The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-02-26 00:00:00

THE Rtberpoot taoarb. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1856 FROM OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT. MONDAY MORNING. THE QUEEN and the Court continue to reside at Bricking ham Palace, and it is pleasing to observe that, amidst the con tentions introduced or fostered through Ministerial impru dence in both Houses of Parliament, HER MAJESTY remains in the enjoyment of individual repose—that in defiance of the ascerbity created by the unconstitutional stretch of the ROYAL prerogative, recommended by the LORD CHANCELLOR and backed by the Cabinet, the popularity of the SOVEREIGN remains unimpaired. On Tuesday, accompanied by the PRINCE CONSORT, and attended by a party of ladies, the QUEEN visited the Arsenal at Woolwich, and inspected the trophies brought from Sebastopol by the Bucephalus. HER MAJESTY appeared much gratified by the inspection, and, as she always is, was received with gratifying demonstrations of loyalty and affection by the crowds who had assembled to see her passing, both in the Metropolis and at Woolwich. On Wednesday the first levee of the season was held at St. James's Palace. The attendance of those who held the privilege of entree was very great, and the number of presentations was unusually large. HER MAJESTY, who wore a magnificent dress of blue and "white brocade, and whose head was encircled by a tiara of diamonds and rubies of great value and splendour, appeared to be in admirable health and spirits. On Friday, HER MAJESTY held a chapter and investiture of the most honourable order of the Bath at Buckingham Palace. At this chapter, Sir RICHARD ENGLAND and Sir GRAHAM EDEN HAMMOND were invested with the military grand cross, and Lord PANMURE with the civil grand cross of the order. Rear-Admiral S. LUSHINGTON, General J. W. SLEIGH, and several others were invested with the military order of knight commander, and a considerable number of others were invested with the military order of knights companions. In the evening, the Qt Est and Prince ALBERT, attended by their suite, honoured the Haymarket Theatre with their presence. It is now understood that the Court will leave London for Windsor some days earlier than was expected,—about the 19th instead of the 22nd proximo, as had been originally stated, when the PRINCESS ROYAL will receive the holy rite of confirmation. The Life Peerage question, which has occupied so much of parliamentary and public attention for the last ten days or a fortnight, has come to a termination, for the present, at all events. On Friday night, after a debate of unusual bril liancy, the House of Lords, sitting as a committee of privileges, decided that neither the letters patent, nor the letters patent with the usual writ of summons issued in pursuance of those letters patent, entitle Lord WENSLEYDALE "to sit and vote in parliament." This conclusion was arrived at after an unsucessfnl motion by Lord GLENELG (long ago known as Mr. CHARLES GRANT), awakened for the occasion after a legislative slumber of many years' duration, who proposed that the validity of the title to sit and vote should be referred to the judges. This proposal was negatived by 142 to 111 votes. Another mode of disposing of the ques tion without deciding in opposition to the Ministry, and yet discountenancing the creation of life peerages, was proposed by Earl GREY ; but it met with no better fortune than that of Lord GLENELG, being rejected by a- majority of thirty five, in a committee of one hundred and forty-nine peers, no proxies being taken on votes of the house while in committee. The course pursued by Lord WENSLEYDALE throughout the tedious, and to him unpleasant, if not absolutely painful proceedings, meets with very general approbation, both in parliament and out of doors. From the first he declined to appear personally or by counsel, as a party to proceedings which involved a collision between the first and second estates of the realm. During the whole of the discussions on this unseemly recommendation of the Ministry, every one felt, and probably none more keenly than the noble lord who led the opposition to the anomalous and unconstitutional use of the royal prerogative, that by it Lord WENSLYDALE was placed in a most invidious position; but a stern and uncompromising sense of duty prevented the adoption of any other course. The newly-created peer,—whose patent of nobility was pre sented to him, shorn of more than half its honours, had its legality been unchallengable, but rendered doubly obnoxious by the constitutional objections to which it was exposed,—has small reason to thank those by whom the tarnished honour was conferred. That the noble and learned lord was, in all respects, through character, talents, and acquirements, com petent to fill a distinguished place in the House of Lords, and even to confer lustre upon the peerage, is admitted on all hands, and it is broadly reprobated in many quarters, that he should have been selected as the first member of a comparatively degraded peerage, as is alleged, because, personally, he was so entirely unobjectionable, and had so many friends, as to make his introduction a matter of probable ease, where others, less favourably circumstanced, in these respects would, on their individual merits, have had no chance of success. The un worthy attempt has been defeated, and now it is to be hoped, that, taking heart of grace, Lord PALMERSTON and his col leagues will do what they should have done at first recom mend the letters patent, creating Sir JAMES PARSE a peer, to be extended, so as to embrace the ordinary conditions of the peerage. Much acrimonious feeling has been displayed by the Ministerial adherents in connexion with this subject, which, it is now to be hoped, has been set at rest for ever. - These parties profess to say that Lord LYNDHURST, and those who acted with him, provoked and carried on a war against the prerogatives of the crown, bringing the privileges of the peerage into direct collision with those prerogatives. Such a pretence is scarcely worthy of refutation. The per .sonal feeling of the Sovereign has probably never been enlisted on either side. Lord BROUGHAM broadly stated that the creation of a life-peerage is as constitutionally illegal as the levying of taxes by the crown without the con sent of parliament; and in answer to the alleged precedents which exist for such peerages, he says there are quite as many in favour of such a levying of taxes without parliamentary consent; but he cogently demands, "will any one stand up and justify the levy of a tax without consent of parliament on the strength of such precedents ?" He emphatically answers no ! and most people believe he is right in that opinion ; at any rate he is followed in it by Lord LYNDHURST and Lord ST. LBONARDS, and the opinion of those three distinguished legal authorities is endorsed by the LORD Cures JUSTICE of Eng land. In the present position of our foreign relations, any thing likely to shake the stability of Lord PALMERSTON'S government is to be