The Sun. — London, England, 1857-05-15 00:00:00

IMPERIAL -PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—(YESTERDAY.) HONG KONG. Mr. DUNLOP asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies, with reference to the fact, appearing from the Parlatmentary paper No. 147, of last session, that, while the emigration officer at Hong Kong had refused to grant a certificate for more than 81 Chinese coo lies being taken to sea by the John Calvin, bound for Havana, that vessel carried away 297 such passengers, of whom 110 perished on the voyage, by suicide and disease, and 23 more in quarantine and hospital at Havana : whether the conduct of the master, in taking pas engers exceeding so greatly in number that for which the certi ficate was granted, was a contravention of the Chinese Passengers' Act of 1855, and, if so, whether instructions bad been given for enforcing the penalties under the bond granted at Hong Kong in terms of that act ; or, if it be not, whether her Majesty's Government would propose an amendment of the act to remedy a defect which gave occa.ion to kidnapping and its consequences: and, whether any communication ,had been made to his department of an explanation having been demanded or received from the British Consul General in Cuba of the statement, so far as regards the Jobn Calvin, contained in his report on the cases of that vessel and the Duke of Portland, that he had minutely inquired into them, and that there was no blame whatever attached to the mas ters of that vessel ? Mr. LABOUCIIERE said that the officers at Hong Kong only licensed for 80 coolies, and that the others were carried against that license. The authorities were considering whether the law was sufficient to prevent such conduct, and if so, measures would be accordingly taken, and if it was found the law was defective he should take steps to amend it. With regard to the conduct of the Consul at Havannab, no blame was justly imputed to him. THE CHARTIST CUFFEY. Mr. T. DUNCOMBE asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why William Cuffay had nit participated in the general amnestygranted in the spring 2 of last year by her Majesty to all political prisoners . Sir G. GREY said his name was on the list sent out, but that probably it bad not arrived when the hon, member's informatien left Van Diemen's Land. THE MURRAIN. Lord NAAS asked the Vice President of the Board of Trade, whether her Majesty's Government had re ceived any communications relative to the murrain said to be raging among the cattle on the Continent ; and, whether he would lay such communications on the table of the house ? Mr. LOWE said that no communication bad been received that could be laid on the table of the house. The communication that bad been received had been handed to Dr Greenhow for a report, and when ready it would be laid on the table- of the house. If that del not satisfy the noble lord he would then lay the original documents on the table of the house. GUANO. Mr. CAIRD asked the First Lord of the Admiralty whether a search for guano, nitrates, or other natural deposits of manure, formed part of the instructions to her Majesty's naval . offictre at present engaged in the surveys of the coast of Egypt, the south-east coast of Africa, the south-western Pacific, and the river La Plata, all of which surveys were stated in the navy estimates to he now in progress Mr. BAXTER asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether it was the intention of her Majesty's Government to send out a few small vessels of war for the purpose of searching the rainless coast of Africa, and other promising localities, for supplies of guano ; and whether any negoti itiens bad been entered into with the Brazilian Government for securing a right to remove nitrate of soda from the deposits lately disco vered near Pernambuco ? Sir C. WOOD said that vessels were not sant out spe cially by the Government to search for guano islands, but directions were given to captains to look about and report to the Government ; but at present they had been unsuccessful. The officers would not be likely to find any on the coast of Egypt and the south east coast of Africa, but they had directions to look out for guano in the south-western Pacific. He was not aware of any negotiations with Brazil relative to taking nitrate of soda. THE SHIP " LORD RAGLAN." Mr. LAURIE asked the First Lord of the Admi ralty whether it was decided that 1,000 troops, with officers and women, were about to leave Kingston for the Mauridue en board the ship Lord Raglan ; and whether a vessel of such tonnage was capable of con taining so large a number with any comfort or safety ? Sir C WOOD said that the Lord Raglan was only to take 727 men, with officers and women, and 70 boys. She was quite capable of taking that number. THE TRANSIT. In reply to a question from Admiral WALCOTT, Sir C. WOOD took the opportunity of stating tbat in telligeece bad been r-ceived from the Transit, dated Cape de Verd Islands, and that everything was going on satisfactory. (Hear, hear.) EDUCATION. In answer to a question from Mr. SLANGY, Sir J. PAKINGTON said he did not contemplate bringing in a bill this session on the question of educa tion, but he would introduce the subject for the conside ration of the house by motion. THE PROPERTY OF MARRIED WOMEN. Sir E. PERKY moved for leave to bring in a bill to amend the law of property, as it affects married women and their separate earnings. The lion. and learned mem ber said be had hoped that this question would havebeen taken up by her Majesty's Government, the late Attor eey-General, now Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, having admitted, when he brought it before the house, that the rules of common law relating to the property of married women were moot unjust, and inapplicable to the present state of society, and that tbe rules of the Court of Equity were more consistent with the require ments of the age. He could assure the new members of the house that what ne proposed was not founded on mere theory; what he wished for was a practical remedy for a practical ge ievance, and in the lest session nearly 25,000 persons c implained in petitions of the present state f the law, and brought before the house exemples of hardship which had fallen within their own I xperi enee ; and having pointed out a grievaece they were no ee aexiously waitieg for the remedy. One ground on which he appealed to the house to take up this question was that a bill had been introduced in anwher place to increase the facilities for obtaining a divorce. Those who understood the law of divorce in other countries were not anxious to see any innovation, on our present law of . marriage undertaken hastily-, and his own opinion was that tne people of England did not desire that facile di vorce ghoul t become part'of the law of the laud. There was, however, a general desire for some wise and coin pra hensive measure as to the enjoyment of property be tween man and wise. The husband required to be re lieeed horn pecuniary liabilities on the part of a guilty wife, arid on the other hand, the wife who had been de serted desired that her own earnings shonli be secured to her, instead of being left to be seized by a profligate hus band. He was senvinced that the carrying out of these "objects would do away with tho demands which were being made in some quarters with regard to divorce. The objections which were made to the present state of the law by those who had petitioned the 1 house was that the common law of England was unjust in principle, that it differed from the law of all other civilised countries, that it was even inconsistent with itself, and that it was' grievous in its operation. He would not dwell at length on these points, but would content himself with very shortly stating the effect of ,the law as it stood. Bx the common law of England the wife had no property whatever, either in the per sonalty which she hod before marriage, or in anything which she might acquire after marriage. She had no right of suing or being sued,, and if she claimed the protection of courts of justice, their decision was nearly always against her. The law on the subject of dower sees entirely in favour of the husband. The Roman law, which was the great foundation of the laws of the civi Lied wort I, treated woman with the same respect as man in regard to property, giving her all the riolats of property and imposing on her all the obligations arising out of those rights. So, again, under the German law, which prevailed over the greater part of the continent of Europe, the wife had an indefeasible interest in the common stock of the husband and wife, the rommunia bonorum, and could claim her share if the marriage were dissolved or a separation took place inconsequence of differences. Not only was the English law unlike the laws of all other civilised countries, but it had departed from its own pri ciples. The early principles of the Eng t hsh law were as enlightened and just with respect to the property of women as were those of the Roman or the German low. In early days, when land was not of great value, the English law did not take front the wise any landed property which she possessed before marriage ; and though it gave the husband a right to that property after ber death, if a child were born alter the marriage, it made the wife a compensation for that by giving her a third of the land whether a child was born or not. So again with regard to personalty, which was in those days of little value, the wife bad a clear