The Sun. — London, England, 1847-03-19 00:00:00

Untie; these circumstances I deemed it only right to apply to Dr. Swan, and to reipteit that he would enable Inc t atl;ml to parties who, in their replies to my prey i., us communication, had made inquiry us to varicus matters of de tail, such information or advice as his presion‘ ex perience might enable him to offer. His reply appears to me to contain a numbvr of suggestions, the lostnfest importance of which will, I trust. appear to you a suffi cient l...iteuse for my request that it !nay also be given to the publi.4 through the medium of your columns. It is a" follows: "Conege, Donegal, sth March, 1817. " Dear Sir,-Accept my thanks for your letters, as well as for the trouble you have taken with mine of the 6th tilt , to the Council of the Royal Dublin Society. " The privations and sufferings I have witnessed in the discharge of my duties as a dispensary physician for the last three months, have made me most anxieu-e if pos sible, to fix the attention of scientific gentlemen on this mornenteus subject, as nothing can be more cer . tain than that an el?etrie state of the atmosphere, whatever may be the peculiar p:iase of that electricity, is the cause of the potato blight. Indesni, its pro tection by metallic tractors, ad in my experiment, though badly teijested to accomplish that end, places this beyond a doubt. On this principle the various forms of decay in the Nato can be setistacterily explained. The total deetruc ion in the ground, its ecc:ty after being taken up and stored away apparently sound, as well as the rotting of the seed in the ground, are attributable to the injury dustain,d from this active agent by the vital prineiple of the tuber prior to its detachment ftora the pare. t stem. " In my letter to the Royal Dublin Society, I merely gave a statement of theeresult of an experiment, conclu sive as to this, but instituted, as you are aware, for a very different purpcse. I declined, however, giving an . ) directions fir the protection of the growing crop, think. ing the matter would be taken up by persons more cow• petent than I am, but acquiescing in the wish conveyed to me by your letter that Ishould do so, I beg with great deference to suggest— "First—That uncut potatoes, when the bud first ap peared, should alone be used for seed ; fur when the vital energy of the pocato is affected, which it may be, without evidencing by any external mark the existence of disease, it will he unable to recover the shock of so large a wound as is made by cutting the seed, or to re produce a bud when broken. " Secondly —The seed should be brought covered to the ground, and earthed up the moment it is dropped, that it may be as little expoacd to atmospheric agencies as possible ; and Thirdly,- 7 -Before the stem rises to the surface, poles, twelve feet high, and ten yards apart, should be erected, with a strong three pronged wire (copper if you wish), the prongs projecting eighteen inches from the top, bent outwards for that -length, and the principal wire con veyed from them down the pole into the ground. - It is not material that they should be placed in line with the magnetic meridian, as Mr. Cooper, who has honoured tny letter with his notice, seems to think the horizontal wire unnecessary, but he approves of, and recommends, this plan, and his opinion is of the utraost importance, as no geoilernln stands higher in the seient tic ....odd. This will be sufficient to divert the electric matter from the plant in arty state of the atmosphere, hciveyer highly charged. "The whole sulject opens a wide field for investigl too, as there is every reason to believe that electricity performs a more important part in the vegetable eco nomy than is generally supposed. I have little doubt, however, from the notice taken of the trifling hints I have given, by gentlemen of the first scientific attain. meats, that the question, as far at least as relates to the potato blight, will, ere January next, be thoroughly I Inverigated. _ "Believe me, dear Sir, &c., "JAMES SWAN. " John M 4 lfullen, Esq " The universally admitted importance of the subject is the only excuse I can offer for so large a trespass upun your space ; but I cannot conclude without urging upon public attention the vast value of Dr. Swan's sug gestion, that no potato should be used for seed until it should have been first ascertained that it still contains the principle of vegetable life, and should, for the pur pone, be so placed as to cause, at least, the appearance 9T a bud. Had proper attention been paid in this respect, it seems scarcely possible that so large an exent of the teed planted in the autumn of last year should now be rotten in the ground and total!' lost. I am, Sir, your f . ,;! hful servant, Grand Canal no n JOIIN .m.:...ur.LEN. , f. ‘l7 il Ham - , treot. March 12, 1847 . A letter fr oni - C - 1 - al — a ' tz, of the iith ult., says—" Prom want of ship% On l y 1 _ le ua r a l y gluedi ' tread t ' , r l / 1 1 , ci a l ,3 3 : . here at the end of the a email portion of the corn collectea n,,the Ports of the Danube are setreitily the tna gaz i n 4 o t t . Y , e , ;l r has been embarked, and con- Places eLnowt ttteGalatz, Still quite full The cuttotit-- of Which I,loo,oooeVim a ated at less than ears wheat, 500000 Giurgewo, Ibrail Staten: and other 2.000,000 hectolitre, Gexitpuegeete,,do,teanrr tehhe, corn of the ma i ze , 300,000 barley, and 100 m° rye. n las ex t t i : a this reS p t i r n t, 3 l l b ° r ld al, vi a a nd is be altogether 2,976.000 hectolitre s , e, omprising n a l i t;tes . w ill Adding to these quantities the 2,000,000 hectolitres arrived at the peas, i•.; will be seen that western will find here the means of supplying herself from the portsP:; the Danube after the next harvest with nearly 5,600,000 hectolitres of corn. The Danube is at this time covered with „kitt, and more thau 100 vessels ready laden are detained, but at. the first opportunity, which carnet be now long i n 'wing, they will take their departure for their respective 'aeons." THE POTATO —ELECTRIC AGENCY. (From Saunders's News Letter.) TO THE EDITOR OF " SAUNDERS'S NEWS LETTER." Sir,—Aly attention was very powerfully drawn to a letter addressed by Doctor danies , Swan, to the Council of the Royal Dublin Society, dated Cottage, Donegal, 6th Feb., 1847, submitting to the Council the result of an experiment with reference to the blight in the potato crop which, under existing circumstances, and especially at this peliod of the year, a pp ears we ll d es e r ving of the moat serious consideration, and to which, with your permission, I e ill again seek to draw public attention. A copy of this letter appeared in your paper of the 16th alt., but as a very distinct and close reference to the de tails of the experiment as then given is necessary to a thorough apprehension of what is to follow, I would beg the favour of your re-printing the following extract from it. After a short introductory observation, Doctor Swan proceeds— " Having read an account of the application of elec tricity as a stimulant to the growth of plants, by Dr. Forster, and others, I, early in April last, marked oil in my garden (a rich loamy soil) an oblong plot of ground, due north and south, containing twelve ridges of the usual width. Into the four corners of the plot I drove wooden pegs, and had a fine iro n w i re stretched from peg to peg, and buried six inches tinder the surface, so as to surround the plot. Poles, eight feet high, were then placed in a line due north and south, seven yards apart, down the centre of the plot, and a wire carried from the centre of the buried wire, on the north, over the top of the poles, and attached to the centre of the buried wire on the south side, and left to collect the electricity of the atmosphere, and convey it to the plot beneath. " The ground was planted about the 20th of April with early Scotch red potatoes, without manure; and twelve ridges to the east, planted with the usual quan tity of mixed manure. Both seemed equally healthy and luxuriant in the month of July, from which I quite lost thought of them, owing to the total destruction of the rest of my potato crop, until the end of November, when, to my utter astonishirent, a better or more pro ductive crop of sound, mealy, largo potatoes, without the least appearance of rot, .I have never seen dug, though nine of the twelve mueured ridges outside the - enclosure were totally destroyed; the three next it having a few small sound potatoes. " 1 h a fact I look on as worthy of consideration; not that electricity is likely to become a substitute fur manure, but as it tends to show that disease in the potato crop of the ,past year was owing to atmospheric influence, and not, as so generally believed, to the de predations, in the firet instance, of animdculue, which are the consequence; not the cause, of decay." l'he letter concludes by an expression of the writer's conviction of the efficacy of conductors, properly ad justed, in preserving tne potato from blight, and his in teetien to plant mote largely under their protection daring the present season. Early tastes end pursuits had led me a good deal into the wide and interesting field of chemical reading and research, sad nowhere in the course of my application to it bad my attention been so much interested as by the well ascertained proofs of the extraordinary influence of electricity, in reference to the economy both of animal and vegetable life ; and in turning my thoughts —and who has not done so ?