deprecated ; but even the urgency of such a consideration cannot be admitted as a sufficient reason for permitting inroads upon the constitution, and he is no true 'friend to his lordship who would even hint that, taking ad iiantage of 'his accidental position, that• accomplished senator would lend himself to an attack upon our institutions, which he, as the chief responsible adviser of the crown, is bound in an especial manner to protect. Besides their laborious defence of the constitution, as - ruled by law and settled by practice, in reference to life peerages, - the brilliant talent and mature judgment of the House of Lords have, during the past week, been engaged in attempts to maintain the practical working of our executive within the bounds legally prescribed by the Legislature. A laudable in stance of this was afforded by the Earl of DERBY, on Thurs day evening, in his attempt to lift the veil of mystery which shrouds the connexion between the Horse Guards and the newly-created Ministry of War. That his lordship was only successful in eliciting an evasive instead of a direct answer from Lord PssMURE, is no fault of the Earl of ionany ; but it is something to have learned, as he did learn, that the pa tronage of the army is managed in a sort of semi-conjoint semi-disjoined manner between the Commander-in-Chief and the Secretary of War. While the noble Secretary of War bad his hand in at giving an explanation in which nothing is ex plained, but in which a determination to avoid explicitness was very clearly manifested, he took occasion to allude to a rumour, which, for years past, has obtained both currency an credence, to the effect that the army patronage-during Lord HARDI2TGE'S tenure of office, at all events—has been a medium through which a Field Marshal, not less distinguished by his illustrious position than remarkable for his "conduct in the feld," exercised authority without responsibility. His lordship alluded to the rumour, as he said, merely to give it a flat con tradiction. S'excuse, s'accuse, says the French proverb : no one asked his lordship any question upon this particular point; verbum sap., if he should see this, the noble Secretary for War will probably understand its application. The pretended friends of the working classes had a " field. night" in the House of Commons on Thursday. On that oc casion the "poor man's friend," Sir JOSIIITA WALMSLET, brought forward his motion for throwing open the British Museum and the National Gallery on Sundays. The philan. thropic knight made a long and elaborate harangue," horribly stuffed with" platitudes about the meliorating influences o' knowledge upon the hard fate of the "working man." He dwelt with pathos on the pleasing pictures which he "fondly drew" of decreasing immorality with increasing. laxity of Sun day observances. Commencing with Edinburgh and Glasgow, where, he said, the Sunday observance was most stringent , and the immo ra lit y grea t es t , h e t oo k L on d on nex t , w h ere, h e assured his wondering auditory, that as Sunday observance was less rigid, so also was virtue more predominant. Taking next an excursive sweep over the continent, in which he omitted Paris, where Sunday observance is n held to be one of the cardinal virtues, but the moral purity of which he pro bably regarded as too dazzling to be rashly paraded to public gaze, he fixed upon Switzerland as the Elysian field of modern virtue and morality; seizing the opportunity of informing, by insinuation, those who knew no better, that the virtues of the Swiss were mainly attributable to their general disregard of Sunday observance. As usual, he concluded his diatribe by a fling at the Church, for which he entertains the same affection that a nameless personage is averred by Romanists to hold for. holy-water. His great measure for improving the minds and the condition of the working classes wag appropriately seconded by Sir J. SHELLEY ; and, what was far worse, was supported by Lord STANLEY in a speech of great length and specious plausibility. The motion was ably opposed by arguments of great weight, by Messrs. PELLATT, BAXTER, NAPIER, CAIRNS, and others, and on a division negatived by a majority of 376 to 48. In course of the debate,. Lord PALMERSTON spoke in a tone of levity and with an affected sarcasm which gave offence to both sides; he, seeing the way in which the strength of the house lay, made a virtue of necessity, and threw in his vote along with the majority. In the meantime it does not escape the remark of all ob serving parties that the House of Commons is once more busy in the reckless production of legislative work, crude and fanciful, and more voluminous than can be overtaken in this, or indeed in many coming sessions. There is absolutely no end to the introduction of new measures. The particular hobby of each member is again finding form, though greatly lacking consistency in the shape of a bill; and for every so cial grievance, as for many a private whim, some enactment or other is proposed as a remedy; no one takes the trouble of considering what the law is, but all are busy in isolated at tempts to make the law what each thinks it ought to be in regard to his particular hallucination ; so that the list of " orders of the day" already assumes the dimensions usually belonging to it in the middle of the "dog days." Nearly all of these, it is well known to their projectors, must necessarily be overlain and smothered in the ordinary progress of legis lation, so that their introduction is at best only Wasting the time in strenuous idleness.' When it is borne in mind that not these alone, but that even measures of real practical usefulness must necessarily be over taken and trodden down, or jostled aside by the resistless and inevitable peace or war debates which await the energies of Parliament, and which, ere many days are over, must be taken up and disposed of, the early promise of an abundant legislative harvest becomes more and more problematic and remote. Amidst the rushing stream of proposed legislation, it is singular, as well as pleasing, to note that the od-estab lished grievances of " mob-orators" have nearly disappeared from the list. With the exception of Mr. H. BERKELEY'S annual speech and motion on the " vote by ballot" whimsy, Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S yearly display on "national education," and his lordship's cast-off suit of the ROTHSCHILD livery, which has been picked up and donned by Mr. MILNER GIBsoN, Parliament is not threatened with any of the old clap-trap motions for " extension of the suffrage," " annual Parliaments," " the no-property qualification of members," and the " payment of representatives :" these, and the pro lific spawn of their congeners, have entirely disappeared from the notice-paper. Notwithstanding the " good riddance" from these stock pieces of parliamentary declamation and out of-doers agitation, the legislative path is yet encumbered to such a degree as - fairly to defy progress. Take Tuesday night's• proceedings as an illustration, and the obstructive influences will at once be seen. A