The Sun. — London, England, 1857-12-31 00:00:00

The following are extracts from a very interest ing private letter, date,l Delhi Palace, Nov. 16 : " We are here to acct senpany a column about to march down country to ct InveY tents and carriage to Cawnpore for the Comma alder-in-Chief and troops from England, now reachin6" Cawnpore in nunetere. No date is yet fixed for the c xylumn leaving this ; in 'the meanwhile a grand sale i`a taking place of the captured booty of Delhi, and e‘ wonderful and rare }boils of it is to see all the collect It I things—theeoile of a sacked Palace and city ! ee.e left . . . at nine o'clock at night, and it was st range to find the Delhi road, our selves driving by starlight a10n6%1 h lane We which is as safe now as an En ; is slept calmly on the way, but rens e)d at dawn to watch the battlefield of the Hindou (where General A. Wilson distinguished himself), told shortly came in sight of shattered. Delhi. What a memorable ht Every wall or bastion that fat Tcl. sight . our camp is in almost shapeless ruin, while the w hite marble pavilions of the palace rise unharmed ,along the Jumna bank. " In one of those live the Tb era is no describing the beauty and quaintness of then' roonis. I long for photographs to send home. They .are all of inlaid marble, with semianabs pitched in* the senanah courts between ; but all around speaks; of awful war—the rows on rows of captured guns-- the groups of English soldiers at every post ; aria. , not English only, for our baave defenders the I Ghoorkas, Sikhs, and Cabulees enaingle among them. A strange army, indeed, with mot a trace of pipe clay ! It is a frightful drive freer the Palace to the Cashmere-gate—every house resat, riven, and tot tering ; the church battered, awl piles of rubbish on every side. Alas ! the burnt houses and de serted shops ! Desolate Delhi E and yet we are told it is clearing and much improved since the storming of the place. It has oily as yet a hand ful of inhabitants in its (treat street, the Chandnee Cooke, who are all Hineoos, I believe. Many mis.. rable wretches prowl through the outside of the city begging admission at the vario us gates, but none are admitted whose respectabilitpcanuot be vouched for. Cartloads of ball are being daily dug from the Moirie Bastion, now a shape/ass battered limes. The mutineers are collected in Oude in formidable masses. Most of them are represented as hopeless, and aware that they are only assembling there to die. After Oude there will ensue a Rohilcund. campaign. There will be ample. work for everyone whom mother England has sent out : but it is a triumph of the greet Anglo-Setxon race that so much has been accomplished bedore the reinforce ments came by India's Army of Heroes, " few, but undismayed. The fiuger of God is in deed traceable in the takine. of Delhi. Let no man at home dare to underrate the work, or talk of the delay of its acoomplishment. It was a daring, fearful undertaking for sear small army, against such a city of endless fortification and so very isuraerous an enemy. Had not God been on our side, that vast army of mutineers could never have been driven from such a stronghold. Great perils may attend the pa.ssage of the column we are to accompany. It mey possibly meet bodies of mutineers on the road in sufficient numbers to at tack us, and we may find ourselves in the midst of a battle ; but, as ladies are to be permitted to go under its escort, it is of course hoped that the road wiil not be impeded. Many unusual precautions will have to be taken, no tents or servants can be sent on over night (as in peaceful times) to await our arrival in the morning; but we must carry one small tent only, which cannot be struck till we are about to march with it ourselves. All must keep close together ; there would else be certain harm from armed thievLs. I fear we may lose some of our baggage, but we shill arrange and hope for the best. Some artillery go with us and some Carabi ewers, and a party of the Sikh Guides, and a Pun jabee Ressalah is expected iu time to move with us. Most of the neighbouring Nawabs have been brought in captive. Some are criminated Leyond 41.euet, others have only been very discreditably neutral. We have seen the captive king and royal family— they are in ruinous little rooms in one of the gates of the Palace. The old king looks very frail. He is too old to be responsible for anything that has been done. With his sons much more guilt may lie ; some have been shot, and some are yet untaken. The youngest son we saw looking like 15, they say 18, bold. and coarse to look at. He is the only child of the Queen. With her some of out ladies have had a long interview ; they found her seated on a common charpoy (bedstead), dressed in white cotton clothes, with few and very trifling oroa ments—all her grand things having been taken from her. She is described as short and stout, above 30 years of age, with a round, animated face, not at all pretty but having very pretty little plump hands ; she was cutting beteinut to eat with her pawn. Some 30 females, relatives and. Menials, surrounded her. She professes the utmost hirrur of the 3cl Cavalry, to whom she traces all tier mis fortunes. She says the King was helpless to con trol them, and that when their arrival had placed Delhi in rebellion against us they were as ready to rob her as any one else. She says the mtitiueers did rob the palace, and that all her jewels were only saved by being buried. She does not, seem to blame us for their present captivity ; she under stands the necessity for inquiring into guilty or i I nocant parties; but she did not seem to asierc the King's innocence as much as her own. Sue said he had been in the hands of bad people. There ap peared to be frightful rivalries among the women ; it is said she criminated the sons of the former wives, she being the law . . Her sister is represented as much better looking than herself, and Las a daughter of 13 married to the King's youngest son already mentioned, and reputed very beautiful. Our la lies describe her as having superb large ayes, and a most beautiful little mouth, but her face otherwise too flat and full. Some of the women told them they had !sad English women and chil dren in the Palace after the massacre, in Ir)pe of preserving them, but the mutineers demanded them and could not be resisted. They say the S2poys complained that the King was feeding iEnglish women daintily, while he only gave them gram for food. H e a ven k nows if t h e R oyal Family be clean in heart or hand or not. I say nothing sentimental about them, but f pity them. Their religion is quite enough to excite our pity, and if they have been abettors of murders they ought to be pitied for their sins. It they are, as they say, innocent of any share in the rebellion, they aro victims in- " I trust all examinations may be judiciously and fairly conducted. Mr. —is an excellent man —most upright and indefat;gable in discover ing truth, and withal most tender-hearted, lie will not spare the gnilty, nor inflict suffering on the innocent. But I must pause. The followin,g letter from an officer affords a re to.arkab!e illustration of one of the greatest of Indian difficulties--the low moral state and help lessness of the people, and especially of the Ben galee,s " October 20. " I am sure, if anything is dispiriting it is the work I have in hand just now in collecting carriage for the troops which aro every day arriving. The eternal shifts and evasions of the zemindars, of the cart drivers, of the contractors, lead to c;mstant dislippointment; and were it Lot that I bagin to think that one must mike up one's mind ; o a ripe tiVon of the same kind of semi-demi success t hroaA out life, at least in India, why I Au - Juld be thoroughly disgusted. " 1 Anywhere &se high wages and regular payment ay.otild bring the. carr i age i n o f it st l f. Here it only makes the matter more complicated, as you have to take the greater prccani inns to insure the strict fulfilment of your conditions, and no One will . e lieve th a t you can insure it. Tile very p o lice :,re all engaged in defeating your object. They have actually so terrified the owners of carts that no one can Undertake a contract to provide carts until ; he ban secured the interests of the darogah by agrce hig, of course, to pay a per cant ag o on th e pro fit s. Then, again, the amlih or officers of my court used formerly to have the real direction of thee sort of contracts ; and because Government is now at tempting to do away with impressment, in which Lay their enormous profit 4 I cannot get the slighte s t assistance f rom them. On the contrary, they in trigue right and left to prevent parties from coming to a settlement with me. Thus I have had one con• tractor after another slip through my fingers for no apparent reason ;. in fact, while consenting he re- I tt °_e , i. I have just now lost a couple of hours in ,7 -7 f?Tfug a sudden cmiplication' be , : worm an agent AlibltLiazawndone of a neighbouring officer, who are toistehtleach other broil us, and doing their best to em ;at and here is another who posi tively deok re „ le t r ia sezuv u e nleas I give him the aid of the police Cannot a single gbary. I know well enough what that PToliatly 'Weans—viz., that he nlPressment, which ould be a wants an order for i refuse I ri , k the loss of small fortune to him. his aid altogether, as the chan ce , a-e he'll th row u, in the certainty that before longi must take to itup pressment." A CHILD SCALDED TO DEATH.