The Sun. — London, England, 1847-05-15 00:00:00

Captain MANGLES said the present motion was a most mPortant one, and they should consider it carefully ere they gave a decision. He (Captain Mangles I thought this check very beneficial one, and he could not sanction any proceeding en the part of the House that would prevent capitalists, or those who had small sums of money from investing them in loans on railway undertakings. A f ew y ears ago there was the greatest difficulty in getting any interest at all, and now, when a benefit was likely to b e h a d, they ought to possess it. With !-egar t d o the returns of th e N o rth-Western Company, he egged to say they were sent in to the commissioners on the Bth o f April : • Ai r. CHAPLIN wished the Hon. Member for Montrose cha had had only a year ' s exper i ence as a ra il way di rec t or , or ma ir didnd the n h e wou ld k now more a b o ut the question than he From his experience the established lines were o ften obliged to make extensions in self defence. Some few y e ara back as soon as a line was talked of for Epsom the " t r r aospheric pro j ect was started, which, after being laid down ' to e a few years, was now being taken up. The same applied by th e Reading and Guilford line. Again, they were assailed polarutiSprDnicreocnit pPaonrytsmouth line, which at last was sanctioned by stelae Such was the position in which the time old been placed. Whatever was done, full time "be given for deliberation. The Hon. Member for Her. were two sch emes lest they might offer a serious check to wickhad said the borrowing provisions were a sufficient check ea Capitalst • undue progress in these undertakings. So far as private were concerned this was perfectly true, though lishnot be so of banking establishments. Thus the estab a__, lines were in every direction assailed by speculators, unlessgeeugrei.s.laturethe former took measures to occupy the ground they 7 e . !ure to be deprived of their legitimate traffic. Now, the had supported this system for the last two years. I Sd hope ere they acted on the advice of the Hon. Member ," Montrose, the House would see what the Government had tuPro • . P se in its stead. atrhepsipLnoelokirtdit;lnohll. N RUSSELL could not give his consent to the of the Hon. Member for 'Montrose. It did not th e eb o nu necessary; nor did he see that it would effect Sect which was sought to be obtained. He did not e ither that it would be just to the railway compan i es, or i t l e e public at large, to press such a resolution. The Hon. 0„ the present for Newcastle, had stated a case which bore strongly Present questio n . H e suppose d t h e case o f a main line which Wanted to make a branch, which was of great import the to sec o ure and dev e l o p their traffic. Now, according to _ot provisions f the prese n t resolution, such a main line could "t ed• the making of a branch until it was corn - It was not f t to sa➢ that, till a e z er t tain cCompany'wise or made the main m y branch they should e e have the power of making a branch which might . o e f the greatest importance. Unless they did so, perhaps,an independent company would be got up to occupy the ground. (Hear, hear, P Whi c h we .) The resolution would not meet the evils berall re complained of. Regarding railway enterprise due • leration. Because they had hitherto acted in a lax ~r. t , !re, they should take care and not fall into the error of the op c:ole extreme. They ought to be cautious how they checked that had l e , t unt e application of capital to railway enterprise which th the herto proved so advantageous. He did not agree with in Hon,a Menaber for Coventry, that this House should step interfere to place a greater control upon railway pro tochetteesdiyiniasdthbeanenhtaod hitherto been imposed. The course prev.i appoint Committees, and no Bill could obtain disc sanction of the House without consideration and full: t i t si ". There was every opportunity for the R e r investigation if that were thought necessary. inyeaetra_erubered, also, when such money was sent away and e 9 in foreign stocks not very useful to this country, while 4,,,▪ arl..°Steher time the capital of this country was sent to North ro ;" e l er a to h therefore, it 'Pent in the construction of canals ; and he re econs looney, mitte debtors of the country who borrowed that not very ready in repaying it. How unwise, would be to restrict the application of capital to th__ ruction of railways in the country, when by doing so Z,,',",Y,wosould divert it into channels which would result in injury u po t ss s lb t i o e the country. On the other hand,. however, it might hcaoltculatotedato lead to the ruin of the parties for money to be expended in railways which were case like that, it was the duty of the House t° interfere and stop the progress of the railway ; but decidedly of promoting them ; Hof he extreinel of opinion that Parliament ought to be ). cautious in interfering with the progress of these tindertakine entipeiaer sub.e ,,s. It must be clear to the House, however, that no j .cts connected with the capital and solvency of parti cular Inpanies, that it required some other agency than a u tna r n arnt na tae l i t rg t a e aralot f five Members of that House to inquire into such that would Isaietil'at, or to report upon the expediency of leasing ing particular lines at high rates of interest ; but he would not afusruthbjeeredt e f t u a r in di t s h e e us ti sio oo n s o e n ni nth tt e . r evening, The and be no doubt whatever that the railways had proved highly calculate what future benefitsy and, re co a u d l d vantageous to the country, and he was, therefore, decidedly perhaps, it was difficult to weoref otoptboetoodetrhiavtedtoofrommoohtheoman! tion could not be used in their endeavours to stop the progress of these undertakings. Mr. COLLETT' trusted, after what had fallen from the Noble Lord who had just isoatdown, Ill mss G w z o o ul ß d G rn i t his resolution. BENTI the /lon. Member for p o r s a ta c i t t i e c e a , bl , supposing the HousefCitK said the resolution would b F e or im i onee portion O Should not be allowed to sell the lin s e ai o d f were to agree to it. s e i on a id lo,s to understand how, by any the line d one , railway co h m e pany Now he company ever be in a position to sell the line of another. The „ se L rd at the head of the Government had spoken of too speculations in North America. He could mention tros e Lineowther speculation which proved no less disastrous, and if asandot mistaken, with which the Hon. Member for Mon ,tle something to do, namely, the Greek loans. It would h ,;_re s Onen much better had that money been invested in rail -114.70_t this country, rather than thrown away upon a foreign s a k e „ n, Sod he trusted the fact he had mentioned would be auother reason why they should not interfere with the r ; 1 1 ' tion of capital to works at home, IIen.epCHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER thought his draw hi r _iend the Member for Montrose would do well to with good we ' r esolution ; at the same time, however, he thought th e H e aid result from this discussion. Much of the evil which 4- ,Gentleman had spoken of was traceable to the Com- Con of that House rather than to the railway directors. He considered it would be much better if the Hon. Member for the °ti tre% would postpone his resolution, either by g adjourning deb ate or withdrawing it till a future occasion. Mr. HENLEY called attention to the difference in the deci- Si "' of the Committees of the House and the Railway Com- Missioners, and was of opinion that some means should be adopted to procure uniformity. Mr. MORRISON said that during the last two years there had been forty millions devoted to railwayspeeulations, and this year also a very large sum was required. When in addition to this the expenditure for the famine in Ireland was taken into conside ration, it would be found to be quite impossible for them to go on in that expenditure much longer. If they proceeded in this way, he would ask how were their manufactures to go on ? The capital would be all abstracted from its legitimate course, and though large manufacturers might be able to carry on their business. small men would be completely ruined. The Only remedy which they could apply to this state of things was to reduce the profits of capital invested in these undertakings, to the same level as that embarked in other undertakings. Instead, however, of any measure being taken for that pur pose, every interference of the Legislature was in the contrary direction. Some one must suffer for this in the long run, and the sooner they attempted to arrest the evil the better would it h i e fo r the country. He was very indifferent whether his 'len. Friend's )' resolution was carried, but he thought the dis cussion it had produced would be of great advantage as it Would NI call public att en tion to the subject.—( Hear.) r. HORSNI AN thought that when the immense amount u of cad—pital whi c h was to b e expen d e d on ra il wa y s was tionsi- TI11Ti; be,ing 160 m illi ons within the last few years, and 80 `" a tce l::rpresent ear—some measures should be adopted to er tt so large an tract en of it from the undertakings in aerntell it was legitimately embarked. Feeling that the Go us were about to adopt measures in respect to railway Ir n at °c, he could not support the proposition before the k e a let and he hoped the Hon. Gentleman the Member for trin4trose would withdraw his resolution. NE WDEG ATE merely rose to protest against the doc shon-PPounded by th e H on . M em b er f or Inverness, that they uteeisli ci nterfere to regulate the profits on railways. He was to hear su c h a d oc t r i ne d e lib era t e ly enunciated. of th e i c _ i ?RISON explained. He had never said anything 111 r, • Hon, WDEGATE regretted if he misunderstood the 14:,,_ ,:iientlernen. He considered that the proposition he - "" i as to reduce the profits on railways to a level with other a c i u r a l i ens, and if th a t did no t pia.„, ' I RISON, interrupting, said th a t w h a t h e s t a t e d Oth s er tuat tOhe profits on railways should not be larger than any At kiwi of speculation.—( Hear, hear, hear.) s ae r- „I‘HTCH ELL said that the exp en dit ure on ra il ways was th k n t rom i trade a n d manu f ac t ures , an d on t h at account h e light that measures should be adopted fur preventing its ab straction from these interests. f Mr. STUART said he was very much struck at the course ° argument pursued by the Hon. Member for Bridport. Was the Hon. Member a free trader ? Did he not think every °,l3 was at libert to divert his capital to what purposes he ra se s (Ironic y al cheers.) What was the course the Hon. tenaber took on the Corn Bill? Why, it was likely that he vo ted just that capital might be directed into particular channels. Now it was evident it was so, for the . Hon..M m her now preferred di • • (Hear hear.) a aourse of Legislation interfering with e the direction of capita • Mr. TRELA WNY said freei trade was good, but a parti cular case rested on its own merits , and they had carried that ease too far. Capital on railways was entirely sunk. Nothing could be recovered except from the dividends, and in many ca ses there could be no dividend, because the capital was swallowed up, and was still insufficient for the purposes to which it was applied. Mr. AINSWORTH thought that railways gave employ ment, and prevented the capital from going out of the country. Mr.' HUME replied—He was not at all surprised at the speeches of the three Hon. Members who had spoken last, for they did not understand the subject.