—to the probable cause of the blight in the potato crop of the two last years, I was irresistibly led to the conclusion which the re- -1 sult of 1)r. Swan's experiment has gone, in my opinion, a considerable way to verify. Under these circum stances it will not seem strange that upon the appear ance of his letter I was strongly impressed with the im portance of the result of his experiment, and which was rendered the more interesting from it, peculiar cir cumstance that the result aimed at, the application of electricity as a substitute for manure, v, as not that which was fortunately realised—namely, the preservation of the root or tuber. I had in consequence a few hundred copies of the letter printed, and distributed pretty freely among the landed proprietors and agriculturists.of the adj scent counties, and 1 had the gratification to find my euminunication very promptly responded to by several highly respectable and influential persons. I was, amongst others, favoured with a letter from Sir Gerald Aylmer, who, as many of your readers cannot fail to be aware, is a very extensive landed proprietor in the edjseent county of Kildare, and a'scien titic practical agriculturist. In the letter Sir Gerald states, and I have his permission to mention the circum, stance upon his authority, that ho had long previousl3 arrived at the conclusioa that the potato blight of the last and preceding year was attributable to the effect of electricity ; that under this impression he had, iu the spring of last year, had a ridge ,of the usual description piloted close along side of a wooden pa:ifig, the upright slabs or pieces of which `acre bound together a, the top by an iron hoop fur its enlre length, arid which he resvonahly assumed would act as a coneucter this ridge, when dug out, there was net is sine le unsound potato, although his crops in all otter places suffered ia the same way as those of his ne•ghbours. From the Messrs. Rats, of Rath moyle, in the earn° county, who are admittedly the moat extensive growers of the potato in this country, their crop of laet year having been, as I am aware, little short of 130 acres, I had a similar communicati3n, stating that their experience and Observation had quite led them to agree in the opinion that electrical agency was the immediate cause of the late blight of the potato, and thlt they had determined to try the effect of con4uctora placed over their crop of this year ; and 4 in several other communications from highly respect able persons, I found a general concurrence in similar e.piniene. "r ) -11. t. THE FOREIGN EXCHANGES. It appears to us, on a re-consideration of the circum stances bearing upon the rate of exchange between Eng land and foreign countries, that we did not, on Saturday last, gire sufficient prominence to the fact, that very large amounts of English proper‘y are ,at all times lying in the various commircial emporiums ; of the world ; and that the tendency-to atiadvers-e7 rate . of ex change may be, to some extent, counteracted by realising a portion of this property and remitting the proceeds. In judging of the probable consequences of excessive impor tations of food, or other commodities, at any particular period, men are rather too ready to assume that the commerce of the country is conducted almost entirely upon the plan of drawing bills at once against exports of merchandise to other countries at the time of shipment, and remitting these bills 'at once to the country on which they are drawn. If that practice was as general in England as in the United States, we might always place the exports and imports of any given year against each other, and pretty safely take for granted, that the balance of excess on either side must be paid or received in coin or bullion. • But English commerce is not generally conducted on the plan to which we have alluded. Owing to the com parative abundance of capital in this country, the trade, both of import and eXeort, with many very important markets, is carried on entirely with English funds. The merchant buys manufactures, sends them abroad, and waits until they are sold, when he invests the proceeds in produce, and imports it into this country, without having drawn or negotiated any bill of exchange in connexion with thew. The imports ofone year, consequently, may. and gener,dly do, IN present, and ought to be compared with, the exports not of that, but of some preceding year ; and, having been paid for in advance by this country, their excess at any particular period cannot exercise any influence upon the rate of exchange. From the mode in which the trade to the East Indies and China is carried on, there will probably be at all times an amount of British property lying to the eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, equal to not less than the whole amount of British exports to those countries for eighteen months or two years. The same remark will apply to the Nest Indies, British and foreign, Brazil, and the whole rf South America, with other markets of consi derable extent and importance. Whatever excess in imports from those countries may have recently arisen, we may look upon it rather as the natural result of the large exports of the year 1845, than as a cause of pro bable derangement to the foreign exchanges. Again, if our exports have recently declined in value, so also hare the prices of some very important article's of produce, in which returns are ordinarily received. This is particularly the case in India and China. Teas, which, last year, were selling at thirty tack a pica!, could be bought at the date of the last advises from Canton, for twenty taels ; and silk, which had cotnmanded 500 dollars as bale, was selling at 400. At Calcutta, indigo—although the crop was smaller by 30,000 maunds than that of the previous year—was selling at 135 rupees per maund, instead of 175; and sugar at nine rupees instead of eleven. These prices will make a considerable difference in the amount of Ott purchases, on British account, in India and China ; and although, for the reasons above men tioned, that fact has no direct bearing upon the notes of exchange, it has an indirect operation upon them of some importance. The smaller the amount required to. purchase the necessary supplies of pro duee for England, the - larger will be the fund applicable to purchase on account of other nations. A very large portion of the Indian and Chinese produce exported to the United States is now paid for by means of English manufactures ; and it seems highly probable, under existing circumstances, that a much targ. r portion, not only of that, , but of all the tropical produce consumed in. the United States, will for the future be purchased through the intervention of British capitalists, and with funds obtained by the sale of British manufactures. The writer of a recent article in the Times, to which we adverted on Saturday, had entirely over looked the important facts above referred to, and assumed that the whole of the heavy imports which have recently arrived, and are now arriving, in this country, must be now paid for, panly in commo dities, and the remainder in specie and bullion, to the very great derangement of the monetary system of the country. The tact, however, is, that very many of them have been paid for long ago ; and no inconsil derable portion of the remainder will be paid for by means of British funds now in for, ign countries ; so that the drain of bullion from this country, will pro ()ably be much smaller than the great increase of im ports, aml the falling-off in exports, would, at first sight, appear ta render necessary.—Manekester Guardian. ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE. HOME ClRCUlT.—Maidstone, March 18. C4OWN COURT.—( Before Chief Justice Wiepit.) josepi Erall, 28, formerly the clerk to the board of .guar dians of the Tent er d en Union, was indicted for feloniously embezzling various sums of money to a large amount, the property of the guardians, his masters; and he was also charged upon several other indictments with forging accept ances to bills of exchange to the amount of 50€!., with in • tent to defraud a lady named Edwards. Mr. Horne appeared for the prosecutior, and Mr. Charnock defended the p ironer. At the sitting of the Court the prisoner p!eadfd "Not Guilty," but he subsequently retracted that plea and pleaded " Guilty " to two of the indictments for forgery. Mr. CIIAJOSOCK addressed the Court and said, that having looked over the depositions, lie felt it would be hopeless to attempt to struggle with the evidence in support of the charges against the prisoner, and he therefore considered that it would not be .proper for him unnecessarily to occupy the time of the Court, especially having regard to the pres sure of the business before it, by attempting to make a de fence when he felt assured that only one result could be ar rived at. He begged to say, however, on behalf of the prisoner, that having filled the office of clerk to the board of guardians between six and seven years. there could be no doubt that before this unfortunate transaction he had borne a high character for integrity, and he could also state that it did not appear that the money obtained by the prisoner had been squandered away in any debauchery or extrava gance; but it seemed that the prisoner was exceedingly fond of philosophical pursui's, and had a great love of science, and in pursuing these objects he had expended considerable sums in purchasing expensive mathematical and other instru ments. la addition,he was instructed that the prisoner had an aged mother and a sister, who was a cripple, entirety de peldent on him for support. The Learned Counsel concluded by stating that lie felt he had no defence to make to the charge, and he mast leave the prisoner in the hands of the Court, trusting, under all the circumstances, his Lordship would pass as lenient a sentence as h e considered would sa tisfy the justice of the country. • . His Lonnstur said he would look over the depositions, and consider what judgment ought to be pronounced. William Piety, 39, and Abel Harman, 33, were indicted for a robbery, with violence, upon James Pearson. Mr. Deedes and Mr. Rose prosecuted, and Mr. Mellor de fended, the prisoners. It appeared from the evidence that the prosecutor is a farmer residing in the neighbourhood of Tenterden, and on the 12th of February he was returning home from market, on foot, accompanied by another farmer, named Avann, when they were attacked by five men, who used corsiderable vio lence towardl them, and the prosecutor was robbed of a 5/. note, his watch, and some gold and silver money. The men all got away, but they were traced to Canterbury and other places, and the prisoners were soon afterwards apprehended, when they were identified, and part of the stolen property was traced to their possession. . The jury convicted both the prisoners, and Piety; who hat been before convicted of felony, was sentenced to be trans ported for fifteen, and the other for ten years. MIDLAND CIRCUIE—Derby, March 18. (Before Mr. Justice Parrzsox ) James Cross, aged 54, was placed at the bar, charged with the wilful murder of Ann Cross, his wife. Mr. Sergeant Clarke and Mr. Hildyard conducted the case for the prosecution, and Mr. Macauley appeared on" the part of the prisoner. The prisoner lived with his wife in Osborn-court, St. Peter's street, Derby. lie had formerly been a gardener, and being esteemed clever at his business he had been employed by some of the most influential men in the county. Some years back he showed an aberration of intellect, and was under confinement, and just before the transaction in question be had only recovered from a serious illness. In December last loud screams were heard, as though in the prisoner's house. He ha 1 two daughters in shops in the town, and on the day in question one of the daughters called at her father's house. She sat with him for some time, and then expressed a wish to see her mother, whom she understood was up stairs. She was proceeding to ga there, when her father interfered to prevent her. Upon this the daughter went to the house IN one Mrs. Osborn, living in the same court, and told her That her father would not let her go up stairs. Mrs. Osborn went with the daughter to the house of Cross, and through her interference she got up stairs, and there found her poor mother lying on the bed with her throat cut, the floor being covered with blood. The poor girl ran down stairs scream ing, and there found her father in the act of stabbing Mrs. Osborn with a pruning-knife, whilst she was defending her self as well as she could. • Mrs. Osborn on tbat occasion re ceived many injuries, and her life is even now despaired of. It would seem there was no doubt the man was insane at the time, and this being clearly proved by the medical man • called this day, The Learned JUDGE directed an Acquittal on that ground, and he was ordered to be confined during her Majesty's pleasure. : . OXFORD ClRCUlT.