indefeasible right to a third of her husband's property after his death. These rights were destroyed by success S ti i: n ede - Asions of c our t s o f j u sti ce . Si r Willi am Bleck te remarked that wives lost them by imperceptible de greets, the truth being that husbands assumed a right to Courts of justice sanctioned that assumption, For the credit of th e l egal profession, he must say he had very rarely heard any defence of the law as it stood. It was generally admitted to be a harsh law, and with the ex ception perhaps of th n e o h b o e n. h a a n d d learned member for Wallingford Mali that house defend it. Sims sa ges nut heard any one in of the One of the he law, tolerably advanced in life, bad ind ee d set np a most distinguished judges of the country sard def ence. otfhahtifiaswtihfee law threw on the husband the maintenance and children, and the education of his children, and as it rested with the husband to state h ow those, duties should be performed, it was quite right that the law ; should give to the husband the whole of the property of the wife, in order that he night be enabled to discharge these obligations. Now, assuming that the liabilities were correctly stated, it was quite obvious that the con clusion was a great deal too wide. Supposing the hus 4eankl, were bound to maintain his children, what was to he the ease if there were no children of the marriage, or ;Atha wife died a week after the marriage, or if the hue. itand'had 'a mistress and illegitimate children! Was it right, was it reasonable, that in such cases the husband should be abl e t o di s p ose of all that was possessed by the wife? But the proposition which he had quoted was not correct as regardeo facts. The law of England did not make a man liable to maintain his children or to edu citte them. He was bound to maintain his wife in accord anee with his own position, but his maintenance of his , cbridren was governed by the poor law, which simply required that they should not become chargeable to the - parish. No father was compelled by the law of England to educate his children, the law very wisely leaving the / performance of such duties to parental feelings. If this were the case, why should the property of the mother be taken from her in order to enable the father to discharge these duties ? No one would contend that parental feelings were not at least asetrong in the female as in the male, and that being the case, there was no excuse for placing the wife's property at the dis posal of the husband. He would not trouble the house by reading a bead-roll of grievances which had arisen under the present law ; such cases must now be familiar to all ; but there was one instance which he would refer to, because it illustrated a very large class of cases. It was taken from a letter from an eminent solicitor, which appeared in a late number of the Edin- Reriew. This gentleman was applied to by a lady of rank and influence, whose daughter had just eloped, and was asked to try and stop the marriage. The young lady had a great deal of property in the books of the Bank of England. The solicitor was fortunate enough to arrive at the church before the marriage was solem nised. The young lady being of age he bad no power to stop the marriage ; but he succeeded in postponing it for 24 hours. and, during that period, the bridegroom, a your :g officer, was so loud in his professions as to what he would do for his future wife, that even the solictor, with all his experience, was taken in. Accordingly a deed was prepared settling the young lady's property on herself, and before the marriage it was attested in the vestry by the officiating clergyman. After the ceremony was over, however, the old lawyer, inspired with profes sional caution, sent to the Bank of England, and put a distringas on the young lady's property. It was most fortunate that he did so, for almost at the earliest pos sible period after the marriage the husband went to the Bank of England, and demanded a transfer of the stock into his own name. This the distringas prevented, and thus the solicitor had the good fortune to secure the property to the lady herself. This was a specimen of cases which are happening every day ; and if any doubts existed on the subject, they might be easily removed be fore a committee. Now, he might be asked what remedy he proposed to apply to the present state of the law ? What he proposed was, in the first place, to give to females of the middle and humbler classes the same powers with respect to property before marriage that were now ex• ercised by the higher classes, with the aid of solicitors and settlements. He fully admitted the difficulty of legislating wisely on such a subject, but he was happy to say that the whole question had been fully investi gated by a learned society, to which many distinguished members of that house belonged—he meant the Law Amendment Society—and that society had almost unani mously come to the conclusion that one of the first steps in the improvement of the law was to leave to the wife the sole enj , yinent of her own property before marriage, so far as it was not affected by any settlement. This was no new principle in legislation, it was a principle of the Roman law, which was described by Lord Lyndhurst as the noblest monument of human wisdom. It was also oneof the pi inciples of the German law, and of the law of the United States. The United States of America had for the most pert adopted the English law ; but having found that portion of the English law which related to this subject very injurious to the community, they had adopted the principle of giving to married women ex clusive rights over their own property. The bob and learned member t hen read a letter from Mr. D. Field, an American lawyer at New York, in reply to one from the Committee of the Law Amendment Society, in favour of the view which he was advocating. The ques tion, be said, would be asked, if property was to be secured to a married woman by the common law, what liabilities should attach to her. On that paint he had no besit-etion in saying that a wife should be as much liable for all her own acts as she . was before marriage. That was the case in equity at present, when a wife had a separate estate. But if this principle sere adopted, the extraordinary anomaly of the husband being liable for all the debts contracted by his wife before marriage, must at the same time be abolished. (Hear, hear.) The hus band was now liable for the wrongful acts of his wife, even for the slanderous use of her tongue ; but he thought that if a wife were made capable of helding property ' under the common law, she ought to be reponsible for her own conduct. He was convinced that to say that the women of England desired to escape from such respon sibility would be a gross slander. They knew that moral ' responsibility attached to every individual, and they thought that in this matter legal responsibility ought to accompany it. He thanked the house for the patience with which they had listened to his re marks ; and be would only say, in conclusion, that as the upper classes of society possessed all the requisite machinery for protecting tbem , elves, what he now asked the house to do was to give the middle and work ' mg classes of society similar benefits to those which the upper classes enjoyed. He would now move for leave to introduce the bils Mr. H. DRUMMOND said he felt great pleasure in seconding the motion, being convinced that the working of the present law in regard to married women was (x -ceedingly injust. He must confess, however, that be had very great doubts whether his hon. and learned friend would be able to attain his object unless a measure were previously pa•ised to give greater facilities for divorce a raensa et iltoro. And he had hoped that a bill on that subj e ct would come down from the House of Lards be fore this bill was introduced. He might himself have in troduceQ a measure on the subjectif he had notlearnt from experience that it was utterly useless for any private member to introduce a hill of importance. (Laughter.) The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said he wisherito state in the first place that the Government would not oppose the motion of the hon. and learned member. He was by no means desirous of preventing a discussion on the sub je.ct ; on the contrary, he should be very glad if hon. members wood make its subject of special and careful attention. When the divorce bill came down from the other house, it would he necessary that it should engage attention. It was, however, a subject which was very different from the ordinary topics of the law. Toe lsws affecting the property of married women, and their status with respect to that property, were intimately bound up with our social institutions, and it was by no means a Ilight thing to attempt an alteration of the law which in volved a material change in the social or political in stitutions of the country. The hon. and learned mem ber had undoubtedly taken upon himself a very diffi cult and onerous task. So far as the hon. and learned member had stated his proposition, lie did not anti , cipate that it would be received with much favour. His object seemed to be to make husband and wile I independent persons, to make the women of England stand in that strong-minded po-ition which he had ind•- ceted—(laughter)—to make them independent in all acts, so that neither would be in any way affected by what the other said or did. He (the Attorney-General) .1 did not think that was the wish of the best or the