—(lronical cheers.) but the Hon. Member for Bridport (Mr. Mitchell), and the 110 0. Me m b er near hi m (Mr. Trelawny), were perfectly sound. Wh y , if h e cou ld prove th a t a number of men, who projected a railway, with a capital of 4,000,000/., put a bonus of 3.900,0001. i nto th e i r poc k e t s , and he could prove, and would prove it, then capital would rapidly run in such f d ireo - l io n. He had been challenged that night for not bringing ol• d ward his motion earlier. His motion was presented and laid before a Committee last year, and but for the time of the at ' , ion, it would have been brought forward He admitted, with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with whom he never agreed, and with a Noble Lord, that the motion was per baps °f too simple a character, and it might be well to post-. t ih e e' e it, that some more general Act might be brought in he,for I' t ame object. Ile had only proposed this as a . st h ep tv ; :leresore, proposed adjourning this question to this nig t d eels 4t he must protest against any Committee being forme . The debate was then adjourned. VAN DIENIEN'S LAND. -reorelllostent°f theetsa.tive s HE said that on next onday onhe would ask a 9,U NMo eher ble Lord the Memb M Ler for don, whether it ues- was ti,„, i ntention f Majesty's Government to give a repre ysten to Van Diemen's Land, or any other of the R Y S. Mr. H UME said that he AILWA would move for a report Dum fries, the eviden ce taken before the Committee of the Glasgow, um fries, and Aberdeen railway. POOR-LAW BILL AND PRISONS BILL. Mond J. RUSSELL said it was his intention to move,. t ou tiov nett, the second reading of the Poor-law Admini ra -0 B.ngland) Bill before the other orders of the . dayt and te ' r iday next he proposed to take the consideration of h risons Bill before the ether ordeN. DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH ROME. On the older of the day that the blouse go into Committee on the Loan Discount Bill, Mr. UORSMAN desired to put a question to the Noble Lord the First Minister of the Crown, whether the Govern- Ment had a ny i ntention of placing the Italian States on t h e Rause footing as other European States, as far as regarded di- Plomat ic relations. ~ Lord J. RUSSELL said that he perfectly concurred with itihboeralon..Member's observations as far as they related . to the policy pursued by the present Pope; and it was his desire to see more formal diplomatic relations between that teoeuntoury dan Engla n d. H e had seen with very great pleasure 1: .: h h course which th e present Pope had pursued—( Hear. ) ,/'! "ale believed would very much tend to the happiness of that': Jle sho u ld h ave no hesitation in saying that he thought it would be desirable to have diplomatic relations with the TRE Court of Rome. But the que.-.tion sysFi one exceedingly in tricate—intricate in point of law, a•c:1 a, to polity, likely to excite considerable diseu , sion. The law, as it at present stands, is extremely doubtful ; there are some words in he Act of Parliament to which it is impossible to give a strict legal interpretation, and, therefore, as the law at present stand, it would not be adrisa . ile to send an accredited representative to bonne. At the present late period of the session, he did not think that they could introduce a Bill to make this law clear. He could not introduce such a Bill, but he did hope at. some future time to legislate upon the subject, and he did think that it would be most desirable to establish more formal diplomatical relations. LOAN DISCOUNT BILL. Lord JOHN RUSSELL moved that the House do ge into Committee upon the Loan and Discount Bill. The Marquis of GRANBY said that he felt that he should make some apology to the House for venturing to address them upon such an important subject. He conceived, however, that the question for discussion was not to be confined to the pro positions of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, but that they should take a more extended view, and see how far the law of 1544 had reference to the subject. It had been admitted on all hands that the distress was excessive. On that subject he would read a letter from Mr. Foster, of York, in which it was stated that the distress in the country was very great, and that not fryer than 9,000 operatives in one part of the country were out of employment. In another 433 mills were working short time. This distress had taken place under the law of 1844; it was said then that it was impossible to foresee what would be the evils which would spring from it. It was true that the vessel of the state swam gallantly on when all was calm, but the first moment a storm arose she did not answer her helm. The Bill of 1844 was intended to be the helm, and while there was no want of its guiding power, all went well, but when the moment of peril came, it hael been found wholly inoperative. It had been said, how could all these evils be foreseen ? It was asked, could the potato failure he prophesied, the scarcity of corn foretold, and the speculation in railways been prevented. The Hon. Member for Shrews bury had presented a memorial on the subject, so had all the eminent bankers of the City, but they did not receive any atten tion. He begged the House to consider the distress the present currency policy would insure. The mills it would stop, the labourers it would throw idle, the commercial and trading em barassments it would occasion. If they did so, he was sure they would see the importance of a change. He had in his possession a return of the raw cotton in the ports of London, Liverpool, and Glasgow in 1845, 1846, and 1847, the bales of cotton were 1,624,744 ; in 1846, 1,576,804; and in 1847, only 1,320,944. There had been imported between the months of January and the 30th of April, 1845, 727,784 bales ; in 1846, 501,107; and in 1847, only 487,154. At the present time there were no stocks en hand to meet any extra demand that might spring up, and therefore for some time there was no relief to be expected from such a quarter. What was the function of money but to facilitate exchange? and if so, when population increased, and property enlarged, might not also the circulating medium so expand in the same ratio ? But the Bank Act of 1844 pre vented this, and said whatever the exigencies of the country may be, it would not allow the currency to be increased, unless a certain amount of gold was in possession. This, too, was stated by a Government that was obliged to make issues on Government securities.—( Hear, hear.) In 1845, they had heard a good deal about the great benefit the free trade measures would produce. Look at the state of the country now. A great variety of duties had been taken off in pursuance of the free trade theory, and the result was not to increase the importation of real necessaries of life, but to lead to a great im portation of mere luxuries, many of which had abridged the field of labour at home. The excess of such imports in 1847, as compared with 1845, was 4,333,792/., in official value. Such had been the result of their free trade policy, America was enabled to get a higher price for her provisions than any other, and therefore they could not judge of their free trade by the case of America. He considered that the Noble Member for Lynn bad spoken out the true policy which ought to be pur sued, when he said—protect your own industry, protect your own manufactures. He considered the truth of that sentiment was daily proved, and no matter what eloquence opposed it. He hoped that the Government would listen to the voice of the intelligent and industrious people of the country, by extending the currency by repealing the Act of 1844. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that the main portion of the Noble Lord's speech was directed against free trade, but he forgot to take into calculation how long free trade had endured with unexampled prosperity to the country. For it was not until last August when they b eg an to import corn that gold began to flow out of the country.—(Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord could not say that their produce was diminished by the Act of last year.—( Hear, hear.) Of course not; well then, he would ask him, how would it stand with them had not these restrictions been taken off. lie would not follow the Noble Lord into the extensive field of argument, into which they had been invited to enter The Hon. Member opposite had asked him to give a pledge. that in no case whatsoever would he call upon the Bank for de ficiency bills. Now he would not make any such promise. It is perfectly true that the question on which the country was intereted was that of the currency, the maintenance, or the non-maintenance of the Act of 1844. On that question, the Right Hon. Member for Tamworth stated most freely to the House, that no affection for his own offspring should induce him from giving afull consideration to the question, He had not the slightest objection to such a discussion, and no doubt it might be well to bring it before the House ; but the question of re pealing it had never entered, and he trusted never would enter into the contemplation of her Majesty's Government. and when he gave it the most unshaken support, 'he then sat upon the opposite side of the House.—(Hear, hear.) But he did give it his firm support because he had come to a deep seated conviction that the Bill did carry in it the sound prin ciples on which the currency was to be based. He was placed in the situation of Chairman of the Bank Committee, and they had examined before them some of the ablest men in the coun try. There opinions were carefully examined, and he entered the Committee without any prejudice on one side or another, but he did leave it impressed that the principles of the Bill were sound. In that opinion he remained unshaken; and as to the expediency of that Act, he was more and more confirmed by the discussion which had taken place, because nothing could be more apparent then the extraordinary discrepancy of opinion which existed amongst the advocates of its abolition. The Hon. Member for Birmingham said, the measure was indis pensableodlsifl 9 ; we arefoarndeatrtho ti ry e i na n a g wsfey h out giem t t he Act of the year 1819, and w b e ack are to te th r e epe y al ear the They had no s il ver stan d ard then, nothing could be 1.7A.9re7e.t dangerous or uncertain than to repeal the Act. Hon. Gen tlemen could agree as to what should be the state of the law after its repeal. Another Hon. Member recommended the aisdsoupet.ionnoef o f u r g e h e t, tr h a o d w e ev in er, ba to nk r in efe , r t which means un li m i te d of A e r m y e p r o i c a in 1837, when unlimit e d i ssue was permitted ° theas case e th etv sible guard, but where it ended in the universal suspen s i on o f the U n i on . payments, faonrdHvoenr.yGgeenntelermalenba.npkprztecywriiif o cl th ta e wh i l r asnot expectations ai with regard t o the measure of thlsl4 ey f oun d realised, to turn round to blame them on hi s s id e o f the House not for holding out expectations directly the converse of what they really did hold out. He was very much surprised at the charge of the Hon. Member for Huntingdon with respect to the conduct adapted by Government with regard to the loan. If the contractors of that loan were deceived, they must have deceived themselves as the Government had made them perfectly aware of their inten tions. His object was to effect the arrangements connected with the loan, with as little disturbance to the monetary affairs of the country as possible. He did not assent to the proposal of the contractors to spread the loan over a longer period of payment, and to give a larger amount of discount. Circum stances had, however, changed since then, and he had made the proposal now before the House, to give a larger amount of discount, that there might be a larger balance in the Exchequer before July next. The Noble Lord seemed to think that the pressure might have been foreseen. Now, everybody knew long ago that the pro bability was that there would be a large importation of corn, and that it must to a certain extent cause a drain of gold. But he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) doubted whether even so late as February or March last any one anticipated the severity of the pressure which was experienced in April. It had been stated that the present contraction in the circulation was occasioned by the existence of deficiency bills. But he should like to state to the House what on former occasions of pressure had been the amount of deficiency bills, and compare it with the amount of accommodation afforded to the public in the way of discounted bills. The House would see that during the two severe pressures which occurred in 1837 and 1839, both being coincident with the payment of the dividends, there was a larger amount of deficiency bills, and a smaller amount of accommodation by the discount of bills, than at present, and yet we never heard of any such extraordinary outcry against the existence of deficiency bills as was now raised. The periods he would refer to were the 10th of January, 1837, the 15th of October, 1839, and the 10th of April, 1817. On the 10th January, 1837, the amount of circu lation, including 1,000,000/. of Bank post bills, was 18,700,000/. Outstanding deficiency bills, 4,800.0 0 0/., and private securi ties, 17,900,000/. On the 15th of October, 1839, the circu lation was 17,600,000/.; deficiency bills, 4,300,000/. ; private securities, 13,000,0001.; and on the 16th of April, 1847, the circulation was 20,400,0001.