—Worcestcr, March 16. I'ARRI3 AND AN6TII ER V. orassEr. AND ?ETC,. Mr. Sergeant Talfourd, Mr. Alexander, and Air. Whit more appeared for the plaintiffs; Mr. Godson, Mr. Selfe, and Mr. Pigott for the defendants. This case commenced yesterday morning. The plaintiffs' case had not doss till twelve to-day. The plaintiffs are owners rf some yarn and carpet mills on the River Stour, at Lincombe, which were worked by that river. The defendants, the well-known contractors, had been employed to make some improvements in the navigation of the Severn, under the authority of a local Act; and, in order to avoid a shoal, made a canal of some length, parallel with the course of the river, and joining it above and below the shoal ; and further, in order to secure a sufficient depth of water in the canal at all seasons for the passage of vessels, made a dam and weir across the Severn, above the sipper point of the canal and below the junction of the - StoUr with I that river. The plaintiffs complained that the effect -of - this weir was to hack and deepen the waters of both rivers above it to such an extent that their mill was more frequently prevented from working than it used to be formerly by the natural floods. For this injury they brought the present action of trespass on the case. Besides denying the "wrong and injury," the defendants pleaded several pleas of justifica tion, founded on various sections of the local Act. They had also, ,incc the commencement .4f the action, reduced the height of the weir bv one foot. A great number of wit nesses were examined on each side, and the ultimate result of all was a verdict, which was retutned about eight o'clock this evening, fur the plaintitra—Damages, 500/. .SlatTord, March 17. Thrum o'CLocK.—Mr. Sergeant Allen opened the cone, mission here yesterday, and attended prayers to t hy, ac cor d. ing to.the custom usual on such occasions. Mr. Sergeant Gar Ace arrived about one o'clock, and charged the grand jury. and then proceeded to. try prisoners. Mr. Justice Msule, it is said, will arrive from Worcester in the course of the day, acd preside at Prius but it is learel that he is not sufficiently recovered to undertake this duty. At present there is only the Crown Court sitting. The calendar presents the names of 81 prisoners, of whom nut one can read and write snperiorly ; only three can read and write well; and 19 can neither read nor write. Six are charged with minslaughter, fifteen with robbery, nineteen with bur. glary, one with sacrilege, thirteen with poaching, and six with crimes for which Staffordshire has been long notorious. IAILWAY COMMITTEES. (YE Vi fiDA Y.) HOUSE OF COMMONS. GROUP XII. This Committee met to-flay at twelve o'clock, in Room 25, (he Hon. W. S. Lascelles in the chair. All the other members of the Committee were present. Tilt SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, MAR,CII l9, 1F47. ZPSWICII AND SUZY ST. EDMUND'S, No. II (zrzynnanzcET 4ND ELY). M;. 011m.r.ror then addressed the Committee on behalf of the Duke of Rutland against the Bill. At the close of the Learned Gentleman's speech the Com mittee adjourned till Monday next. INTELLIGENCE. HOUSE OF LORDS, Jfurch 18. EARIIarT AND OTIIERS V. THE STOCKTON AND DARLINGTON ILUTAVAY COMPANY. __V Their Lordships, at the conclusion of the arguments, posl poned their judgment. POLLS' Ci WICI'. March 18. HILTS AND ANOTHER V. NASH AND OTHERS. This was a bill flied against the executors of Thomas Nash, to enforce the payment of certain losses incurred by him in speculation in which he had cog tged with the plaintiffs. A decree had been made in the cause in favour of the plaintiffs in 1843, but the case was taken before the Lord •Chancellor, who varied the decree by the addi.: Lion of certain parties to the suit as defendants. The cause therefore calve nn for rehearing. The facts are these: —ln the year 1341 George Webb suggested to the plaintiffs, Hills and Burton, and to Thomas Nash, and a per son named Carpent er , a ll o f w h om were engaged in the corn crate, to enter into a speculation for the purchase and sale of English wheat. The parties agreed that the profit or logs should be regulated by the proportion of corn which each invested. It was further stipulated that Mr. Nash was not to be one of the parties who were either to purchase or sell. The plaintiffs held 15,000 quarters of wheat, Webb 5,000, Nash 2,500, Carpenter 20,000, and a person named* Shepherd. who had been introduced into the speculation, 2,500. In 1840 the plaintiffs and Carpenter purchased a large qu an tit y o f w h eat on a joint account, and at the end of the year the affairs were wound up, when it was found that there was a loss of 18,1801. 18s. 6d. Carpenter came to a settlement with the plaintiffs on the ascertained loss sustained. Shepherd had also settled his portion of the Itss. Webb, not being in circumstances to enable him to liquidate his moiety of the loss, was re!eascd from all liabilities. Nash died in 1811, and by his will ap pointed the defendants in this suit his executors, who, not finding in the books of the testator any satisfactory evidence of his being a party to the agreement in question, declined to make any payment on his account until ample proofs were given that such was the case. Webb and Shepherd, who were parties in the original record, were added to the suit. The case was not conelude,l when the Court rose. Sf~ ER IP FS' COURT March 19. ( Before Mr. Under-Sheriff BURCHELL.) AnSENCP: or. arrouxtras A.ND WITNESSES. This morning there was the same ground of complaint which has existed for some time past cf the absence of the parties at the appointed time, and several causes were either struck out of the list or were placed at the bottom. warm v. mooRE. This was an action brought to recover compensation for damage done to an omnibus belonging to the plaintiff, au omnibus proprietor. The defendant. pleaded that he was not guilty of the negligence imputed to him, but no one attended on his behalf. Mr. WILDE stated the case on the part of the plaintiff, from which it appeared, that in December last tire plaintiff was driving along the Mile-end-road, when the accident occurred, tbro.ugh the defendant's cart being on the wrong side of the road. The.actual damage to the omnibus was about 101., and as much more was claimed for the loss of time. On the witnesses being called, however, they were not present. : - The UNDER-SHERIFF said that a verdict' for nominal damages must be taken, unless the witnesses arrived before the jury were dismissed. LLOYD V. BERKOVITZ. This was an action to recover the sum of 81. ss. for one quarter's rent of a house in Nelson-square, Illackfriars-road. The defendant pleaded that he was not indebted. Mr. BALLANTINE, who appeared for the plaintiff, said that this was the third time the cause had come before the Court, as two previous verdicts in favour 't f the plaintiff had been sat aside ; the facts, however, appeared to him to be very simple. The plaintiff was the landlord of the house for which the,rent was claimed,. and the defi•ndant, who is a Polish gentle man, took tho house on an agreement for three years, • but shortly after the expiration of the first quarter he - gave up the key, but had not paid any rent; the plaintiff had ac , ceptad the key, which however did not preclude him.frtftn recovering the rent. Nixon, a process server, was called and proved ttiat - he took a key of defendant's wife, but he could not identify it ,• he Lad t r i e d a k ey i n the door and it opened it, but he could not say that the one produced was the one. • Mary is ood was called, but could not speak positively to the key. Defendant was not now in possession. The defendant's witnesses were called, but did not answer. The defendant's ATTORNEY said that he had a good defence to the action on the merits, but of course could not goon with ztecitlsiahtat the defence on w t he else i n th e a b sence of his witnesses. _ , % 0 verdict was t h en given for the amount claimed. • t a h a e ld pr h e a vio th u a s t ec p cas lai i n on tiff it had was e i x a- - d pec ueed the wife to watt not bound b - 61ve up the key, but that the defendant 3 her act,. It was also urged that the Mien.' ticai key w 4 not produced . . The case on behalf of this line was resumed. Mr. F'. Bruff, civil engineer, was examined at con siderable length regarding the en g i neer i ng f eatures of this line. He said it started from . out of the Ipswich and Bury St. Edmund's main, line at Newmarket,. and proceeded in the most practicable engineer ing route to Ely, where it terniinated. To avoid the necessey of a tunnel at Newmarket, there were two rather severe gr adiehts between Kenford and New market. These were one in sixty and one in eighty respectively. There would not be any difficulty in work ing them, as they existed on the portion of the line where there would ha the least traffic. The curves pre • sented no engineering features of difficulty. The estimate of cost was 13 OWL per mile, or 250,0001. in all, making it the cheapeSt line yet constructed in the district. The op posing company, the Newmarket and Chesterford, proposed. to make a tunnel at Newmarket, and would therefore have bitter gradients; but that litre took a circuitous route, and passed through fens that would make it very difficult of construction. This clold the promot&s' case. GUERDON, wit on behalf of certain landowners, pro. posed to addres the Co:nniii tee on the relative metits of the competing lines, was refused a hearing, The CHAIRMAN stating that they would only hear those who appeared on petition against tire Bill under considera • tion, on account of alleged injury to be done to their pro perties._ 'AL PARLI CAVALRY SNOBS What distinguished cavalry regiment is it that, quar tered not a hundred miles from where we wri e, has within the last week presented the scene of mar)! a military freak, carried un against a young officer who has lately joined the ranks? We are told that the officers of this regiment, by some conventional arrange ment, it would app..ar, entered into among themselves, have determined that none but a