not make the slightest repair of his shattered vessel. It was plain that his statement of the previous perils and injuries were grossly exaggerated, otherwise ho never would have dared upon the voyage to France. His log-book wanted that character which could enable the jury to take it even as prima facie evidence. Instead of being as it ought to e T a _ p h t e ain be a daily, minute, and scrupulous account of all material o ccurrences as they took place, it w as written at intervals of weeks at a time, just as the events recurred to his recol lection, or his imagination chose to describe them. His descriptions, of the hurricanes, gales, and squalls which he encountered in such variety and constant succession, were as imaginative as those of Telemachus, like whom he could never have escaped all his perils without the miraculous guidance of a disguised Minerva in his Learned Gentleman then e r read a)) extracts (A from laugh.) 's description of tropical storms. They excited very great laughter, and (as the Attorney-General said) so poetical as to make one trem ble in hearing them, lest the globe was going to ruin. Notwithstandig, all this, not a mast was sprung, nor did the ship take in so much water as to cause any difficulty in keeping her afloat; and this too although her seams were all open, her copper sheathing torn off, and her scantlings flapping in the wind If the Captain's account were only a moderate exaggeration, she must have gone to the bottom ; and yet, in this " hurricane of inconceivable fury," when the masts are nine different times said to be in danger of being carried away by the board, he carried mainsail and top-sails I—(Great laughter.) It should be proved that:the Captain could have entered the port of Bordeaux on the 28th of October; but as the insurance was to expire on the 17th of November he loitered until that time should have passed, and went into La Rochelle, only forty miles from the place of his d:stination, and at the mouth of the same river. At Rochelle there was nothing, even upon their own show ing, which could justify the owners in abandoning the ves sel, for she had never stranded, nor ever been dismasted, The innavigability stated in the reports of the surveyors at La Rochelle was the result of old age and internal decay, and not of perils of the sea encountered in the voyage in sured. The Captain made a protest at Rochelle, within forty miles of his port. But he had made no protest at St. Helena, when he had the whole of the Atlantic to tra verse in his shattered ship, in which he did brave new perils, after only three days' rest, and without repairs. There could be no doubt that if he had not the money to pay for the repairs, the English artificers and merchants at St. Ilelena would not have allowed him to set out upon a voyage of several thousands of miles over the ocean, in so perilous a condition. The fact was it would not suit his purpose to say anything about the matter there. It was not the least suspiciou s part of the case that he put into Rochelle at last, when (as it would be proved) it was far easier for him to enter the Gironde, up hich he could be carried by the tide, without effort, safely into Bordeaux. The Learned Attorney produced a chart, upon which he explained the ground of this statement. La Rochelle was chosen because it was a more convenient place for the completion of their scheme than Bordeaux ; at the time of her entering that port the ship only made an inch and a half water in four hours, and in the incon ceivable hurricane off the Cape of Good Hope she only made six inches in two hours—both facts, as well as her carrying top-sails in the said hurricane, being complete falsifications of the pretended log. The Attorney-Gene ral then proceeded to show, that even according to the French maritime law, as laid down in the extracts read at so touch length yesterday from the Code du Commerce (Napoleon) the insurers were only liable to three per cent. upon the amount of the insurance, if even the statements t he plaintiff were taken to be true. MARLI3OROUGH-STREET. (THIS DAY.) Two vary fashio nabl y dressed young men, who gave their names as Joh n Thomas, and James Cotterell, were charged with drunkenness and disorderly conduct, and as saulting police constable No. 128 of the C division in the execution of his duty. The complainant stated, that between two and three o'clock this morning, while on duty in Bedford -street, he heard a loud knocking at doors in Charles-stieet, Soho• square, f n e d n dan t s and hallooing, On proceed ing several other persons, all of them in a stat e of intoxicati on , altercating quar there er aend ho great foundsh shooting ng de a together in loud and violent language, and causing such a disturbance as to alarm the neighbourhood. On com plainant directing them to go on quietly, the defendants struck him. The defendants most solemnly protested that they never struck the policeman, and called two of their party who were present at the transaction, but their testimony did not at all invalidate the constable's statement, Mr. Lot fined them 40s. each, of those obscure States whose internal political movements exercise no influence outside their own boundary. On the contrary, she can adopt no re solution—follow out no line of policy—give ex pression to no class of political opinions, without, in some degree, affecting the condition of Europe. When, therefore, the English Press appears to in terineddle so much with questions which the Debats regards as exclusively French, it but attests the com manding influence of a nation which, above all oAiers, holds in its hands the destinies of Europe. CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES.—SITTING OF DEC. 19. After some business of mere local interest in the Chamber, the Deputies assembled in the bureaux, when the discussion on the fortifications was resumed with great vehemence. la the first bureau, M. de la Salle advo cated the plan fur the fortifications, which he said would have been approved of by Vauban and Napoleon. In the fourth bureau M. Allard spoke in favour of the Ministerial project, as did also General Schneider, and M. Liadicres, in the fifth bureau. M. de Sade said that the enceinte would be sufficient, but he was opposed by the Mini,ter of the Interior, who declared that the moral influ ence of the fortifications would be immense, as no nation would attempt to attack France. The Commissioners which have been appointed are all in favour of the project. Of these five arc in active ser vice in the army. The following are the nominations : First bureau, M. Billaud ; second, M. Bugeaud ; third, M. de la Redorte ; fourth, M Allard : fifth, M. Liadieres ; sixth, M. Dognerau ; seventh, M. Odilon Barrot ; eighth, M. Bertie ; ninth, M. Thieve. The Toulonnais has the following paragraph : " Admiral Duperre has declared in the Chamber that the fleet shall not remain idle. On the other hand, we are informed that the French Consul-General at Tangiers has received a serious insult, and that his Consulate, pro tected by the French colours, has been isolated. Admiral Hugon, it is said, has been directed to have a division of the ships under his command ready to sail at the first signal. All these circumstances have given credit to a report that the French Government was going at length to exact from the Emperor of Morocco solemn and positive reparation, or else to take severe revenge for all the insults and ill usage which we so long had to endure in that country. Our ten ships of the line, to which two armed packets will be added may, perhaps, have occasion to try the effect of the cannon a /a Paixhans, on the walla of Tangiers, Sallee, Mogadore, and to ruin the important trade which the English carry on upon that coast, as they have done with our f , ctories on the coast of Syria. It remains to be seen w hether the Ministry will go so far as has been said. Its preceding conduct makes us think that it will stop short at the first note of Lord Palmerston.—La Gazette de France. We find the following passage in a Toulon Journal : " It has been said that the Ministry has promised the English Cabinet not to make any further naval armaments. To stop in the present state of things would be exposing us to yield at the first attack. Between this and next spring the English will have in the Mediterranean 30 ships of the line, and 20 frigates, corvettes, and brigs, and they will have organised the 25 Turkish men of war ; these will keep the Egyptian fleet stationary in the port of Alex andria. France, isolated in the Mediterranean, will scarcely have 20 ships of the line and 20 other vessels to guard Algiers, Toulon, and Corsica. While the English will have in the Levant several steam frigates of 450 horse power, we shall have only our packets of 160 and 220 horse power. France cannot remain in this sthtc of in feriority."—Le Comnierce. BO URSE.--PARIS, SATURDAY, DEC. 1. first Highest Lowest last Price Price. Pric, Price Fro,ch 5 per Cents 4 per Cents 97 50 97 50 ... 97 50 97 50 3 per cent, 77 30 77 40 ... 77 50 77 41.) /link o: France Utflitte bank 1,0001. SO 1057 50 .. ...1067 50 ...1090 50010. •hares ..19s 75 _5198 75 _5199 75 ,-;elgian Mink S per Cent,... . 93 t 43 ... 97% 97% 3 per Cents 7O 70 ... 70 New Loan ip..m.sh Active ... 2.1 ... 23% 23% Passive 9,4 ••• 9% Portuguese 3 per Cents 21% 21% 21 % ... 21% Na ;,r,htsii R quart 99sii 9*4 9 9 4 RAILWAY SHARES, St (lermani Vers.ullts, 1 1 1 thle.tnA Stra , burg to Bale alulhausen to 'Diann MONEY and COMMERCIAL NEWS CITY, TWELVE O'CLOCK. LivEaroot. COTTON MARKET, DEC. 21.—The market to-day has been rather brisk, the sales having amounted to 5,000 bags, the prices, however, about the quotations of Saturday. The only arrivals we have as y e t is the B r iti s h Queen from New- York, cf the lst inst., bringing papers a few bouts later than the last arrival, which are of little im portance. The Excharge upon London much the same as previously received. United States Bank Shares 6.5. Private accounts state that the Great Western steamer was not to leave New York until the lolh inst., waiting for the President's Message. PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 30.--We have very little news stirring, business is languid, and stocks have been exceed ingly dull. What little there was done at the Boards to day was at a slight falling off in prices. Some of the officers of our bail here positively assert the Pennsylvania Backs will resume specie payments at the time fixed by the Legislature. Cotton has been in demand for home ma nufactures, and a few hundred bales has been taken for shipment to France. The English shippers have with drawn from the market in consequence of the unfavourable state of the trade in Liverpool and Manchester. —Journal of Commerce. Llstn.