—Ya terlay w m Carter, th e S urrey coroner , h e ld an inqueet on the b e c 3 of Arthtir Rivers, aged 3 years and 10 ruonthe, parents lived in Thomas-place, Lambeth. On Chri.tme.4. day a - nurse, who was attending the mother, Placed a kettle of boiling water upon the table, from which the child drank, and although medical aid was promptly ob. Wiwi: he lived o n ly 25 hours. The jury having return( a veydiat of accid en t a l d eat h, t h e coroner sa id parents s *mid never allow children to drink oat of either teapo:s or kettles, whether the water contained therein was hot or Cold, for if they were allowed to drink from each YO3BOIH when the water was cold they were apt to make a mistake, and drink the water when hot. THE SI'UTE OF DELHI. ST. JAMES'S PALACE. (From the Times) There are two parties to all pomps, ceremonials, and State exhibitions—those that are seen and those that see. The latter party, we believe, takes as warm an interest in these scenes as ever. The world of spectators st ill loves ceremonial dearly, and keeps the sacred flame alive. To this day nine-tenths of the English public will willingly undergo a kind of martyrdom in the process. There are no inconveniences and fatigne3 too great for them ; hours and hours will they wait in slow ex pectation ; they will stand eountinf , the minutes till their legs almost give way, all to' see a pageant of some 20 minutes. But, while the outside party keeps up its full interest in the scene, the inside party is rather losing it. Those who form the spectacle care a good deal less about it than the spectators. Why should they ? "It is only our noble selves that are exhibiting, with whom we are tolerably familiar. You and lof the same set are very poor heroes to each other. We see or may see each other most days. We see nothing parti cularly wonderful in each other. We are a very poor ceremonial, then, to each other." Such is the cold reasoning of modern times. How different from the glowing atmosphere of a golden ceremo nial in Froissart, where majestic heralds precede rows of prim knights with pointed shoon, who step daintily before rows of demure, white-robed, au burn-haired damsels, who precede awful crowned personages, walking solemnly beneath canopie3 of cloth of gold, supported by officers of State, and shaded by pennons and insignia ! Are they in diffZvent to the scene and to their own position in it—those prim knights, those auburn-haired maidens, and those august personages in crowns ? What set ene enjoyment, what balmy satisfaction is expressed in their looks—what serious sympathy with the pageant and appreciation of its deep reality ! What a ceremonial elysium are they in '? How sadly have the present elements of spectacles degenerated and cooled down ! These occasions have actually now come to be considered rather as bores ; they are hurried, curtailed, squeezed, abridged, jammed up into corners, hemmed in at the sides, boxed in all round, boarded over, roofed in ; they are twisted about and split into sections to suit local angularities ; and, finally, they are got over as soon as possible, and almost before the lucky spectator has got his glimpse of the scene through a crack in the timber. The marriage of the Princess Royal is to •be celebrated in the Chapel Royal. The precedent-of a century is in favour of this, but such a precedent is more honoured in the breach than in the 'ob- servance. It was ineeed always protested against. Lord Hervey finds all kinds of fault with this choice in the case of the marriage of the Princess Royal of his day—the daughter of George 11., the lady from whose name Sir Cornewall Lewis began the line of precedents which inaugurated his Annuity Bill. Lord Hervey, we say, notices with much humour the difficulties and awkwardness of St. James's as the scene of such a ceremonial—awkwarcluesses which were increased on the occasion of her present Majesty's marriage, when so much more national interest was excited, and when the numbers whose loyalty wished to be accommodated with a sight of the ceremonial was so much greater. The Chapel Royal cannot, in fact, hold much more than 200 persons properly, though we are told that the temporary gallery is to hold 200, minus the hoops of the ladie•., which are to be left behind, in con sideration of the appalling squeeze prepared for them. With the exception, then, of the Royal personages themselves and their suites, and the foreign guests, literally nobody will see the actual ceremony of the marriage. We might know this by measurement, even if we had not been told by authority that the Chapel Royal will be almost filled by the suites of the Queen, the Princess Royal, and the bridegroom, and the royal guests that have been invited to this great gathering." The Chapel will not, indeed, hold nearly all even of the Royal guests, who, we are infomed, a re t o fill three hotels in t. James's-street ; and as for Eng lish faces, what rocm there will be for them is easily inferred. So much for the actual ceremony of the marriage, which it would appear no Englishman who is not in a suite is to see. But, besides the cere mony of the marriage, we are to have " three dis tinct processions—" that of the Queen as Sovereign —that of the Bride, and that of the Royal Bride groom." How and by whom are these processions to be seen ? The narrow intricacies of St. James's are fatal to the effect of processions ; they will be cut into fragments, one part will be lost in one cor ner while the other is emerging from another. And even thus spoiled, how many will see them ? We are told that seats will be erected in the area where the band plays to accommodate five or six hundred persons ; that a gallery will be erected on the stair case in the area leading to the front of the Chapel to hold two hundred persons ; that seats will be provided near the corridor where her Majvsty will alight; and that in all some fifteen hundred per sons will be able to see the processions. Fifteen Hundred What a riumk3r ! And that only to see the bare externals of the scene ! Fifteen hundred to be all that are even to have outside places ! Fif teen hundred out of all England ! A f,)r the in side and kernel of the ceremouial—that, as we have said, not a single Englishman who is not in one of the suites will see. Now pomps and processions may, as we say, be great nuisances to those who compose them ; it may be true that in this 19th century persons have no great taste for walking solemnly in full costume in the presence of thous-inds of spectators riveting all eyes—it may be true that the Eng lish taste especially is not at all for this sort of thing—i. e., for composing a ceremonial : still the world of spectators is to be regarded, we thinly, on these occasions as well as the great world, that is looked at and that constitutes the rageant. The world at large still likes a pageant, and in the capacity of lookers-on we have by no means lost our taste for these exhibitions. Why not, then, show a little more liberality and indulgence to the natural wish of the public for a sight of the cere monial connected with this Royal marriage ? Why cram the ceremonial of the marriage itself into a chapel which does not properly hold more than 200, though by a portentous squeeze, and at the cost of treasures of millinery, you may fill it up to the extent of another hundred or more ? Why select for the processions that knot of small courts, corners, and angles which composes St. James's Palace, which is about the most unsuitable and uncongenial scene for a procession that could be found in London ? Why conduct these cere monials as if we were ashamed of them, as if awe wanted nobody to see us." The marriage of the Princess Royal of England is a national event,; why should it not be celebrated as such, and the two . hands be joined together, as far as can be, in the sight of the country ? Why not celebrate it in that edifice which is so associated with the history of English Royalty, which witnesses the crowning of our Kings and Queens, and which it spires such deep national recollections and displaya such me morials of English