•' deficiency bills, 2,400,000/. private securities, 18,000,004. Dating a week later in each of these three periods, he found that in 1;'37 the circulation was 19,000,000/. ; deficiency bills, 4,3 1 / 4 )0,0,;(3.; private secu rities, 17,000,000/. In 1839, the circulation was 17,700,000/.; deficiency bills, 4,200,000/. ; private securities, 12,100,000/. ; whereas, in the corresponding week, of April, 1847, the circu lation was 20,242,00 1 '/. ; deficiency bills, 1,300,0001. ; private securities, 17,000,000/. Thus, comparing 1839 with 1847, the circulation was nearly three millions higher in the latter than in the former period, the deficiency bills two millions less, and the private securities five millions more. He thought, there fore, that they had attributed a great effect to a very small cause, when they stated that the amount of private accommodation had been very much re duced on account of the existence of these deficiency bills. denied some charges which had been combatted in that House as having been made against the Bank of England by the ad vocates of the measure of 1544, but he denied those charges, as they had never been made by the Government. The Hon. Member for Shrewsbury was right in principle with regard to the circulation of 18:16, 1839, and 1847, but he thought the lion. Member for Shrewsbury, and the Noble Lord the Mem lser for Lynn, were inconsistent with regard to the statement of the operation of the measure of 1844. The one said that the Act had the effect of contracting the circulation, and the other said that had it been in operation in 1839 it would be wholly inoperative. Now he did not think that both the Honour able Gentleman and the Noble Lord could bath claim the benefit of the different views they took of that measure. What then was the professed objects of this Bill? It was in tended to regulate the paper in reference to the metallic cur rency. This being the professed object of the Bill, if what had happened under special circumstances, might have happened with a purely metallic currency, then it had effected as much, and even more, than it professed. If, under the same circum stances, which had existed for the last eight months, they had had a pure metallic currency, or if the gold had gone direct from the Mint, and not from the Bank of England, there would still have been a drain of gold, as there had been from the coffers of the Bank, and there would have been no more in the pockets of the people_ He was rather surprised at an assertion made by a Noble Lord about the con vertibility of the coinage. He did not know how to treat it, for it was hardly intelligible.—(Laughter.) Why, convertibility, when used by any one, meant that for a pound note the holder could at any time receive a sovereign in gold. t : mhh o eeaarnen o g n tse e hbfoy w our h il tda o wa u La s w e se d ,apyt the word ed w -at e nh r oeg d toel could ould for a moment suppose that same an d amountthat sovereignsv a esoeftehlgedopl principle p V o l t h e 1844, which was founded upon the Act of 1819 ut e i should ieptowantps_heoeraf sst thhgbaiineuadlanradarsondenbtc be actually security i i t egn y moo l t e bd equal Act of r ,b(f ,o a f:r n it t p rt p e .h a lepprgtoai particular tan h i u t r l: c t aah h u rba l e • a vt r e er brought forward a measure which could carry '• out his views, perhaps it might be possible to discuss them. The Hon Member for North Warwickshire, who did nothold the opi nion of the Hon. Member for Birmingham, maintained the standard had been fixed by the Acts of 1844 and 1819. The Act of 1844 only regulated the ratio of paper circulation to the gold coinage ; the Act of 1819 did not do much mrivaeacifrreoeyntrloiyvntegtrithrthmiebe,soail, niei:rionleefgotnhweiuutacAhxhaanma;:i more. For in 1817 the faith of Parliament was pledged, and the old standard w as practically restored in that year. But suppose the Hsu. Member's ideas were put to practice ; suppose that 100 grains, instead of 123 grains, were adopted; that a pound should be a dollar ; he did not mean to say it would pass fora pound, because if the people on the other side of the Atlantic agreed to create a currency of 123 grains of gold, they would expect in exchange for cotton, or any other commodity, SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, MAY 15, 1847 not what might be called a pound, but 123 grains of gold. shadow,Really the and Hi n seeking k G i n e g n tl t e h m e an adoptionmistook e his pl a s u e b , s f e t a r ra g c e e for that the whole value of our exchanges would be altered, and that in Amer e a id, c a. t r u t a ol l e i f t t i i l t e ri r, statedsc in iun e et r r i ao c sd a um n c o ei ntt agtvalhe stated evassu bloj e. subject, tev,datl that o ai f ino g d eff old, sr,o r et h 3o u nn t s its ihe Go vernment would remove the emblrtas=tnent winch existed in 1111, ant t decision h a ( ; 1 had o t e . a wy c "n t acted promptly,e Government i c i l a e d a y e sill t i : Cl :l i aa t: t e tete n s 'ehd u : e i ff o t e hb n Se r teyo i ai n n t rt goe' altering' :el eeteds in t t r h oo e t t nh h c a e l h t i : A ae n hy t c eees r t y y un ? o f TherelB44 . was,N lf h a f t was r i e thesta cause instance, the of high price of cotton, which the Noble Lard said an alteration of the currency would retrieve; but this was a most extra ordinary argument. When high rates of interest rendered money scarce, the Hon. Gentleman the Member for Bir mingham (Mr. Spooner) said this was a proof of a derange ment in the currency ; but this was a great mistake, as a large quantity of money and notes had been in circulation at a period when rates of interest were exceedingly high, anal rice versa. If there was a deficiency of capital from any cause, capital would not be supplied by an issue of 11. notes or 51. notes. Those would only furnish circulation, not capital. It would be a fraud upon the House and the country to endeavour to show that capital could be supplied by an issue of not The great pressure upon the country was the want of food, and the great quantity of money required to purchase it. There had not only been a deficiency in the harvest of this country, but the deficiency had spread itself almost over the whole of the Continent of Europe. The consequence was, that England was not the only customer in the food market, but Prance and Germany, Belgium, and portions of Prussia, wore looking to the United States for supplies of: corn. Then came the uuestion as to how these imports of food were to be paid. No doubt for a time they must be paid for in gold.—( Hear.) But eventually manufac tures would be taken in exchange, for no country would go on importing unless it exported. Indeed it would very soon be come the interest of America to import goods and not gold. The exchanges were already beginning to be favourable to this country. By the quotations received by the last packet from America the exchange had risen from 1061 to 107, which was actual par.—(Hear.) It had been stated in the early part of the debate that the stock of goods in this country was far from being large. If that was the case so much the better for the manufacturers. He readily admitted that symptoms of improvement had latterly manifested themselves, but he felt hat he should be wanting in his public duty if he did not warn he House that there were hard times before them. The Noble Lord opposite had given it as his opinion that this country ought to be not only independent of foreign corn, but that all exportation of home-grown corn should be prohibited. A greater mistake could not be committed than prohibiting the exportation of corn. So long as those who imported corn into this country were at liberty to , export it, so long would this country be the depot of corn for the whole continent. But if, on the other hand, we prohibited exportation, corn instead of coming here would be carried elsewhere, and we would not be able to obtain it when we wanted it, at any price. If, in ad dition to the pressure caused by the late deficiency in the crops of the country, they were to increase it by adding uncertainty in all commercial transactions, by altering the value of the cur rency, they would have an amount of distress and pressure which nobody could calculate, and which would require all the energies of the British people to sustain.—(Hear.) Mr. HENLEY said the Right Hon. Baronet, who had just sat down, had, at the beginning, in the middle, and at the con clusion of his speech, attempted to direct the attention of the House from the real question at issue, by speaking of the standard of value of 1817, just in the same way that fishermen mudded the water when they did not want people to know what they were doing.—( Hear and laughter.) He would dispatch that part of the subject with this remark, namely, that a man had now to pay 20s. for what only ought to cost him 15e. Now, with regard to the question of the currency, there could be no doubt that there never was a greater absence of speculation in this country, than was to be witnessed at the present moment, while trade could hardly ever have been more depressed. The people wondered, looking at this state of things, upon what ground Government was justified in locking up nine millions of gold in the Bank of England. ( Hear, hear.) He thought the explanation of the Right Hon. Baronet to the House was very unsatisfactory and confused. He did not snake anything like a clear distinction between the issue and the bank ing departments. The real question before them, and which they had to consider was, how to meet the present state of the currency and whether the bank should be allowed to issue any other securities than gold ? A great deal had been said of the danger of runs being made on the Bank of England for gold, if no restriction was im posed. Now, in all his experience, he never knew a single instance of a run upon that institution.