series of questions addressed to Ministers on a variety of topics initiated the proposal for a• select committee to consider the propriety of having tribunals established to settle all disputes which may arise between masters and workmen. The committee was granted. This was followed by a proposal from Mr. LOCK KING-, to get prepared for the use of the House an edition of the statutes at large, with all the obsolete or repealed statutes-left out. This was refused; but it was only one of a host of motions of similar import. The- next subject was minister's money in Ireland, and a bill was- introduced to settle the sub , ject, as it is facetiously said, "for ever." The subsequent step of the evening's parliamentary diversion was the introduction of a bill for more effectually carrying out refor.t atory institu tions in Scotland ; followed by another bearing on the qualifi— cations of commissioners of supply in the Scotch counties ; so far were "Scottish Rights" vindicated. After this the premier introduced a bill to extinguish certain rights of way and to , shut up certain roads near the camp at Aldershott. Next committees were appointed to consider and report on the adul teration of food; on civil service superannuations ; on silver and gold wares; and on the ecclesiastical commission—the reports of all these committees to be followed by bills on the numerous subjects to which they individually refer. Here it will be seen that on this one night work was cut out for the legislature on a variety of important topics, more than suffi- cient to occupy its attention for a complete session ; yet was Tuesday only an ordinary night, in, so far as regards the- Sysiphian labours of legislation, almost every one for the pre— ceding fortnight having been nearly as prolific. The new loan and its concomitant- incidents have formed fertile topics of conversation among City and West-end circles. The time for asking it took most people by surprise, and in the money market the smallness of the amount demanded excited still more general remark- It was fully anticipated that, at the usual time of making his financizistatement, a loan would. be negotiated for the full amount the necessities of the Government required; but that at so early a period a proposal for a loan, and for so smalls a• loan, only £3,000,000, and the funding of £3,009,000 of Exchequer Bills should have been made few were prepared to hear. The small financial morsel was immediately swallowed up, and con-- siderably more money than was- wanted was almost at once tendered. The general solution of this pecuniary riddle is supposed to be that given , by Lord PALMERSTON, that Government is in immediate want of money ; and the out— siders add that they have asked fdr so small a sum in tha - meantime in the belief that, should peace be established, they will be able hereafter to raise a ranch larger sum on easier terms than they could now obtain, Be this as it may, little room exists for doubting that the alacrity displayed by capitalists to furnish the Government with means for carrying.. ou the war will be productive of the most salutary effect in giving weight to the arguments- adduced by the plenipoten- tiaries of the Allies, at the eunfereace to be opened this day in Paris ; for agreeing, if possible; (mate terms of a lasting peace:. An immense sensation has beemereated throughout London. and all over the United Kingdomby the determined and un expected suicide of Mr. Joni SkaLEIR, M.P. The announce-- meut of the fact, and the , singularly resolute character, of the circumstances attendant cn the deplorable act, were of themselves sufficient to account for much of the interest felt in the sad event. If these were of so startling and urnisnal a nature as to excite surprise,.tha disclosures since made, taken. in conjunction with those- whiah can as yet be little morethan surmised, have been sufficient to awaken the utmost degree of astonishment, as they must, if true, be productive of wide spread misery and ruin. Frauds to an almost incredible ex tent have been perpetretedi by the deceased, with..a reckless ness of audacity and a successfulness of ingenuity which throw the exploits of Messrs. STICARAN, and BAArgs, as well as the most accomplished. of public defaulters, completely into the shade. It is believed that the frauds he has. perpetrated will amount to the enormous sum of £I,OAOOO. Among these, rumour has it that the deceased forged, and issued no. fewer than 50,000 shares and obligations of the value of £5. each of the Royal Swedish Railway Company. It was also . said that he has forged and negotiated sevesel deeds and mart-_ gages of estates in Ireland. "But," says. a. London moaning, journal, "perhaps the boldest and most daring, forgeries, of. all. are those which relate to deeds for the purchase of property in the Encumbered Estates Court of Ireland. These- forged deeds purport to bear the signatures ottheCommissioners,,the ' registrar, the chief clerk, the solicitors in the various, causes, and the Commissioners' seal. The eident to whiclu this class of forgeries has been committed may be inferred from, theiact that the stamp duty alone on these- amounted to several, hun dreds' of pounds." With such an amount of crime and danger hanging over his head; it is not to be- wondered at that the unhappy man should have contemplated self destruction as a means, indeed the only means of escaping from the labyrinth of wretchedness in which he had so completely enwoven himself. The act,, it is believed, al though long contempleted, was precipitated by the circum stance that one of the holders of deeds relative to the purchase : of one of the encumbered estates, who had advanced a large sum of money to Mr. SADLEIR, had gone over to Ireland with his solicitor on Saturday se'nnight to have the deed registered. Mr. S.I.DLIIL, it is said, did everything in his power to dissuade the party from going ; but having failed in doing so, and being fully aware of the disclosures which awaited him, he put an end to his miserable existence. With the disclosures which must ensue upon the death of this wretched criminal will in all probability, it is to. be feared, begin a black chapter in the moral as well as in the social history of many a prosperous family—want, and all its con comitant evils, being heaped upon them by the daring 1 wickedness of him who has completed the catalogue of his - crimes by the destruction of his own baleful life. Tcuicisn REronm BlLL.—Advises received at Vienna by telegraph an n ounc e th e f o ll ow i n g as th e t wen t y - one po i n t s o f th e Turkish Reform B ill which has been sanctioned by the Sultan :- 1. Maintenance of the Ilatti-Sherrif of Gulhaneh. 2. Gua rantee of ancient- ecclesiastical p r i v il eges t o th e G ree k a n d Armenian churches. 3. Deprives the " Patriarchate" of tem poral and judicial power. 4 . Equality of all confessions. 5. Abolition of persecution and punishment on accoun t o f c h ange of religion. O. Admission of Christians to state offices. 7. Introduction of civil jurisdiction for the R aya h s (T ur ki s h Christians). 