most •I amiable portion of the women of England. (dear, hear.) ; Ile, however, was certainly desirous that the law of Eng land on this subject should be male consistent with it eel', and as an individual member, expressing individual opinions, he would endeavour to point out how far he should himself be disposed to go in a measure of reform. (Hear, hear.) The hon.and learned member had alluded to the remarkable difference which existed between the law of England with respect to the effect of marriage on reel property and on personal property. They all knew very well that in the early period of English history per sonal property was greatly disregarded. When a marriage took place,therefore, between a man and woman possessed of real eqate, the law gave to the husband n :t the unqualified property in real estate, but right to the rents and profits during coverture ; and to make an effectual alienatioe, he must obtain the consent of his wife. The operation of the law was, however, ale eurd. If a woman when she married had a real estate of SOO/. a year, this did not necessarily go to the husband, but if she hael 20,0001. in the funds, the stock was trans ! ferred to him. He, should, therefore, by no means be indisposed to let the dividends from stock he settled by the marriage contract on the wife, and to apply to that case the same safeguards that applied to real prop, rty, unless the wife shouid, after marriage, consent to the transfer of her personal property to her husband. He would make the gift to the husband, as was now the case in law, a gift subject to the condition of maintaining, pre tecting, and guarding the wife, and would provide chat if that duty were rot discharged, and the property remained intact arid unalienated, the life interest ehould revertto the wife who had been deserted or treated brutally by her hus band. He now came to the question raised as to the earn ings of a married woman during coverturefrom any trade, avocation, or pursuit. With regard to property of that description, the courts of,equity were in the habit of re caenising a separate interest on the part of the wife ; and he concurred with the hon. and learned member that what the wife earned during coveture should re main her separate property. There remained a third subject to be dealt with—namely, acquisitions made after coverture ; the three kinds of property under can ' sideratioa being the property which the wife had at the time of her marriage ; the property which she acquired after her marriage and during coverture by her own in dustry ; and the acquisitions she made by her own in dustry, gift, or otherwise, after coverture. The law was at variance with equity on this subject. If a married woman who had no settlement had a sum of money be queathed to her after coverture,she had a right to go into equity and require a settlement to be made, and a portion of the principal of the property was taken away and locked up in settlement for the beDefitof the wife, with remainder to the children. But this could only be obtained through the in erpositiou of a court of equity, and that interposition was limited by the amount of the property. He thought that such property should be given to the wife without the interposition of a court of justice ; and that it was inex pedient to wake her go to any tribunal, and each more to so costly a tribunal as a modern court of equity. It must be remembered that the law gave absolute owner ship of all the wife's property in possession to the hus band, and it they altered that law they would take away the necessity for the interposition of a court of equity. He should propose that the law should give t i the'huE ban d only a lite interest, subject to the dnty of maintain ing and protecting the wife. The mode of compelling a husband to perform his obligations was most weak acd inefficient, but they would make it efficient if they enacted that a husband ill-treating his wife should lose his interest in the property of the wife, which should revert to her. He made these observations to inform the hon. member how far some members of the Government, who have con sidered this matter already, were prepared to go in the matter. He did not know any euhject that was more diffi cult, or that should be deat with mote anxiously and approached with more timidity, than anything that dealt with the relations between husband and wife. Sir J. PAKINGTON hoped that the hon. member, is bringing forward this bill, would adopt the course in rested by the Attorney-General. He thought that the same s ngrieao3grttndi udtoportirtegoepthweretrechsataeoilhtonhopnaueri whether personalty. r c eTet h Ayhe w eoterh a e s o we g vi ehnas ae n t g o o it m vh ee a nr r r mt i n e ad them ht w ee ronT liewit w e w i ra t e l Attorney-General fully stated what ere a separation had taken place between husband and wife, but still there had been no divorce. By the present law the husband so living . apart from his wife had a right to take her earnings for his own use. The Attorney-General had alluded to the wife's separate earnings during coverture, but not where the parties were living separate. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL—A fortiori during scparat;on 'Sir J. PAKINGTON—The other question, as to the wife's earnings during covertnre, might lead to some difference of opinion. He had only made this statement that he might express his strong opinion that, so far as the bill applied to proved evils, the hon. and learned gen tleman had taken a course that deserved the thanks of the house, and he hoped he would follow the very judi cious advice given by the Attorney-General. Mr. B. HOPE thought that this matter was not so cleat' as the right hon. member for Droitwich (Sir J. Pakington) assumed it to be. Hitherto there had been free trade in the property of husband and wife, and to resort to protection in these days was rather a strong proposition. This was a very delicate state of things. (A laugh.) He was glad to say that all the husbands thought so ; it was a delicate thing to interfere between man and wife. The hon. gentleman would no doubt next session bring in a bill to protect fathers against spendthrift sons, and also a not less necessary law to protect sons against curmudgeon fathers. The measure had two sides, one object being to protect the rich, and the other the poor. No doubt the hardest case was where a profligate husband wrested from the wife the few pence which she had earned by the sweat of her brow. That was an undoubted hardship, but how was the Legislature to interfere Let the Legislature declare that the earnings of the wife should not belong to the bust:and, but bow could acts of Parliament protect her when the drunken brute came home and wrested the money from her. She might go to a mag:strate, and he might order him to refund what had been already spent, or send him to the treadmill, and leave her a beggar in the streets. With respeck to the rich, in matters of marriage settlements and other cases, he thought that the doctrine of caeeat emptor was a very good law. Se riously, he doubted, when the whole matter had been fully discussed, as it would be in another place, bow far it would be found right to meddle with one branch of it. Mr. M. MILNES said they had been reproached upon this subject in the public prints, and it had been said that there were no persons who owed more to the ladies than they did, in reference to their assistance in placing them in the high position which they occupied. (A laugh.) He did hope that they would come to the con sideration of this question in a very serious, and not in a jesting spirit. It was only at the eleventh hour that they had come to consider the matter at all. He thought that his hon. friend who had brought forward this mea sure deserved the thanks of Parliament for having bro ken the ground. The hon. member for Maidstone (Mr. B. Hope) might be assured that the house would do no thing that would attack the sanctity of those institutions which he so revered, for those institutions were fixed too deed in the hearts of the people to be altered by any act of Parliament whatever. What they bad to do was to remedy patent and admitted evils. He did not think that the question was so difficult in that part of it which re ferred to the protection of the poorer classes, but when they came to the upper classes, no doubt the question did mix itself up with questions of separation and di vorce in a manner that made it very difficult to deal with. There were cases of desertion of wives and also cases of desertion of husbands by wives, and this was not solely a woman's question. Mr. MALINS thought it was farbetter to reserve any thing he had to say until a future stage of the measure, Leave was then given to bring in the bill. ARMY HUTS. C tpt. BOLDER() moved an address for returns of the number of huts supplied to the Ordnance or War De partments during the years 1854-5 and 1855-6 ; the ap propriation of the same ; together with the stations, and quantitiPs sent to each. And of the names of the several contractors, amount of each contract, and price per hut, with dimensions ; the present extent of hut accommoda tion in England and Ireland, and the number of troops hutted on the lit day of April. 