glory—in Westminster Abl ey ? In that interior thousands, instead of hundreds, could see the actual ceremony of the marriage. That would be a great improvement. But, besides the thousands which could be accommodated in the Abbey, tens of thcusands would line the road ,-which would conduct the processions from the Palace to the Abbey. That would indeed be a national scene. As it ia, it looks as if the whole ceremonial were shut up in a box. The very journal which authoritatively gives us the pro gramme is driven- to that melancholy --test of grandeur and sublimity which consists in the number of disappointments, the quantity of persons who might naturally have expected places t the ceremonial bUt who will not get them. Our contemporary enlarges with some gusto upon this huge, dark mass of disappointment, upon the deep, hoarse murmurs, of an excluded crowd, as if the black shadow threw by contrast an addi tional glory and brightness upon the rich scene itself. We are told that " never was Lord Cham berlain or Chief CommisNioner of Works made so much of as at the present time," and that "as much interest is made for seats, especially by ladies, as would under ordinary circumstances procure capital official appointments." Our contemporary dwells almost with fondness upon " the deaf ear to the voice of the charmers" of the Lord Chamberlain, who upon this occasion sustains such a siege as was never kno•wn before in the annals of pageantry, and who from all accounts ought to be a very Brutus and a perfect hero of moral courage to get through his difficulties and sustain the assaults upon his con science. All this may give immense importance to the occasion, still it is not an agreeable mode of giving importance to it. It would be better that, as far as pract!cable, the sense of the grandeur of the scene should arise from seeing it than from not seeing it, and that a Royal marriage should to associated with pleasure lather than disappoint meat. CHRISTMAS WEATHER IN THE NORTH.—The weather on the north-east coast during the Christmas holidays haibeen the most remarkable ever remembered by the oldest i n h a bi tan t s. Ol d seamen and fishermen who have spent their lives on the North Se 4 have no recollection of such a long "spell" of open sunny weather at a Christnias as we have experienced this year. The furze blvhes are out in bloom on the bents upon the Nor thumberland coast, and daisies, primroses, and other k r img flowers m a y b e seen peeping from the ground. . 9hristraas-day numerous parties were observed bath ing In the sea near Culleroats and Tynemouth; and to no tic') IL, p er son walkin g w i t h a top coat on was some thing remarkable-on that day. The mild weather and the general depression of trade are very much affecting the coal trade. Above 200 vessels generally employed in the London coal trade are laid oy in the Tyne. r tiE SI7N, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING', D'ECIAtMBER 31, 18.57. AN AUSTRALIAN VIE Fir OF THE BALLOT QUESTION IN ENGLAND. (From the Melbourne Argus) a cab, covered with blood, and on the road to St. Bartholomew's Hospital. Isabella Horton, the complainant's landlady, stated, that on hearing a heavy fall down the stairs, followed by moans, she went out to ascertain the cause of them, and found the prisoner kneeling on the young woman as she had described. She ran to the street door to alarm the police, but was fol lowed by the prisoner, and on turning round she saw the prisoner strike the young woman on the head with some iron implement, and she imme diately dropped senseless at his feet. The prisoner then rushed out of the house, swearing he would do for any one who attempted to stop him, but two men who were passing and had heard their screams seized him by the collar and held him till a con stable came up and secured him. Balls, a constable of the N division, produced the tongs and poker, and described the complain ant, when he saw her, as stretched upon a sofa, bleeding shockingly from wounds in the head, and perfectly senseless. She was in such a dreadful condition that he sent her at once to the hospital. Mr. Walter Chippendale, house-surgeon to the hospital, attended and described the nAture of the injuries the young woman had sustained, which were fortunately not so serious as might have been expected from such violence, though she would still have to return to the hospital, and Mr. Hammill, who characterised it as a most fearful outrage, fully committed the prisoner to Newgate for trial. SOUTHWARK.—Timothy Roach, of No. 1, Royal Tent-court, Kent-street, a very low locality, was charged before Mr. Combe with selling beer without a licence. The ca'e was proved by a policeman, who said that he and a brother officer went to the house dressed as soldiers. Mr. Solomon, for the defendant, severely cen sured the system adopted by the police to entrap persons to break the law. He was instructed to say that his client did not sell beer, but had a few friends drinking with him when the officer first came. He refused to admit him into his house, but when they returned as soldiers his daughter admitted them, as he had a son in the army. Mr. Combe had no doubt as to the trade carried on by the prisoner. He must pay a fine of 5/. and 2s. costs, or be imprisoned one month. LAMBETH.--Charles Boyes, a letter-carrier in the General Post-office, was charged with stealing 91bs. of soap, the property of Mr. Wybrow, a soap manufacturer in Camberwell. Mr. Wybrow, the prosecutor, deposed that on the day before the prisoner called to deliver a let ter, and while passing along the factory he (wit ness) observed him take up a bar of soap, and break it in two pieces. He questioned him on the subject, and the prisoner, who had the appearance of having been drinking, seemed to treat the matter as a joke, but witness told him he must accompany him to the counting-house, which he did, and on there exa mining a bag which he (prisoner) carried, he found in it nine pounds of soap, his property, and of the value of 3s. Mr. Wybrow added that for eight years the primmer had been the postman on the walk in which his house was situate, and, though he had been in the habit of delivering letters at the factory at almost every post, and many of them contained remittances of considerable amounts, nothing of this kind had been detected before. Mr. Cole, inspector of letter-carriers at the Gene ral Post-office, said the prisoner had been a letter carrier for 12 years, and during the whole of that time had borne an excellent character. Mr. Elliott—What was the remuneration which he received from the Post-office ? Mr. Cole—Twenty-three shillings a week ; and his character has been so good that I was much sur prised when I heard of the nature of the charge against him. - The prisoner, who seemed very much affected at the serious position in which he stood, in reply to the charge, said he had been unfortunately drink ing in the course ►of the day, and, having taken rum and gin, the mixture had such an effect upon him that he became perfectly uuconscious of what he did. Mr. Elliott remanded the prisoner. MANUFACTURE OF MEMOIRS-CURIOUS REVELATIONS. A. favourite argument against the adoption of secret voting in England is based on the theory that the suffrage is a trust, not a right or privilege, of the individual voter. It is maintained that the exercise of this trust, like any other trust, ought to be always open to control. This is a dogma on which Lord J. Russell bases much of his opposi tion to the ballot, and with him it is no novelty. He has always stoutly combated the opposite opinion as a dangerous heresy in constitutional doc trine. He compares the power of the electors to the power of the executive and the power of the judge, and insists that, according to the British constitution, all are to be subjected to the control of public opinion in the exercise of the powers con ferred upon them. But does a man vote more conscientiously because he votes openly ?