8. The existing civil and criminal laws to be collected into one code or digest. 9. Code of laws to be in 01 the languages used in the empire. 10. Prison reform. 11. Police rerorm. 12. Recruiting among the Rayahs. 13. Ad mittance of Christians to military honours. 14. Reformation of the provincial authorities. 15. Rights of Franks to possess real property in Turkey. IE. Direct taxation. 17. Improve ment of highways. 18. Public budget. 19. Representation of Christians in Council of State. 20. Credit bank for com merce. 21. Reform of the currency. TIIE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. LIVERPOOL TOWN DUES.-MEETING OF THE INHABITANTS. Or Friday last, a public meeting of the inhabitants of Liverpool was held in St. George's Hall. The meeting was convened by his Worship the Mayor, in compliance with a requisition addressed -to him, signed by nearly 2,000 of the " bankers, merchants, brokers, and other inhabitants" of Liverpool, to protest against the proposed measures as "sub . yersiye to all established rights of property, to agree to a petition to both Houses of Parliament against the proposed bill, and to adopt such, other measures as may best tend to avert so monstrous and unjust an innovation." The Mayor, J. STEWART, Esq., presided, and upon the plat form there were, amongst others, the following gentlemen:— Messrs. J, P. Heywood (High Sheriff), Ambrose Lace, James Aikin, R. A. Mactie, Ingram, F. A. Hamilton, (B. S. and C 0.,) S. R. Graves, G. J. Duncan, J. Lyon Jones,William Rathbone, Lawrence Peel, G. Roscoe, David Hodgson, P. F. Curry • (coroner), Wrenn, Troutbeck, John Lockett, Robert Horsfall, Thomas Avison, Adam Hodgson, Henry Danson, James M. Wood, David Rae, James Smith, William Fisher, Ralph. Brocklebank, James Reay (Secretary to the Guardian Society), Backhouse Robinson, Robert Daglish, Roger Lyon Jones, Charles Saunders, James Thomson, Christopher Bushell, M. J. Sidney, J. B. Lloyd, S. Holme, J. Holme, R. L. Gardner, T. Toulmin, George Holt, E. Bradley, J. A. Picton, D, Cros thwaite, J. Robertson, W. Preston, T. D. Anderson, Alderman Cooper, Thomas Godfrey, Ald. Parker, Beckwith, M`Gowan, Woodruff, Wagstaff, and Ald. Dover. There were about 2,000 persons present in the body of the hall and in the galleries. Letters of apology for unavoidable absence were read by the Deputy Town-clerk from Messrs. Charles Turner, J. A. Tobin, H. Hornby, W. Earle, J. IL Turner, and Richard Brooke. The MAYOR, who on rising was received with great applause, said he felt great pleasure in calling this meeting, parti cularly when he-found that upon so important a subject the requisition had been so numerously signed by gentlemen of all political parties ; by the bankers, merchants, shipowners, pro fessional men, tradesmen and shopkeepers, who have all cor dially united in a desire to preserve those dues which had been legally acquired, and judiciously as well as faithfully ap plied to the public benefit. (Applause> The great amount of these dues appeared to him to be the chief bait which attracted the cupidity of those by whom the rights of the cor poration were attacked. The magnitude of those dues, it must be recollected, did not arise from the largeness of the individual portions of the impost, but ratheroccasioned by the great extension and expansion of the commerce of this great borough ;(hear, hear ! )—by the accommodation which has been afforded for ships and shipping, and for mercantile transactions generally. But whilst some are attacking U 3 for the purpose of abstracting this amount of dues, they forget that they are loosening one of the great strongholds-of society by which property in this country is held, not only by munr cipalities but by individuals. (Hear, hear ! ) He couldassure them, from the very highest authority, that there is property, to an enormous extent, held, not only by municipalities, but by noble lords„ noble dukes, and others, derived from that Very title of which our town dues form only a small part. (Hear,• hear ! ) For glntlemeu will recollect that the conveyance, which was originally made to the citizens of Loudon, corn-- prised the dues of Liverpool, them a very trifling portioni•in deed, in the whole transaction. It was, in fact, to extinguish a debt of upwards of £300,000 ; and at that time, early in the , reign of King Charles 1., the duesof Liverpool were a very small drop indeed, in the great amount but one title, one coal veyance, carried the dues of Liverpool, " with divers right over fairs, rivers, manors," and so on, which are now held by a variety of individuals•and communities. If Liverpool is to submit to this,—if an. inroad is to be made on those rights of property which have hitherto been heldsacred,—even those who may exult at the deprivation of Liverpool, may yet be whipped with their own rod ! (Applause.) J. r: HEYWOOD, Esq.,-late High SherliT of the county, moved the first resolution, which, along with the others, will be fortain our advertising - columns. In moving the adoption of the resolution, he said he could see neither reason nor justice in this proposal of the•government. (h't.ar, hear.) In his opinion the corporation of Liverpool had always expended their large income, not solely for the advantage of the town of Liverpool itself, but for the good'•of the kingdvm generally, and more particularly for the advantage of the ws,nnfacturing districts of Lancashire and Cheshire. He must confess that he had always been amazed at theunforiunatejLalonsy with which Liverpool had been regardid.by its neighbours, instead of gratitude, to which he thought the town was entitled, for the many advantages which its judicious expenditure of the revenue derived; from the Town fides had conferred upon the country at large. (Hear, hear.) He concluded bp moving the adoption of the resolution. Mr. bI3OIiGH- Hora seconded the resolution. It appeared that the-bill now proposed by the v-ice-president of the Board of Trade was an: attack upon the municipal institutions of the country, and an invasion of those rights and privileges, which, in all times; had been fouus.llof great service to the promotion of freedom, and of an enlightened policy.: The principle of self-government—municipally in our corporations and parochially in• our vestries—had-been the foundation of much free thought . and of the English character. Historians and commentators had always regarded municipal institutions as the foundations- of civil and religious, and especiallY of ootnmercial, freedom. Concurring in this opinion, he rausb bay that he viewed with considerable aarm a measure like the present, coming from the ministry, and making an attack upon property which, -he meant to shoo ,had been appropriated in' the main to national, and not merelY to-local pzrposes. The mayor had clearly set forth the foundation on which, the title of the town to 'these dues rested- After the minutest investigation the aourts of law had so:tinnly decided tkat they were the undoubted property of the corporation. Tke..dues levied had been expended for purpcs -in reality r.c.frenal 4 although to some extent these