1857. Agreed to. MINISTERS' MONEY IN IRELAND. Mr. FAGAN moved to bring in a bill to amend the act of 17 and 18 Vic., c. 2, with a view to the abolition of ministers' money in Ireland. As he understood that it was not the intention of the Government to oppose his bill, be thought he should best consult the pleasure of the h.,use by deferring any observations on the subject until the measure reached a future stage. Mr. STAFFORD asked what was the opinion of the • Government as to this measure Lord PALMERSTON said he had taken an opportu nity last session, when his hon. friend brought this question before the house, of saying that the Govern ment, after full consideration of the matter, were pre pared to concur with the motion of his hon. friend, and therefore if the details of the bill were unobjectionable, the Government would nut oppose it, for they agreed with the principle. Mr. D BRAE Li observed thatthe principle of this bill had be -n opposed by every Government, and by the nob!. lord himself, who bad designated the principle as one of confiscation. However, he did not think this a fitting opportunity to enter upon the discussion of this bill, for it was best to discuss a bill when they were prepmed to divide, which they would not be upon a motion to bring in a bill. Ho did not think that the present was a con venient time to discuss the merits of this measure, but one ob ervation he onild not refrain from making. The principle of the bill was one the importance of which could not be overrated, for in fact it, if conceded, would affect the right to all church property. This bill, as he understood, was to be suppArted by the Government. Was it not much better uoier circumstatices of this kind, where a measure involving 94 principle of this im portance was sanctioned by the Government, that the bill should be brought forward by the Government itself. If that were so, still, in the present instance, her Ma jetty's Ministers had thought it consistent with their duty to permit a private member to bring forward a bill on a subject of such magnitude ; and he thought that the Government was at least bound to do this—to take care that a principle of such magnitude, having been approved by them, the house should have an early op portunity of expressing an opinion on it ; for if it were left in the hands of a private member, the chances were against its ever being brought before the house for defi nitive decisior. He thought that the Government was bound to make suc'a arrangements that the hill should be brought speedily to a second reading. (Hear, bear.) Certainly he should oppose it Sir G. GREY agreed that it would be inconvenientto discuss the scatter no cv, and therefore he would not follow the right hon gentleman in the observations which he had made. Tile Government proposed to do what bad been stated. What was stated last session was that the Government proposed to act on the recommendation of 'the committee of this house which sat in 1847, and look ing to the difficulty of collecting the fund for ministers' money and other matters, they proposed to exonerate the corporation of Ireland from the duty of collecting the money, a duty which they could not be forced to per form without very great difficulty. As his hon. friend ()dr. Fagan) had taken this subject up, it would have been ungracious to take it out of his hands. As to de lay by leaving it in tse hands of a private member, look ing to the amount of Government business before the house, he believed that the house would be called on much sooner to discuss the bill than if it were taken on a Government day. Mr. NAPIE it said the amount of business rendered it more necessary to fix a day. The whole question was one of deep importance, and it was his intention on the second reading to move the rejection of the bill. He thought he had better reserve his observations until then. Mr. HENLEY thought that the bill involved a prin ciple of too great importance to be dealt with by a pri vate member. Leave was given to bring in the bill. REGISTRATION OF VOTERS (SCOTLAND). The LORD ADVOCATE brought in a hit to amend the law for the registration of persons entitled to vote in the election of members to serve in Parliament for coun ties in Scotland. Mr. G. DUNDAS very much regretted that the bill had been introduced after those meetings had taken place in Scotland at which the matter might have been so well discussed. Mr. KINNAIRD thought that they were greatly in debted to the Lord Advocate for bringing in this bill. Mr. CRAUFURD objected to the bill. The LORD ADVOCATE said that the discussion had better take place on the second reading. Leave was given to bring in the bill. BURIAL ACTS. Mr. MASSEY moved for 1-ave to bring in a bill to amend the Burial Acts. Lave given. THE MEDICAL PROFESSION. Lord ELC HO moved for leave to bring in a bill to alter and amend the laws relating to the medical pro- f ssion. The bill was the same as had been brought in on a previous occasion. Leave given. GRAND JURIES (IRELAND). Captain MAGAN moved the second reading of this bill. Mr. NAPIER wished to know whether any member of the Governmet '; Lad seen it ? Mr. BUTT said his attention had been directed to it by the [aptr. He thought the bill objectionable and unneceverry. Mr. H. HERBERT thought that the hon. member deserved the graittude of the country for bringing this matter before the house. The bill was read a second time. Several bills were brought in, and the house adjourned at twenty minutes past seven. [Anvgarissition.]—The salutary effect of Du Barry's del!- cious Revalenta Arabica Food in removing Indigestion (Dys pepsia), Flatulency, Constipation, Nervous, Bilious, and Liver complaints, Cough, Asthma, Consumption, and Debility with out Medicine, is admirably displayed by the following letters: " Ridlington Rectory, Norfolk, Juno 10, 1850. No. 4,208. — Eight years' dyspepsia, nervousness, debility with cramps, spasms, and nausea, have been effectually removed by Du Barry's health-restoring Food. I shall be happy to answer any inquiries. Rev. J. W. Flaysra," " Bury, Lancashire, Ang. 17, 1851. Gentlemen,—For a considerable time I have suffered severely from a violent pain in my left side, extreme flatulency, accompanied by an intolerable sensation of heart burn, and other disagreeable symptoms of dyspepsia. Various remedies, alleged infallible, were tried in vain, and for a long time I was never twenty-four hours without violent pain ; indeed I was unfitted for the performance of my daily duties. I was induced to try your food. In less than au hour I found relief, and my recovery was very rapid. The duties which previously had been an intolerable burden became a delight ful exercise, and I have since accomplished more labour with lees fatigue than I over expected to be able to perform. I have never hada return of my complaint.—l remain, &c., D.Trumes." S u pported by testimonials from the celebrated Professors of Chemistry, Dr. Andrew tire ; Dr. Shorland ; Dr. Harvey Dr. Campbell ; Dr. Gattiker ; Dr. Wurzer ; Dr. Ingram . Lord Stuart de Deeies ; the Dowager Countess of Castle etuart ; Major-Gen. Thomas King, and many other respectable persons, whose health has been restored by it, after all other means of cure had failed. For further particulars respect. in; this invaluable food our readers are referred. toDu Barry's alvartisement in another part of this paper. MURDER AT WOKINGHAIII. A man named John Blackwell, a shoemaker liv ing at Wokingham, has recently exhibited symp toms of aberration of mind in the shape of violent religious delusions, and the parish officers had de termined to remove him to a lunatic asylum. On Wednesday night a man named Rance was appointed to sleep with him to prevent mischief. Rance agreed with two men occupying cottages on either side of Blackwells' that if he required assistance in the night be should knock loudly on the walls. Soon after midnight one of the neighbours was awoke by a loud noise. He went to Blackwells, cottage, and saw Blackwell standing over Rance, who was lying on the floor quite dead. Being frightened, he went into his own cottage, and shut the door, at which the maniac presently knocked, saying, "I have killed the devil, and I am the king of kings." Black well then went away, and was not found till Thurs day morning, when he was seen kneeling in the street and praying in an incoherent manner. From the appearance of Rance's body, it seemed as if he had been first knocked down, and then had re ceived several severe cuts in the throat and hand. The maniac's own account of the matter before the magistrates was as follows :—" That man offered to be my protector, and wished me to sleep on. When I had a certain evidence in my mind that eternity was coming, I could'nt sleep. I got out of bed, but he pulled me back. He said, `You feel warm ;' and I said I don't feel everlastingly warm.' I had a presentiment that he was a devil, and I deter mined to kill him. I struck him a blow, which almost levelled hiw, but the second did quite. I then got a knife, just as he managed to get the door open, and stuck him in the neck. The knife didn't cut, but I managed to hag and jag away till I hal done the job." The magistrate committed him for trial at the assizes, and he was removed to the county gaol. SHOCKING MURDER AT CANTERBURY. CANTERBURY, THURSDAY. A murder was committed this morning, at about 7 o'clock, on the Sturry-road, by a young man, named Stephen Fox, a plane maker, aged 24, upon a young woman, named Mary Ann Hadley, aged 23, by shooting her. The latter, who is a laun dress, was on her way to her work, at Mr. Carter's in the Sturry-road. Fox waylaid her in an alley between the cavalry barracks and the new militia stores, leading to the road where she had to pass. When she came up he ran out and presented two single barrel pistols at her, exclaiming " Now you must die ! " and immediately