—and if he votes according to his conscientious convictions, how does he vote wrongly The comparison em ployed by Lord John to illustrate his meaning proves that he does not regard all the sides of the question. Public opinion, may indeed, prevent the palpable abuse of the suffrage, and control the voter who, unchecked, would vote against his real opinions, from motives of interest, oehatred, or of private friendship, just as it may prevent similar abuses on the judicial bench. When the liberal elector votes for the liberal candidate, and the con servative voter for the conservative candidate, public opinion cannot, and if it could, ought not, be of any avail. If the suffrage be a trust, which of these voters has committed a breach of that trust ? For whose benefit is the trust to ba exercised ? Lord John answers, for the benefit of those who have no voice in the representation. He con ceives that this theory is inapplicable in a constitu tion under which manhood suffrage prevails. Yet even under such a constitution women and minors are unrepresented. Are their interests to be dis regarded, and their existence altogether ignored 1 Surely, if the power of voting be a trust because a certain part of the male adult population is ex cluded from the enjoyment of it, it must continue to be equally a trust while any individuals, of any age or sex, are excluded. A Mahomedan, or an aboriginal Australian, might consistently enough huld the contrary opinion ; but it certainly is . not the theory of a free constitutional government. In fact, the suffrage is in no sense a trust at all. It is a right in the individual, to be exercised by him as all the other rights which he possesses are to be exercised, so long as he remains a member of a social community, with a view to the interest of others as well as of himself. Doubtless there, is a duty attached to it, as there is a duty attached to the ownership of property, or to intellectual gifts ; but it is merely the duty of acting conscien tiously. One man votes for, and another against, a candidate, each in his conscience believing him self to be right. Both have performed their duty, both have exercised the power conferred upon them with uprightness and honesty. Neither is justly amenable to public censure for the manner in which he has voted. But of two diametrically opposite opinions one must be incorrect. If one is beneficial to the public, the other must be, if not injurious, at least neutral. Clearly, there fore, one of our supposed voters has employed his suffrage in a way which is not beneficial, and there fore erroneous. To call his conduct, however, a breach of trust is a misapplication of language. If he is to be guided by public opinion, the turncoat who votes always with the majority would always be in the right, and the conscientious opponent of a popular measure always in the wrong. In truth, the inconsistencies and absurdities to which the doctrine that the suffrage is anything like a trust must lead are almost endless. If, on the contrary, it is regarded in its true character of a pplitical right, the theory of representation becomes intelli gible, and what is more to our present purpose a main argument of the opponents of secret -voting falls to the ground. The last ground on which Lord John Russell rests his opposition is, the aversion of the British public. It must be conceded that this assumption is based on a more solid foundation than his other arguments. A very large section, and that the most influential of the entire nation, feels a re pugnance to alter the system of open voting. Many causes contribute to this result. John Bull's notorious reluctance to change his habits, until they become altogether unsuited to him,i throws difficulties and delays in the way of any constitu tional changes for which there is not an imperative necessity. The numerous class who at prevent in fluence elections, doggedly oppose a change which threatens to destroy the foundations of their power ; when to these are added the great body of men who do not think at all, but are led by the non sensical claptrap that secret voting is oowsildly and. un-English, the apparent unpopularity of the ballot is sufficiently accounted for. That the popular opinion has not yet set in steadily in its favour is evident from the tone still preserved by the Times. That unfailing index of the general feelings of the day scoffs at the topic with cool contempt, as an impractical speculation, not fitted to be carried out. Nevertheless, indications are not wanting that the nodes current is flowing slowly, but uninterruptedly, forward. As it has frequently happened in English history, a political change is being ripened outside of the walls of the Rouse of Commons. The people will lead their representa tives. Candidates who avow their predilection for secret voting are more frequently returned than was the case a few years back. If a man 'of more than ordinary intelligence offers himself to a. con stituency, in two cases out of three he is an advo cate of the ballot. Nor is the favour with which the " unadorned eloquence" of our own clear-headed politician, Mr. Nicholson, has been received, with out significance. His statements of how the system has operated amongst us here have not been with out weight with the English mind, ever most desirous of knowing how a thing will " work." We are not annoyed nor surprised at the contempt with which the Commons treat the proceedings and experience of the colonies, so long as they do not rebel. The swell member of Leech's clever sketch, who complains, with the air of an extremely ill used man, that the colonies ought to be satisfied when Australian won the Derby, is hardly a carica ture. Lord John Russell and Sir George Le sis refer to this colony much as a veteran sportsman might speak of the fox hunting experiences of a schoolboy ; but we mistake greatly if the same feel ing finds much favour amongst the intelligent thinkers without the house. The science of poli ics may be learnt equally in a small and in a large community, and scholars will not forget that our most valuable lessons are derived from the experi ences of the petty states of Greece and of Italy, and that the wisest of statesmen may draw profitable knowledge from the pages of Thucydides and Aristotle, who wrote of nations numerically as small as our own, and with territories far less extended. The working of the system, as developed in France, received little more attention in the de bate to which we have been referring. Probably this reserve might have been dictated by motives of prudence ; it would not be altogether con venient to discuss in the House of Commons so delicate a subject as the internal affairs of that country. Nevertheless accurate observers look to the ballot as the means by which France will eventually extricate herself from the thraldom under which her liberties now lie oppressed. RAILWAY TRAFFIC RETURNS: LONDON AND SOUTII-EASTERA RATLWAY.—TrMEC re for the week coding Dec. 26, 1857 £19,157 6 6 Corresponding week last year Increase in 1857 LONDON, BRIGHTON, AND SOUTH COAST RAILWAY.— Traffic return for the week ending Dae. 26, 1857 £13,187 3 0 Corresponding week last year 12,752 2 9 Total of the half-year to this date, 1857 42'),861 2 3 Total of the half-year to this date, 1856 42),738 18 11 GREAT NORTHERN RAlLWAY.—Traffic return for the week ending Dec. 20, 1857 il_B,l7l 16 1 Corresponding week last year 27,855 1 0 LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE RAlLWAY.—Traffic re turn for the week ending Dec. 27, 1837 £18,357 14, 6 Corresponding week last year 22,669 1 8 LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY.—Tr Alc return for the week ending Dec. 27, 1857 256,288 0 0 Corresponding week last year CHESTER AND HOLYHEAD RAlLWAY.—Traffic return for the:week ending Dec. 27, 1857 £4,127 0 ' 0 Oorresponding week last year 4,393 0 0 THE PROTECTED IMPROVEMENTS IN PARIS. - - The following are the items of the intended Paris improve ments :-1. Building a set of roads (chaus4les) arid boulevards, which, branching of from the railway ter minus, will unite all, the diAricts of the town and aivide it, as it were, like the squares of a chess-board ; the streets to be embellished in succession. 2. Improvement of the sanitary condition of Paris, by the leading of pure water into all the stories of houses, and a perfect sewage of the streets. 3. A • new organisation of the inferno , communications, which, although it will not reach the regularity of a railway traffic, will still afford grey alleviation to the overcrowded streets. The contibita, tion of the railway up to the markets (hales), the completion of the circular railway line around Paris, on the left bank of the Seine, the utilization of this line, and the chief market terminus for the transport of tra vellers, and especially the conveying of the workingmen over the whole extent of the line to their often diAarit dwellings, is among the chief items of this grand plan. -To this is to be added the removing of the octroi stations (tollbare) to the external fortifications, the transferring of the hospital beyond the centre of the towr, and the energetic exertions at the workmen's habitations.