scion of some aristo cratic house shall hold a commission in their "crack corps;" and, because the " newly joined" happened to be the son of a prokssional gondol:flan, every species of m'schief and petty annoyance has been practised against him. Oa one occasion, we have heard, having first in duced him to join them in a decp libation to the merry god, they pulled his bed our of his quarters, and kicked it about the Barrack. squ ire, and w hen they had suffi ciently amused themselves with this most gentlemanly sport, they left it there, and sallted oft But the annoyance did not end here, for having taken it into their heads to carry out their excellent military views, they determined 1 on the occa s i on o f a champagne supper, which he was to give them, to make him drink deep, and then cut off his naus'achios and whiskers, blacken his face, and while in that state perform sundry aristocratic feats. Fortu= nately for this inexperienced young gentleman, his con fidential servant got, some intimation of the proceedings which were in contemplation, and havi ng very properly placed his master on his guard, he evaded the contem plated annoyances by using the wine placed before him very moderately. Thisso annoyed so me o f t h e exclu sives, that theyimmediatelyu. set to wor k , t h rew a great quantity of his furniture out of th e w i n d ow, and pro ceeded to cut up his clothes, boots, and every article on which they could lay their hands, in tact, "nothing was too hot or too heavy for them." Having destroyed his clothing aad property before his face, which insult, from the army regulations, he had no power to resent, they then went into the barrack-yard, and having broken his furniture, piled it up in a heap, after which they ran a train of powder from the mess-room to the quarters of the young officer, which they fired for the purpose of filling the place with smoke. It is stared that their con duct was reported to the proper quarter, but the nutter was subsequently bushed up. However, it is quite time that the system of exclusiveness, which has in some in stances been carried to a great extent in the army, anti which in this case we have felt it our public duty to ex pose, sh mid be put an end to.—Cork Reporter. A PROLIFIC Ewn.—There is at present a blade. faced Hardwick ewe in the possession of Mr. Hill, of Whin nerah, in Gosforth, which has reached the patriarchal age of twenty-five years. This extraordinary animal has annually reared a lamb for the last twenty-three years, and has every year, during that long period, always produced a full fleece of wool. This animal is healthy and active, and will shortly present her owner with a lamb again this season ; she has annually produced a gimmer lamb for the last twelve years se that the number of her progeny can scarcely be calculated —Cumberland Parquet. . BIGOTRY IN THE TYROL.—About two years ago the celebrated German actor Esslair, who bad been for twenty years upon the stage of Munich, died suddenly in the villag e of Muhlen, near Inspruck, in the Tyrol, and was interred in the burial ground of the place. At the beginning of last month the King of Bavaria erected a monument over the grave of Esslair, on which were sculptured emblems of hi, art, and his name engraved, but with no, other inscription. We now learn from Inspruck that towards the end of the month the monument was destroyed by the country people as an offence to God, in profaning a Christian cemetery by urying in it an actor, and eractiag over him a pagan moon bent.— Calignani.. GLOUCESTERSHIR E COUNTY COURT.—The county for Gloucestershire, comprising the Bristol, Thornbury, and Chipping Sodbury districts, was opened on Wednesday. at Bristol, by the judge of the court, Mr. Arthur Palmer,. jun., barriaer-at-law. The judge, after stating the effect of the alterations in the new law, proceeded with the appointment of officers. Mr. Visger„ . the treasurer, ,attended iir pursu ance of his appointrnent by the Treasury, and the following were appointed by ab judge;—Clerks, Messrs. Brice ; Harley, and Gibbs; high bailiffs, Messrs. William Vowl es , T. Cooper, William,Bodinan, jun., T. IL Fowler, R. Point ing, J. lt,:aWler, Richard Hamilton, H. S. Watkins, and J. C. Canbridke. Mr. G. Webb was appointed broker, appraiser, and auctioneer of the said court, an" the court was then ad ' journed until the 14th of April for hearing causes, alter which it was stated, that it would sit daily, with the exception of Saturdays. DEATH BY FALLING FROM A TREE.-AD inquest was held on. Tue sday, before Dlr. C a rt er, a t B a lham-bill,. Surrey, on the body o f a b oy ten years of age, the son of Charles Searle, Esq., who, on Thursday morning last, fell frsm a tree ,in the school play-ground at Balhana, and re ceived A concussion of the brain, of which he died the next day. Verdict, "Accidental death." AMENT. PUBLIC WORKS, &c. (IRELAND). The Marquis of LANSDOWNE laid upon the table certain papers, MTh d for, from the Commissariat De partment in Ireland. These papers were hr, sight down to the latest period. In a few days he shoull lay upon the table a report from the Board of Works, which would place their Lordships in possession of all that bad been done to relieve the distress existing in Ireland. VONCILIA TION HALL. Lord BROUGHAM called the attention of their Lord ships to a circular a hich had lately ematiatel from Con. ciliation Hall, urging upon the people of Ireland (ant he (Lord Brougham) had no doubt that its request would be urged by the prie;, hood from the altar) the necessity. the aasolute necessity, of raising what was called the minimum subscription to the repeal rent. Now he (Lord Brougham) hoped that mea sures would be taken to prevent any portion of the millions of meney which was received from Eng land 'and Scotiand—h: trust( d that means would be taken to p r event ne farthing of that m eeey getting its way, into the coffers of Core The Marquis of LANSI ) OWNE said th er f cou ld b e no two opinions upon that subj,et. He had not, how ever, seen the circular reremd to by the Noble Lord. NATIONAL FAST. The Marquis of LA.NSDOWNE said that the 24th of this month havieg. by command of her Majesty, been fixed for a general fast, he be gge d leave to move that t t h h a e t Bdai;l•ll(p)PreeacrhSL.-ftseaPtthiei(r"LhO3rd7hs present) s h ou ld on ips Heitse, in West minster Abbey. LAW OF MARRIAGE. The Earl of CLARENDON presented a petition ftu so &c, of th e b oroug h o f ) bankers, prin gmerfocharrans an alteration in the l aw iro,vonporet, which regulated marriages. The petiti oners comp l a i ned that many irregularities had ari sen f rom the operation to this law, and they thought that i t m i ght be extended m to a degree that would embrace the sister of a deceased wife and others as remotely connected. The Noble Earl presented a petition to the same effect from the corporation of the borough. He agreed with the prayer of both petition& Lord CAMPBELL said that, notwithstanding the opinion of the Noble Earl, which was entitled to great he felt himself bound to come forward. weight, and say that he entirely dis•ented from the prayer of the peti • tion, and from t h e opinion (a:pressed by the Noble Earl. He thongbt that any alteration of this law would be a great blow to domestic happiness, and he could not help saying that, in his own mind, the phrase of incest would be well applied to a marriage • between a man and th e s i ster of his deceased wifa. It might be true enought that inconve niences had arisen from the operation of this law, but he thought that even greaterinconveniences would arise from any alteration ofit. He entirely approved of the law brought in by his Noble Friend (Lord Brougham) last session. It was a most mischievous state of the law, and• he thought the state el things necessitated that incestuous marriages should be rendered null and void. He thought that this was a great improvement in the law, and he should certainly support its continuance. The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH said that the ques tion really wac, what were the prohibited degrees? Lord CAMPBELL—That was not the question. The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH begged the Noble Lord's pardon,.for that really was a question which had excited much comment and great doubts in the minds of persons perfectly competent to form an opinion. If this matter w ere t o b e di scusse d ; t h ey h a d no alternative but to go to Scripture ; for, if the - Noble Lord were to state.all his reasons for opposing the repeal of the; law, and if others were to do the same for carrying such a measure, the debate would last till midnight; and it was a matter on which even lawyers fliffered. Lord CAMPBELL said that there was not a lawyer in the kingdom who doubted that it was necessary to make laws within the prohibited degrees null and void. Lord BROUHAM entirely agreed with his Noble Friend that this was a most in: portant question, and he was quite ready to allow that in one part of the Act a sufficient distinction had not been drawn to show the objects of the Act. The • promoters had cer tainly no desire to interfere with the marriage of relations, but only to prevent those between certain degrees of affinity, anti it was certainly very desirable that the question of the marriage law should b e settled, as in its present; state of uncertainty it was productive of great raise:Hai; The marriage between first cousins was prohibited by the canon law, although nut prohibited by our law. The marriage between an uncle and niece was also prohibited by the canon law, but the Pope could, and frequently did, grant dispensations for such marriages, and takirg th e usual principle, that " per legem loei contractus," the law of the • place justified and confirmed th e contrast, he.. (lid not see how . the marriage of a man with the sister of i a deceased wife, when cele brated abroad, co ul d be dilSolved ie this country. At any rate it was very desirable. to settle the law with j respect to•marriage. The subject then dropued. • SECOND GS N. The Earl o f CLARENDON READI maved the second read• ing of the following Bills : Fairs and Markets Clauses Bill. Gas Works Clauses Bill. Waterworks Clauses Bill. Commissioners Clauses Bill. The Duke of RICHMOND said he had several times been in Committees upon unOpposed waterworks Bills 4 and he felt the want of some, clause to regulated the prices to be charged for the water, so that the poor should not pay more for it than the rich. He begge to c l alled Cao ogention of the ciovernmeilt to this cou4 sideration lIIIPERI HOUSE OF LORDS, March 18. The House sat to-day shortly bet•Te Five o'clock. ROYAL ASSENT. The royal assent was given today, by commission, to the Consolidated Fund Bill, the Irish Loan (8,000,0001.) Bill, the Labouring Poor (Ireland) Bill, and the Protestant Dissenters and General Life and Fire