—( Hear, hear. ) There was, therefore, no danger to be apprehended in that direction. What they wanted was an issue of what might be called small change, for the real circulation of the country were bills of exchange and cheques. By these all the great operations of the country were conducted. Now, to limit this note or small change circulation to fourteen millions was per fectly absurd. Supposing there was another bad harvest would the Government still cling to this restriction. Depend upon it the country would soon call on them for an explanation and they must be prepared to look the question fairly in the face. With a second bad harvest they would be forced to break through the provisions of this Act. He opposed the Bill in 1844, when it was proposed, and he had looked with great doubt upon its working ever since. Still it was passed by a very strong vote of the House, and he submitted to it ; but now he called on the House to reconsider the step it had taken, and act on a more liberal policy. Mr. SPOONER moved the adjournment of the debate. After the pointed reference which had been made to him, it was impossible he could allow the question to pass without oc cupying the House for a short time. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER had no desire to deprive the Hon. Member of an opportunity of speaking, anti if the House agreed, he had no objection to an adjournment till to-morrow. It was importar.t that they should go on with the Bill as quickly as possible, in order that it might pass the other House of Parliament before the holidays. Lord G. BENTINCK thought that the Govecnment were not entitled to throw upon his friends the responsibility of postponing the discussion on the poor laws, fixed for Monday. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER did not mean to throw any blame upon Hon. Members on the other side of the House; all he meant to say was, that if the debate were resumed on the Monday, it would be necessary to take the Poor- law Bill on the same day. Mr. BANKES said an opinion was very strongly enter tained by many Hon. Members on both sides of the House, that this Poor-law Bill might be, without injury to the country, withdrawn altogether; he saw no reason, therefore, why they should get on with this Bill. Lord JOHN RUSSELL said that if the house consented to take a stage:that night they might bring up the report on Monday, and the discussion might take place on the third reading on Tuesday. Mr. SPOONER was satisfied. One day was the same to him as another. York and Newcastle and Newcastle and Berwick Railways Amalgamation, Newcastle and Berwick (East Coast Line, &c.) York and Newcastle and Newcastle and Berwick Railways and North British Amalgamation, Newcastle and Berwick (Crantlington, &c., Branches). The Select Commiftee to meet on Tuesday, June 1, at half-past twelve. A Committee consisting of—Mr. T. Duncombe (Chair man), Viscount Milton, Mr. Mitcalfe, Mr. Goring, and I . Blr. Gardner, to whom they have referred the >Bills comprised io Group No. 32, viz.:— Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire (Station at Sheffield —No. 2), Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire (Branch to Chapel town, &c.) Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire (Sheffield Canal Purchase), Midland ( Masbrough and Normanton Stations Enlargement), Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley, Wakefield, Huddersfield, and Goole (partial Alteration of Levels, &c. The Select Committee to meet on Tuesday, June 1, at one. A Committee consisting of—Mr. Young (Chairman), Mr. M. Milnes, Marquis of Granby, Mr. Grogan, and Mr. Hastie, to whom they have referred the Bills comprised in Group No. 8, viz. Liskeard and Launceston Branch, Sutton Harbour Improvement Company (power to the London and South-Western Railway Company to sub scribe thereto), Taw Vale (Deviations), Taw Vale Railway and Dock, South Devon ( Extension and Amendment), Cornwall and Devon Central and Plymouth. The Select Committee to meet on Friday, June 4, at half past twelve. A Committee consisting of—Colonel Rolleston (Chairman), Mr. Horsman, Mr. Gregory, Hon. J. Lindsay, and Mr. Hussey, to whom they have referred the Bills comprised in Group No. 14, viz.:— Lynn and Ely, and Ely and Huntingdon, and Lynn and Dereham Amalgamation, Eastern Counties (Lynn ;and Ely, and Ely and Huntingdon, and Lynn and Dereham Railway Lease), Norfolk (Norwich to Aylshatn, with a Branch to North Walsham). The Select Committee to meet on Friday, June 4, at half past twelve. A Committee consisting of—Right Hon. H. L. Corry (Chairman), Mr. Pusey, Mr. A. B. Hope, Sir G. Smyth, and Mr. Halsey, to whom they have referred the Bills comprised in Group No. 30, viz. : Great Northern (Isle of Axholme Extension), Great Northern (Deviation between Grantham and York), York and North Midland (East Riding Canals Purchase), York and North Midland (Knottingley Branch), York and North Midland (Hull Station and Branches), Axholme (from Leeds and Selby Railway, &c.) The Select Committee to meet on Friday, Tune 4, at one. A Committee consisting of—the Hon. E. P. Bouverie (Chairman), Mr. R. Clayton, Sir R. Price, Mr. Hollond, and Mr. ilashleigh, to whom they have referred the Bills corn prised in Group No. 38, viz.:— North-Western (Skipton, Casterton, and Sedbergh Diver sions), WharMale (Skipton and Cayley Hall Deviations), Liverpool, Manchester, and Newcastle-on-Tyne Junction (Alteration of Main Line and Hawes Branch), Northern Counties Union Railway Deviation. The Select Committee to meet on Friday, June 4, at one. A Committee consisting of—Viscount Clive (Chairman), Mr. Dugdale, Sir W. Feilden, Mr. Ewart, and Mr. Walker, to whom they have referred the Bills comprised in Group No. 10, viz.:— Eastern Union (Manningtree to Harwich), Eastern Counties (Ilford to Tilbury Fort and Southend), Ipswich and Bury St. Edmund's (Branch from Ipswich to Woodbridge), Eastern Counties, Purchase of the North Woolwich Rail way, &c. Harwich and Eastern Counties Junction Railway, &c. The Select Committee to meet on Friday, June 4, at one. Select Committee on Group No. 29. Lord E. Bruce and Lord A. Conynghatn discharged; Mr. John Neeld and Mr. Dickinson selected, and added to the Committee. Select Committee on Group No. 37. Hon. 0. Duncombe discharged; Sir J. Winnington selected, and added to the Committee. Select Committee on Group No. 46. Mr. Adderley and Mr. E. Heneage discharged ; Lord E. Bruce and Hon. 0. Duncombe selected, and added to the Committee. and Lady Catherine Cavendish, Mr. and Mrs. Brand, Earl of Warwick, Marquis Headfort and the Ladies Taylour, Sir John and Lady Macdonald, Mr. N. Macdonald, Colonel and Lady Catherine Buckley, Lord Elphinstone, Colonel and Mrs. Bouverie, Hon. Mr. and Mrs. John Talbot, Viscount Falkland, Earl of Lincoln, Sir Lancelot and Miss Shadwell, Lord Frederick Fitzclarence, Marquis and Marchioness of Exeter, Lady Martins, Sir Andrew Barnard, Major Hon. Robert Boyle, Earl Fitzhardinge, Marquis of Anglesey, Lady A. Paget, Earl and the Ladles Fitzwilliam, Sir John and Miss Hobhouse, Earl and Countess of Wilton, Mar quis and Marchioness of Ailesbury, Sir Augutus and Lady Clifford, the Misses Clifford. Lord Cantilupe, Lord and Lady Byron, Honourable Frederick Byng, Earl of Aberdeen, Sir Robert Gordon, Colonel and Mrs. Corn wall, Honourable Mr. and Miss Lyttelton, Right Honourable T. and Mrs. Milner Gibson, Sir James and Lady Parke, Hon. Miss Parke, Hon. Charles Howard, Earl and Countess of Fingal, and the Ladies Plunkett, Marquis and Marchioness of Douro, Earl Ducie, Lord and Lady Granville Somerset, Right!Hon. H. Geulburn, Viscount and Viscountess Jocelyn, Sir James Macdonell, Colonel Sir William Davison, Mr. and Mrs. R. Ormsby Gore, Captain Meynell, and the Earl of Sheffield. At a quarter before ten o'clock the queen and Prince Albert, accompanied by their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Kent, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince George and his Serene Highness the Prince of Leiningen, left the Yellow Drawing-room and entered the Grand Saloon, which was nearly filled with company. The august party was preceded by Colonel the Hon. C. B. Phipps, Equerry in Waiting; Captain Hon. A. H. Gor don, Equerry in Waiting to the Prince; Sir Edward Cod rington, Groom in Waiting ; Captain Francis Seymour, Groom in Waiting to the Prince ; the Master of the House hold; Lord Waterpark, Lord in Waiting; Viscount Clif den, Lord in Waiting to the Prince ; the Groom of the Stole to the Prince; the Lord Steward, and the Lord Cham berlain. _ _ Passing through the Grand Saloon, the visitors dividing on either side, her Majesty and her Royal Consort en tered the Ball-room, the quadrille band playing the Na tional Anthem. The Mistress of the Robes and the Lady and Maids of Honour in Waiting followed the august party, and, with the distinguished party, also entered the Ball-room. The Lord Chamberlain, by her Majesty's command, formed a quadrille, and at five minutes before ten o'clock the Queen opened the ball with his Royal Highness Prince George. His Royal Highness Prince Albert and the Duchess of Sutherland were the opposite couple. His Serene Highness Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar was also in the quadrille. Mr. Henry Barnard's quadrille band, who were stationed in this apartment, played the " Nino" quadrilles. This band afterwards performed the following pieces : Quadrilles—" Bondman," " Matilda," by Coole ; "Vestale," ".Exiles de Siberie," by Basisio ; " Cavendish," composed expressly by Tinney. Waltzes—" Orientalen." by La bitzky; " Goodwood," " Caroline," " Rachael," by Tinney; " Queen of the Ball," by D'Albert. Polkas—" Evelyn," " Belfast," by Tinney; "Helena," by D'Albert; Narcis sen," by Labitzky, &c. The company continued to arrive without intermission until half-past ten o'clock, thronging the whole of the spa cious saloons,upwards of one thousand visitors being present, the invitations exceeding thirteen hundred. After dancing had been continued for some time in the Ball-room, it was commenced in the Throne-room, which was also prepared for dancing, and in which a second qua drille band, that of Mr. Weippert, was in attendance. The following quadrilles, waltzes, and polkas were danced in this ball-room :—Quadrilles--" Les Canatiens Parisiens," Basisio ; " Tantivy," Weippert ; " Sappho," Jullien. Waltzes—" Jenny Lind," Basisio; " Les Perles," Labitsky ; " Rita," Earl of Belfast. Polkas—" Princess," Weippert ; " Bruce," Oakey ; and Galop, "Beaufort Hunt," Weippert. Refreshments were served to the company during the even ing in the Green Drawing-room. The supper was served soon after twelve o'clock, in the State Dining•room. The range of tables displayed a gorgeous ' assemblage of gold plate, and in the centre of the end of the apartment was a buffet also filled with articles of gold plate, but of a rarer and choicer kind—more of the class that would be properly denominated objects of taste and vertu than applicable to the purposes of the banquet. Along .the tables were massive centre pieces, candelabra, vases, wine coolers, and epergnes. Some of them, from the designs of Flaxman, displaying forms the most classical and beautiful, all of them of great elegance and the most admirable work manship. To relieve, as it were, the mass of magnificence, at certain distances along the tables were placed the most beautiful flowering plants, in golden vases. The appearance of these bright flowers among the mass of gold plate had a most charming effect. On the buffet surrounding the centre shield were ranged vases, cups, chalices, tankards, and salvers in profusion, some of them glittering with precious stones, others enriched with exquisite carvings, all of them objects of great interest independently of the costly materials of which they were formed. Wax lights