—We learn from Mr. Green, of the United States Navy, who came passenger in the American, from Charges, that considerable excitement existed at Lima about the Ist of September, in consequence of an affair between the French Charge d'Affairs and the Peruvian Minister of Finance. The former called on the Minister, in relation to the claims of certain French citizens, and was treated with rudeness. He challenged the Minister, but the fight was prevented by President Garnara, who arrested the Minister, and placed a guard before his door ; the latter then made the subject the matter of official communication, and demanded his passports. It was rumoured that the French Admiral had required the Peruvian Government to dismiss the Minister, and apologize for his couduct within ten days, and that the penalty of a refusal would be a blockade of the port. The frigate Thetis was the only man-of-war in port. FLORIDA WAR. Head-Quarters, Army of Florida, Fort King, Nov. 15. ORDER. —The Indians having acted with their usual want of faith, the armistice is at an end. The Command ing Officers of the districts, regiments, and ports, will therefore be prepared to act offensively only on the pro mulgation of this order. Rio JANEIRO, OCT. 6. —Flour exports not having been by any means so heavy as was generally expected at the close of last month, prices have remained tolerably steady. Should the blockade of Buenos Ayres be raised (of which by the last accounts from Monte Video sanguine hopes were entertained), our markets will be relieved to a considerable extent, and prices no doubt will improve. The total im ports since our last have been 12,690 barrels, and the ex ports 8,043. Exports of Coffee.—Our exports this month amount to 90,037 bags—of these 33,000 bags went to the States against 56,646 in September 1839, and 13,070 in the same month of 1838. Superior qualities not having been so much in request, have declined a little in price, whilst there li is been a more active demand for the lower descriptions, principally for the south of Europe. Supplies have been unusually mall, and it is not improbable but that the crop will be even shorter than our previous estimate of 200,000 bags as compared with the last. Sugar.—Our stock consists of about 1,000 cases, for which it is thought holders will be obliged to accept of lower rates. fliies.—The market has been dull during the past month, sales not exceeding 10,000, leaving a stock of about 8.000, chiefly heavy. Exchange, after declining to 291, had again rallied, and is now firm at 302 31 dol. Our advices from the River Plate are to the 10th ult. bat the accounts are 20 contradictory that it is impossible to ascertain from them the real state of affairs there. Fur ther intelligence is anxiously expected. From Rio de Grande cur accounts are unfavourable. No event of importance had taken place there, but the rebels had not accepted the proffered amnesty, and rein forcements of natives are being sent from this. P. S. Our Exchange on London has advanced to 32 a 32i dollars. THE FUNDS. Consols. opened this morning at 89 for the Account ; Re- ! duced, S 9, with little doing as yet ; Exchequer Bilk, 1 3 prem. ; Bank Stock 156 157 ; lndia Stock for the opening, 237 239 ex div. In the Foreign Market Spanish Active same as it left off. 24 1 i ; Deferred, 12i i ; Passive , 6 i ; Portugu ese left off at 321 i., a shade better, 32:} 33 ; Three per Cents., 201 214-; Colombian, 23,f 2.11 ; Mexican, 281 ; Brazilian 71 72 ; Dutch Two-and-a. Hall per Cents., 51 1 ; Five per Cents., 971 . 98 . Suartas.—Great Western, 25 26 prera.; New, 11 12 prem. ; London and Brighton, 7 : 1 , 61 discount; Black wall, 54 41 discount ; Birmingham, 78 80 prem. ; South ampton, 14 55 per share. PRICES OF SHARES THIS DAY AT ONE. RAILWAYS. Paid. Per Share. Great Western Ditto New . London and Brighton London and Blackwall London and Birmingham 9O Ditto New Shares 24 4 1 3 27 1 . . . I . . .. 1 . ttt t t 000 0 0 —l l 9l London and Greenwich ... ' , O . Ditto Scrip 2 London and Croydon (Trunk). 13 1 3, North Midland 1 : A 8 1 , 8 F + . 5 1 ) 37 9 75 A . i Ditto New 40 8 1 7 ' h ' e ON E , to o e — is - o to Consols at present are 89 for the January Account; have t N h l c ark m e o t r w ni o n r g th ebservation to the featurepre bcn i n t a sent hour. Reduced, 89+; Exchequer Bills, 1 3 prem. ; i t n h e t h c e o course Britisho f Bank Stock, 157 ; India Bonds, 15 discount. In the Foreign Market Sparish Active is tho only Security in which anything is doing, which may be quoted at present 24+, have been 24}; Defcrrcd, 124 +; and Passive, 6i. In Shares, little doing, and quotations remain the same 1 as yesterday. . 1 The Bishop of Norwich gave a good dinner o f roast beef and plum-pudding to 360 inmates of Norwich woikbouse, on Wednesday week, in honwir of her Ma jesty's aecouchement. The Bishop was present at the dinner, SUBSCRIPTION to THOROGOOD. Yesterday the Promoters of the Subscription for the relief of Mr John Thorogood, the martyr to conscience, in his manly resistance to the pay ment of that odious impost, the Church -rate, met at the London Coffee-house, Ludgate-hill. Among the gentlemen present was MT. Duncombe, the patriotic and independent Meinber for Finsbury, through whose generous instrumentality the case of Thorogood was pressed on Parliament. Mr. John Childs, of Bungay, took the chair, and after a neat and highly appropriate speech presented Mr. Thorogood with the money subscribed by the friends of civil and religious liberty, amounting to nine hundred pounds ! What will the oppressors of conscience say to this noble manifestation of public feeling ? Mr. Thorogood returned thanks in a speech as modest as sincere. Indeed, he said truly, that his feelings on that occasion were best known to him self, they were too deep for utterance. He did not thank them for the money, but from his very soul