purposes might appeurcloest. Laud had been purchased by the corporation for the purpoae of making communications to facilitate necessary intercourse; and, indeed, in the very first instanzed the corporatiOn of Liverpool had voluntarily alienated a portion of their property: , for the purposes of the dock estate, free from taxation fdrever. From time to time they had made other grants, or had sold land at a nomimal price, in fartherrAice of the same great national object, ar.d besides have paid the whole expesesetthe conservancy of theriver, in whatever-I:ands that conservancy had from time te•time been placed. Then let them leek. at the landing-stages ; which would cost — the corporaticin not much less than £200,000, and which-.were necessary,. not for the accommodation. of the inhabitanteof Liverpool alone; hitt, the docks, were required by the country at large.. (Ilecar, hear.) And even The noble building in, which they were then assembled, and which was a very sore subject with 4 some 'people, was as miteh built for the hundreds of Wist..Dery ind . Salford, as foe the town of Livespeol. Was it ant , for tge administration of justice in this division, of the county? - And if the cost of it had not been defrayed, cot of the town , dimes, must not a very heavy rate have feen, laid upon fate eoleety for the erection of some building for that purpose?. He. Mr. Holt) believed that the le,gislatures.with a full keowledke of the facts, woulsiSnever permit this bill to pass ; anditheeteere, without further remark, he would "...wavily second. the resolu tion, .which wassenanimously adopesd. Mr. GRATES,..viee-chairman of the Shipowneer Associa tion, moved the next resolution.... When the repeal d the navigation lavas•took place in this country, it was-anirersally admitted that all the burdens upon, British shipping. skauld be removed, and'. to a great extent flies admission bad: been car ried out. Bat there were burdens of a practical nature still remaining, and to which the atten'tizer of the Board of Trade had been repeatedly called; and.bad the vice-president of the Board of Trade come forward with. a measure for relieving the shipping of this country from the burdens of our sconsular system—(hear; henr)—had the 'hoard come forward, following in the footsteps et France and Auserica, to charged:a lights of this country non the Consalidated Fund s Ise sisacild have been inclined to believe in the wsil intentiot-of the president of that hoard. But, no ; listening to the clounmas of a few individnals, he led got a pet grievance of his own s a grievance which banes-es. been complained of by the shipovrears of this country, _and from which they had never ask,ed to be relieved., (hear)—he proposed, by the •Local Dues enstahipping Bill, to.. change-the collection of thodues of this pert fawn the hand of the-corporation to the headsof her .Majesty's Customs, matelyste. reach the hands of tbe..Board of Trade, who, by raa, ordeziwcouncil, at any usemeait, could either abolish or CO*, - tiane.those dues, or allocate. them foe their own purposes. (Cheers.) He, as a shipowner, denouneedsthe hall which he ham: in his.hand as nothing more nor less thausmoekery. (Cheers) Inplaceof being a boonSa the shippingiaterest of this country, it absolutely became a burden. He did not speak thus from hissawn individual opluion only. The .shipowners of this port had unanimously recorded . their 01::la,eproval of this measure, es,td had openly declared their inteatien to oppose it. litiviPg.. Teed an extract from,the petition adopted by the association at their meeting, on Thursday, the speaker said that thissforeible repudiation, emanating from the. interest which the bill was intended to relieve s could not fail, to arrest the attention of the members of the Houses of Parliament, when they rsere called upon to record tbeir.votes. upeas,a measure which, far the first time in Parliamentary annals,. openly avowed, and undis-. guisedly justified, the confiscation of acknowledged: rights.— (Cheers.) Proceeding to sltew why he considered the bill a, burden upon British shippings Mr. Graves said tbet l the works.. undertaken aad contemplated by the Corporation. of Liverpool in connexion,with, the shipping interest, were absolutely neces sary to the-vast and ever-increasing commeeee• of the. port; works which.- had beets truly described as baying, rather a national than. a local character—(hear, hear)—but which it, would be impossible-to carry out, if the revenues of thesCorpo ration were seized, except by increased taxation, He believed that the.very first measure which would Mow the passing of Mr. Loire's bill would be to increase the. Dock-rates to their maximum amount—(hear, hear)—and it was in this way that the bill would be. a burden upon the shipping,, and a positive and, direct injury to the trade of the port,. and that of the sur misleading towns and district. (Cheers.) The Viee-President of the Board of Trade had conjured up a ghost of restricted trade s but if this bill became law, Mr. Lowe would see this ghost of restricted trade changing its habitation from the Mersey to the, Dee. (Laughter.). Great stress had been laid upon the Differential Duties which had been levied within the port, and Mr. Lowe had brought prominently forward cases. of great hardship. Mr. Graves would not deny that these. Differential Duties, caused lay antagonistic interests, had proved great obstructions to the commerce of this port but it would have considerably raised in his mind the reputation of the Vice-President of the Board of Trade for candour if he had at the same time stated that there was then in the house a bill which, in the course of a short time, would abolish the double dues existing within the Mersey, and would, when it became law, terminate the grievance with which he sought to gain the sympathy of the house. The bill, if it were sifted, might contain points which would be a boon to the shipping interest of the country, but he thought he was speaking the sentiments of his brother shipowners when he declared that they would not be tempted to receive benefits of such a nature at the expense and sacrifice of those great principles which had ever upheld the commercial classes of this country in their just and .existing ights. (Hear, hear, and applause.) Mr. ROBERT RAsexiw, in seconding the resolution, cha racterized the bill as one of spoliation, and said that as a re sident in Liverpool for seventeen years, and a member of a house which had paid these dues for forty years, he was not one of those who could desire to deprive the Corporation of what lie conceived to be their legal rights: Mr. JAMES AIKIN supported the resolution, and, in doing so, referred to the trial in which the title of the Corporation to the town dues had been challenged, and said that he, as one of the associated merchants, bad been a party instrumental in causing that action to be brought. The result had been to prove in the clearest possible manner the title of the town to those dues —never, indeed, had a title to any description of property in this country been more clearly