—lllus trated Inventor. (Cheers.) Anything he could say would only tend t 3 weaken very much the force of these expressions. He need not say that he concurred entirely with every sentence ofthatresolution. The great amount of time which he was aware had been devoted to the management of the Exhibition by thegentlemen who now sat on his right hand was not sufficiently known to many members of the community. No one could gainsay what a serious thing it was for gentlemen concerned in the management of exten sive business to withdraw from it so large a portion of time for a public undertaking. It had been said that in Manchester people had no taste for anything except for cotton and money, but this Art Treasures Exhibition had shown, at all events ) that although they had a great taste for money, and were tole rably successful in the indulgence of that predilec tion—(hear, and laughter)—they did not regard money as " the end of all things." (Hear, hear, and cheers.) They had never been backward in the pro motion of great public benefits, and they had given sufficient manifestation of their interest in the at tainment of commercial freedom and the insurance of cheap bread to all classes of the community. (Cheers.) It used to be said that in the town of Man chester there was a conspicuous want of architectu ral taste, but he was glad to say that in the last 15 or 20 years there had been a marked improvement in this respect. Ho was only afraid they were over doing it, for the erections now springing up on all sides were really more like palaces than places of tensiness. (Cheers and laughter.) He felt proud of . th town-council for their performance of this act of justice to the members of the executive committee. .He begged to thank Mr. Fairbairn for the many acts of condescension and kindness for which he was indebted to that gentleman and the rest of the com mittee. The resolution was not yet engrossed on vellum, as it should have been in readiness for this occasion, but he was anxious that the formal presen tation of it should take place in the course of the year 1857—(hear)—and the document itself should be handed over to them as soon as it was prepared. He was sure that this acknowledgment of their ser vices on behalf of the citizens of Manchester would be highly valued and _prized by them, and that it • would be no less esteemed by those who would come alter them. (Cheers., The toast was drunk -with three times thre6 cheers. Mr. T. FAIRBAIRN, the chairman of the Execu tive Committee, said—Mr. Mayor, and gentlemen of the city council, the members of the executive committee of the late Exhibition of Art Treasures of the United Kingdom owe you their warmest thanks and gratitude for the distinguished honour you have paid to them by the unanimous adoption at your last meeting, after most eloquent and elegant introductions by Mr. Rumney and Mr. Rawson--(hear, hear)--of the resolutions which have just been read and presented to us. We recognise in this spontaneous expression of good feeling and in the cordial approbation which you, speaking for your constituents, assure us will long be felt for the exhibition itself, and for the humble services we rendered in its management, the very highest reward we could look for after our labours, of the public acknowledgment of which we one and all of us have just reason to feel proud. (Cheers.) So marked a compliment and distinction must at all times, and under any circumstances, occasion varied emotions of pleasure, gratitude and satisfac tion. (Hear.) But honours of this kind can only be thoroughly prized, and can only exercise their full and most beneficial influence in stimulating to future exertions, when they carry along with them records of success, and when they are in truth in the minds of their recipients the echo of self-ap proval. (Hear.) Now, gentlemen, the success of the late exhibition was in every respect uneluivo cal and decided. (Loud cheers.) As the executive, we have every reason to feel proud of the whole history of that undertaking. (Cheers.) We acknow ledge, with yourselves, the characteristic public spirit and liberality of the gentlemen who subscribed to ,the guarantee fund--(cheers)..-whose eat ly and cordial approval of the project, and whose munifi cent contributions in support of it, gave an autho rity to our proceedings without which our applica tions to the owners of works of art throughout the kingdom would have failed to command attention. your thanks to the gene rous Wejo co in mntriobauttohresartotilty in the collection—the vast extent and richness of whose posseations have not more astonished the world than have their ready sacrifice of personal enjoyment and convenience, and their desire to assist in every way in their power the ad vancementand improvementof theirfellow-country men, excited its warmest admiration. (Cheers) Wo further acknowledge with peculiar pleasure the steady and excellent support that was extended to the exhibition by its visitors, of all ranks and classes; and fortunately, also, we can record with ml feigned satisfaction and pride, the excellent con duct of the humbler classes, who on this occasion, as on many previous ones, proved themselves most jealous guardians of the safety of property, and the truest friends of order. (Cheers.) For these various manifestations of g enu i ne cons id era ti on and kind ness towards their city an d t owa rds themselves, I believe that time people of Manchester owe a very deg) debt of gratitude, which they will long re member—a debt which they can only repay by con tinuing to encourage all good and liberal work., and by the firm determination always to hold a for ward rank in every movement which claims to in crease the happiness, to protect the honour, cr to consolidate the power of our country. (Cheers.) Mr. Mayor, I will only add again the sincere ex and sumptuous entertainment, and also their appre c i a ti on of the uniform consideration and Pil .es' st gratifying°n o f kindness which they th thanks of the committee for this e most Seve al other teaks were afterwards given and responded to. have received at the hands of the co unc il o f this city. (Loud cheers.) THE LAW OPlUM—Yesterday the law offices were opened after the Chrietniss recess, in anticipation of the ensuing Hilary Term, which commencts on Jan. 11. THE WEAR COMMISSIONERS AND -SUNDERLAND DOOK. —Toe long pending dispute between the directors and shareholders of the Sunderland Dock and the Commis• sinners of the river Wear, with regard to the latter hodl, charging the usual river dues upon vessels leaving tbe ivek by t'le sea ontle, -without any compensation to the dock proprietors, has been amicably settled by those bodies. Tbo following terms, to be ratified by Parl:a moot, have been agreed to :—" So long •as there shall br not less than seven feet water at low waiter of ordi nal), spring tides from the outer dock gates of the ionthein outlet into the sea into deep water the corn inksioi.ers to pay the dock cernpany the annual sum of 2,0001., sul•ject to the folloWing graduated rise and fall ff shipments of c al in any year exceed 900,000 char ao additional Id. per cha:dron to be paid on such excess, but never to rise above the total sum of 3,0001 A.nd in case shipments fall below 900,000 olialdrons, ld. per chaldron to be deduct d from the 2,000/, per ani um. And if the shipments foil below 600,000 chalirons, then all payments to cease. The dock company to allow ships not I)ading or unloading in the dock to pass from the river through the southern outlet on payment of tke same tolls as ships loading in the'dock, not exceeding in any case 4d. per registered ton, vesiielp passing inwards with or without cargo, and afterwards returning through the dock, being only charged onco. BOW-STREET.—Mary Diefke and Mary Ann Dusseldorf were finally examined on the eharge of shoplifting ; and a German named Frederich Diefke the husband of the first prisoner, was charged as the wilful receiver of the stolen property. It appears that the prisoners were part of a gang of foreigners, who, locating themselves in the neighbourhood of the Dover-road, Southwark, em barked every morning for the West-end on thieving excursions. Some of the party had been already in custody for similar offences. Police constable R. Pell, 3 M, having watched the two female pri soners on. the 23d inst., saw them go into the shop of Mr. Cadman, Strand, and come out again, when, after proceeding a short distance, one of them pre cluded a silk umbrella from under her shawl. He detained the women, and found that the umbrella had been stolen. The same woman had previously, on the 15th inst., visited the shop of Mr. Morton, of the Turnstile, where, while pretending to look at a variety of goods, which were to be sent to a false address, they contrived to stow away a consi derable quantity of cutlery, some of which was pledged in the. Strand. Some of the stolen goods and a grea t number of pawnbrokers' duplicates were found at the male prisoner's • lodgings, where both the women lived also. Mr. Henry committed them for trial. A man named John Teban, a discharged servant, was also committed for stealing coats, umbrellas, &c., from the halls of gentlemen's houses. le usually inquired for the, housemaid, and when asked if hemeant "Eliza," or "Jane," he promptly replied " Yes."