were skilfully interspersed on the buffet and contributed much to the brilliancy of the dis play. Amidst this most superb collection, in which the ge • nine of the artist and the utmost skill of the workman were concentrated in a material the most beautiful and valuable, were placed two simple water lilies, in reduced copies of the Warwick vase in gold, with an effect which it is very diffi cult, if not impossible, to describe. HER MAJESTY'S STATE BALL. The Queen gave a State Ball last evening at Buckingham Palace, which was very numerously and brilliantly attended, the company including the Royal Family, the Members of the Diplomatic Corps, the foreigners of distinction at present in town, the Ministers and Officers of State, the Ladies and Gentlemen of the Royal Household, and the principal nobility and gentry. The splendid suite of State saloons and the picture gallery were all opened for the reception, and were most brilliantly illuminated with magnificent lustres of cut glass filled with wax lights, and also with chandeliers and candelabra—the two ball-rooms exceeding the other apartments in splendour and brilliancy, each of these rooms containing numerous gold branches with was lights round the sides, in addition to several large cut glass lustres. Choice exotics, and plants of the greatest beauty and rarity were arranged in the recesses of the different saloons. The grand staircase was lighted up, and the library, sculp ture gallery, and grand hall, were prepared for the accommo dation of the company. Soon after nine o'clock the guests began to arrive at the Palace. The Royal Family alighted at the private entrance in the garden, and were conducted to the yellow drawing room, where her Majesty and Prince Albert received their il lustrious visiters. COURT&CIRCULAR. His Royal Highness Prince Albert presided yesterday af ternoon at a Committee of the Commissioners for Promoting and Encouraging the Fine Arts in the Rebuilding the Palace of Westminster. His Royal Highness arrived at the New Palace, attencled by Captain the Hon. A. H. Gordon, shortly before three o'clock. _ _ The commissioners present were the Earl of Aberdeen, Viscount Mahon, Mr. Hallam, and Mr. Wyse; the secre tary, Mr. Eastlake, was in attendance. The meeting broke up at six o'clock, when Prince Albert took his departure. The Duchess of Kent visited the Queen at Buckingham Palace yesterday. General Prince Castelcicala, the Neapolitan Minister, was prevented attending her Majesty's Ball, in consequence of the death of the Archduke of Austria, father of the Queen of Naples. Mr. Thomas Brown had an interview with Earl Grey yes terday at the Colonial-office. Mr. G. C. Lewis had an interview with Sir George Grey, at the Home-office yesterday. Dispatches were received yesterday at the Colonial-office from the Cape of Good Hope. Mr. Watson had an interview yesterday with Lord Cla rendon, at the office of the Board of Trade. The Foreign Ministers, Cabinet Ministers, Ladies and Officers of the Household, and Privy Councillors, alighted at a temporary entrance in the garden, extending across the terrace of the Palace, and leading into the library. The Equerries •es lico, where an enclosed platform had been erected in front of the lonic portico sufficiently capacious to admit of three general company alighted at the liq entrance in Pim carriages setting down at the same time. were A l c t o h n e up t w h i e t g ran d staircase exception oi into t t o h e the ß Royal d F admr draw)- ing-room and the picture gallery. The Ladies costumes, new for the occasion, were composed of the richest and most costly fabrics in silk and satin of the most elegant design, many of them remarkable for the ex • seeding beauty of the material in texture and colour. Some wore dresses of lace of the greatest beauty, and most enormous value. The dresses were most splendidly ornamented with diamonds, pearls, and preci ous stones , and the head-dresses almost universally displayed magnificent ornaments of the same valuable and brilliant description. The Queen wore a very magnificent costume. The dress was of blue gauze, over blue silk, and tulle, and was trimmed with roses panachdes, white and pink. Diamonds were km serted in the roses, and the dress was also ornamented wi th brilliants. Her Majesty's head-dress was formed of a wrea.th of roses, similar to those on the dress, and also ornamented with diamonds. her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent appeared in a very splendid costume. The dress was of white figured with silver, and was trimmed with red velvet and silver laces. The front, from the top to the skirt, was ornamented with bows of red velvet, having each of them diamonds in the centre ; the stomacher was composed of brilliants. Her Roya 1 Highness's head dress consisted of feathers, red velvet and silver lace, and diamonds_ The gentlemen appeared in uniform or in Court dress,. The Diplomatic Corps wore their respective national cos tumes ; the members of the Administration, and the officers of the Royal household, their gala costumes, covered with gold embroidery ; the Officers of the Army and Navy, the Lords- Lieutenants of Countie s , t h e Deputy-Lieutenants, an d th e Officers of Yeomanry, i n their different uniforms. I n a ll cases the members of th e several Orders of Knight h oo d wore. ensignsinsi set in brilli an t s . Prince and s A v l e b r e a r l t their displayed respectivetheir uniform, with the ensign s of the Most No bl e O r d e rs of the: His Royal highnesss i Garter and the Golden Fl eece. Hi s R oya l Highness also wore the stars of the Orde r o f S t. P atr i c k, th e Thistle, amid the Bath. ofw wore h re e a p rFi Field -rnsihgahit,ss NEW ZEALAND. PORTSMOUTH, FRIDAY. By the arrival of her Majesty's steam-sloop Driver, Com mander C. 0. Hayes, we have news and papers from New Zealand to the 28th of January, and Rio to the 27th of March. We extract the following from the New Zealander of January 23d, a paper published at Auckland : Since our last publication his Excellency the Governor has returned from the Bay of Islands, but the particulars of his visit we have as yet been unable satisfactorily to learn. It would appear, however, that Heki was afraid to confront the Governor on board the steamer, and consequently, no personal interview took place between them. We understand fears were expressed by Heki, that if he went on board the Driver, he might not be able to come ashore again when he pleased. We trust the settlers, who had an opportunity of seeing him, disabused his mind of any such wrong impres sion. The natives generally who were along with him be trayed considerable feelings of alarm, and the sudden appear ance of her Majesty's ship . Castor a day or so after the steamer's arrival tended to heighten this apprehension. Some little speechifying took place among the natives themselves, and Heki dealt largely in scriptural quotations; the burden of his song, however, was peace. As he found, after remaining some four days, that no notice was taken of him, and that he failed to attract the Governor to his presence, the follow ing morning at break of day he and his followers launched their canoes, and took themselvess off. It would have been more satisfactory had Captain Grey and the fanatical Master Heki met ; but the latter personage, finding that he is no longer the man of importance he was, thought he might acquire a little spurious fame by having it in his power to say the Kawana came to him. He has been disappointed, and, like a petted child, behaved accordingly. Our loyal and most excellent native friend, Thomas Walker, is now re siding at Russell, a substantial house built for him by the Government." _ _ The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that he would endeavour to bring it forward at an early hour on fuesday. The House then resolved itself into Committee, and the several clauses of the Bill were agreed to. The House resumed. In answer to a question, Lord J. RUSSELL said he thought Government was pledged to bring on the Poor-law Bill on Monday. Mr. WAKLEY said the best course would be to withdraw the Bill altogether. Lord J. RUSSELL said he certainly should persist in pro ceedin<, with the Poor-law Bill on Mo n d a y. The ° l3lll was then passed through committee, and the report was then ordered to be brought up this day. The reports of the Turnpike Roads (Ireland) Bill, and the Lunatic Asylum (Ireland) Bill were received. SMITHFIELD MARKET. On the motion of Mr. 0. GORE the following Members were nominated as the Select Committee on Smithfield Mar ket :—Viscount Mahon, Lord Robert Grosvenor, Mr. W. B. Baring, Mr. Sidney Herbert, Mr. Manners Sutton, Mr. Eliot Yorke, Mr. Kemble, Sir Edmund Filmer, Mr. Bramston, Mr. Alderman Copeland, Mr. Masterman, Mr. William Miles, and Mr. Stafford O'Brien. Mr. G. CRAIG obtained leave to bring in a Bill to increase the number of the trustees for the herring fishery, and to direct the application of the funds granted for the promotion of manufactures and improvements in Scotland. The other orders of the day were then disposed of, and the House adjourned at Half-past Twelve o'clock till Twelve to-day. his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge was habitecl in a Field-Marshal's uniform, and wore a brilliant star of the Order of the Garter, and also a diamond George of great value suspended from the riband. The Royal Duke al so wore the ensigns of St. Michael and St. George, of whiok Order his Royal Highness is Grand Master. Hisj Serene Highness the Prince of Leiningen wore tly,e uniform of a Bavarian General of Blue, turned up with ree velvet, embroidered with gold and a baldrick of silver. HIS Serene Highness wore the ensigns of the most noble order oif the Garter. PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS. Our Wellington papers are up to the Gth instant, and it appears from them that the southern settlers are unanimous in their approbation of Captain Grey's government. The same feeling prevailed at Auckland, where a congratulatory address, couched in the most flattering terms, had been pre sented to the Governor, on the seventh anniversary of the foundation of the colony. The rate of exchange at Rio, when the Driver left, was 28%. (From the Votes and Proceedings of the Rouse of Commons. FRIDAY, MAY 14. STANDING-ORDERS COMMITTEE. The following Resolutions were reported from the above Committee : l. That in the case of the petition of the Ambergate, Not tingham, and Boston and Eastern Junction Railway Com pany (presented 7th May), against the Great Northern Railway (Deviations between London and Grantham) Bill, the Committee on the said Bill ought to entertain the same, when it shall have been referred to them, provided that there be no other objection to the said petition than that arising from its having been presented after the time limited by the House. . . _ The Duke of Wellington appeared in a Field-Marshars: uniform, wearing the Riband, Star, and Jewel of the Gartar, the Riband and Badge of the Golden Fleece, and the Wa terloo Medal. The Yeomen Guard lined the Grand Hall and Sculpture Gallery, under the command of Captain Sadler, the Exon do Waiting. The other Officers of the Corps present were S , Lr George Houlton the Ensign ; Captain Kincaid, Exon and Lieutenant-Colonel Fitz-Maurice, Kir., Clerk of tir.c. Check. - 2. That in the case of the Inverness Harbour and Na vigation petition, for additional provision, the standing orders ought to be dispensed with --That the parties be permitted to introduce such additional provision, if the Committee on the Bill shall so think tit. 3. That in the case of the London and North-Western Railway (Purchase of the Earl of Ellesmere's interest in the Manchester, South Junction and Altrincham Railway) peti tion, for additional provision, the standing orders ought to be dispensed with :—That the parties be permitted to intro duce such additional provision, if the Committee on the Bill shall so think fit. Iler Roy al Highness the Duchess of Kent arrived soon after nine o'clock, attended by Lady Augusta Bruce, 13aronecs de Speth, Sir George Couper, and Lord James Murray. C a T il o h g e a ii Royal an d Colonell.am iFamily Sir were N e \ r ' in :l q l iruanemer received 3iv,iend Davison. lv,, yaiu theng ; Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cam-- bridge, and Prince George, were. attended by Lady Augusta Hon. Missin Weyer, and Mr. Charles Drouet, the Ne— Stanley and Dawson, Maids of Honour in Waiting; Admina Sir Edward Codrington, Groom in Waiting ; Lieutenant— and Captain i l e ' r ii a iP rr P i s y ' als were the Belgian Lieutenant— Colonel loinal Amongodl n ai n nie.l7 .At lion. al 1 lei C I .e( .. 