established. (Hear, hear.) It would be a very interesting thing for the meeting to trace the dues through different possessors, during the long period of six hundred years, until they finally became vested in the town of Liverpool—sold first by the Crown to the Cor poration of London, and by that Corporation to the then Lord Molyneux—they were by him leased for a term of one thousand years to the Corporation of Liverpool—held by the Corporation, under that lease, for about a century—and even tually purchased in fee simple off Lord Molyneux's descendant, Lord Sefton. The title of the Corporation to the property thus purchased was never questioned until about a quarter of a century ago, when it was deemed advisable to ascertain whether those dues could be strictly and legally demanded. The trial took place before the Lord Chief Justice; the most eminent counsel of that day were employed; the case went to the jury; a verdict, passed for the Corporation; mid al though, in the first instance, a bill of exceptions was ten dered to the ruling of the judge, the parties resisting the dues found, upon consulting counsel, that they had not a leg to stand upon, and they therefore said to the Corporation— "We see you have a title, but we think there are some few particulars in which the rates ought to be modified." They were requested to point out the modifications which they would suggest. They did point them out, and those modifi cations were made to the entire satisfaction of the trading community of the town of Liverpool at that time. (Hear.) Mr. JAMES SMITH also supported the resolution, and in doing so, said the bill proposed by Mr. Lowe adopted this principle—that the property of a corporation stood in a dif ferent position from that of a private individual, and that in the case of the Corporation of Liverpool there should be no compensation for its removal. With what did the corporation pay for that property to the Earl of Sefton ? They paid for that property out of money which they possessed and derived from certain other property, and he defied any man tq show that, under such circumstances, if Liverpool was to be deprived of the dues, she ought not to be compensated as thoroughly and completely as if they were the property of a private indi vidual. (Hear, hear.) He had carefully looked over the bill, and he must confess that he could not properly ascertain the drift of it. It might mean- one of two things ; either that the town dues should be entirely , abolished, or after defraying any existing charges upon them, it provided that the dues were to be collected in future by the eustoms, and to pass into the hands of the Board of Trade. If so, there was one of two ways in which they might appropriate' them. They might appro priate them to harbour purposes. all over the country, and deprive the port of Liverpool of almost any advantage from them, or they might lay down as- a principle, that these dues beingcollected in the port of Liverpool, should be appro priated, as they might imagine, for the' benefit of the shipping property of Liverpool. But if these dues were abolished, so far from having anything to hope for in the-way of relief, the ship owners must look forward to a very large-increase in taxation. (Laughter.) go gentleman there, he was- care, could look at their extended line of docks, now reaching almost five miles, and not see that it was almost impossible to . chrry on the trade of the port for want of a wide thoroughfare extending through the whole line of docks. But deprive Liverpool , of the town dues, and the burden of providing such improvements was thrown undoubtedly - upon the Dock Estate, and. how could the latter carry out such improvements without increasing their rates ? He had said also , that the Board of Trade - might ap propriate these dues to , general purposes, and Liverpool receive little or no benefit, though he could hardly believe' that any government would commit so glaring an act of injustice as this. But in case they were applied " for the benefit of the commerce of Liverpool," who were to be the judges-?' The Board of Trade. And was-it not extremely probable- that the board would justify their appropriation of the Liverpool-town dues. by pointing to the later sums of money which they had expended upon Holyhead harbour—(hear, hear)—though-the Holyhead harbour improvements would not afford the slightest advantage to the interests of the commerce and shipping- , of Liverpool. (Cheers.) In conclusion, Mr. Smith repeated that,. as-a shipowner, he could see no advantage whatever to-the shipping interest by depriving the• Corporation of Liverpool of the dues, but every advantage, not only to the coinmerce.of the port; but to the commerce of the whole country, by the dues remaining as they were. The resolution was unanimotialradopted. Mr. Aaramosa LACE moved the next resolution, and, dbing-so, contended that the title of the Corporation to levy these dues , was clear and indefeasible, and, if so, Parliament could 'not abrogate them without granting compensation. He declared; that, upon the very principle laid down in the bill ; Government was not justified in taking the dues. Those who looked at the bill would see that therwere very careful to de clare•that-all individual owners of tolls should be compensated, and that only corporations should nor. - Well, then, if the Cor poration of Liverpool had possessed-. these- dues for so many years; and -had applied them to purposes for which otherwise they must have levied local rates, had they not, in point of fact, got a title to% them by time ?—( Hear;.hear 0 Did not any person, in, buybio- property, consider what the dues and rates were to which that property was-suhject ? and would he not crin a greater price for property—espom the north side of Parliavaeut:stree—because he knew that, tothe extent of ten per cent: upon his. rental, he would be -relieved from local dues ? Whererwould be the difference, he asked, between taking one-tenth of the dues of Covent , gardert market from the Duke of Bedford,.and taking from the-people of Liverpool one-tenth of their dues- ? (Hear, hear !)- It was precisely the same thing. Mr. Basal' , Btoemanm_usic was very - happy to second the resolution. On the introduction of the -measure, Mr. Lowe 'very disingenuously stated that it was intended to relieve the shipping of the port firma some of its enormous-taxation ; but the fact was, that it would relieve the sipping interest from no charge w4laberer;—Hear, hear 0 —andiheProbability was that, were- the townAtaes to be taken away froth. Liverpool— which Godiforbidl,---the shipping interesfrCitould be more hea vily taxed.than hitherto,. As a shipowner and merchant, and he believedi he spoke the sentiments of the other shipowners and merchants of'. Liverpool upon this matter,. he would not submit to• derive any advantage from a reduation in. tolls which was obtained by meart,sou.njust and illegitimate (Cheers.) Mr PICTDX, at great length, and in a speeoh cf considerable jocularity,. supported the resolution. lie-reail. extracts from the proposed bill, and.a.ued that if these-: ere carried out as law, the Board .of Traci; would be empoweredto- reduce the dues, to raise them again. if they thought at, and do with the money as they-liked.. The resolution was carried unamimottsl7.; Mr. R. A. IllAcina: moved the adoption otlie.n.ext resolu tion. Referring to the-remarks of the Mayor of &Alford, (at the meetitigin .Manchester on the previor.a.day,): Mr. Macfie quoted a paragraph,. to the effect " that. theie: was not a person who walked.along the street who did-not contribute in some degree to, these dues ; and especially there was no female that passed along the street whoseditess-did not con tribute to them." -- liOw, sir, (said the speaker;) what if I should say, that the-firm with which I am -,connected pay of dues, or at all events-import goods liable to. these- dues, many times more than the amount paid by the whole of the ladies and females of Manchester. (Hear, hear).