Insurance Company's Bill. The Lords Commissioners were the Lord Chancellor, the Earl of Aliuto, and Lord Campbell. The Lord CHANCELLO R took his seat on the Woolsack at a few minutes after Five o'clock. THE LAW OF SETTLEMENT. Lord PORTMAN.. presented a petition from the board of guardians of Bradford, praying their Lordships to take into consideration the law of settlement, in order to repeal it and establish a national rate. The Duke of RICHMOND presented a petition from Torrington complaining of the Poor Removal Bill, and praying their Lordships to take into consideration the means of establishing a system of union rating. A Noimm LORD, whose name we could not learn, pre sented a petition from Letford against the law of settle ment. EDUCATION. Lord BROUGHAM presented a petition from the congregation of Independents in Norfolk, complaining of the Government interference with religion and educa cation, by making grants. EDINBURGH AND ABERDEEN MAIL. Lord CAMPBELL rose to present a petition, to which he begged leave to call the attention of his Noble or a cont emp l ated grievance in the alterati,n Friend (the Marquis of Cl anr i carde). It was a petition complaining f m t p h l e mail iaiking from Edinburgh to Aberdeen, and was signed by - many of the noblemen, gentlemen, and other influential inhabitants of the county of Fife. The peti tion stated that for the last ten years the mail had run through Fifcslaire, by way of Cupar and Perth, to the great adva , ,tsge of the inhabitants of the county; but it was tow proposed to alter the route, so as to forward the mail way of Q ueens b erry. He did not believetothaPteartnh by priblic 'advantage would result from this alteration, while it would lead to the inconvenience and disappointment of a most influential and respectable olnregla a n body of men. LAN DLORD AND TENANT. The NOBLE Long al so f so o p ra presented to tedaimppertoitvie the onfron Br re lation hbhet a st n e e between landl or d and tenant. THE WELLINGTON STATUE . The Marquis of LONDO NDERRY wished to call s in the attention of the Houie to something that had fallen from the Chief Commissioner of Woods and Forests in another place, which he must say displayed considerable ignorance of the matter in question. The statement had reference to the Wellington statue, which it was stated was to be removed, and placed in .another site: The attention of the committee had been called to the matter, and at a meeting of the sub-com mittee that • thn, ho had been requested to state to the House that they had not come to the - decision of placing the statue in another place, but had agrt ed only ,to tyke it down. To prevent any mistake he was requested to read the followin g letter from the ch a i rman o f !the sub-committee, embodying the Committee's views. (The Noble Marquis read the' letter which stated that the Committee would only be at the expense of taking the statue down, but would not be responsible for its being placed in any other situation.) They did not think, that any.. other situation would suit • the statue unless it . were of the same elevation and mass as the present arch, and further they were of opinion that no better or more eligible site than the present one could be found. The expense of a suffieiently eh vated pedestal for the statue would be such as the sub-committee were not prepared to take upon themselves, and were the Government to pay the expense, it would in all probability lead to a contentious discussion about taking the public money to which they would not • be a .. . 'party. The co mm i ttee were o f op i n i on that the duties of the sub - committee were terminated by the taking down of the statue ; they believed that then the statue would be seized by Government,' and that the subscribers would be left to make the best terms with them that they could: That' was the statement he was rcquested to make to their Lordships' use. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE 'said that he was not offici a lly acqua i nte d w i t h w hat h a d passed betweete , the sub committee and the Commissioners of the Woods and Forest s , an d h e h a d no reason t o d ou b t t h at the state ment in the letter read by his Noble Friend was correct, but when the sub-committee in that letter alluded to this statue being made the subject of a contentious discusiion, which it would be advisable to avoid, he (Marquis Lausdowee) felt himself bound to state that he was not aware, pf any contention that had arisen on this work of art, unless it were, indeed, a laudable con tentian as to who should do the greatest honour to the Duke of Wellington, by placing the statue in a situation which, while conspicuous enough, would also be conformable to the dictates of public taste, in con formity with the wishes bf both Houses of Parliament, and the country. The Marquis of LONDONDERRY said that he fully agreed in what had fallen frorn:the Noble Marquis:; all he - ..tit sired to impress upon the House was, that the sub committee could do no more than remove the statue from the top of the arch, and that there their duty ceased. The Earl of CLARENDON acknowledged that the Bugg scion of the Noble Duke was wel worthy of attention. Tht. Bills were then read a second time, in order to be committed to morrow. DRAINAGE OF LAND BILL. On the motion of the Earl of CLARENDON this Bill was read a first time. Their L'irdships then adjourned. HOUSE 01 COMMONS, March . 18. The SPEAKER took the Chair at Four o'clock. SECOND READINGS. The following Bills were read a second time:— Eastern Counties Railway (Enlargement of Stratford stations, and Amendment of Acts). Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway Act Amend ment and Branches. South Devon Railway Extension and Amendment. INCOME TAX. Petitions from the collectors and assessors of the income-tax and property•tax, complaining that their remuneration was very inadequate, and praying the House to take steps to remedy the grievance, were pre sented by the following Members:—Mr. Sheppard, Mr. Mun.z, Mr. Kemble, Mr. Escott, and Mr. Johnstone. Mr. HAMILTON presented a petition from the High Sheriff and grand jury of the county of Sligo, praying the House to take means to develop the resources of Ireland, and entourage trade and agriculture. HORSE•RACING IN IRELAND. Dr. BOWRING presented a petition from Kildare against the impropriety of allowing the public money to be used for the purpose of encouraging horse-racing. LAW OF MARRIAGE Mr. 11. BERKELEY presented a petition from the merchants and bankers:of the city of Bristol. stating that, in their opinion, the present Jaw preventing marriage with a deceased wife's sister might be repealed. Also another petition signed by between thirty and forty Dissenting ministers of Bristol to the same effect,. Mr. BROTIIERTON presented a petition against the use of grain in distilleries. SMITHFIELD M ARKET. Mr. PATTISO N presented a petition against the re moval of Smithfield Market. Mr. CIIRISTOPIIER presented three petitions from the occupiers of land in the county of Lincoln, from Sleaford, Stamford, and bincoln, praying for the re moval of Smithfield Market. • Mr. STAFFORD O'BRIEN presented a petition from certain graziers in Northampton against the re moval of the market. Mr. MACKINNON. presented three petitions from parties in the - neighoourhood of Smithfield Market, praying that the removal of it may be speedily effected. POOR-LAW IN IRELAND. Mr. S. CRAWFORD presented a petition from the chairman and board - of guardians of Carriektnacross stglinst the prese it poor-law, and praying the House to pass the Landlord and Tenant Right Bill. UNION SETTLEMENTS IN IRELAND. Mr. M. J. O'CONNELL presented a petition from the landowners and , rare-payers of Kildare, praying for an union system of ratinff. BLACKWALL RAILWAY. Sir WILLIAM CLAY presented a petition from the Tower Hamlets against the Bill of the Blackwell Rail , way, now before the Howie. ASSESSORS AND COLLECTORS OF T4XES. Lord SA NDON.prosentei a petition from Broughton, in the county of Hertford, complaining of the inadequate remuneration now paid to the collectors and assessors of taxes, and praying for an increase. The Noble Lord also presented a petition from certain traders and owners of vessels in Liverpool against th , f Birkenhead Docks. DUNFERMLINE. Mr. HUME presented a petition from the tradesmen of Dunfermline against the railway which passed through the town. • RAILWAYS IN IRELAND. - ' Mr. MOFFATT presented petitions from Carrick-on . Suir..th barOny, of Athlone, and other places, praying the GoVernment to make advances of money on Irish railways as a means of employing the people. EDUCATION. Mr. lIINDLEY presented petitions from several Bap. list congregations against the Government scheme of education, ,and moved that they should be printed with the votes. • DECCAN PRIZE MONEY. - Sir DE LACY EVANS said, seeing the Right Hon. Baronet, the President of the Board of Control in his p!a* I4gged to ask the question of which he had given notice—whether there was any likelihood of a speedy decision in this matter, as parties who stood in need of it were deprived of it? Sir J. C. HOBHOUSE said he had answered the question already, some three weeks ago, but he had no objection to state it again to the House. He begged now to state, that since that date ther e h a d b een an adjustment, and the. Government was now ready to pay over to the trustees the sum of 2,2001. SirDE LACY EVANS inquired whether the amount of the recompense had been decided upon ? Sir J. C. HOMIOUSE said that that question had ken settled some time ago between the commissioners of the Deccan prize money and the Court of Directors. Mr. HUME asked whether the observation applied to the 112,000/. ? Sir J.C. HODHOUSE intimated that it did. POOR-LAW (IRELAND). Mr. J. O%3ONNELL presented a pinion. very nu nitrous'y signed by the inhabitants of New Ross, com plaining that the present poor-law operated wry inju riously to them, and praying that a better system of election for the goat-dittos of the poor might be adopted. They prayed that out-door relief might be given to the able-bodied poor. Th , •y stated that the poor-law, as now administered, iliterfer.ld with the religious dif ferences of the country; that the greater part of the inhabitants of Ire land were Rotnan Catholics, and that they hud no sufficient influence in the direction of the poor law; that this interference %%ith religious opinions was greatly to he deplored; and that, unless a better principle were adopted in the new poor law, it was the impressit n of the petitioners that that !louse was totally incompetent to [mike just and sufficient laws for Ireland. Mr J. O'CO.NNELL also presented a petition from the Rev. Mr. Duggan, parish priest in Ireland, com plaining of a misrepresentation in the reports of Captain Lynch. ROYAL ASSENT. At this time Sir Augustus. Clifford, the