1 earlier Gordon. l . Minister an d e r f naL tl d o eand therlands Minister and Mr. Stratenus, the United States' Minister and Mr. Brodhead, the Portugßewuhaeanrsneoeridl,AeAslstriln.dideieseitL‘earrielalaknietil Baroness de Moncorvo, M. de Moraes Sanuento, Chevaliiir e i n c I e t se L inde ahcaku:s.ei n ut ! de Ribeiro and M. de Soveral, the Spanish Minister, AI. Count d'Ai li ai d Madame de Tacon and Chevalier de Pedroreus, the Brazilian Minister and Madame Marques Lisboa. the Dani,,h the\ t 11 stein,ie l l li : V r t t i t el i i rr s i Prussian n N d mister ldb f e( l ) lg . h ness MortimerP r SardiniannmdbCerogu Minister i r l g d éa and d d e , Baronßff eavi the Swedish Chargé d'Affaires and Baroness d the Buenos Ayrean Minister, the Peruvian Minister and. Madame Iturregui, the Russian Minister and Baroness de: y Sir Harry- Smith, G.C.8., the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk, the Earl and Countess of Morton, Lady E. Douglas, Viscount Mahon, Sir Henry and Lady Wheatley, the Misses Wheatley, Viscount (31 \ 1 1 (r r ) e lui s inl t i It , (e) ih sv e Da E ne a l r a l lAavinaadrdr Mademoiselle m o C u oa n i ps t te e. al s li s en o ° f t ! S ig' h : r wsb u r and Viscountess Combermere, Hon. Miss Stapleton Cottov, the Attorney-General and Lady and Miss Jervis, Lord and Lady Beuvaie, Sir James and Lady Cl ark , Earl of Arundel and Surrey, the Countess_ Spencer,a Viscount Sandon, Sir Countess of Minto and the Ladies Elliot, Sir Edward a.nd Lady Disbrowe and the Misses Disbrowe, Mr. and Lady Blanche Balfour, ViscountLiplym, Sir George and La dy Grey, Duke and Duchess of Beaufort, Mr. Culling Smith. Earl and Countess of Rosebery, the Ladies Primrose, Earl Thomas D. Acland, Lord D lmeny, m r. Tanen, m.p., of Radnor, the Ladies Beuverie, Right Hon. J. C. and Miss Herries, Sir de Lacy and Lady Evans, Sir Frederick and Lady Pollock, and the Misses Pollock, Earl an d , Viscount Beresford. Countess of Haddington, Earl Somers, Duke and Duchess .of Roxbur g 1 i e , Lord and Lady Marcus ~_ . L. Gower, Earl aryl of Jersey. LadY Clementine Villiers, Viscovte,t e u ri cele uc h, Sir George Countess )anean Hon. Sir Edward and Lady Cust, Sir Edward seal Lady Bowater, Earl and Countess of Kinnoull, Lady Sarah Brownlow, Duke Hay Earl of Cawdor, Marquis of Huntly, Earl and Countatis S mayss, Earl de Grey, Lord Heytos - rnie Anson, sige r L , o is r i d r. andand firs. Horne, Earl S'i r 0 f Frederick Liverpo01, d L a m d i z Right Hon. Fox Maule, Lord and Lady Lady Langdale, Sir James=nd the Misses Wigram, the Lord Bight Hon. W. E. and Mrs. Gladstone . , J o h n 'lay, Colonel Cavendish, Hon. C. ci i - GLtMuoearr63‘dr:el‘aniarLnd.delLnitna.hocßeixyel:eavidety'i 4. That in the case of the North-Western Railway (Diver sions at Skipton, Casterton, and Sedbergh) petition, for ad ditional provision, the standing orders ought to be dis penied with :—That the parties be permitted to introduce such additional provision, if the Committee on the Bill shall so think tit. 5. That in the case of the North Staffordshire Railway (Alterations and Uranches) petition, for additional provision, the standing orders ought to be dispensed with :—That the parties be permitted t o i n t ro d uce such ad di t i ona l provision, if the Committee on the Bill shall so think tit, if the same shall contain no power to take lands compulsorily. 6. That in the case of the Blackburn, Damen, and Bolton Railway petition, for additional provision, the standing orders ought to be dispensed with :--That the parties be per mitted to introduce such additional provision, if the Com mittee on the Bill shall so think fit.—Resolutions agreed to. NOTICES GIVEN AT THE PRIVATE BILL-OFFICE. RAILWAYS. The Committee of Selection have nominated the following Select Committees on Railway Groups : A Committee consisting of—Mr. 11. Johnstone (Chairman), ➢lr. R. Yorke, Mr. Watts Russell, Mr. Marsland, and Mr. L. Fox, to whom they have referred the Bills comprised in Group No. 2, viz. : Direct London and Portsmouth, Direct London and Portsmouth and London, Brighton, and South Coast Railways Amalgamation, Reading, Guildford, and Reigate (Deviations, &c.) London and South-Western. The Select Committee to meet on Monday, May 31, at one. A Committee consisting of—Mr. G. Vernon (Chairman), Mr. G. A. Hamilton, Sir 11. Fleetwood, Mr. G. Heathcote, d Mr. James, to whom they have referred the Bills com prised in Group No. 3, iouth Eastern (North Kent and Bricklayers' Arms Junction), London -bridge Railway Termini (General Enlargement), London and Brighton and South Coast (London-bridge Station Enlargement and Arrangements), London and Brighton and South Coast (Extension to London-bridge), South-Eastern (Widening of the Greenwich Railway and Arrangement and Enlargement of London-bridge Station), South •Eastern (London -bridge Station Arrangement and Enlargement). The Select Committee to meet on Monday, May 31, at one. A Committee consisting of—Sir J. Pakington (Chairman), :dr. Ross, Mr. NVodehouse, Mr. Brisco, and Mr. Farnham, to whom they have referred the Bills comprised in Group No. 40, viz.:— FLANDERS MAIL. BRUSSELS, MAY 11.—Seventeen ships arrived in Ant werp ye s te r day, twelve of which have cargoes9f_ . C re orn . . The Precurseur informs us that the refiners o f f oreign sugar at Antwerp have just addressed a petition to the tinister of Finance on the subject of molasses, which have lately arrived from Mantazas, and which are no longer imported at the duty of 6.36. In this document, which we are sorry that we cannot place before our readers at full length. The petitioner requires that the member, before deciding on this admission, will be pleased to order a trial to be made with the molasses, in order to ascertain the quan tity of sugar fit for exportation which these contain. For the purpose of making this trial, the refiners have placed their manufactories at the disposal of the Go vernment. The Senate opened and closed the general discussion of projects of law for granting supplementary credit to the department of the Interior and of Foreign Affairs. The sequel of the general discussion of the projects of law relative to the reduction of the tolls on the Sambre, which opened at the end of the sitting, was adjourned till the evening. The Moniteur of this day contains a Royal ordinance, promulgating the law, by which the Chambers have fixed the expenditure and revenue of the kingdom, ac • cording to the account presented by the Minister of Finance. Art. 1. The ordinary and extraordinary expenses of 1839 are fixed at the sum of 124,293,314 f. 74c. The payment of the expenses which have been made for the same period till its close, is fixed at 123,934,849 f. 33c.; the remaining to be paid at 138,495 f. 44c. Art. 2. The receipts of the budget of 1839 are fixed at the sum of 115,885,823 f. 15c. A sum of 48,612 f. sc. is to be deducted from the revenue. ANTWERP.--ASPECT OF THE HARVEST.—A letter from Grammonde says, the country presents at this moment a delightful prospect from the fine appearance of the cole seed, which have not, for a long time, been so strong and so full covered with flowers. There has, indeed, been some delay in the flowering as in vegeta tion in general this year, but this delay will not be pre judicial; next to the cole seed the rye presents the most beautiful appearance. It is long since it has been so fine, and only one fear is entertained, namely, lest the abundance of seed should be lost in the plant, and leave only their ears. For this reason, several farmers at the beginning of last month, have sent their sheep into the rye field to weed the plants, and they have suc ceeded admirably. The wheat is not so favourable, and in general is sli g htl y attacked with blight, which, how ever, begins to disappear. A considerable quantity of wheat suffer from the want of manure, which many of the smaller farmers have not been able to procure this year . Th e planting of potatoes is compl e t e d, b ut t h e farmers have generally followed the advice of the news papers to pass the harrow ov er the plantations. The flax looks well, and, upon the whole, the state of the harvest is favourable in our neighbourho o d. 'VIENNA, MAY 4.—At one o'clock this morning the remains of his Imperial Highness the Archduke were laid in state in the Hotberg Chapel. The walls were hung with black cloth, upon which are suspended the various armorial bearings of the deceased. The Imperial Duke, lying en the state bed, is at tired in a marshal's uniform, his hands crossed on his breast, surrounded by it hundred burn ing wax-tapers. At his feet lie his field marshal's staff and his hat and sword; at his head, a crown; on his right and left, the Gold Fleece. the Grand Cross of the Order of Theresa, and several other splendid deco rations. The heart of the hero is now (three o'clock) being conveyed to the Church of St. Augustin, and his entrails to the Church of St. Stephen. In two hours the remains of the Duke will be deposited in the imperial vault of the Capuchins. Thousands have been assembling since an early hour this morning to witness the interment. This morning a letter was addressed, by his Majesty the Emperor, to the chief military councillor, Cuunt von Hardeyg, imforming him that the army should partake of the court mourning for six weeks ; that the Field Marshal's sword shall be de posited in the Imperial Arsenal ; and that both: the Regiments of which he was commander should for ever retain the name of the Archduke Charles. His Majesty likewise states his desire immediately to erect a splendid monument to the memory of the deceased. On the an niversary of Napoleon's death a solemn mass will be celebrated for the departed Duke. The theatres are closed for some days. DEARTH IN GERMANY. _ _ PRAGUE, MAY 2d.—Private letters state that there have been riots in Kommotan, and also in Eger and Leitmeritz, directed against foreign corn dealers. They were pursued out of Eger with showers of stones as far as Waldsassen ; and in Leitmeritz a speculator in corn had both his ears cat off. Disturbances were also apprehended at Aussig. In the Riesengebirge the people mix flour with wheat straw, and where this cannot be obtained, they are com pelled to use hay ground to powder, which they mix with rye, flour and oatmeal. BERLIN, MAY s.—Several cargoes of corn arrived here to-day, and others are expected. The importation of corn by land has also been considerable, so that the sale in our market to-day might be called dull. Rye was sold at 102 dollars to 110 dollars per whispel (24 bushels), and oats from 46 dollars to 50 dollars. In consequence of the prohibition of the distilleries, such a large supply of potatoes has come from the wealthy landowners, that there is sufficient, not only for planting and supporting the inhabitants, but also for feeding the cattle, so that we may hope for a great reduction in the price of this article. PRUSSIAN DIET. _ _ BERLIN, MAY 4.