- Lam not aware that any..bause in, Mfinchester, or the district,. consumes so large an* amount of goods liable to these- dues- as we do, and yet I do.not complain. (Rear, hear.) Healludecl to the bene ficial uses to the working classes, to which these dues had been made.: applicable, along with the t- other sources of income:. We have excellent public bathsi libraries, museums, botania-gardens, parks, an observatory., _hospitals a costly supply of water, an, efficient fire-police,.and: other advan tages but nothing. for the rich—we have- no colleges, no academies , for the sons- of the better clasees r as-tlieyare called — no. The attention of the Liverpool Corporation, seems to have been mainly .direeted: to benefit :the mass of the community. (Hear; hear.) env Manchester frienda-may. say—" That is not connected :with: trade ; you have- been, looking to your selves -after all." But it is the docks-.that bring to us this great populatioa.„ for whom this provision,ia.made; and a very great part of the-orime, and the casrmities, and the law cases of Liverpool, are- in connexion with, these- docks, and that trade, which' certainly passes through cur streets and docks, is the. trade, at the- same time, of the whole nation, and of the world. Mr. CIIAR./EM, SAAMDERS briefly- seconded the resolution,. which was unanimously adopted. Mr. W. RAM,I3ONZ, in moving the next resolution, said he was rather surprised at the modesty,--not usual with members. of his -professien—and still more ,she. morality, of the Vice- President of Beard of Trade. (Hear, hear.) He shou/d - ! have thought that no lawyer woxllChave said that propertty. belonginetto,corporations might ho, spoliated any more thusa the .property of individuals. (Hear, hear) That was not his morality;: and he should be giad to.kaow how the share holders in, those great corporations,. the London and Noah, western, the Great Western, and: the. Great Northern way Companies would like ta.ave• their property in those. concerns-. tak-eia hold of by the. goverstnaent ; or what their' friends ih. Manchester wouldisay if a hungry govertment should seize upon their corporateinteirest in their gas works.. (Hear, bear.) He was called 3.,radical reformer, but ha. was not au, unprincipled revolutitAtist. (Hear, hear, and ekeers4l He was quite sure, if the people of England understood the question, that government would: lose the bill ; and kaaioped, Willey persevered with it, they would lose their places too. M. HAMILTON (Brown, 'Shipley, and Co.), while, he pro- tested earnestly against thia.bill, was not prepared to oppose any reasonable plan for. the abolition of town dues.;: but he thought, as the country would. hare the advantage •of the abo lition, the country should.bear the expense of it, and that it should not fall on individual towns. (Hear, hear, This bill bad no man's good wiahes. It neither abolished;tbe clues nor did justice to the town. (Hear, hear.) It simply transferred the dues to the government, taking them out of the hands of the local authoritiss,,who were always ready to, do what they were asked, to meet, the requirements of trade, He had him self had occasioa, to. represent to the Dock. Committee that there were large.steamers enough, whilst there. was no accom-, modation. What, answer had he received:k He had been asked to state what he required, and was, assured that every thing should be.done to meet his 'wishes.. (Hear, hear.) The result was That a. steamer of 75 feet, requiring gates of 80 feet iii width, was,. on her arrival, immediately accommodated, which, if he.had had to go to the government, might have been in the river to this day. Mr. CIIRISTGPIINE BUSHELL supported the resolution, arguing that the measure of the Board of Trade was a direct attempt tosubvert those municipallinstitutions which,througb, their various ramifications, constituted the basis not only of our liberties, but of our prosperity also; that no act of mat-- administration, on the part of the Liverpool corporation. could be-proved to justify the powers which they at present pos sessed being removed • that a principle of right and justice ought not to be violated, whether an individual or a number of individuals were concerned ; and that, least of all, should principles of right and justice be violated by a government. The resolution was thee, put and carried unanimously. Mr. DANSON moved the adoption of the petition, and repro bated, in severe terms, the spirit which Mr. Lowe manifested, on the introduction of his bill, in placing Liverpool in the same category with a number of places which had abused the public funds with which they had been entrusted, thus placing Liver pool in a false position with the house and the country. Ramsgate, Bridlington, and Whitby were empowered to levy dues because they professed to be ports of. refuge for ships in distress ; and the honourable member (Mr. Lowe) himself, declared that not one of these places, which had for years past been levying port dues, were enabled to discharge one single public duty iu.return. This, however, was not at all the caso with Liverpool, and it was mast unfair to class her with such places. Mr. Danson complained also of the wrong impressions which Mr. Lowe had conveyed by his ignorance of the subject in connexion with Liverpool, and by his mixing up of dock and town rates. Speaking for the shopkeepers, he said that they were heartily in unison with the merchants upon the question of the town dues. With regard to the case of the corporation, when it was fairly known, he believed it to be so strong that they could afford to drop their legal claim altogether, and rely upon the fact that the prosperity, not only of Liverpool, but of the whole country, depended upon the present relations of the corporation to the trade of the port remaining intact. (Cheers.) • Mr. SYDNEY, in seconding the resolution, expressed his regret that Lord Palmerston should have introduced such a bill,—deprecated the attempted distinctions between corporate and private property,—and refused to believe that so un righteous a measure would ever be sanctioned by a British House of Commons. The resolution was then put and carried unanimously. Mr. DAVID