-- While the housemaid was being sought, 'the - prismier stripped the house, and de eanaped. MARLBOROUGH-S TREE T—Mary Ann E tTer ton, a young woman of very ladylike appearance, was charged on su4picion of sterling a gold watch, value 30 guineas from the persou of Mrs. Eliza Elstob, of 7, North-place, Camberwell. Mrs. Elstob stated she was iu the German Fair, Langham-place, the preceding afternoon between 4 and 5: Ti ere was a considerable crowd of persons collected round the musicians listening to the music, to which spot she likewise was attracted. She saw the prisdner in front of her and felt her press on her muff, under which was her watch, secured by a detector. Almost directly upon feeling this pressure she missed her watch and am the pri soner's hand about her muff. She seized her by the wrist, but she managed to get her hand into her own muff, and, with the other hand, appeared to pass something to a stout woman near her. She kept her hold of the prisoner, raised an alarm, and, a policeman coming up, gave her into custody. Her watch, value 30 guineas, had not been traced. Police-constable 343 of the A division was on duty at the German Fancy Fair, and took the pri soner into custody as above stated. A lady's valua ble gold watch, horizontal movement, beautifully enamelled back, and jewelled in eight holes, was found on the prisoner, together with two diamond rings, a pair of diamond earings, and a gold brooch with the portrait of a gentleman on it. The prisoner reserved her defence and was re manded till Tuesday. MARYLEBONE. —Thos. Meredith was charged with having, on the night of the 23d iust., burglari eusly entered the house of Mr. H. Jackson builder, 33, Tuayer-street, Manchester-square, and stolen therefrom a coat, a jacket, a pair of shoes, and three pairs of boots. The stolen jacket was now produced and identi fied; it had been purchased of the prisoner by a man named Goulden, in John's-court, Wigmore street. . The article was identified by the prosecutor, and the prisoner was committed for trial. WESTMINSTER.—AIfred Johnson and John M'Donald were finally examined, charged with stealing two diamond rings from the shop-window of Mr. Edward Smith, of 17, Victoria-road, Pim lico, silversmith and pawnbroker. The robbery was committed on Monday fortnight during the heavy fog. A lit►le girl, named Rich ardson, attracted by the showy articles in the win dow, advanced towards it, and saw Johnson and 'lwo _other men at it. Johnson had an instru ment of some kind against the window, and im mediately afterwards a piece of glass dropped out, when Johnson thrust his hand through the aperture, and, taking two rings out, handed them to one of his comrades. At thAt moment the thieves caught sight of a Mr. Makepeaca and his wife, who had just come up in time to witness the robbery, and darted off. Mr. Makepeace pursued Johnson until ho was captured. The other prisoner, who had been seen with him an hour previously, trying to cut another window in Tothill=street, was subsequently apprehended, and Loth the girl Richardson and Mr. and Mrs. Makepeace said tint to the best of their . belief he was one of the two engaged in the robbery at Mr. Smith's. The rings were not recovered. The prisoner was fully committed for trial. WORSHIP-STREET.—William Jessop was charged with the following outrage : Harriette Davis, who appeared to be, and was described by her landlady, as a very quiet and in offensive young woman, but who was in the most deplorable conditit n from injuries and exhaustion, stated that the prisoner on Monday night saw her home, where shortly afterwards be made a request she could not comply with, and immediately she ' said so he grasped her by the throat, and, flung her over the edgy, of part of the furniture, declared he would strangle her, and held her in that position till she was nearly senseless, when he e.t length re leased hr. She then tried to esca e from the room, but the prisoner on seeing her doing so seiz-3d the poker, and struck her such a fearful blow with it on the side of the head as to pitch her from the top of tLe stairs to the bottom. On partially recovering from the joint effects of the blow and fall she with the blood s roaming down her face, into the back kitchen, to hide herself, but the prisoner followed her, flung her down, knelt upon her stomach, thrust his hand into the pocket of her dress, from which he took some money, and then att.eupted to escape from the house. She con trived to follow him, to give him into custody, but on reaching the passage the prisoner suddenly Wined upon her, and struck her such a blow on the head aVi hitalf a pair of firetongs that she fell to the ground senseless, and remembered nothing more that occurred to her till she found herself in TEE ART TREASURES EXHIBITION. The Manchester Town-council having, as already reported in these columns, unanimously pa3sed a resolution of thanks to the executive committee of the late Art Treasures Exhibition for their able and arduous services in the management, the presen tation of this testimonial on behalf of the corpora tion took place yesterday afternoon in the Mayor's Parlour at the Town-hall. A dejeuner was pro vided by the Mayor, Mr. Ivie Mackie, at which were present eighty gentlemen, includ ing, besides the members of the Executive Committee, Sir J. Potter, M. P., Mr. Korshaw, M.P., Mr. J. Pender, Sir J. Watts, and the mem bers of the Town Council. After tbe toasts of "The Queen," and the "Prince Consort," The MAYOR rose, amid loud cheering, to propose the " Health of the Art Treasures Exhibition Com mittee." He said this meeting was for the purpose of paying a deserved compliment to gentlemen who had been most ably and zealously concerned in a work of great national importance. (Hear.) At a meeting of the town-council held last Wednesday a resolution was unanimously passed—proposed by Mr. Rumney, and seconded by Mr. Rawson, in speeches which did credit to themselves as well as to those in whose honour they were intended— (cbeers)—which resolution ho should read, as it would explain better than anything be could say the thoughts to which he was desirous to give ut terance. It was as follows : " That this council is deeply impressed with the groat advantages conferred upon this city and the community at large by the recent Exhibition of Art Treasures of the United Kingdom, an exhibition of works of art unrivalled in magnitude and value, the examination and study of which wore eminently calculated to improve the know ledge and elevate the taste of all visitors, and, by bringing together different classes not accustomed to associate, to promote goodwill and kindly feeling among all sections of the people. "That gratefully acknowledging the munificent liberality with which the heavy expenses to be incurred were origi nally guaranteed ; as also the noble manner in which the applications made for the loan of works of art were re sponded to by the contributors, this council feels called upon, as representing, and on b e h a lf o f , th e c i t i zens of Manchester, in an especial manner to tender its most sin cere and cordial thanks to Thomas Fairbairn, Esq., the chairman, Sir James Watts, and Thomas Ashton, William Entwistle, Joseph Heron, Edmund Potter, and Sigismond James Stern, Esqrs., the members of the executive com mittee, for their disinterested and arduous labours ; for the untiring and unremitting attention which during so lengthened a poricd they devoted to the undertaking ; for the judgment and ability which characterised all their pro ceedings and arrangements, and which so largely contri buted to render completely successful the most memorable exhibition of modern times, conferring lasting Same and honour upon the city in which it has been held." POLICE INTELLIGENC'E. 7 —Dec. 30. MANSION-HOUSE. George Harrison was charged with having stolen a sovereign from Miss Annie M'Carthy, of No. 110, Cheapsid , i, tobac conist. The prosecutrix said—Last night at about half past 9 o'clock the prisoner came into my shop and asked for two twopenny cigars. I placed them before him, and he offered me a sovereign, which I took and placed in a drawer in which was a little basin for gold. There were •two other sovereigns and two half-sovereigns then in the basin. I then closed the drawer and opened the till to give him. the silver. He said, "Return my sovereign, I have small change." I again opened the drawer and returned him the sovereign, which he took up l i with one hand, while with the other he reached across and snatched a sovereign out of the bowl, dropping at the same time a shilling into the bowl. With both my hands I caught his hand, and found the sovereign jammed between his thumb and the palm of his hand. While I