he thanked them for their sympathy in his behalf—not so much for himself, as for as serting the rights of conscience, which were clearer to man in proportion to his poverty. But for the generous, the unsought, the persevering assiduity and friendship of Mr. Childs, he felt assured that he would at that hour, and perhaps to the end of his life, have been a prisoner in Chelms ford gaol. After he had been some time in prison, firm in his faith, but hopeless as to his liberty, Mr. Childs visited him as a stranger, and left him—a friend I The result of his labours was before them that day—a happy illustration of the glorious triumph of conscience for conscience' sake. The manner and tone of Mr. -Thorogood, during his speech, of which the above is only an epitome, were modest, firm, and impressive, and elicited general admiration. An Irish , gentleman present, in allusion to the imprisonment of Mr. Baines, of Leicester, observed that the Irish managed the Church-rates, or cess, better than the people of this country, and in stanced rather an amusing case. A countryman went one day to the Protestant clergyman, who hap pended to be his landlord, with his first year's rent. The clergyman said it was all quite right, but that Pat had made a little mistake, in forgetting the Church-rate. " Not at all," said Pat, " for, please your Reverence, I never went to your church at all, at all ; the parish Priest christened my baby, and gave us religious advice." " That may be all very well," replied the Parson, " but my church door was open all the year, and no one would be more welcome than yourself, Pat; and it was no fault of mine that you did not come—so you must pay the cess." Pat (lid not understand this logic, ob serving that one Church was quite enough for him. The Parson reiterated his arguments, say inr, that it was all nonsense to be listening to the opinions and advice of other people, so he must pay. Pat, still unconvinced, said he would consider of it, and call again next day. In the mean time he put his wits to work, and drew up a bill against the Parson in the fol lowing manner : Your Reverence, " Dr. to Pat Malloney. " To shoeing your Honour's horses for one year He presented this bill, apologizing at the same, time that he had quite forgot it yesterday. Forgot It 1" exclaimed the Parson, with amazement, " why man, you never shod my horses—l send them three miles to an Orange farrier, and I am not going to pay you for nothing." " That may be," retorted Pat, " but my stable door was open for your horses every day, and it was no fault of mine that you did not send them to be shod I Su this pays the cess, and we are quits." LLO YD'S SHIPPIN G-(THIS DAY ) LONDON, DEC. 22.—1 t blew a heavy gale last night ant this morning, with violent squalls from the Eastward. Wind this day at noon, fresh breezes from E. to S.E., and fine weather. GRAVESEND, DEC. 21.—The Rucker!, Mason, from Demerara, on shore in Sea Reach, is discharging her cargo. Limerooe, Dec. 21.—Wind E. N. E.—Sailed the Fame, Dunningham, for Port-au-Prince; Mary Ann, Eady, New South Wales; Brooke, Adam, Jamaica; and Irlem, Morfel, Barbadoes. BRISTOL, Dec. 21.—The Thomas, which was on shore below Portshead, has been got off and brought into the basin. CORK, Dec. 19.—A great many vessels are detained to the Westward off Cape Clear by the prevailing Easterly winds, and some are reported to be with loss of spars, &c. ELubtless many of the fall timber ships will be short of provisions. lam not aware el any cruizer having been sent to their relief. POOLE, DEC. 21.—The Anglicania, Haynes, from Sun derland to this port parted last night, and went on shore in Studland Bay, but it is expected will be got off. YARMOUTH, DEC. 21.—A board, with " London," in gilt letters, and several other things, cabin and side lad ders, &c., came on shore yesterday at Galstone ; the bottom of a Humber Keel is on Corton beach. WIVENHOE, DEC. 21.—The Isabella of Newcastle was wrecked on the Gun-fleet Sand, 17th inst. THE MARKETS.-(THIS DAY.) COLONIAL NIARKET. There was little business done by private treaty, and the public saies were unimportant; prices were, however, Lai for most articles. The imports were light. TEA MARKET. There was a steady demand for all kinds, and holders wore less disposed to sell. Company's Congou steady at 2s. id. cash. TALLOW MARKET. This article was steady in price, with little busivess do ing, either by the home trade or exportation. The price of fine quality was 48s. to 483. 3d. on the spot, and 48s. 3d. for delivery at specified periods in the early part of next year. WHITECHAPEL HAY MARKET. There was a fair supply of Hay, with a good demand. Fine Clover, 51. to 61. ; middling ditto, 41. 103. to 41. 153. Meadow Hay, 41. to 41. 18s. per load. Straw in little supply at 30s, to 345. per load. COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER'S SOCIETY (SCOTLAN D. —When this Society was established between two and three cars ago, we were led to form a very favourable opinion of it, both from the respectability of the names attached to the prospectus, and the business-like man ner in which the founders drew up the regulations ; and we are therefore glad to see that it has been completely successful. Its affairs are in a prosperous state ; the number of members has greatly increased ; and, from all accounts, it is now one of the most safe and useful Insti tutions of the kind for commercial man. It will be seen from the advertisement announcing the annual din ner, that its objects are not confined to Scotland or to commercial travellers, but have reference to commercial men of all classes in both countries, and that many in England have become subscribers. MODERATE INTEREST.