Usher of the Black RoA, appear d at the table, and summone,l the House to the House of Lords, to hear the Royal Assent given to certain Bills (for which see Lord,' report). OPENING OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS. Mr. HUME wished to ask—he did not, however, see the First Commissioner of the Woods and Forests in Lis place, or he would have asked—whether as the new House of Lords was to be shortly opened, any accommodation had been made for the Members of the House of Commons? for he (Mr. Hume) could not see any. HOSPITAL AT PORT MAHON. Sir DE LACY EVANS gave notice that on a future day he should put a question to the Noble Lord the Secretary for Foreign Affairs with respect to a petition which had been presented. praying that a military hos pital might be ere cted at Port Mallen. Mr. P. 13ORTH WICK informed the lion. Member that he had already given a similar notice. Sir DE LACY EVANS withdrew his no:ice in favour of that of the Hon. Member. QUARANTINE LAWS. Dr. BOW RING rose to inovo for a continuation of the correspondence with respect to these laws. lie said, al:hough the subject was an uninviting one, yet the discussions which had taken place upon it had gone far to prevent undue espionage by the Crown. The discussion had also done much to remove many dis abilities under which travellers and others laboured in conseouence of the existence of those laws. He .was sure, also, that every additional discussion would tend towards the same end; and it was with that view that lie felt it his duty to move for the continuation of the correspondence which had taken Wan since the subject was last under the attention of the House. The sanatory condition of the people was intimately connec eel with those laws, and be was not without hope that tl:e time was not far distant when those laws would be removed altogether. The best results had followed alterations in those laws in the west of Europe, and in the Levant. Plague, like all other diseases, was materially increased when circumstances concurred to Promote its propaga tion. lie need not refer to any instances to illustrate the truth of this proposition. That celebrated case in Calcutta, where, out of 140 individuals, more than 100 perished in a single night, was a melancholy proof of it. That fact was notorious to every reader of history, and demonstrated the pernicious effects of unventilated and confined places. In the last session, at tention was called to the great mortality on board the Eclair, and this mortality, which was not unfrequently to be found on board ship, was to be attributed to the same cause, and bore evi dence to the truth of the facts to which he called the attention of th House. In a dispatch which had been sent by Lord Palmerston to Lord Ponsonby in 1839, and which had been presented to the Turkish Divan, these truths bad been recognised. He considered that by the progress of the sanitary Un prnvements of large cities, the elements of disease would be_gradually, removed. An improvement in this respect was no doubt going on in Egypt, in Turkey, and in various other pans of the world. and he believed that a greater knowledge of the causes and character of the Plague would tend to remove many of those appre hensions of groundless alarms which had been ex cited in the minds of the timid. In the time of llerodotus, Egypt was considered to be a very healthy country ; but in consequence of the inattention of the people, the marshy nature of some parts of the soil, the anarchy which had existed for centuries, and the wretched character of its inhabitants, had tended to make that country one of the most unhealthy in the world. It was a well known fact that plague had never entered into any of the colder latitudes. The voyage was now made from England to India in a very kw days. On the other aide of the Atlantic, where great attention was paid to 'the health of this inhabitants - in the United States. There were no quarantine laws, and vessels crossed the Atlantic in a much shorter time than they did heretofore; in ten or eleven days Europe now communicated with America. These laws were founded in ignorance, and in ignorance the y formed their support and attachment to them ; this was found strongest in those countries where the knowledge of medicine least prevailed. In those parts Alf Italy where the science of medicine was most back ward, such as Naples, they were most strict in the preservation an d o b servat i on o f quarantine. But with the progress of inquiry, and attention to the subject, the alarm had become dissipated, and the previous fears were found to be without foundation. The end of all this had been that great changes were extorted from Go. vernment by the might and irresistible influence of public opinion. The quarantine laws, however, were connected with the pecunrav interests - of a vast number of persons. The State paid In, 90/. a year for their maintenance, and. he found that in Liverpool there were ninety persons dependent • upon them, while in Rochester there were no less than seventy. If they were to be paid for in this way, there would be always ready advocates to support them. Persons would be found to support witchcraft itself if it could be paid or; and the quarantine laws would never lack support while the State paid 15,0001. a year to those who were their advocates. For a long titni , they had the support of medical autho rity in favour of these laws ; but, most honourable tie the profession, that support was withdrawn. The soundest evidence had issued from places where the plague was endemic, which had thrown such a light on the subject as to induce the introduction of considerable moditica tioes in the system. In 1838 Mr. Lewis, in an official communication on the subject of these laws, writing from Malta, where there was a great prejudice in favour of the system, said, " It is notorious that the modes in which plagues were communicated w r.t imperfectly known, that many of the grounds on wh ch the conenu ance of these laws rests are little better than vague hypo theses." Again, Dr. Robinson, in speaking of Egypt and Turkey, in an official communication in 1841, stated that the frightful diseases prevalent in these countries arose from local caisson and stated that the plague ceuld not be communicated in pure atmo sphere, hut that he was not prepared to say that, it could not he communicated in confine I places, or in impure atmosphere. Mr. Grant also stated that he was aware of thousands of cas: s where it had note An re unica.tud when there was proximity to diseased parties. He had known in-iances of persons completely ex cluding themselves from con tacrwith others, and taking the utmost precaution with respect to their clothing an i food, being nevertheless attacked by the (incase, amid becoming victims to it. But the most remarkable cir cumstance in connexion with the descase had been elicited hy.a Con - mission:of Inquiry, w hick was appointed by the Royal Academy of Medicine of France in 1844. The Commission was appointed to inquire into the whole subject of plague and quarantine, and consisted of men of the very highest professional and scientific characters. They received every assistance which the Government could give them. They 'immediately put themselves into communication with persons who had frequented the Levant, Cairo, Constantinople, and other localities in which the disease created the most fearful ravages. After directing their attention to the subject for two years, they published a report, to which they appended a voluminous body of evidence which they had collected on the subject. They stated in their report that the facts they had been enabled to collect extending over the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, as well as up to a late period, proved incontrovertably, that the disease had a spontaneous origin. The conclusion come to by the Academy was that in those countries which the plague had visited—in Egypt, Syria, and Turkey, and in several other places in Africa, Asia, and Europe —it was not spontaneous ; and in those eowitries where it did originate, that it was caused by iinimal deposits in this alluvial soils adjoining such rivers as the Nile and the Eu phrates, by the action of' putrescent animal and vegetable substances, by insufficient and unwhole some food, and by physical and moral wretchedness. With regard to the transmissal of the plague by touch, it would be in the recollection of Vie House that, three sessions ago, he moved for a return of all the deaths which had taken place in the lazarettos, in conse quence of touching the garments of those who had died of the disease. The return was nil.' It had been proved that after all the costly institutions they had framed for the prevent'.on of this disease, it could not he introduced. Clothes subjected to a moderate heat would no longer comma cate it ; and the disease itself would not lie latent for more than eight days. The most absurd report and ideas were prevaent with regard to the plague. Many supposed that it c nail be corn:md cated by clothes after the lapse of years, .and one writer had stated that the plague had been intro duced from Thebes from the, unrolling of a mummy. In many parts of the world a movtnent on tins question was going forward. Russia was advanc ing, and public opinion was fast changing in regard to these laws. Austria was also stirring. In pl .ces where the greatest ignorance prevailed opinion was becoming enlightened. Last year there was a scientific congress held at Marseilles, which though principally composed of contagionists, yet passed resolutions that the present law required modification. He believed that it the quarantine :laws had not existed the unfortunate people on board the Eclair would have been spared, and no damage what ever would h :ve occurred to the community He would, therefore, move for any copies of the corre spondence which had taken place on the subject of the quarantine laws:since the last session of Parliament. Mr. HUME seconded the motion. He thought that the most convincing argument against the entire useless ness of these laws was, that during the hundred years that the quarantine laws had been in existence, at an expense of upwards of 140,0001. a year, not one person employed to open the bales and air the cargo upon vessels coming to the country Ader the most suspicous circumstances had ever been effected. Tue sum mentioned by his Hon. and Learned Friend was scarcely a tithe 'of the expense of the main tenance of the quarantine system. The commerce of the country had been delayed and impeded by it. Ile believed the general interest of the community bed stiff, red from the system to an extraor dinary degree, and, therefore, he was happy to have the opportunity of thanking his Hon. Friend for having brought the subject forward. Mr. MILNER GIBSON sail it was 'unnecessary for him to dwelt upon the various subjects which had been introduced irto the speech of his ll•mourable Friend, because he was tot aware that there was the slightest ohj , ction to the motion which the Hon. Gentleman had made as to the production of the corres pondence moved for. There was not the slightest detibt that the qiutran tine regulations in the various countries of the world had been prejudicial to commerce, but, Its far as England was concerned, she had reduced her regale buns so as in many cases to render them almost nommel. For instance, ships from Turkey were now admitted free of quarantine, provided they were net laden with susceptible article, and the same regulations ap plied to ships from Syria and Egypt. But in a matter like this England could not act by herself. She must have the co perition of the other nations of Europe. The necessity re quarantine was imposed by the opinion which prevailed in foreign nations. He would further say that he had every reason to believe that those who had charge of those laws were extremely anxious to make diem us little injurious as possible to the commerce of the country. He, therefore, begged to say that there be no objection to granting the returns. Mr. I'HOBNLEY wished to impress on the Government the necessity of an examination of these quarantine laws, fur he believed that inquiry would lead to their being done away with altogether.