was struggling with him an elderly gentleman came to the door, to whom I said, " Pray, assist me, this man has stolen a sove reign." The gentleman did not assist me, but stood by, and the prisoner relaxed his hold and I took the sovereign from him. He then said it was his, and that I had not returned the sovereign he had given me, and I asked the gentleman to call in an officer, which he accordingly did, and when the prisoner stooped down and undid his shoes and pulled off his stocking I heard some money drop. He said it was a florin. I saw a florin iu his hand. The officer then came, but the sovereign was not found, neither was the florin. Cross-examined by Mr. Lewis for the prisoner— He did not place a shilling on the counter, but dropped it into the bowl. He did not say anything about two half-sovereigns until after the officer came. He came into the shop alone. The door was closed. He had been kneeling behind the counter full five minutes before the officer came. The gentleman would not allow him to escape. Noble, 441—1 was called to the shop and there saw the prisoner, who was given into my charge for stealing a sovereign from the till. *He said he had given the sovereign to the woman to pay for two cigars, and that he afterwards said to her that he had smaller change and wished for two half-sove reigns for his sovereign. He wished to be searched in the shop. I searched his waistcoat pockets there, and I afterwards searched him at the station house, and ls. in silver,. lid. in copper, and 3oz of tobacco upon him. I received a sovereign from prosecutrix, which was that she believed he had taken from her till. I asked him his address. At first he said he came from Stafford, and then he said he came from Manchester, and ultimately he refused to give any address, or to give any satisfactory account of him self. The Prosecutrix—lt appeared to me that he put his own, sovereign, which I returned to him, into his pocket. The Lord Mayor said in all probability the pri soner had swallowed the sovereign, and directed that he be kept in prison under medical treatient. The prisoner was then committed for trial. A case which came before the County Court in Ipswich last week, afforded some curious revela tions of the manner in which the public are supplied with fictitious biographies. Mr. J. M. Burton, the publisher in Ipswich, about twelve months ago received from Mr. Trenery, author of " Leila Ada" and other works, a manuscript entitled " The Christian Lady, or ,Religion in JEligh Life ; • Memoir for-the Upper Classes ;" which purported to be a genuine and authentic biography of Miss Augusta Howard, who became Lady C. by mar riage, 1853, and died in 1855. The MS. was ac companied by a letter from the author, offering the copyright for 1201., and adding " We intend to give the profits to her ladyship's poor, and it is to be an addition to their usual winter's store." A subsequent interview with Mr. Trenery gave Mr. Burton the impression that he was intimately acquainted with the subject of his memoir, and an agreement was concluded to purchase the copyright for 501. Shortly before Christmas Mr. Trenery wrote to his publisher, urgingihim to " conclude the nego tiations with all convenient speed," as her lady ship's family " were particularly anxious that the proceeds be joined to their Christmas gifts," and the 501. was paid. Internal and other evidence had since appeared to prove that the book was not a genuine memoir, as originally supposed, and an action was brought by Mr. Burton to recover the 501. paid. In opening the case, Mr. Eisdell, who appeared for the plaintiff, stated that Mr. Burton was satisfied with the terms of his contract and would continue the publication of the work if it could be proved to be an authentic biography. The doubts of the publisher were first raised by an an swer to a query respecting the singular name " Au gustus," in which the defendant stated that the sister of the Duke of Cambridge was named Augus tus Caroline Charlotte Elizabeth, a statement which a reference to a " Peerage," proved to be incorrect. But a stron ger groun d fo r doubt occurred. It had been suggested by plaintiff that a portrait of Lady C., and a vignette of her country house, should be prefixed to the work. The letter, in reply to this suggestion, contained the following passage in re ference to the memoir :—" I look for it to do much good amongst her ladyship's own class. Many of them will, I think, like it : because many of them I know are earnest lovers of our Saviour, and de sire every help in their heavenward course. I know that it is able to do them good, much good. It always soothes my own heart whenever I read a little of it. In reference to the picture I have seemed idle. . . . My visits to the Lady Howard have been usually of a kind when such a subject could not be introduced." Soon after Mr. Burton received from Mr. Trenery two beautifully engraved and coloured portraits, one of which was underwritten " The Countess of—," and the other a portrait of Lady Harriet Hamilton. The former of these was, he said, to be altered in several particulars, as it had been badly copied from the original paiuting, and the dress was to be made like that of the accompanying portrait. Shortly after Mr. Bur ton recognised the pretended portrait of Lady C. among others from the Court Album, on' the counter of Mr. Bogue, the publisher, iu London, but bear ing the name of the Countess of Durham. The de fendant, when asked for an explanation, refused to reply to "questions respecting names which he could not in honour divulge." The plaintiff again wrote, asking for an explanation for his own satis faction, and called upon the defendant, if he could not explain satisfactorily, to rEfuld the 10/. and the expenses incurred for the part printed, proposing to place the MS. in the hands of a third party. The defendant then wrote at great length, endeavour ing to establish that the portrait sent had never been represented to be that of the subject of the work. It was also shown that many parts of the MS., which professed to be copied from her lady ship's diary had been subsequently altered. Mr. Burton had addressed a circular to various branches of thelloward family, but could get no information of a Miss Howard, afterwards Lady C. Mr. Tre nery, who conducted his defence, asser'ed that the MS. was " the genuine biography of a real perbon," whom he knew " pretty well." He had n)t brought his diary with him, as he did not know it would be wanted. He would not tell the real names. The husband was not a peer, but the son of a peer, not the eldest. He did not think ho oughtto be made to go there and be laughed at. His Honour then asked defend .nt to write ti e real name on a piece f parer, and no one elie should sea it, but this he re fns feta'ed that he had letters with him from the IL itsh Society for the Conversion of the Jews, in commendation of Leila Ada. Tho book was used to convert the Jews; and he hoped to make the memoirs of Lady C. equally useful to the peer age. The memoir in question was worth 3501., but he would not pay 501. and take the MS. Lack, be cause he preferred to clear his character. Among other extraordinary assertions, the defendant stated that the picture, which had been copied badly, be cause it hung in a wrong light, could not bemovrd, because her ladyship's dying hand had helped to hang it ; and when the artist had finished the copy, he drew his brush across, the face and said : —" There is the crack of doom." Defendant per sisting in refusing evidence of the genuineness of wag :given for the plaintiff f or the work, judgment 50/. - and costs, - to - bc paid in a fortnight. —Buy and Nortvich Post. IRELAND. DUBLIN, WEDNESDAY MORNING. ENDOWED SCHOOLS COMMISSION. The Belfast News'etter announces, with an appa rent air of authority, that the report of this com mission, which will he made public in a few days, will advocate the opening of all school endowmen , s to persons of all religious denominations. " 1 of er words," says the Tory organ, "the Protestant foundations of Ulster will be thrown open to Roman Catholics." THE PATRONAGE QUESTION. The Dublin morning organ of the Irish Derbyitas exclaims vehemently against the appointment Of Lord Clanricarde to a post in the Ministry of Lord Palmerston. It is charged against the noble Marquis that while holding the office of Postmaster - General but eight Protestants were recipien ts of hii bounty. The Evening Post, the Whig or g an doubts the truth of thi s s t a t e m e nt, but rem arks that, if even well founded, the objection i 4 comes with a very bad grace from a been the organ of the Derby Government, /rill"; during the whole period of its existence never ha " appointed a Roman Catholic to any office of emolu ment under the Crown." journal which hais • THE