—The Bank of Eng land, established about two years and a half before with a capital of 140,0001., lent in July of 1696, 200,0001, to pay the Flemish troops, demanding 18,000/. for the loan, when no one else would take the Exchequer Tallies under 30 per cent —James's Court and Times of William M. BREVET.—We understand that a confident opinion is still entertained in London of a Brevet, to in clude Colonels of 1830, to the standing of Colonel Kenah, half-pay 58th ; but not promoting Sir Robert Gardiner and the other aides-dc-camp to the Queen. In such case the following officers holding Staff ap pointments and commands would be advanced to the rank of Major-General: Sir W. Ware, commanding a t Chatham ; Colonel D'Aguilar, D. A., Adjutant-General, Dublin ; Colonel Turnor, A. Adjutant-General, Cork ; Colonel Burrell, 18th; { Colonel Riddle, Quartermaster_ General at Belfast; Colonel Elrington, 47th ; Colonel Riedy, Lieutenant-Governor, Isle of Man ; Sir H. D. Ross, Adjutant-Genera l to the Royal Artill ery; Si r Edward Williams, 9th Foot; Sir Guy Ca m pb e ll, D eputy Q uar termaster -General , Dublin ; Colonel W. Smith , R. A., c ommanding in Dublin.—Limerick Chronicle. The Courrier de la Moselle of the 17th (a very bad authority) has a letter from the Prussian frontiers, dated the 14th, alluding to a conspiracy to place upon the Throne of Prussia the son of the eldest brother of William the Fourth, a Major in the Mayence garrison. We do not believe one word of this news. The Duke of Manchester, with Viscount and Viscountess Mandeville, and Mr. and Lady Georgiana Bailey, has arrived at Nice from Guernsey. The Noble Duke, by the last accounts, had suffered severely from gout, but was then nearly recovered. The Duke of Rutland leaves Stanton Wood house to morrow, for Belvoir Castle. Sir Robert Peel, Bart., M. P., during his visit last w e e k to his Grace, kille upwards of 100 bead of game in one day. The Marquis of Granby, M.P., is expected this week at Belvoir Castle from a cruise of several months with Lord Ranelagh, during which the Noble Lords visited Cadiz, Seville, Gibraltar, Tangiers, Brest, Cherbourg, Toulon, &c. The Earl and Countess of Shrewsbury joined the Prince Borghese at Florence, on the 11th inst., from France. We regret to hear that Lord Wrottesley con tinues seriously indisposed at his scat in this county.— Stafford paper. Mr. and Lady Elizabeth Hope Vere have left town for Erlestoke Park, Wilts, the scat of Sir John 'lob house, for the holidays. At the adjourned Sessions, Clerkenwell, Mr' FreshAold, qualified as a Magistrate for Middlesex IMPORTANT FROM PORTUGAL. (From the Second Edition of the Morning Herald.) On Saturday night the Royal Tar steamer arrived at Falmouth from the Peninsula, bringing dates from Gib raltar to the 10th of December, Cadiz 11th, Lisbon 14th, Oporto 15th, Vigo 16th, but was obliged to an chor under Cape Torinana 30 hours from the strong N. E. gales. The following will be read with interest from our Lisbon Correspondent : LISBON, Dsc. 14.—Since yesterday morning the final decision has been taken. A Council of State was held, which-lasted till a late hour, and the determination come to was to resift the demand of Spain, and to take instant measures for rousing the whole country to arms. The following Royal Decrees have accordingly been pub lishe'd in an extraordinary supplement to the Official Journal, viz. : "1. Suspending the Habeas Corpus, and the in violability of private dwellings, for forty days, reckoned from the 13th instant—a measure, the reasons for which are to be accounted for by the Government to the Cortes, which will assemble on 2d of January, 1841. " 2. Ordering all persons holding official situations, and fit for military service, to enlist, within the term of three days, in the two battalions of National Volunteers called respectively the " Queen's" and the " Com mercial," on pain of being dismissed from their places. "3. Ordering the municipal authorities throughou the country to proceed to the impressment of all young men between the ages of 18 and 25, who may be fit for military service, and are not legally exempt from it, in order that the army may be raised to its war complement—and offering a bounty of 4,800 rein (1/. 25.) to every volunteer. The same decree recals to their posts all officers, non-commis sioned officers, and soldiers, absent on fin lough, on pain of being considered deserters should they not present themselves within a fortnight. _ " 4. Offering a free pardon to all deserters who vo luntarily return to their ranks." Besides these warlike preparations, orders have been sent to the Royal dockyard in this port to fit out four ships of war (frigates and sloops) which, in the event of an actual rupture are to be sent to blockade Cadiz and Malaga. This sounds rather drolly a!, first ; but the fact is, that Portugal is quite a formi dable maritime Power to Spain, as she can boast of three or four frigates, and a round dozen of sloops and brigs, besides three steamers, while the latter, it is said, has but one seaworthy corvette to oppose to this redoubtable force. I understand that on SAturday evening a sum of 44 cantos (10,0001.) was sent to the dockyard to be expended in the equipmerA of this imposing naval arma ment. It is said that the King Consort is going to Elves, to inspect the fortifications. Sada Bandeira is appointed to command the fortress at Braganza, which