—The motion was agreed to. ABSENTEEISM IN IRELAND. Mr. W. S. O'BRIEN rose to twive—" That, inasmuch as the non-residence of landed proprietors in Ireland is one of the causes of social disorganisation in that kingdom, it is expedient to impose a charge by way of special assessment, in aid of local objects of an useful nature, upon the estates of absentee pro prietors, with a view to make some compensation for the evils resulting from their non-residence." He was perfectly sensible that he had imposed upon himself a task which was by no means acceptable to the House, as so many gentlemen in England derived a large revenue from property in Ireland. There was no person who had visited Ireland —there was no person who had lived there—who had not placed on record the decision at which he had arrived, that Ireland had suffered greatly from the draughts of property from that country. There were persons who called themselves philosophers and political economists, who professed that this was no injury. He believed that Mr. Mackellar was the first person who broached the opinion, but he believed that he had seen reason to withdraw it. Ireland was in the sane relation to this country as it it remitted a large tribute, for the tribute was in fact remitted in goods er money, and could it be said that the country would be as much benefited as if the goods had remained in the country. It mattered not whether the tribute was remitted in grain, in cattl e , or in mon e y, b u t it was plain that if this property had remained in Ireland, it would have contributed to increase the earnings of labour, increase the promotion of art, and re ward the exertions of industry as much as it did now in this country. It was admitted by all moral and political philoso. phers, that the evils of absenteeism could hardly be compen sated. Absenteeism created the greatest evils which a country could suffer, because the natural capital of the country—the capital derived from the soil —was withdraen from its legiti mate source of circulation, On the other hand, the advantage of the proprietors of land residing on it were great, whether for the purpose of giving or dispensing charity, for pre venting agrarian outr age, and for the purpose of seeing the law properly carried out, as magistrates or juries, the advantage of having resident proprietors were great ; in fact, proprietors whose ancestors had been long connected with the soil, partook almost of a patriarchial cha racter. These, he knew, were all truisms, and he ought almost to apologise to the House for dwelling upon them. He should, therefore, proceed to illustrate the difference between resident and non-resident landlords, by a single case which had specially fallen under his own observation. He wished, however, to premise that he did not intend to mention the case in any invidious spirit. Throughout the whole of his observations be wished to avoid any remarks which could give offence to any one. He had had an opportunity, by his connexion with the counties of Clare and Limerick, of knowing that the late Lord Egremont received 2.5,000/. a year from his property in those two counties. That Noble Lord, he believed, never saw his estates, and he did not believe that he expended Olson that property, after discharging the incidental ex ' penses more than five hundred pound s a year. If Lord Egremont therefore resided on his estates in Ireland, and fulfilled the duties which devolved upon him in the same manner that he did in England, who could calculate the amount of good which would be done to the locality. He thought that nothing could exceed the moral heroism exhibited by Sir Robe, t Gore Booth, and he was glad to see that the Right lion. Gentleman the Secretary for Ireland had done justice to it. Now, with respect to the amount of evil which Ireland suffered from the operation of absenteeism, he would feel a great difficulty in submitting- anything like correct in formation ; but, according to the best calculators, it did not fall short of 4,000,000/. a year, being nearly one-third of the whole rental of the country. Now he (Mr. S. O'Brien) had taken the trouble to go through the Peerage, for, as far as in dividual proprietors were concerned, it would be impossible to form an estimate of their rentals, but he had gone through the Peerage, and he would take the liberty of mentioning those Noble Lords who had properties in Ireland. from which they derived enormous rentals,_ and who n ever visited that country. In the first instance he would take the London companies, and he would refer to the Irish Society, which drew a large revenue from Ireland, and the Hon. Mem ber for Southwark (Mr. Alderman Humphery), whom he saw "in the House, could contradict him if he was in error. He would give the names of many noblemen and gentlemen who possessed large properties in Trebled, and who were absentees from the country , . The Dukes of Devonshire, Buccleuch, and Bedford ; the Marquises of Hertford, Conyngham, Lansdowne, Anglesea, Bath, Ely, Donnegal, and Abercorn ; Earls Fitz william, Stradbroke, Beresford, Audley, and Albemarle; Lords Portarlington, Clifton, Normanby, Congleton, Ashley, Stanley, Lisle, Stanhope, Fortescue and T emp l emore; Messrs. Syd ney Herbert, Stafford O'Brien, Greville, Fox Lane, and Mr. Ormsby Gore. All these gentlemen possessed considerable property in Ireland, and he (Mr. S. O'Brien ) thought that they should have no objection to aid him in en deavouring to impose upon them a tax which would make some compensation to the country for their absence from their estates. The mode in which that was to be done appeared to him to be perfectly simple. To impose such aIM AI would induce reei. m,.dente-theansof relievingsale of Ilse distress.e estate-or ta t e o t e was anything new in this proposition. He had t o IR' . from a gentieman who had studied the historyi to of absentees, and had found that, even .° e ,if ages imposts had been placed upon the proeui couldlse 'afford b t e ° sa t i b t.h d r e o litt : residents. During the reigns of Henry bob Richard, and the three Edwards, veryessel and fines were imposed upon absentees, and in one 400 was enacted th a t t wo - t hi r d s o f t h e l an d s boaki T o ot In the reign of Charles the First instructions n 4 r e , di elit to the Government to enact that all the nobility hel,,elo in Ireland were not to leave the country withoeutEit7B9 of the Government, unless employed by a l ii abroad up on it s b us i ness. He would as k t he 11 3 ° ,e, d was the smalle s t d ou b t t h at i f one- th i r d o f the re . t; 0 01, country were spent in other countries Parliament p eei; once interfere to check the evil. Preperty was 0) . 1 the hands of any man, without bringing with it ee he etter v e Residence was one of those duties, and ought to ' re ef and every. well-minded and just man would at on . 0 . 0 the principle, It was said by some that if they o fee l' heavy tax upon the proprietor they would take aw Y lrel the desire to exert himself. That was an old 0400 Ole/ b e ti which had been used against the poor-law, h° esee, e it neces , •ary to enforce th ose d ut i es . It n°°l4, beg.rol what wa s to be done w ith those propid e ters perry in th e t wo counties ? fie said that su r : l t i b r e G es e re l could not po ss ibly do their duti es p ro perly, a n s eat s~ ment ought to facilitate the sale or exchange etheroflto the sooner such proprietors got rid of one °r e % eet! e ,e estates, the batter. It would then be asked, r he retvl o to define residence ? and in order to determin e els e e l f e necessary to render persons liable to the assesseu thto ste s ,t land, the Act stated that a residence of six maneelse to country should hinder them fiepayment of ti •d e ete a princ:ple. would operate well h as a tett of tes t l i o e. such an Act as he would wish to see in opel to idee tt e error should arise oi, the subject of the time o' o se o ' o d would be e as y t o rect if y i t afterwards. He l e st °,„dlt ever, prepar e d t o say 11b that this would be the ieet,'"jill levying th e tax. He invited disc uss i on on the 41 10 thought th a t some such machinery as be had et ' , t „ easily applied. With regard to the ad tt4 io tt old tax he should propose that the minimum s hould eee cent., and if that were not found effectual it el ed fe ti d wards increased. The proceeds could be aPP f l ed r ei e lle purposes, or for the general purposes of e ducatiori b e eto ste: f distress in the country. He should, he supposed' se , Be i stale argument which many Members of that II th, Vs titularly the Right Hon. Member for Tsonn e ° a r r it° attacking anything that appeared in the form a. ho e 'merely because it appeared in that shape. t e e 4 Mr. H. M. TUITE seconded the motion., it ht t e that something ought to be done to make the jr leg u e r er subscribe to support the poor of Ireland. It was if ho bele that many Irish, as we ll as E ng li sh propr i etors et_.,der uo perty in I re l an d, h a d tota ll y neglected their duty,' ," 0 1 0 :g performing th ose serv i ces which were ex p e cte(' o e,e, Nothing could be more injurious to tbe 0 05 passed by the Government for the relief of Irish _ A di s e t 7 the absenteeism practised by so many Irish landlords difficulty especially had beers experienced i n the. ° te eeL o the Labour Act from this cause. In seven or eig ht tricts in the county of Longford, there were a nt un k ,7 - e gle m er absentee proprietors who ha not subscribed far tu- tjejie the distress. Out of the annual rental of the e ° :Sistv, e ' was 16,000/., of which litfle or nothing had been.ls the shape of subscriptions. In the county whir a ce ssirl sented, and in the relief district with which he w ag 004 the resident p ro p r i etors h a d subscribed 614'. The jOs. from sixt een t o a h un d red acres subscribed 67.