GREAT SLANDER CASE. The prospects of the finale are not improving. The learned counsel for the plaintiff, who com menced his speech to evidence on Monday,after noon, resumed yesterday morning, and occupie d the day from the rising until the adjournment of th e Court, long after the shades of night had se t in. The jurors sworn to try the merits of such a ca se as this would require to be gifted with marvellously retentive memories. Mr. WDonough's role is not yet played out. The learned gentleman begins hie third chapter on evidence this morning. THE BELFAST TEA FRAUDS. The _Northern Whig complains that the Govern ment advisers continue their persecution of the Belfast tea-merchants by way of endeavouring to remedy the "blundering management" of local officials in connexion with the case , of John Jame Moore. The Whig adds : " The public are already aware that respectable tea• dealers were some time since summarily arrested the duty on teas which they had purchased, duty pafid,or from Moore. With respect to other merchants the law advisers of the Crown have now adopted a different c3nrse, and have sued, by information i n the superior courts, for the recovery of the pettish,' which will be at least three times the 'value of the tea purchased. Notice of this proceeding has already been served Ou the heads of several firms, but the infor mations will not be filed till the parties enter their ar pearance, which must be perfected before the 15th of Jan. We may mention that an eminent opinion. has been given to the effect that the Crown can only seekto recover penalties where the defendants are shown to hay' taken a part in the Moore frauds. Already this raid on the trade has considerably embarrassed business in B el* fast. Dealers justly complain that notoriou s laxity in the administration o f the business of the Customs in Belfast should for a series of months be permitted to hamper legitimate traffic. It is surely time that Govern• went should see the impolicy of continuing these ill advised proceedings against certain tea merchants whose mercantile position places them above suspicion, and who are likely to have the sympathy of the grea t body o f the public. There may be guilt in some quarters, but to get at the guilty it is rather hard to make th e innocent suffer. Country Markets. EDINBURGH HAY AND STRAW MARKET DEC. 29. , , Supplies of all kinds these last six days large. Oat straw, from 7s Od to 11s Od per kemple of 1 6 st one. Iron ; wheat do., 7s Od to 9s Od ; barley do., 6s 01 to 7 01 6d. Hay from 10d to 12d. EDINBURGH MEAL—DEC. 29. 'fah There were in the market to-day 12 Backe oatmeal, Wm weighing 2801 b imperial, which sold at 33/1 Od and —O. DALKEITH MEAL MARKET—DEo. 28. There were in the market to-day 20 bags of oatmeal, oof barleymeal, and 0 pot barley. Sales dull. Oatmeal, per sack of 2801bs First. Second. Third,. imperial Barleymeal, per ditto -a Od —s Od Od Peasemeal, per ditto Flour, new, per ditto I —a Od —a Od Od "." Pot-barley, new, per ditto —a Od —a Od —0 DUBLIN. DEO. 29. There was a poor attendance, and a very slaw market. A small supply of all kinds of grain. We repeat oar quo. tations of this day week. White wheat, 28a Od to 29s Od ; red ditto, 24s Od to 270 6d; ditto new, —s Od; barley, malting, 15a to 18s 6d; grind ing, —a to —s ; oats, old, 12s '6cl to 15s; . ditto, new. —0 Od to —8 Od ; oatmeal, 14a to 158 6d; here, new, 14s to 15d Od ; rapeso‘ d, 23a Od to 25e Od perbakers' flour, 160 od to 22s 041 per fivrt ; Indian corn. 31s 01 to 324 6d per 480 lbw. BRISTOL SUGAR. This market is closed for the Christmas holidays till Tuesday next, the sth proximo. '.-DEC. 30. the close of the market Wallsond, Ace. o a. Nixon's Daffryn. 2l 6 Russell's Hetton 18 g Uosforth l6 ! Braddyll lB y Rotten l9 9 South Hetton 19 9 Tees l9 9 Brown's Moor Haigh Main •...•16 .1,5, Cowpon Hartley ... ...... 14 a lieaham lB ! Eden Main „ ...... , lB 3 Northumberland . l4 6 Lyon's Stone Coal .. ... 2O 9 Whitworth l5 18 0 Eleugh Hall 18 9 South Kelloe 73 ; sold, 49. COAL MARK . Prices of Coals por ton al s. (1. Bebside's Hartley 14 3 Lougridge's Wst Hartley 14 3 rantield Moor l2 9 Tanfield Moor Butes 12 9 Davison's West Hartley 14 3 Howard's West Hartley Netherton 14 3 Walker Primrose 13 0 Bell's Primrose . 12 6 Bates's West Hartley l3 9 Morpeth West Hartley 13 6 Wylam Wallsend, &e. Riddell • 16 3 Keiper Grainge 0 North Hartlopool 14 3 Cassop 1.6 9 Ships at market, LOCAL SHARE MARKM. LIVERPOOL, DEC. 30. STOCK EXCHANGE.—The Liverpool Stock Exchange to• day shows some improvement in a number of lines. South Easterns, 21i i—Midlands, 91---Great Westerns, 54i—London and North Westerns, 98—Sheffields, 41-- Grand Trunk of Canada, 11,', Chester and Holyhead, 17 —Caledonian, 42A ---- Lancashire and Yorkshire, 91. new shares, '3-16 pm—Great Western of Canada, 18 2-16—* - Birkenhead, o—Blackburn, 9j—East Lancashire, 929 lb —North Eastern, Berwick, 241. MANCHESTER, DEO. 30. STOCK EXCHANGE—The market was firmer, with a good business, and prices of all the leading stocks a shade better. East Lancashire, 924—Sheffields, 44---Ditto, Pref., 1 South Eastern, 21 i —North Stafford;, 31 dis.`---Eastern Counties, 11i—Midiands, 192—North Union A, 220 i—• London; 98 i—Great Western of Canada, 20i —Ditto, aew, d.—Lceds, 94L --Berwick; 24 11-16—*rand Trunk of Canada, 12i. BIRMINGHAM, DEC. 30. STOCK EXCHANGE.—Business in the market generally active to-day. Great Westerb; Birmingham Guaranteed, 69—North Stafford*, 3j d—South Staffords, 9—Worces• ter and Birmingham Canals, 'lB—Birmingham Water works, new, 3l p—Birmingham and Staffordshire Gas, 251 shares, 48i— General Steam, 24. • [ADVERTISEMENT,]— Gratis —Double Map of Asia—On Slin 4 day next, a truly beautifully -coloured double Map of Asia, will be given with each copy o f th e D ISPATCH , and a coloure d Map will be issued every wee& Gratis, to form the most perfe c t and useful Atlas ever published. The Back Numbers 01 the Atlas are kept constantly on sale, so that the work rail be made complete from the commencement at any time, and at the perfect convenience of the purchaser. Any Map of the Series may be had with the Newspaper of the cur' rent week, or with any copy not out of print. The pric e of the DISPATCH is—unstamped, sd. ; stamped (to go fr e e: by post), 6d. The Friday Evening Edition may be recei v in the most distant parts of Lhe. kingdom* on Saturda/ morning. Portfolios, with spring-clipped backs, are ready, price 3s. tid., 4s and upwards. Orders receiv e by all News Agents, and at the Office, 139, Fleet-stre et t London. BIRTHS. BEALE —Oa the 29th inst., at Brandesbury-park, net t , Willesden, the wif e o f W. L ans d owne Beale, of a son.l l BENTINOK— On the 28th inst., at Kiinaird , Dunk +ll: N. 8., the reside nce o f h er fa t her , Sir St. Vince n t c a Whitshed, Bart., the wif e o f Lieut. - Colonel Arthur n vendish Bentinck, comman di ng ' H.M.'s 7th Drag° Guards, of a son. CLAREMONT —On the 28th inst., at 1 , Thoraey-P, lcl" 1 , 9 "' Camden-town, the wif e o f C. C Clare mont, " M.R.C.S., of a son. the OCRTERLONY—On the 27th inst., f Ochterlony, wife of Sir Ch as . M. O c ht er l on y, Bart., °- of a daughter. a t St. A.ndiew's, M Alt RIAGE S. HODGSON —TODD —On the 29th inst., at the parish church, Gl o ces - Marylebone, John Evan Hodgson , Esq. , ter-place, Portman-square, and la te of St. Petersburgb of, to Ellen Elizabeth, eldest daughter of John Todd, Egal., 46, of 51, Wimpole-street, Cavendish -squar e. DEATH S. BAKER—On the 22d inst.. at Staines, James Bak er, '5(1" L.S.A., aged 57 . a vid BLAIR—On the 26 th inst., Blairquhan, Sir Hunter Blair, Bait. B ENNET T—On the 29th inst., at the Vicarage, Ogallala/ Wnts, the Bev. Win. Coles Bennett, aged 64. liuTioN—On the 27th i ns t, at Sowber-hill, York's John Hutton,on, ESC '' , a Dop .- .-Lieut. of the North Biding, aged 63, N!vs o N—On the 29th inst., at Brighton , M r. Jasper Newson, formerly of Grocers'-hall•court, Poultry. SMART -On the 29th inst, at Dover, Lieut. -Col. Smart, late Royal E ng i n ee r s, Lieut.-Governor of Dover Castle, aged 72. -- - , LONDON : Printed and Published by MURDO YOUNG, of No, 112, Strand, Printer, at Thc. Siitt Office, Nc. 112, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savo, in Lb. co unty of Middlesex. Thursday, December 31, y 1857, Intl 8 at free ex p i Via Pt Mn' and n Th uo m , Fit Fu Com; Streel P The The Tait Thi itssuri ii &pp° The *l7, Polk" takes oat in 1838 On. ''• ISO ISIS 113151 The t hattona The Two. .wris ye Its at Its it SC one] Its t The . A,ho t Sine( of thre4 For man, 1 ,•••••••.,. Yo - t - iih r , tberefo It is at Ito Fa r IE2 %tee m 1420, ........... C~ testm l The ' knit .1 Vfe to A. R CITRE Flat NYe Eta Eau ecru plati I) reined genet.: feres v and dl azkuscu im tatio Th tion 1 !mita Sui cants riage Co.. veyoi street e tree ( TII YE ani Qua 4r