is likely to be the chief post of honour, as the Spaniards threaten to enter Portugal by the northern province of Tras osMontes. The Queen has given 200 of her horses and mules for the service of the artillery. The Government calculate that the levies to be proceeded to will amount to 50,000 men—most of whom having served before in the Na tional Guards are ready drilled. The Diario do Governo has just been published. It contains a Royal older, directing the Commander of the Engineer Corps to put the fortifications of Lisbon and Oporto in a state of complete defence without loss of time. Also another order for the formation of na tional battalions throughout the country, in which all men between the agts of 15 and 40 are obliged to enlist. COURT CIRCULAR. The Queen and Prince Albert took a carriage drive yesterday in the middle of the day. Her Majesty joined the Royal Circle at dinner last evening at Buckingham Palace. The company consisted of her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, the Earl of Errol, Viscount Melbourne, Baron Stockmar, Mr. George E. Anson, Lady Barham, Lady Fanny Howard, Hon. Miss Pitt, Hon. Miss Spring Rice, Baroness Lehzeu, Marquis of Headfort, Hon. W. Cowper, Col. Wemyss, and Captain Seymour. The Duke of Sussex visited his Royal Highness Prince Albert yesterday. The Earl of Stradbroke and Mr. C. K. Murray, had interviews with Viscount Melbourne yesterday in Downing-street. The Marquis of Normanby arrived in town yester day from Brighton. Lord John Russell arrived in town last evening from Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire. Sir Alexander Mackenzie with his Lady and son, F. Donaldson, Esq., and Mrs. Stuart Donaldson, have quitted the residence of Lady Saltoun, at Ness Castle, Inverness-shire, for Glasgow, en route for Italy. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council sat yesterday. The Lords present were the Lord Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench, Lord Bronham, Mr. Justice Bosanquet, and the Judge of the Admiralty. An appeal, " Brooke, heretofore Reeve v. Kent," from a decision of Sir Herbert Jenner in the Prero gative Court, relative to the will of William Brooke, late of Great Walsingham, in the county of Norfolk, deceased, was heard by their Lordships. The case was opened by the Queen's Advocate, and Sir William Fol lett for the appellants. Dr. Addams appeared fir the respondent. Counsel were ordered to withdraw at the conclusion of the case ; on the Court being re-opened, Lord Denman intimated that their Lordships would take time to consider their judgment. Mr. Kindersley, Queen's Counsel, was then heard in Gregg v. Vallee, from Lower Canada, which was heard ex parte, no counsel or agent appearing for the respondent. P U SE YISM. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. Liverpool, Dec. 19, 1840. Sir—ln your Sun of 18th instant you promised a list of books written by the men called Puseyites, but perhaps, in the article on Puseyism, to which I refer, you forgot to name the books. These people are very muck spoken against at present ; and many, like myself, readers of The Sun, afraid of wading through 75 tracts, and having little time to spare for reading, would yet like to know from the men themselves, in a condensed Joint, what their real prin ciples arc—whether they are fairly and truly described, or whither they, together with a large portion of her Majes ty's Christian subjects, are caricatured, slandered, and be lied. The favour sought will be thankfully received, and will be looked out for in an early Sun. 1 am, Sir, yours respectfully, A LOVER OF FAIR-PLAY. [The following are the books which we omitted to men tion at the time :-1. Dr. Pusey's Letter to the Bishop of Oxford, on Doctrines held of old, as now, in the Eng lish Church (last edition with new preface)-2. Mr. Pell Platt's Letter to Dr. Pusey-3. Letters on Apostolical Succession, by a Reformed Catholic (Rivingtons)-4. Dodsteortli's Church of England, or Protestor against Romanism and Dissent. Our Correspondent " Anglo- Catholic," whose letter appeared on Friday, will perhaps fav,:ur " A Lover of Fair-play" with his version of the new faith, pointing out in what respects it differs from the faith of the Anglican Church. We have already given our opinion of the dangerous doctrines taught at Oxford.] THE HENDON UNION. (FROM A CORRESPONDENT.) The recent proceedings upon the Coroner's inquest on the unfortunate pauper of this Union has created a great deal of interest, and the verdict of the Jury, it is to he hoped, will have the effect of preventing the harsh and cruel proceedings that, under the present system of society, may be committed in the Union workhouses without any chance of their being laid before the pub lic, from being attempted in future. In the report of the proceedings of the inquest it was stated that some person connected with the Board of Guardians said that the case in question was the only case of punishment inflicted since the formation of the Union. It will be remembered, however, that about five years ago a case occurred in the same Union, in which that death was not the result as in the present case was probably owing to the accidental interposition of Captain Car wick, an ex-officio Guardian of the Union. Soule par ticulars of this case were made public at the time, but the following may be relied upon as an authentic state ment of the facts, and it will serve to show in what manner the irresponsible power possessed by the " Guar dians" over the unhappy paupers may be exercised : It appeared that a young woman, named Alice Shep herd, had been admitted to the Hendon workhouse. She bad previously led a very dissipated and irregular life, and it was deemed advisable by the Board, in con sequence of her having misbehaved herself on several occasions, that she should not be allowed to go out of the house. The effect of this confinement upon her constitution wad to produce a peculiar and dreadful malady (furor uterinus), which deprived her of her senses, and while in that melancholy condition she con ducted herself with great violence, and in other re spects most outrageously. Information was sent to one of the Guardians, who attended at the workhouse, and, without inquiring into the cause of the misconduct, he, without any ceremony, ordaed her to placed in a strait-waistcoat, and to be kept in solitary confine ment on bread and water for fourteen days. Th e poor creature was accordingly placed in a cell by her self, the strait-waistcoat applied, and for nearly a week she had nothing but the diet ordered her, and the sentence would have been fully carried out, but fortunately Captain Carvick, a magistrate and ex-officio member of the Board of Guardians, happened by acci dent to go to the workhouse, and he was dreadfully shocked at the appearance of the unhappy woman. She was of a thin spare habit, apparently suffering from consumption ; and, as it seemed to him, rapidly sinking under the effects of the dreadful punishment to which she had been subjected. He lost no time in bringing the subject before the Board, when a most animated discussion took place, and Captain Carvick expre ssed his opinion that the punish ment was a mos t unnecessary and cruel one, and that it ought never to have been in flicted, especially upon a female, and under such circum stances. Tile result was, that the remainder of the punishment was remitted, and it was understood that on future all misconduct of the paupers should be publicly inquired into, and dealt with before the Magistrates of the district, EVENING EDITION. VACCINATION OF THE PRINCESS ROYAL. BUCKINGHAM PALACE, DEC. 21, 1840, is At two o'clock this afternoon the Princess Royal was vaccinated by Mr. Blagdcn, in the presence of Sir James Clads and Dr. Locock. LITERATURE. THE BOOK OF BEAUTY. Longman, London, 1841. The Book of Beauty ! There is a spell in these words that conjures up a thousand bright visions of loveliness—of ladies with eyes lustrous as the stars of heaven, and whose rare charms of face and figure might turn the wisest head that ever sate on human shoulders. Of course it cannot be expected that we should gravely and coldly criticise such a book. No, we should as soon think of criticizing the perfume of the violet, or the delicate graces of the water lily I Were it a " Book of Frights," indeed, the case would be different ; but a " Book of Beauty !"—its very title pleads trumpet-tongued in its favour, associating itself in our imagination with " earth's fairest flowers," the celebrated beauties of Greece and Rome, who " still rule our spirits from their urns." The first portrait in the volume is that of the " Queen," aired in her nuptial dress ; it is a graceful likeness, and worthy to stand foremost in a collection of English beauties. Next comes " Lady Seymour ;" and to her may be applied Burke's famous eulogium on the ill-starred Marie Antoinette, that " she glitters like the morning rtar, full of life, and splendour, and joy." The portrait of the " Marchioness of Douro" is in profile, and is purely Grecian in its character. The eyes, which are shaded by long, delicately pencilled lashes, wear a soft and pensive expres sion ; and the contour of the mouth and chin, which are perfect in their symmetry, would form a fine model for Chantrey to mould a Greek Oread or Dryad from. The " Lady Dungarvon" reminds us of one of Lawrence's aristocratic female portraits. The picture is a half ' length, and gives us a vivid idea of feminine grace and gentleness. The finely moulded neck rivals Parian nimble in its whiteness ; and the taper hand and arm might become a fairy of the Court of Ti tania. The likeness of the " Hon. Mrs. Stanley" has a laughing archness about it, whose witchery is irresistible. Shakspeare must have have had such a countenance in his eye when he drew his sketch of Rosalind. " Mrs. D'lsraeli" is the por trait of a lady whose beauty is of an II Penseroso character, and whose dark eye and elegantly formed mouth express much depth and tenderness of feel ing. " Miss Tyndal" represents a pretty, lively girl, apparently just entered on her teens, in the act of caressing a noble Newfoundland dog. We have seen a face so strikingly like this, both in form and expression, that we can with difficulty persuade ourselves that the portrait could have been drawn from any other original. Such are the at tractive objects presented to our admiration in the present Book of Beauty. Alas, what a sad change will a few years make in this proud array of female loveliness ! Pass but a brief space, and the blight eye will become dim ; the rosy cheek will pale; wrinkles will usurp the place of dimples; and those villainous crows-feet, which no rouge can conceal, will write " strange defeature" in the corners of each faded orb. But we must not anticipate grievances, or in noticing a Book of Beauty, croak, like Gold smith's gloomy moralist, on the subject of its perish able nature. Enough to say, with the French cavalier of old, that if it is not immortal, it ought to be so ! As regards the literary contents of the volume; they