discharged the con tents of both at her. One ball passed through the upper part of the left thigh, and the ether shattered the third finger of the left hand. The poor girl ran about 20 yards, and while falling was caught in the arms of Stephen Baker, a labourer working at the new militia stores, who, on hearing the report of fire-arms, ran to her assistance. Fox ran off as soon as he had done the deed, but was soon cap tured by Edward Gurney, a gardener. Hadley was conveyed to Mr. Carter's house, which is close by. Mr. Carter went for medical assistance, but when Mr. T. Andrews, sur g eon, arrived he gave no hopes, and the wounded girl died about 1G minutes afterwards. The parties had courted about 18 months, but the engagement had been suddenly broken off in consequence of Fox's misconduct. In the couree of the clay an inquest was held on the body, and the evidence adduced clearly proved that the murder was premeditated, Fox having shown the loaded pistols to a witness of the name of Gurney, and said he meant to shoot the deceased. Gurney informed deceased of Fox's threats, and she tried to keep out of his way, but he watched for hrr, and ultimately effected his diabolical purpose as above related. It was shown that there had been a courtship between them, which was broken off by the deceased on account of Fox's intimacy with another female. The jury returned a verdict of wilful murder, and the coroner made out his warrant accordingly. In the afternoon an examination took place be fore the magistrates, when the prisoner made the following statement :—" The reason. why I did it was because she deceived me. I had premised her marriage, and she consented. I went to her house on Monday evening, but she was not at home. I left about nine o'clock. I went again on Tuesday at six o'clock, and she was not at home then. I went there again and stopped till a quarter past ten, when she re turned home. I went into the front room, and asked her the reason of this unpleasantness. She said it was my own fault. I said, Be it so.' I said, 'Give me a decided answer, yes or no, and I will leave you for ever.' She said, 'No, Stephen, I will meet you to-morrow (Wednesday) evening, precisely at eight o'clock. She did not meet me, however. This morning at seven I saw her again. She said, Stephen, forgive me. I said, No, I can't.' I had kept company with her two years. I never bad a mis-word till last Tuesday evening." He was then committed for trial at the ntxt assizes. THE COTTON SUPPLY AND INDIAN RIVER NAVIGATION. We are requested to publish the following copy of a memorial from the Manchester Chamber of Commerce to Lord Palmerston, with Lord Palmerston's reply : " To the Right Honourable the Lord Viscount Palmerston, K.G., !cc., " The memorial of the Directors of the Chamber of Commerce and manufactures at Manchester shewetb, " That among the measures which have been proposed for developing the resources of India, and obtaining increased supplies of cotton from that country, there is probably none which promises more ample or more speedy advantages than the navigation of the great rivers of that country by steam, whereby the productions of the interior would find an easy outlet to the coast, and a superior inlet would be afforded for British manufactures. "That the main impediments heretofore subsisting to the effectual and profitable navigation of Indian rivers by steam, has been their shallowness at certain seasons, but that this difficulty has been overcome by an expedient pro posed by Mr. Bourne, civil engineer, whereby the cargo, instead of being placed in the steamer herself, which would sink her too deeply in the water, is placed in a succession of shallow barges properly attached to the steamer, where by a large carrying capacity is reconciled with a shallow draught. "That Mr. Bourne's proposal has been submitted to the most eminent engineers of this country, and to a number of the most distinguished Indian officers, who have all tes tified to the great advantages which the introduction of it into India would afford ; that his arrangements have been tested practically with satisfactory results ; and that, as far back as 1849, your memorialists, in common with other commercial bodies throughout the kingdom, addressed a memorial to the directors of the East India Company, urging upon them the great public importance of so far en ccuraging Mr. Bourne's proposals as to enable them to be practicall) carried out. " That your memorialists have, ever since that time, looked upon this scheme for promoting internal transport in India with the greatest solicitude ; that they consider the wide introduction into India of such improved modes of communication as will enable large quantities of bulky commodities to be carried through long distances at aas the indi s p ensa bl e an t ece d en t o f an y solid expense,orperarienl improvement in the condition of India ; that water conveyance is the cheapest of aey mode of con veyance yet known , and that in Mr. Bourne's plan for navigating the Indian rivers, whereby many thousands of miles could be immediately opened up without any con siderable outlay, they recognise a means of speedily reali gng this important desideratum. "ghat your memorialists are informed by Mr. Bourne that a company has been formed in London to carry out this plan of navigation in India, and that he, on behalf of that company, has applied to the directors of the Honour able the East India Company for such terms of encoura ce ment as he considers would enable them to carry out the design, but that he has not yet received any definite answer, and that the delays which have occurred are most injurious and discouraging to the said company. " That your memorialists are fully persuaded that if, in 1849, when this expedient for opening up the resources of India was urged upon the Indian authorities, some step had been taken for carrying it into practical effect, an im portant impulse would by this time have been given to the production and improvement of Indian cotton. "Calling to mind your lordship's patriotic desire to multiply the sources of supply of raw cotton, believing that India, under wise and necessary reforms, would be enabled not only to produce an immense increase in cotton and all other articles of export, but to absorb in con sumption a corresponding increase in the manufactures of this kingdom, convinced that the means of cheap trans port is an absolute essential toward such a desirable con summation, and that Mr. Bourne's scheme is well calcu lated to provide it, your memorialists earnestly pray that your lordship may use your powerful influence towards hastening the directors of the Honourable Company and the Board of Control to a favourable decision with respect to it, and granting to it such legitimate assistance as its merits deserve, and as, in the opinion of this board, the true interests, both of India and Great Britain, require.— And, as in duty bound, Sec., (Signed), "THOMAS BAZLEY, President," " Chamber of Commerce and Manufactures, M anc h e ster, April 30, 1857, in your lordship's hands a memo rialfMlL Lrtohed, Ipe directors lae of this chamber, Praying for your lordship's intercession on a subject which, they fear, has encountered, and is still experiencing, an apathy which is injurious to the interests both of India and this country. Your lordship will belie ve that, in advocating Mr. Bourne's scheme for river navigation in India, the memorialists have no other object in view than the public good ; but they see in it so strong a probability of real usefulness,that they do not hesitate in invoking your lordship's aid as the First Minister of the Crown.—l have the honour to be, &c., " THOMAS BAZLET, President." (REPLY.) " Downing-street, May 2, 1857. "Lord Palmerston presents his compliments to Mr. Bazley, and begs to acknowledge the receipt of his letter, dated the 30th nit., and of the accompanying memorial of the directors of the Chamber of Commerce and Manufac tures at Manchester. " Lord Palmerston begs to assure the directors that the subject referred to in their memorial shall receive des con sideration from her Majesty's Government. FIBS ON Boann SHlP.