—The affair of the address is not yet settled, and we shall, therefore, soon find it again brought forward. The continuation of the projects of law in th e s itti ng o f today did not produce anything important. We may add, that in the last sitting of the preceding week the determination, according to which those persons are to be considered as exceptionable, who according to article 4 of the Royal ordinance of the 20th of July, 1843, in the Courts of Honour, have been con demned to the penalti es p rescr ib e d ( e . g ., for wanton conduct in duelling), was rejected by a majority of 260 to 205. MEETING OF THE DEBENTURE HOLDERS OF THE LYCEUM THEATRE. A meeting of the debenture holders of this theatre was held yesterday in the saloon of the theatre, fo r the pur pose of considering the best means to be adopted for recover ing the arrears now due to them on their debentures. There were present Mr. +l , arrington, Mr. Brookes, Mr. Lumley (who attended as the solicitor and agent of the Marquis of Aylesbury), Mr. Chilton (who attended as the representative of Mr. Wallace), Mr. Powell, Dr. Jay, Mr. Amyott, the magistrate, Mr. Gilbert, Mr. G. Moore, Mr. W. Cox Mr. Wagstaff, and Mr. J. Strutt. Mr.i WARRINGTON having been called to the chair, STaurr said that he called this meeting of his brother debenture holders in order that they might consider the steps proper to be taken under the circumstances in which they found themselves placed. As a debenture holder he had, on the 25th of April last, written to Mr. Walter Arnold, as the representative of the trustees of the Lyceum Theatre, requesting that gentleman to furnish him (Mr. Strutt) with a statement of the accounts of the theatre. (Mr. Strutt here read the letter, which stated, that as Mr. Arnold had received a sum amounting to upwards of 5,0001. as rent for the theatre, from Messrs. Keeley and Strutt, he (Mr. Strutt) as a debenture holder, requested to know how that sum had been applied.) In his answer, Mr. Walter Arnold said that as Messrs. Grisell and Peto had a mortgage upon the property, dated 1834, which took precedence of the debenture deeds, and not one shilling of which had been discharged, he must decline furnishing any accounts. (This letter was also read in extenso.) He (Mr. Struts) had paid to Mr. Walter Arnold, as rent, for the theatre in 1844, 2,2634, in 1815, 2,3071., exclusive of 4001. deposit ; in 1846, 2,6991., and up to the 13th June, 1847, 5571., making a total of 7,7661., which he knew himself had been paid, and, which spread over an extent of three years, gave 2,3131. a year. From 1836 to 1846 there had beau re ceived as rent of the theatre, 22,4001., and as rent of the houses included in the same trust, 3,3601., making a total of 26,2601., giving an average rental for the theatre of 2,0731., and for the houses of 3571., showing a total annual average rental during the 11 years of 2,224/. When the mortgage was given to Grisell and Peto there was a sum of 1,4451. due to the Marquis of Exeter. The following had been stated by Mr. Walter Arnold to be the amount of the average annual liabilities of the theatre:—Ground rent, 704/. ; interest on a mortgage held by the Marquis of Exeter, 232/. ; interest on Grisell and Peto's mortgage, 560/. ; taxes, 250/. ; insurance, 120/. • repairs, 1001. ; sundries, 251 .; and Mr. Walter Arnold Charged for himself, for the trouble of receiving the moneys, 1501. a year. He left it to the meeting to say how far they thought such a payment ought to be sanctioned in the present state of their affairs. But even this account showed that there ought to be a balance in hand of 3,300 L available to the payment of the debt due to the debenture holders, but he had ascertained that there must be a considerably greater balance unaccounted for. The ground rent was two years in arrear, which would increase the balance unaccounted for by a sum of 1,4001., and be would ask, if Mr. Walter Arnold, or the trustees, have received this money, why did they thus place the property of the debenture holders in jeopardy? The Mar quis of Exeter might at any moment enter upon the pos. session of the theatre, and get rid of them altogether by an action of ejectment. If Mr. Walter Arnold could not give some better account of this transaction than he had done, it was high time that the debenture holders should look to themselves. In July 1836, Mr. Walter Arnold had written a letter to the debenture holders, stating that the debt due to Grisell and Peto was 5,9964, and that it would be liqui dated by an annual payment of 8001. The mortgage debt now returned as due to Grisell and Peto was 9,2371., nearly double what it was in 1836. It could not have amounted to this sum even if the 2,2391. guaranteed to the Marquis of Exeter on the execution of this mortgage were included in it. This debt ought to have been reduced instead of having been increased, inasmuch as there was a surplus of revenue over expenditure, which might have been applied to its gradual liquidation; but, notwithstanding the receipts show a balance for the last 11 years of 300/. a year over the expenditure, making a sum of 3,3001., which might have been applied to the liquidation of this debt, notwith-, standing there was a sum of 1,4001. arrears of ground rent unaccounted for, this debt of Grisell and Peto's had nearly doubled. There was besides a sum of 1,650/. ' which during that period had been drawn by Mr. Walter Arnold for re ceiving the moneys belonging to them. Mr. POWELL—That is not the only benefit Mr. W. Arnold has derived. He has, I believe, besides this 150/. a year, the best box in the theatre. Mr. Stnurr said such was the case, and not only had he the privilege of giving that box to his friends, but he used I to let it through the booksellers at 2/. a night, clearing 6/. a week in that manner, and it was in consequence of his (Mr. Strutt's) refusal to let Mr. Arnold use his privilege in that manner to the injury of the lessees, that Mr. Arnold had chosen to refuse any terms that Mr. Keeley and himself might offer to take the theatre. But as that was a merely personal matter he would not go into it. Mr. POWELL—By what authority does Mr. Arnold hold that box? We do not benefit by it. Mr. Szaurr—Certainly the debenture holders do not profi by the box. Mr. PowELL—It is a very bad bone, certainly; but Mr. Arnold seems to be the only person who gets any picking off, of it. 1 In answer to several questions, Mr. STRUTY said that he did net know who bad a right to let the theatre. He had taken it of Mr. W. Arnold; he paid Mr. W. Arnold the rent ; and Mr. W. Arnold was the only person he knew as the representative of the debenture hoidens. Ile believed that the mortgage of Grisell and Peto had been assigned to Mr. Walter Arnold, who had assigned it to Lord Cecil, the Marquis of Exeter's son. He bad learned from! Mr. Warneford, the agent to the Marquis of Exeter, that there were two years' arrears of ground rent due, and until, that was paid up they might be refused permission to walk into the theatre. The taxes had been returned as 2501., they amounted to less than 2001. The insurance in the West of England had been returned at 2501. a year,! He had inquired, and found that the sum paid to the West of England Office was 651. a year. The repairs had beenl estimated at 1001. During the three years of his tenancy hel himself had done all the repairs, and d ur i n g th e l as t e l even l years not 3001. had been spent on the theatre; and, with re-I gard to the 1501. a year to Mr. Walter Arnold for collectingl the money, all he could say was, that he, Mr. Strutt,' paid his rent into the bank of Messrs. Cock-I burn every Monday morning, and all the trouble} Mr. W. Arnold had was to draw it out again.! Ile gave Mr. W. Arnold notice of this meeting in order that. he might attend if he thought it desirable. He had also: written to the trustees, Lord Saltoun, Sir Andrew Barnard, and Mr. Hallett. The two former replied that they had never interfered in the affairs of the theatre, and the latter that he had never received any money available to the liquidation of the claims of the debenture holders. He had written to Mr. Arnold, sen., and his answer was to the same purport as that of Mr. Hallett. A conversation ensued on the conclusion of Mr. Strutt's address, and eventually Mr. LUSILEY (acting on behalf of the Marquis of Ayles bury) moved the following r esolution: — "Resolved—That the debenture creditors having received t n h o e p t a r y u m s t e e n e s t u what f t h e e v L er y o c n e u a m c ofco l u l n e t at r e t , h u e u d r e b a r y t u s a r t es i s fgarcatnutredy byac count since the granting of the same in 1835, notwithstand ing it appears that the property has been productive to a considerable amount during the whole of that period, an ap- , plication be forthwith made to the trustees, for an account, " showing the annual net rents and profits since the date of the debentures, and for the production of the trust deeds, and other accounts and papers necessary to ascertain the parti cularscarried h e relating resolution t w to such as s e n e e e t u d rents ed h andy Ar. B i profi ß t o s. o l Tvs, and unanimously. o then moved that Me ssrs . S trutt, Warrington, and Powell, debenture holders, w h o h ave kindly undertaken the JAY d e b en Dwre.ll, same, be authorised to make such application, and to examine such deeds, trusts, and accounts, on behalf of this meeting, to report the result to this meeting, which is ad journed to Friday, 4th June next, at one o'clock, to be held in the saloon of this theatre, for the purpose of receiving their report. The T resolution was seconded by Mr. CHILTON, and carried unanimously. Mr. STnurr then moved that a copy of these resolutions be advertised and sent to such of the other debenture creditors as may be conveniently found. Mr. WAGSTAFF seconded the resolution, which was carried unanimously. Dr. JAY in proposing the thanks of the meeting to Mr. Strutt, said that if the debenture holders had any chance of ever getting anything, it would be entirely owing to the ex ertions of that gentleman. an d carried t The motion was seconded by Mr Bnooxits, unanimously. Mr On the motion of Mr. WAGSTAFF, seconded by . POWELL, thanks were voted to the Chairman, and the meet ing separated. WATERFORD AND KILKENNY RAILWAY COMPANY. The half-yearly general meeting of this company was held yesterday, at the London Tavern ; P. S. Butler, Esq., ALP., President of the Board of Directors, in the chair. Mr. FAGAN said he would wish to ask the Chairman, be fore the reading of the report, whether it was intended to elect directors at the present meeting P The CntaminAN explained that three directors were to go out by rotatio n , and mi g h t b e re-e l ected. -- Mr. FAGAN said he objected very strongly to that nst usual;speci conversation fi i c t a w t being mentioned in the advertisement. e Mr. EDWAZDS, the solicitor of the company, thought though as oion s not hno ut n hl e de c ebses subjectar y made.,b t h termse w asar arranged the g e d that, if it should be the wish of the company , - the itA Act i that t g e might t s o b s m u e of the directors shOuld be postponed. e election The SECRETARY then read the report, which stated that in consequence of the Board of Works in Ireland having refused to lend the company any assistance in their undertaking except upon impracticable conditions, and theiiiotion in Par liament for an advance of money for Irish railways having failed, the directors applied to the Prime Minister, by whom they were referred to the Public Works Loan Commissioners, and on the 21st ultimo, as they announced, they succeeded in obtaining a promise of a loan of 83,0001. This loan was to be advanced on the following conditions, viz. : " The whole of the property possessed by the Company, both real and personal will have to be mortgaged as secu rity for the money advanced, and this preliminary ar rangement perfected, a sum of 23,000/. will be immedi ately paid to the Company, to be expended on the works of the line, and concurrently therewith,they will be required to expend a like sum of 23,0001. from their own funds, this (and more the directors trust)will be met by the arrears now in course of payment; upon the loan commissioners being satisfied of the due application of these two sums, amounting in the agregate to 46,0001., a further advance of 30,00 01 . will be made under similar conditions, which will (in October or November) involve the necessity of a call of 2/. 