are entertaining, but by no means remarkable for any special excellence. To our thinking, the cleverest is Lord Powerscourt's " Imaginary Letter from the Earl of Chesterfield," in which the turn of thought, and even the style of that greatly overrated statesman and wit, are imitated with sin gular felicity. The author, however, is guilty of a slight anachronism when he makes the Noble Eatl say that there " is but a step between the sublime and ridiculous," which were the very words used by Napoleon, when talking with the Abbe Du Pradt on his return from the fatal Russian expedition. The Eatl of Chesterfield could never have made so shrewd and profound a remark, had he lived to the age of Methusalem. " Munich" is a spirited sketch from the pen of Mr. Disraeli, who, how• ever, is in error, when he assures us that " Louis of Bavaria is ❑ot only a king, but a poet." We have read some of his Majescyb rhymes, and any thing more unlike poetry we never yet fell asleep over. The " Christmas Bell man" is, we humbly conceive, a bard of just the same imaginative cali bre as the Bavarian Monarch. The " Irish Hussar" is a mediocre ballad by Tyrone Power. The " Old Irish Gentleman" is a sprightly, cha racteristic sketch by the accomplished editor of the volume. Of the rest of the prose and verse we . can only say, that it is neither better nor worse than what usually make its appearance in Annuals. THE KEEPSAKE. Longman, London, 1841. The Keepsake is the most aristocratic of all the Annuals, but we should grievously err if we were to say that it is the ablest or the most attractive, for the more plebeian " Friendship's Offering '' i s superior in point of literary merit, and at least its equal as regards pictorial embellishments. Still there are several creditable Plates in the Keepsake ; and two or three which seem to have been finished off in desperate haste, and will not, therefore, bear a close critical inspection. The sketch of " Morn ing" is among the best, and represents one of those homely sylvan scenes which Gainsborough loved to paint, and which an English eye always ress on with pleasure. A well-laden ferryboat is in the act of crossing a broad stream, to which the shore slopes down with a shelving, gradual des cent ; while just on the rise of the hill is perched a small cottage, with the smoke curling up, cork-screw fashion, from its one chimney, indicating that the domestic duties.of the day have just commenced. The tall elms that grow in a lane close beside this cottage, the luxuriant copses behind, and the straggling pales in front, add greatly to the picturesque simplicity of the sketch. From the fresh breeze that breaks up the broad surface of the water into tiny waves, and the dim, cold, grey light that is diffused over the landscape, we gather that the day is as yet but in its infancy. Willmore is the engraver of this plate, and he has caught the idea which the painter, Bentley, sought to convey with signal ability. The " Lady Ida" is a very so-so affair. She is creeping stealthily out at a castle-gate by moonlight, "in course, to meet her sweet-heart," as Samuel Weller would phrase it ; but her attitude _ . is one of singular inelegance—in fact, destruction of all sentiment, for her figure looks huddled up, exactly as if she were suffering from a severe stomach-ache. The " alarm" is not much better, for the youth and the girl, who are tenderly conversing together in the fore-ground of the picture, ate drawn on such a gigantic scale as to be worthy only of Brobdignag. The same objection applies with equal force to the en graving entitled, " the Cousins." Of the prose and poetry of the " Keepsake" we may dispose in a few words. Mr. Brantley Berkeley contributes " Verses written on leaving a Ball at Almacks," sing -sorb, , say b i i i so, means that n theys encum bered e 11111toalstsiwneg solti'lwoohtilcilsi e t i l l i t e im u e t with sense. The last stanza is sheer non sense, and would seem to been modelled on Pope's " Love Song, by a M an o f Q ua li ty ." L or d Maid stone's " Fragment of an Unpublished Poem," had far better have been left unpublished, for though the rhyme be correct, the reasoning is sadly,aniefile. " Morning" by Mr. Simmons, shows much`descrip , tive vigour, but the best thing in the volume is Lady Blessington's Young Portrait-painter. ~S cenes in the Life o f a - COMPI. ET lON of THE STOCKPORT VIA- DucT.—This day at half-past twelve o'clock, the final stone will he set of the viaduct on the Manchester and Bir mingham Railway, at Stockport. After the ceremony, Messrs. Samuel and James l - lolme and Mr. Tomkinson, of Liverpool, the contractors for the work, will treat the parties imcrestcil in the railway and their friends with a handsome cntertaiment. —Liverpool Albion, Dec. 21. REFORM ASSOCIATION FESTI VAL.—Circulars have been issued to the leading Reformers of Groat Bri tain, inviting their presence at the Grand Festival pro posed to be given in the course of next month. Numbers of influential gentlemen have already signified their ac ceptance of the invitation, and next week we expect to have it in our power to mention the names of the more distinguished of the guests. Operations have already c" 3- menced in Mr. Marshall's New Mill, liolbeek, for the ac commodation of the immense company (8,000) to assemble on the occasion. —Leeds Times. expected ----- LDINBURGII AND NEWCASTLE RAILWAY.- We learn ou the best authority, that Sir F. Smith bas at length icported in favour of the cast line of railway to Edilibutgh from England.—Caledonian Alocury. fe ad lis