—A.bout 11 o'clock on Wednes day night an alarming fire broke out on board the ship Henry Moore (1,226 tons), Captain Stewart, of London, fitting out in Messna. Young's dry dock, Liniehouse. Serious consequences w,re for a time apprehended, but by dint of exertions the flames were got under, and the damage confined to the parts previously enumerated, which were partly destroyed. COURT OF CV3III/01 - sr COUNCIL. SIR WILLIAM MAGNAY. The following is a summary of the proceedings which took at the Court of Common Council on Thursday, the 7th inst., and which were concluded yesterday, upon the discussion of the following motion, which was submitted to the Court by Mr. Blake : " That this Court has learned with astonishment and re gret that by a decree of the Court of Appeal of Brussels, dated 27th February, 1857, Sir William Magnay, baronet, an alderman and magistrate of this city, has been adjudg ed by default guilty of fraud, and condemned to three years' imprisonment and a fine of 3,000 f. " That this Court has learned from its law officers with equal astonishment and regret that the London Corpora tion Act, 1849, 12th and 13th of Victoria, cap. 94, framed with the especial view of securing the purity of this cor poration, by declaring any of its members disqualified who shall be convicted of fraud, is in this case inoperative, be cause the conviecion has been by a foreign Court. " That Sir William Magnay not having taken any steps for the revocation of the judgment against him, this Court feels bound to express its opinion that be ought no longer to occupy the posi►tion of an alderman of this city, and to request that he will relinquish that office." Mr. BESLEY seconded the motion. Mr. J. J. MILLARD proposed an amendment to the effect, " That it is repugnant to the law and usages of this country in the ca , o rf a British-born subject resident in England to uphold the sentence of a foreign criminal court, simply because it is a judgment, and thereby to abrogate the right of inquiry into the circumstances, more especially as regards a Belgian judgment, under which it may have been obtained. That the judgment by default in question was Riven on the public prosecutor's appeal against ono of acquittal from charges which had been previously ignored by two successive tribunals, which acquittal had been gained notwithstanding that the evidence on the part of the prosecution had been procured by the arrest of one of the defendants in violation of an authorised assurance of safety ; and for these, and other reasons, this Court is not bound to express its opinion that Sir William Afe,gnay ought no longer to occupy the position of an alderman of this city." _ _ _ _ _ Mr. ANDERTON said he had pleasure in seconding the amendment, which he trusted the Court would unanimously adopt. He contended that if any parties were aggrieved it was the shareholders, and it rested with them to institute proceedings against the directors if they thought proper to do so. He believed Sir W. Magnay to be perfectly innocent of the charges made against him. Sir IV. MAGNAY said he was prepared to justify his conduct before any competent tribunal, and was ready to submit to its decision. He had been charged with having, in conjunction with Mr. Mas terman, abs racted 58,0007. from the funds of the Great Luxembourg Railway Company. It had been stated by the Belgian Attorney-General that when questioned upon the subject they at once admitted that no French party was in exiAence, and that the money bad been lost by a private speculation of their own. A grosser, a more foil, a more libellous insinuation had never been made. He held in his hand letters from the parties to whom the advances were made, showing in the most incontestable manner that the transaction was a regular and proper one—whether a judicious one or not he was not going to say; but there was a party—a most responsible and a most influential party—in Paris for whom Vie shares were pur chased, and that Mr. Masterman was no more than the agent in the matter. He was prepared to prove, if time were given him, that not only was the transaction a bona fide one, but that it was one, under the circumstances of the case, which was most justifiable, and which would have been most advantageous for the company itself bad it been carried out. At this state of the proceedings the discussion was adjourned. Yesterday the Court again met, when the dis cwsion was resumed by Mr. De Jersey, who, at the conclusion of a lengthened addres, expressed himself strongly in favour of the original motion. After short discussion Mr. Millard's amendment was yut, and lost by a large majority. T. FRY then moved as a further amend ment, " That it be referred to a special committee to examine into the nature and truth of the charges brought against Sir William Magnay in the Belgian courts, on which judgment by default has been pronounced, and to report to this Court to what extent those charges, if true, affect his moral character, and whether in consequence it has become necessary that he should be called upon to resign his gown as alderman of this city." Mr. Ross seconded the amendment, which was put and carried. Upon a division being called for, there appeared, For the affirmative 39 For the negative Mr. T. PARKER-I beg to ask whether Sir W. Magnay has voted in favour of the amendment. Mr. WoODTHORPE—Yes. Mr. NORRIS (one of the tellers)—As the num bers are equal, I beg to ask your lordship whether you vote or not. - The LORD MAYOR—I shall certainly vote for the inquiry. (Loud cheers.) The amendment was consequently carried by the casting vote of the Lord Mayor. The original motion of Mr. Blake was negatived by a majority of 1. A committee, consisting of Mr. Alderman Cubitt, _ _ _ Sir J. Musgrove, and a commoner selected from each ward, was then appointed to institute an in veAigaticn •in accordance with the terms of Mr. Fry's amendment. THE SAVINGS BANKS BILL. DEPUTATION TO THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER. Yesterday afternoon, a deputation, consisting of Mr. Collins, M.P. ; Mr. Whateley, Q C. ; Mr. C. E. Lewis, Mr. Isaacson, the Rev. Mr. Owen (of St. Asapb), and other gentlemen, waited upon the Chancellor of the Ex chequer, at his official residence, for the purpose of stating certain objections to the bill recently introduced into the House of Commons by the right hon. gentle , ' man. The deputation was introduced by Mr. Paget, M.P., and Mr. Pritchard, M P. ; the Chancellor of the Exchequer being attended by ,•ir A. Spearman, Comp troller of the National Debt-office. The Rev. Mr. Owxs, in opening the subject, referred to some resolutions in condemnation of the i,i 1, adopted at a meeting recently held in the parish of St. Clement Dane; over which he had himself presided, and copies of which had been forwarded to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and stated that the objections generally entertained by managers and trustees against the bill were directed principally to the provisions contained in its 2nd, 3d, and 12th clauses. He also referred to the resolutions of a kindred c6aracter adopted by the managers and trustees of the St. .41 , -aph's Savings Bank, of which be was treasurer and trustee. 'Pho bill as ;t stood, he maintained, vested in the hands of the Government powers of an extensive, and at the same time undefined nature, which would, without doubt, deprive trustees and managers of all control, and place all real authority in the hands of the National Debtoffice. It was, he admitted, desirable that there should be a government guarantee to deposi tors ; and the result, if the bill as it stood were to pass, would be to drive all managers and trustees into resigna tion. Mr. LEWIS (as a ma❑ager and trustee of St. Clement Danes Savings Bank) spoke at considerable length to the same effect, repudiating in his opposition to the bill anything like a feeling of personal jealousy. At the same time, be objected that there was no precedent for the government taking to itself powers so extensive and so undefined—powers which would in reality deprive trustees and managers of all power whatever in the management of the affairs of savings banks ; and if, in order to give a government guarantee to depositors, it was necessary to do away with trustees and managers, he should prefer to see that mode of action openly adopted. It was not, however, necessary that the pow ers to be taken by the government should be undefined, and as it was only fair that there should be a series of regulations in return for the government guarantee, those rules and regulations ought to be expressed in the bill, The effect of the bill would be that certain banks, being unable to comply with the government provisions, would become marked banks with the public, there would be a run upon them, and so they would be de troyed. Nothing would be easier than to insert in the bill the restrictions to be introduced, with a discretionary power to the National Debt•office to modify them if found impracticable, or inconvenient to work. In Mr. Gladstone 's bill of 1853 there was a most obnoxious pro vision to take away the surplus fund, and such a power might be taken by government under the present bill. Sir A. SPEARMAN said there was never any intention to do anything of the kind under that bill. Mr. LlWlS — then had been misled, and was sure the country would be glad to know that it was so. All that the deputation aad the banks asked was, that they should have the privilege of going before a select committee of the House of Commons ; and that the restrictions intended by clauses 2,3, and 12, should be expressed in the bill, Theee were the two 'objects sought by the deputation, which represented most of the savings banks of the country. Sir A. SPEARMAN inquired if the Bloomsbury Bank had joined in the movement Mr. LEWIS—No. Sir A. SPEARMAN—Has the London Provident Mr. LEWIS—I am not aware. Sir A. SPEARMAN—I am aware that they have not, and they are two of the largest banks in the country. Mr. LEWIS said the deputation represented banks which held the greater portion of the deposits of the country. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the 'V iews of the Government in bringing forward the bill appeared to be entirely misunderstood. The deputation seemed to be under an impression that the Government were seek ing powers by the measure, and there was some jealousy, he thought, as to the future position of managers end trustcee. But nothing could be further from the fact than that the Government were desirous of increasing their powers, and they would much rather leave the matter as it was ; but the present Ltate of things was bad both for the Government and the people, since there was a belief on the part of the latter in the moral obli gation of the former to make good any loss which might arise from the defalcations of officers of savings banks, while the Government did not think themselves justified in applying the public money to snail a purpose. Thus a the eases of the Cuffe-street Bank, Dublin, and the Kirasney Bant, the Government bad been asked for grants of money to make good such defalcationii; and during the present session he had himself been asked if he would grant assistance to individuals. "Under such circumstances, he had thought it his duty to propose a measure for giving a guarantee to depositors ; but this could not be done without a guarantee that the trust should not be abused, and that there should be such reasonable restrictions and precautions as could be taken to secure the safety of the deposits. That was his view ; but there was no wish on the part of the Govern ment to interfere with trustees and managers in the ordinary course of their business transactions, and to say, as had been said, that it was the intention of Government to elbow them out, and place them in a discreditable position, was a complete perversion of the intentions which G ivernmenf entertained. in under taking the responsibility for so many millions of money, it was absolutely necessary to introduce restrictions and regulations, but they would be more in the nature of statutory provisions than of any interference with de tails. With regard to the power given by the bill to the Government to remove or suspend paid officers,' the same power bad been given in the New Poor Law, and bad not, he thought, been found to interfere with the in dependence of the Boards of Guardians. With regard to the power taken by the Government to fix salaries, it was open to consideration, and be did not know that it was necessary to be retained. Mr. LEWIS said that that power, together with the further power proposed to be taken of fixing the amount of expenses, would really leave the managers and trus tees nothing to do. Mr. OWEN—Who will appoint the paid officers ? The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER—The trustees and managers, of course. Mr. OwEN—But if the Government object to the appointment The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER.—Then the true teeswill appoint another. Mr. OWEN—And if they ohj"c'ed again I The CHANCELLOR, of the EXCHEQUER—Oh you ought not to suppose anything so unreasonab e. In &country like this, where all public men are so much under the public eye, anything like systematic abuse of power is altogether unlikely. After some further conversation, in the course of which the Chancellor of the Exchequer repeated his disavowal of all intention of interfering with the indepen dence of trustees and managers, and intimated his opinion that it would be impossible to embody the neces sary rules and regulations in the bill, the deputation retired. Sporting Intelligence. TATTERSILL'S-TEURSDAY. The meagre attendance in the room and the little disposition which was evinced to pursue speculation were scarcely indicative of the near approach of the great Epsom event. Still a strong under-current was evidently at work, forcing. horses up point by point in the betting, and rendering them at least temporarily buoyant. The powerful demonstration which was made in favour of Saunterer on Monday last has been sustained with good effect. In the Cityduring the morning he bad the call of Skirmisher ' but at the Corner in the afternoon he was again passed by Lord Zetland's horse ; 7 to 1 to 1001., and the same rate of odds to several smaller sums were taken about Skirmisher, while 8 to 1 to 1501., and 9 to 1 to 501., were laid against Saunterer ;• 1,0001. even was offered on . Skirmisher against Saunterer ; 3 to 1 against any two, and 40 to 1 against naming the win ners of both the Derby and the Oaks. Just at the close M.D. was backed for nearly 600/., at 12 to 1. The most important movements were those which caused the advance of Sprig of Shillelagh and Bird-in the-Hand-1,000 to 60, 15 to 1, and finally 13 to 1 were booked about the " Stifle and 16 to 1, 15 to 1, 100 to 7, 1,000 to 75, and 12 to 1, were taken about Bird-in-the-Hand, who is the only remaining representa tive of Scott's lot, and who patsed through London yes terday afternoon, en route to Leatherheart. 16 to 1 was wanted about Stratboaver and Blink Bonny coupled, and 40 to 1 outright was taken to 501. about the mare. In the City, during the morning, Blink Bonny had been backed at 1,000 to 15. The odds quoted against lleeltissima for the Oaks were booked to about 1001. Closing prices : DEBBY. 7to 1 agst Lord Z-tlandys Skirmisher (taken) Bto 1 aget Mr. Jackson's Saunterer (t and off.) 10 to 1 agst Mr. F. Robinson's Anton (offered) 12 to 1 agst Mr, Bowes's Bird-in-the-Rand (t) 12 to 1 agst Mr. T. Parr's M.D. (taken) 12 to 1 aget Mr. Howard's Ar-eoal (offered) 13 to 1 apt Mr. Copperthwaite's Sprig of Shil lelagh (taken) 100 to 7 agst Baron Rothschild's Sydney (taken) 16 to 1 BO Mr. Mellish'. Adamas (taken) 20 to 1 aget Mr. W. S. S. Crawfurd's Zuyder Zee (taken and off red) 20 to 1 agst Lord John Scott's Lady Hawthorn (taken and offered) 40 to 1 agat Admiral Harcourt's Warders marske (taken) 40 to 1 agst Mr. W. I'Anson's Blink Bonny (t) THE OAKS. Bto 1 agst Lord John Scott's Mcestissima (t) ASCOT GOLD CUP. 5 to 1 agat Lord Zaland's Skirmisher (taken to 1001) 6to 1 apt Mr. T. Walker's Gamma di Vergy (,)fft-red) Bto 1 agst Captain Verner's Lance (offered) 12 to 1 agst Mr. Snewing's Polestar (taken) 16 to 1 agst Mr. Dennett's ZAidee (taken) LUDLOW RACES—YESTERDAY. Steward's Cup. Ephorug Early Bird ..... Dead Heat. Eight ran. Ephorus afterwards walked over, and divided the stakes. Biennial Stakes. Happy Prince Ludlow Handicap. ..walked over. Mysterious Jack t. Clair Whalebone Five ran. Thefollowing horses have h-ft Mahon for Leatherbead —Bird in the Hand, Vanity, Imperiense, Warlock, Gr zecuius Esuriens, Fa.zzaletto, Comedian, Cock-a doodle-doo, Victoria, St , r of the East, Wood Nymph, Diggers, Dr. Punster, and Laertes. HORSES STRUCK OUT OF THEIR ENGAGE MENTS. May 7—Delos out of all his engagements. M a y 7, at 1.45 p.m.—Merlin out of all his engage ments at Shrewsbury and Ludlow. Miey 8, at 9 a.m.—Fandango out of the Ascot Cup. May 8, at 3 30 p.m.—Nathan, Jesuit, and Briglia- doro, out of the Free Handicap at Bath. May 2, at 10.35 a.in.—Leamington out of the Bath Handicap. May 11, at 9 a.m.—Coup de Main out of all his en gagements. May 11, at 4.15 p.m.—Fandango out of the Epsom Cap. May 13, at 9 aan.—Typee out of all her engagements. May 12, at 9 a.m.--Capuchin out of the Epsom Derby, th Great Yorkshire, the Doncaster St. Leger, and the Doncaster Stakes. May 12, at 9a.1212- 1 65 , , by Gameboy, out of Maria, by Sir Hercules (three-yrs old), out of the Epsom Derby and the DoncaPter St. Leger. May 12, at 12.30 p.m.—Absolution out of the Somer setsh ire stakes May 13.—Maid of Derwent out of all her engage ments at Manchester. May 14.--Mr. homes, Huntington, Tame Deer, and Minos, out of the handicaps at Bath. The London Racing Indicator, private circular, on Saturday next, price thirteen pence, will conta'n Notes and probable Winners of the Somerset , hire Stakes ; nlio at Bath Meeting, the Oaks, and some important infor mation on the Derby. Sent eight winners at Chester. 1, Savoy-hill, Strand, London. YACHTING. ROYAL CORK YACHT CUM.—The regatta of. this club is fixed for the 14th an I 15th July, in order to suit the convenience of yacits men attending the Dublin, Mer sey, and Milford Regatta ;.and as large prizes will be offered, there will, no doubt, be a numerous attendance. GIBRALTAR, May 2.—The Royal Yacht Ciub schooner Camilla, H. Wheeler, commanding, seven days from Nice, cleared this day for Cowes. PUBLIC PETITIO2VS. The following orders are to observed in drawing up public petitions for presentation to.the House Of Commons Every member presenting a petition to the house must affix his name at the beginning thereof. Every petition must be written, and not printed or lithographed. Every petition must contain a prayer. Every petition must be signed by at least one person on the skin or sheet on which the petition is written. Every petition must be written in the English lan guage, or be accompanied by a translation certified by the member who shall present it. Every petition must be signed by the parties whose names are appended thereto by their names or marks, and by no one el,e except in case of incapacity by sickness. No lettere, affidavits, or other documents, may be at tache i to any petition. No erasures or interlirma.tions may be made in any peti tion. No reference may be made to any debate in Parliament. No application may be made for any grant of public money, except with the consent of the Crown. No application may Le made for a charge upon the reve nues of India, except with the consent of the Crown. All petitions, after they have been ordered to lie upon the table, aro referred to the Committee on Public Peti tions without any question being put ; but if any such pe tition relate to any matter or subject with respect to which the member presenting it has given notice of a motion, and the said petition has not been ordered to be printed by the committee. such member may, after notice given, more that such petition be printed with the votes. EQUALISATION OF POOR RATzs.