• fel.e,xo this, 240 persons had been employed. Now ther e sew s ,. sentee proprietors belonging to England who dree o ce,;‘ year out of the same district, and for a ilitetle they subscribed nothing. At last, when it 0.36 . be e to expose them in the newspapers, they subser t . p e e 1 ( Hear, hear.) Of these proprietors, the P riDC' eser.Sel London company. The morgagees had not el t , t elerj farthing.-(Hear, hear.) In contrast with the P'ilertl y isl these parties, he would name the conduct of the Lansdowne, Lord Palraerston, and the Eat of Detlel , i r el done everything i n th e i r power to meet the cr isitil l employment f or t h e peop l e. Ile must say, genera ;O r e tN small absentee proprietors acted in a much worse teat the larg e ones . H e was firmly persuaded , Re lsele money which w as now spent out o f absentee landlords, was expended in t"" f 1 %4 1 there would soon be a much better state He was glad that his Hon. Friend the Member, f t had brought f orwar d t hi s motion, because he ' e- sj en' that absenteeism had been the fruitful source of $' i ts Ireland. t Alderman HUMPHERY said that he should o° , lee„ t e tempted to have risen upon that occasion, it a ehar,g beers made by the Hon. Member for Limerick ti r e ; i beeiel companies with which he (Mr. Alderman FletnP be ee r ;lile honour to be connected. If the Hot.. Member '' n teo hi d had, in the first instance, given him notice that be ;old e r bring forward these charges, he (Mr. Humphery) s he f e lt been prepared with papers and documents which , t bet h e t e vinced, would p rove to t h e H on. Member himse lf , at O A , mistaken in th e conc l us i ons h e had arrived at, a s t he spected those companies. In the first place, them be le se•o Member said that the whole of these cornpard es ile d g l ee propertie s i n I re l and, from which they deradeelme rentals, without giving a corresponding t 1 i s0:0 to that country. He (Mr. Humphery) was sure ore, companies did not spend one-tenth alone of their re ot ee to Ireland ; hut he would venture to assert that thei s r 0 9 4 fifths of their rentals in the improvement of the t a ° rese ll , The Irish Society, over which he had the Ilona!' to seta t e bad an income of from 9,00 W, to 10 000'. a year tr ° , p eei in the neighbourhood of Londonderry. Well, they Floes less than 7,0001. of that money in education and rel. tie e struction. -( Hear, hear.) The directors of the 50et%1,101.-_, refused any application made by ment of their chapels. They never refuted grants e eier ro o for the purposes of educttion.-( Hear, hear.) Ther_ e y clergymen for the f least sixty schools which received annual sums of In t 7 s ele i ; the society, and, therefore, when the Hon. Member boi l , the London companies did nothing with their nu ltel o iert s . i f vite Members of that House to dinners, and other.e_ot ments, he presumed that she lion. Gentleman had " e betir t self been so invited-(Laughter)-or he would ha e t : pe pele; understood how their funds had really been to e . , There were twenty-six mesnbers of the eociety , an u m e ese:„ them they had only spent in treating (as the 1-k r* e we") termed it) the gentl,men of that House, and in „ t '' e mite management of the comp my, 4501. a year.-("e a ' 0 10 1 " He (Mr. Hump:iery) also belenged to another le the -neighbourhood her eonll' aa r „joe possessed a large property from which they derived a revenue of 7,000/. a year. 1 ,0 1 of Co e t of, the whole of the money derived from thet property, and " 4 0 01 in London, did net amount to 3,000 i., the rest had bet°, "pre' in the improvement of their property in Coleraine, il e off sumed that the Hon. Member had travelled in the nos th ti t the land • if he had, he would no doubt have observed th at tt Lottion companies had progressed in improvements po r est that moment. What would be the case if this ine ° l o were imp , sed ? They would pay the minimum tax Of poyld cent., or the maximum tax of 20 per cent., but they G O spend no more. The Hon. Member had referred to th oi, pet, Office. The Globe, he said, received a rental of P r o iP annum, and did not spend a farthing its the country, o° _, or in the su 'script ions for the poor. He (Mr. Humohrexy de: posed that the Globe had lent some money, and t ha , t e erele °f ; rived this amount from a mortgage upon estates in elt ri Now he did not think it was customary to ask gentr a co ot lent money on mortgage to subscribe to the Po." g at co ol; Leeause that mortgage happened to be held t „ em el t , He realty thought It would be better if Hon' Genut to plot that House who held properties in Ireland would try to toot the poor on these estates and in their neighbourhood, sits of bringing charges against others, which we 010 1 ' unfounded. He thought it would be a w h t Prtr return to the House, if the House were to know perties these gentlemen possessed in Ireland, and er tieP ir they had laid out in the improvement of those pr°P to s o Hear, hear.) With regard to the rentals received„t ( ",1 t it% sentee landlords he (Mr. Humphery) believed tha t a .„ - ,. / pej, 4,000,0001. so received, at least 2,000,0001, were re'7, ) Pr o the improvement of their estates.-(Cries of " thr ee all he could say wes, that the seeonder of the proens" t l o to t the arguments of the Hon. Member for Limerick d gif t ' shage, for he had named a number of noblemen who 1 . 1 . „ 2 ate the whole of their money derived from Ireland to the ment of their estates in that country. Mr. TUITE-Only one. hsj 0 0 0 ; Alderman II UMPHER Y-The lion. Gentlemen, n i th e Honed sno r e th an one w h o h a d expended the whole money in improving their estates. Mr. TUITE-Ne, ( Laughter.) GeerAlderman HUMPHERYS-Ile mentioned Lcr tenay- Mr. TUITE -No !-(Laughter.) s ib° Alderman HUMPHERY-The Noble Lord the IVte.- for Tiverton, then- Mr. TU I TE- Yes. Alderman HUMPHERY-The Marqui s o f Lansdo °e' Mr. TUITE-011 ! no, no! -(Continued laughter.) 10 ° Mr. HUMPHERY-Well, he had not taken ti ° ,lo th e they were-(Laughter) -but he certainly gathered J r ioeall speech of the Hon. Member that many of these 11° , 0 . P; spent a large amount of money in improving their 0 ' 3 ; 0 00% should like to have a return,' stating what amount of „vb.!, they did thus l a y ou t. H e t h ought that it would be ftjtri more money was s p en t b y a b sentee l andlords in kaproeieroleei estates than by many of the resident proprietors, wb o cb spend their money so b ene fi c i a ll y. Well then, the erit Fo the Hon. Member for Limerick amounted to this, that *, e but fair that the London Companies (not - 11 . 1 which had a mor t gage upon their properties) s ha put in comparison with those gentlemen w l Sesel_i mortgages upon th e i r es t ates, b ecause they could „oseee spend more money th an th ose ' w h o were thus embar. ofibe He (Mr. Humph er y) s h ou ld lik e to know if two-thirdsffe absentee landlords had mortgages upon. their properti ee ' t l ed should say n o t, an d t h erefore it was more likely t ha Ae re would prove greater benefactors than those whose estateliew mortgaged. The London Companies and the Irish Se ° t i : o ;be ri indeed s p en d money , b ut not in giving dinners to the gef of that House, and he trusted, therefore, that the Hon . if th e ber would admit that his charges were unfounded. des:, Hon. Member had an estate of equal magnitude, ° e t i pended a sum p roport i ona b ly with them, in the etluettogieel the poo r -i n g i v i ng re li g i ous instruction-building reved! houses, and supporting the p o p u l a ti on o f t h e ne i g hboa.v in which they received their rents-if he and othe r s ere landlords did all this, they would find in Ireland rior state of society to that which now existed. tb ° Mr. LA BOUCIIERE said that the Hon. Gentlene. o 4 Member f or Li mer i ck, in the commencement of a Epe e : lar the temperate and argumentative tone of which he ( ee lle: bouchere) gave his mead of approbation ; the Hon. G m OP man, in the beginning of his speech, said that he ee tt e ks t e a expect that the proposal which he was going to rtelie° the House would receive the sanction of the " ' 5 l/' Members ; because, al bough the present state 0f yet senteeisru was admitted to be a great calamity, thi s inasmuch as the money lost by Ireland was gained b 70 014 country, he could not expect that English Members the agree to his m o ti on . H e (M r. Labouehere) a ssure d t es Hon. Memb er th a t if h e res i sted his motion it was e l ftbe e t that ground, for no man was more convinced than he wee w ite nothing that tended to impoverish Ireland was consistent 1 4 if the interests of the United Kingdom-( Hear, hear) --a ct , e, he had thought that the Hon. Gentleman had proved hi' f bra he should at once have consented to the introduction ! l ob measure, not only on the ground that it would assist 00 but because he felt that what benefited Ireland would be re' of advantage t o thi s country. Th e Hon. Gentleman h a : • e 0! ferred to ohj c ti sns t h at were some t i mes made to proposl the of this sort, b ecause th ey were not brought t° oe esi , ' shape of spe c ifi c measures, but embodied in g e t hst resolutions. He (Mr. Labouchere) confessed her he shared in the dislike that the Hon. Mentor had attributed to the Right Hun. Baronet the Meneber ee sl Tamworth, t o rece i v i ng measures i n t h e s h apes of geaseoed resolutions ; but the Hon. Gentleman w h o h a d b roug ht ford 0 this question had done so with so much moderation, barber fairly and so explicitly stated hi s vi ews upon t h e su bject s , r he had fully supplied whatever w as am b igunue i n t h e resteios tion itself. lie told them that he wi s h e d t h e H ouse to 011%00 this principle, that it would not b e p oss ibl e for any one to property in England and Ireland.-(Hear, hear.) He e io n went further, he would even prevent the possibility of aP er 00 holding property in diff erent parts of Ireland itself. o t (Mr. Laboucher e ) did not believe that the Governoe;„.. of any country, in any degree forward in civilizati on i he diel not b e li eve t h at any nation would adopt Pr o, ~t , ciples an d op i nions so destructive of improvenae' to the as those o f th e H on. Gentleman, With regard question of absenteeism , h e (M r . L a b ouc h ere) w as not ell e f cessary lieving of this division Sir to bee derive House, or 2 0 Proprif 10 R ta i Gents locate( hav e 1 br oug , were be at there of the That !end m could Wer e Marl r lar ry e e , th e , Rho Itee l "Pei key Pea div se t Iv o to la r th; tic fa