10s. per share, to meet the outlay as before explained of an equivalent sum on the part of the company—this call, however, may be reduced in amount, in proportion as the arrears now due shall be paid—satisfaction being again adduced of the expen diture of these sums, amounting to 60,0004 a third and last advance of 30,0001. more will be made, to meet which, a fur ther call of 21. 10s, will be required about a twelvemonth hence; and it is much to be desired for the benefit of the best interests of the company, that these calls should be responded to in such a manner as to enable the directors to embrace the full advantages of the loan now conceded." The line between Kilkenny and Thomastown would have been completed as far as earthwork, bridges, &c., in March last, but for the backwardness of the shareholders, but 'those eleven miles, under all disadvantages, were in a very forward state, and would be ready to receive the traffic from Carlow to Dublin before the Irish South-Eastern Company would be in a position to avail themselves of it, whether the company would open their line between Kilkenny and Thomastown before the Irish South-Eastern Company opened their line between Carlow and the Waterford and Kilkenny line. The Government engineer, J. Walker, Esq., who had been sent over by the Loan Commissioners to inspect the line, had reported most favourably of the portion of the works already executed, and in reference to a portion between.Kilkenny and Thomas Town, that there would be a clear revenue to pay the interest and repay the capital, not only of the first instalment of 23,0004 but of the whole loan of 83,0001. The engineer's report stated that since November last no new works had been entered upon on that railway, excepting some small works at the Kilkenny station7which were necessary for making that station sufficient for traffic. The surveys had been completed as far as Waterford-bridge. The contracts already entered upon were proceeding, and every effort would be made to complete the works. From the financial statement, it appeared that the amount of deposits was 12,500/., that there was a balance of loan from the Carlow Extension Railway. The Parliamentary and law expenses amounted to 12,002/. Ils. Ild., and the balance at the bankers was 1,8751. The Cnatuntax said that the report they had just heard read was so full as to leave him but little to notice. The specula tion in which they were embarked would turn out far more lucrative than was expected some time back. That he had received from the highest authority, and he would take the liberty of reading to them a passage from the speech of Lord George Bentinck on the subject of an advance of money for Irish railways. The Hon. Gentlemen here read the passage in question, in which the Noble Lord stated that there was a bona fide traffic of 1,500/. on the Great Southern and Western Irish Railway, and which spoke of the present line very favourably. As far as the direction was concerned, the directors were most anxious to promote the interests of the shareholders, and expedite the works. The Chairman concluded by proposing the adoption of the report. After an irregular and protracted discussion, Mr. LAYARD seconded the resolution, which was agreed to. The following gentlemen were then re-elected as directors, viz. :—Mr. Celman, Mr. Greene, and Mr. Lecombe; and Mr. Webster was re-elected an auditor; and a resolution was passed reducing the remuneration of the auditors to 10/. per annum. A special meeting was then held for the purpose of consi dering the confirmation of the forfeiture of sundry shares in arrear of calls. The SECaETARY read a statement, from which it appeared that the directors proposed to forfeit 1,692 shares, which was confirmed by that of the meeting. Thanks were voted to and acknowledged by the Chairman. The meeting then separated. RAILWAY SHARE MARKETS. LIVERPOOL, MAY 14. STOCK ExcHANGE.—The sales are—Eastern Counties, 19— East Lancashire, New 1 _dis.—London and North-Western, Quarters 14% p.—Ditto. New,Quarters, 9 1 ,E p.—Manchester and Leeds, Fifths, (late W. R. U.), 3s. 9d. p.—Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire, Eighths, 2% dis.—Midland Stock, 114%—Ditto, New, 2 p.—Leeds and Thirsk, 6 dis.— Birkenhead, Lancashire, and Cheshire, 'O/ 4 dis.—North Staf fordshire, 1 3 / 1 p.—Shropshire Union Railway and Canal, 2 dis.—Dutch Rhenish, 3% dis c _ _ _ ALANCIIESTER, MAY 14. STOCK EXCHANGE.—The sales are—Ambergate, Notting ham, and Boston, I% 4 —Birkenhead, Lancashire, And Che shire, 1% dis.—Birmingham and Oxford Junction, 6% c. p. —Fleetwood, Preston, and West Riding, 1 1 4 dis.—Leeds, Wakefield, and Midland, 1 dis.—London and North-Western, (Manchester and Birmingham), 66 1 4—Ditto, Quarters (A), c. p.—Manchester and Leeds, Ilalves (H. and S.), .5-16 p. —Ditto, 321. Shares (late Extension), p.—Ditto, Fifths (late West Riding Union), p.—Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire, Quarters, No. 2, 20%—Ditto (Grimsby), 20/. Shares, 3% dis.—Ditto (Sheffield and Lincolnshire), 3% dis. —Manchester and Southampton, 28s. 6d. dis.—Ne wcas tl e and Berwick, N ew , 1 3 % p.—North British, Extension, 1 3 4 — North Staffordshire, 1% — North-Western, 1 3 / 4 dis.—Royston. and Ilitchin, nar — South-Eastern, i 4 dis.—South Yorkshire. Doncaster, and Goole, :14 dis. LEEDS, Aar 14. STocx EXCHANGE. —The sales are—East Lancashire, New, 1% n. dis.—Ditto, New (scrip), par—East and West York shire, 1% dis.--Great Northern, 30s. n. dis.—Leeds and Bradford, 43% p.—Leeds and Dewsbury, par—Leeds and Thirsk, Preference, 4s. p.—Leeds, Wakefield, and Midland, 19s. dis.—London, Brighton, and South Coast, Fifteenths, ls. p.—Malton and Driffield Junction, 17s. 6d. dis.—Man chester and Leeds 321. Shares (late Extensions), ss. p.— Ditto, West Riding Union, 2s. 6d. n. p.—Midland, Pre ference, 2 p.—North British, Thirds, 1% p.—Ditto, Exten sion (scrip), 2s. 6d. p.—North Staffordshire, 1 3 4 n. Northern Counties Union, 2 3 4 dia.—North-Western, 1 3 4 dia. GLASGOW, MAY 13. STOCK ExcnANGn.—The sales are—Aberdeen, 25 % Caledonian, New, 375. 6d.—Dundee and Perth, New, 10W, — Ditto, Quarters, 525. 6d.—East Indian, 2s. 6d.—East .Lo thian Central, 39s.—Edinburgh and Glasgow, Halves, 221. Edinburgh and Northern, Newport, 71.—Edinburgh and Perth (New Co.), Halves, 9s. 6d.—Glasgow, Kilmarnock, and Ayr, 1181.—Ditto (5 per cent. guar.), 35%—a itto, Halves, No. 1, 61. U.—Ditto, No. 2,51. 2s.—Great We tern of Bengal, ls. 6d.—Kilmarnock and Ayr Direct, 208.-1111an chester and Southampton, 103.—Monkland and Kirkintiltroch, 261.—North British, New Quarters (scrip), 18s. BANK OF ENGLAND. (From last night's Gazette.) kn; Account, pursuant to the Act 7th and Bth of Victoria, cap. 32, for the Week ending on Saturday, the 6th day of May, 1847. ISSUE DXPAATMENT. :Notes i55ued........ 22,788,855 Government debt .. 11,641&, T.OO Other securities .. 2,984,1 - 400 Gold coin and bullion 7,307,6 16 Silver bullion 1,481,239 £22,788,855 22,785,R5 M. MARSHALL, Chief Cashier. I):tte,l the 13th day of May, 1847. securl - NANKING DEPARTMEN T. Proprietors' capital • • 14,553,000 Uest •••.• • • • • •• • • 3,449,164 Public deposits (In eluding Exchequer, Commissioners of National Debt, Sav ings-banks, and Di vidend accounts) .. ()Cher deposits Seven day and other bills. Government ties (including Dead Weight AnnUity).. 10,308,1 41 Other securities •• • • 16,311,781 Notes • ••••• • • • • 3,196,53 S Gold and silver coin.. 799,904 2,870,109 8,930,328 • •• • ••.. 813,760 X 30.616,361 $30,616,361 MARSILILL, Chief Cashier. Dated the 13th day of May, 1847 A HINT TO PAPER MANUFACTURERS.— , We copy the following from a recent number of the New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Ciiatclian, (Dec. 9,) published at Wellington :—" We must apologise to our readers for being obliged, from the unusual scarcity of printing paper in the colony, to publish the Spectator on blotting paper. We are in daily expectation of receiving a fresh supply of paper by the next arrivals, when we hope to be relieved from the in convenience of our present dilemma." A NEW NovEr , , entitled " EVELYN HAucoußT,' in f g rorn fie t t h io e ns, pen ,, o l f em th p e ta a t c i c o o n m ; pl o is r, lted a i , coigne). It combines two very attractive features—a pic ture Wife's Perils," and " The School for Wives" (M r s. Gas ahuatshjoures t ss be o e f n t p h u o b se l is s h t e r c ii i of existing society in the upper circles, and a story of deep domestic interest. It has been. rumoured that some of the characters which are remarkable for spirited portraiture H g h e e a s t i lland and PosyLadys r .T h aravuyre Truro; their eo isr as it n ar a te l s ga lal i r d n u ns e li x tkh i e s ei t: D n t g i t p e e a r ofi s o rs n ,s a lady who has remained so long abroad as to y ha E s e r r f i i o d b r g l g e o , t t t h t the , how to speak her own language, has - also be en d rawn f rom the lite. CALEDONIAN ASYLUM. —We are glad to understand that the Anniversary Ball will be celebrated with mo re th a n usual splendour ; f or th ough there have been so many urgent calls, owing to the dearth prevailing in some parts of Scot hind, upon the patronesses in extending the charities of pri vate life, they are determined by aw. 11 sustained benevo knee to aid the directors in maintaining this admirable in stitution in the fullest efficiency. It possesses peculiar claims on the consideration of patriotic Scotchmen, and we trust they will come forward with hereditary zeal, and contribute to the furtherance of a beneficent and national object. The Bosjesmans, or Bush People, on whom a Lecture is to be delivered by Dr. Knox, at Exeter Hall, on efmthfirsoml haagvreeawtitnessed Monday next, are said to have such extraordinary acuteness of sight that they have been used by the British Ar m y, when a li t : a ir sight is rendered so acute by spying e w o o u r n k tr o y n , as Southern human telescopes.Af ri ca, pblisPhreod fceaspatourrLichtenstein, K Ti height after their prey s that they perceive objects clearly at a distance which no European, with the best eye, could see without the assist frequent proofs, as I have seen them telescope.abconyneC:tinolfubaaurily s a a r y o t says—" Their : d t Of discover flocks of antelopes at a distance o f a mile-and-a-halt" ~ - The " Handelian Operatic Concerts," announced. by Mr. Rophino Lacy for next week are already making: some stir among the numerous Handelian devotees in, andl out of, the musical world. They certainly hold forth them attraction of novelty ; for half the world are ignorant of:' Handel having written Italian operas at all. We, how-. ever, remember two beautiful specimens which were adaptect to sacred words, though originally love songs, viz. Lori, remember David," and " Holy, holy." ..... Ma n oi, t o houl d on. bout wipe neW rIY ild of 111 ~~~