--T adjoining parishes,A public meeting of the ratepayers of St. Johe, and was held last evening at the Idanor 13,90in5, Hackney, for the purpose of considering the propriety of petitioning Parliament for an cquafliati?n cf the poor rates upon a uniform basis of assessinent thnaigbout tho metropolitan districts. The chair Was tt.ken by Mr. Robert Chalks. Resilotions in favour of the object of the meeting were unanimously agreed to. THE ROYAL BRITISH BANK . Mr. Commissioner Holroyd is entitled to the public gratitude for the adm.rahle judgment which be prenounced yesterday in the affair of the Royal British Bank. He is about to direct that copies . af the examinations taken under the bankruptcy shall be transmit' ed to the Attorney-General with a view to the institution of criminal proceedings. "I do not," said the learned Commissioner, "believe that a scene of greater recklessness, fraud, and crimi nality of conduct in the management of a banking establishment was ever exhibited in a court of jus tice than is disclosed by the examinations taken in this -court ulider, the adjudication of bankruptcy against the Royal British Bank, and I may observe that these examinations will be admissible against the partie', in case of a prosecution." Why, then, should Sir Richard Bethell hesitate for one single moment en such a matter ? We are confident that we [are but giving utterance to the expressed opi nions of the ablest eriminal lawyers in the country' when we say that a prosecution of these great crimi nals can be conduc ed to a successful issue. Yester day, at the Old Bailey, the Bacons were on their trial,—that was well enough. The New Court, however ' under the auspices of the Rec or d er , w a s occupied with the trial of a wretched creature who had stolen six pairs of boots. The Third Court, presided over by the Common-Sergeant, expended its powers upon a lad who had, as it was said, wrongfully given a receipt for 71. is. Bd. It turned out that he ha l done nothing of the sort. All this while the Esdai!es, and Stapletons, and Camerons, and Craufurds, and Browns, and Pellatts, whose conduct, as the Commissioner tells us, has been tainted -with such gross "recklessness, fraud, And criminality," are walking about the streets. One of them, indeed, occupies a seat in Parliament for the town of Berwick. Sir Richard Bethell, we re peat it, will be himself guilty of a heinous neglect of duty if he does not take the most instant and effectual measures to early into effect the recom mendations of Mr. Commissioner Holroyd. We should fail iu giving full expression to public feel ing with regard to this matter if we did not add that Mr. Lieklater has earned the highest appro bation by the spirit and intelligence he has dis played in the conduct of the recent inquiry.-- Times. Country Markets. MANCHESTER -MAY 14. Our market this morning was thinly attended, and there was less disposition to purchase wheat and flour. The for mer must be quoted Is per qr lower for English. and id to 2d per 701bs for American ; whilst to promote business in the latter holders would have submitted to a reduction of 6d to is per sack. Other articles fully supported the prices of last week. - BOSTON-MAT 13 We had a seasonable supply of grain at to.clay's naar• ket, and a large attendance. Wheat met a fair demand at fully 2s per qr under last week's ratan. Oats, beans, and peas at I reyious rates. Nothing doing in barley. Prices :—Wheat, red, 47s Od to 58s Od; new, —s to —s ; white, 56 mi to 60s Od > extra, 635. Barley, 40s 0.1 to 475 Od. Oat' 20 s to 28s. Peas, 40. to 44s Od. Beans, 42 5 Od to 16s Od per gr. NEWARK-MAT 13. A full attendance and a good supply of grain. Wheat met a heavy sale, and was is cheaper. Beans were 2s to 3s advance. . Wheat, white 65s to 68s ° red 62s to 635;• barley, malting 44s to 48s, grinding 36s to 38s; oats, 24st. 30s to 325, 22 4 . 24s to 265; beans, 47s to 50s ; malt, 76s to 80s; peas, 44' to 46s ; tares, 44s to 48s per qr. LOUTH-MAT 13. A poor tradle was done in corn to-day, and of other grain nothing doing. The few sales of wheat must be noted at last week's prices. Wheat, 56s to 598; extra, 628; barley 43s to 465; oats' 22s to 25s ; beans, —s to —s. GLASGOW-MAY 13 ThEre was less activity in the market to-day, barge having recently supplied themselves pretty freely; holders of good dry American whe lt, however, insisted upon full prices, while soft new Baltic might havei been purchased on easier terms. Flour steady. Fine oats rather dearer, as well as oatmeal. Barley scarcely so saleable. Beat° and Indian corn fully , 6d per,boll dearer, with a good in quiry for the former. Peas firmer. EDINBURGH GRAIN.-MAY 13. An excellent supply of grain of all kinds to-day. Sale ready, and rather higher in price. Wheat, on the top, 2s 61down, and on the averee• Os 8d up. Barley, ls Od down on tho top, and Os 6d gl 3 on the average. Oats on the top is 6d up, and on the average Os 5d up. Beans on the top 4s up, and oi l the average 2s 2d up. Tares from 54s to 55s por quarter. Potatoes—Regents, from 23s to 253 ; Orkney reds, 1 . 51 to I',fs. AVERAGES PER IMPERIAL QTYARTER. Wheat £2 - 88 11:-12ths. Do. new -12th. Barley Oats 1 9 6 0-12ths. Beans ' • Total Supply and Sales. Wheat 1644 qrs sold 1339 qrs Barley 428 qrs sold 228 qrs Oats 1161 qrssold 629 qrs Beans 215 qrs sold 215 qrs DERBY SMITHFIELD.—MAT 12. There was a large supply of fat beasts to-day from th e North of England, Rotherham, and Liverpool ma rkets; the best quality was in good request. A full attendance 0 ' buyers, but prices anal .erect. The number of sheep Nvs a large. the greater part being without their wool ; the de; tnand was good, and a clearance effected. The supplY,°' fat and store calves was large, and hi request. Fat pig s were more plentiful, and soon found buyers. The following were the quotations :—Beef, 6? ; ('' to Vi d ; ra at ton, 7d to 8d ; lamb, —d to 0(1 ; veal, 7d tc 7 0 d Ps' lb. ; pigs, 103 6(1 to lie Od per score; rough fat, 5s 3 a to 0 per 141 b. ; hides, 4/d to 6,d per lb ; calf-skins, 44d to 6i ° per lb. LOCAL SHARE MARKETS. LIVERPOOL, MAY 14. STOCK EXCHANGE. —The market has been very soil° to-day, closing steady at the highest point. Calselonist l, 37;3 i—Grand Trunk of Canada. 161. Bs. 9d. ii-----Easteri l Counties, ill. 169. 3d.—Lancashire and Yorkshire, 103 Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincoln, 424 3 :44 and North Western, 106--Midlands, 83i 4 4-1 , .Eastern, 22 - - Great Western of Canada, 24 new, 21 pm—Edinburgh, Perth, and Dundee, 8.6.3.---` l5 Lancashire, 94 MANCH ESTER, MAY 11. STOCK EXCHANGE.-- The market was active, at abo ut previous rates, closing firm. Eastern Counties, 11il a Leeds, 1021—Londons, 10 ;I- -Sheffields, 43g k t,—Dover" —East Lancashire, 9) Caledonians, 37—Midlands, 8 Great Western of Canada, 21 5-16--Ditto new, 2 7-16 P l 6 London!, 106 I—Ditto, Bths, 3-16 d. Guild Trunks, 7-16. BIRMINGHA CA, MAY 14. Smog MECHAM; E. —A good business to-day in 100 stock. Birmingham Guaranteed, 73 —Great Wester * Birmingham pref. 9il Grand Junction Canal's, 47i SIC mingharn Gas, 140— District Fres, 51—Birmingham Bs 32—Shropshire Union, 49. LEEDS, MAY 14. STOCK EXCIIANGE.—North Westerns, 71. 15-16 SV Sheilields, 431—Midland, 842 f 84—East Anglian, 19. - [ADVERTISEMENT.]—HoIIoway's Ointment and r il l famed thrhug,hout the world for the cure of ulcerate le,ve.—Mrs. Grace Faulkner, of Mount Radford, TotO cg d Devon, was grievously afflicted with an ulcerated 1 7, that had proved incural lefor years, the attendant sytard toms being of the most painful nature ; she was induc e r to give these remedies a trial, and in a short time li leg " became perfectly sound," therefore, from a grs,te;(r 1 ful desire to spread its knowledge and promote the el,/ of others who may be similarly afflicted, vole/3011;0 punishes thistestimonial.—Sold by all medicine veud ° b, throughout the world ; at Professor Holloway's Bid' e , lishments, 244, Strand, London, and 80, Maiden- 1 , 013 4; New York ; by A. Stamps, Constantinople ; A. dicy, Smyrna ; and E. Muir, Malta. -do BIIITHS. OF A SON. vet's On the 13th inst., at Edmonton, the wife of the Henry Moon. O f On the 11th inst., at Ryde, Isle of Wight, the wife Major Wilmer, a M.'s 14th Light Dragoons. OF A DAUGHTER. On the 13th inst., at 16, Albert-road, Regent'o•l 33l4‘' Mt s. Thomas Paine. the On the 6th M9reh, at South Yarra, near Melbourn e ' r o, wife of H enr y J ones , E sq .. o f Binnum Mantua, TAtob r South Australia. MARRIED. On the 13th inst., at Lewisham, Mr. John M. Chi" t lain, of 30, Basinghall-street, solicitor, to Sarah .3 -o ,, f e 'lgh' elder dau g ht er o f th e l a t e M r . J o h n Gilh a m, of l'":0, street, Southwark, and stepdaughte r of Mr. Joseph Newsom, Of Forest-hill. Rents /4'o: Oa the 13th hut., Goodnestone-park, borough Hughes ll'Aeth, , eldest son of Rear - A u :T:O% G. W. Hughes D'Aetb, of Knowlton Court, to lit~ Charlotte, only daughter of the late M a jor Henry il'`w DIED.] 13th inst., at 27, University-street, 1(1° On the Campbhe ,l3th ell Honinst. E 1.C.6 aged 59. m a jor C" Out., nt I.C.S. lioddesd Reo 4dinitlll DouaiOn the 1 th , Ilenchy ins O'Bzien. Admiral iitir l ii 3O "I' '5 O 11 t., at East Sheen, Lord Fitz 1 ,, Y, K.C.8., the fifth son of Augustus HenrY , - Doke of Grafton, aged 75. , ,rlcr On the 12th inst., at 7, Cambridge-street, IlV e n Tberh William Putter, Esq., merchant, of 3, Copthall-0A- Throgmorten-street. -goo On the 13th inst , at Preston, Robert La vie, banker, aged 41. . . W - 11 0° At his residence, Cabo-Ituivo, nea r Lisbon, - ' Carruthers Esq., aged 83. , GOP On the 12th inst., at Margate, Mr. John Mills, (7.1 _...,0 yeller-park, Camberwell, aged 60, LONDON : Printed and Published by 111)-RDO I °l3 Igo of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at The Sine Ot ilee 'oti 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy. in t" co of Middlesex, Friday, May 15,11157. iVc=EIM TIRE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, MAY 15, lB5