HODGSON moved a vote of thanks to the chair man, which was seconded by Mr. J. Torte, and his Worship having briefly replied, the proceedings terminated. THE TO TFN DUES. A SPECIAL MEETING of the Select Vestry was held on Wednesday, for the purpose of considering the propriety of petitioning parliament against the proposed abolition of the Liverpool Town Dues. The Rev. Rector Campbell presided. On the motion of Mr. Churchwarden WOODRUFF, seconded by Mr. Sse.w, the following petition to parliament was adopted : To the honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in Parliament assembled, the humble Petition of the Select Vestry of the Parish of Liver pool, who are the elected Representatives of a Population numbering by the last census 265,000 souls, Sheweth,—That a bill has been introduced into your honour able house by Mr. Lowe, intituled "a bill for the abolition of passing tolls, and the regulation of local dues on shipping." That the said bill proposes to deprive, without equivalent, the Municipal Corporation of Liverpool of the dues upon goods carried in ships, commonly called town dues, a property which, originally created by the undoubted prerogative of the Crown, was purchased from an ancestor of the present Earl of Sefton, by the Mayor, Bailiffs, and Burgesses of Liverpool, and was declared, in 1833, by the Court of King's Bench, to be, by the said purchase, the undoubted property of the municipality. That the said town dues so declared to be the legal right of the Liverpool Corporation have not been restricted in their outlay to local objects. On the contrary, vast sums have from time to time been expended in works of a national character, in the creation of customs and excise offices for the collection of the revenue, in the erection of St. George's-hall for the facility of public justice, as wall for Manchester and the neighbourhood as for Liverpool ; in the conservancy of the river and the port ; in contributing to the formation of ex tensive docks, which have ever been exempt from local rates ; in large convenient landing stages, and in every way to- in crease to the utmost possible extent the commercial facilities of the port. That your petitioners submit that the right of the Corpora tion to the town dues in the present case, instead of havinW been weakened by the Reform Act, as is argued, was only' strengthened and confirmed thereby. That your petitioners also submit, as the guardians not only of the poor, but of the funds of the ratepayers, to whom as burgesses the town dues belong, that the proposal to take away the town dues without compensation under such cir cumstances is fatal to the title of all corporate property, and dangerous also to the secure enjoyment of all other property whatever. Your petitioners, therefore, humbly trust that for the reasons herein assigned the said bill may not be permitted by your honourable house to-pass into law. And your petitioners will ever pray. The CV:PERMAY, before putting the resolution, said great objection to this bill is, that it is an act of confiscation ; it takes away property, which I- maintain is the- property of the burgesseekof Liverpool, without compeneation. This is an act of confiscation which is not justifiable. In contradiction to the specioca- casuistry of theorising= politicians, that cor porate property is public property, liable to confiscation at the caprice of the legislature, without equivalent or compensation. I believe that the property of the municipality of Liverpool is the private property of the burgesses of Liverpool, that the Town Council are. its trustees, elected by ourselves as its guardians and conservators, and that to rob us of it without compensation will be au act as unconstitutional as it would be to rob the Earl of Derby of his estates; or the house of Russell of its property at Woburn Abbey, Tavisteek, and Covent-garden, granted, to it by the Crown..out of the-plunder of the church; a corporation defined as a body politic authorised by the King's charter to have-ncounon seal, com prised of members, able- by their common consent, to- grant and receive in law anything within the - compass of their charter. The town dues were bought for a price by the-bur gesses of Liverpool in- their corporate capatity, and are. now the legal property of us,. the burgesses of Liverpool, in - our corporate capacity, andleau only be taken from us; vithout equivalent, by a violation of the law. I grant that corporate property, like all other property, is the creation of the law,. andtherefore subject to the rep-colatiou of the 'law ; and that corporate property may be- taken from a corporation forthe .public good in the same-way that a man's house or land may be.taken from him for the public good, as in the rase of rail. , ways- or street improvements; but they are not taken away: 'without an equivalent. TO confiscate the property 'of , a corpo ration upon the pretence-that it is public property; is give a,handle to the dangerotis-errors of Socialists, who maintain' that all. property is a theft.and.an usurpation ; that the great . and-crying evil of the time al-the usurpation of thaltmd;the gift' of God,. from the people—that all the land, houses, and mines must be restored to the people--and that without - the restora tion of this property reforming is unavailing. If 'the pro•. perty of the Corporation of- Liverpool is injurious -to the public interest, take it away ;: but first prove that it - is in jurious, and then give compensation. But what is-the injury of the town dues ? The charge, lam told, upon a bale of cotton and.l can hardly think that this will justify confiscation Upon the pretence that it is restriction on the freedom of-trade. The petition was unaninarAisly - agreed to, and the-chairman was -authorised to proceed to -London to make the--necessary arrangements for its preserAation-ta) the House of Ominous. The Vestry then broke ups. L.IKERPOOL CHANTER of COMMEaCR: A. SPECIA/.. meeting of the-Liverpool Chamber of Commerce • was hald.on. Saturday, at the- Offices, Exchange-buildings, to take- into , consideration the government bill in avow of. Limited .Liability in Partnership- The chair was occupied by Charles. Holland, the president; and there wasan miu— sudlyklarge- attendance of members, among whom .ere - Mr. Torrithe-vice-president, Mesers,Christopher Bushell;. Alder-- man... Bennett, Sheil, Kelly, Lamont, llvhbaek, Gilli.Cookc,- Bibby, - Macae, Jackson, Heath, .Janson, Lister, llohicruess,. Forget; Dixon, Tomlinson, Frbwse„ Farnworth, Rea, Frost, . Pickering.;. Walker, Lang, Lunla i Robertson, Beazlsy, Hey-- worthy.:Swinton Boult, Francic- - dlinit, Fisher, Boyd, Andsrson,, ~. • Nrc TOPAI affirmed that the- princiPle of limitect liability was-fraught with mischief, and pointed, in proof this ) . to the-- fact that a. number of rotten auddei..-repid concerns werelook, ing,zto theauticipated act of 2arliament to prop them up. The mercantile-community could. not allow a measure of this kinds to ;ass-without the strongest remonstrance against the want of proteetibu of the public which. it displayed, ans'chepre-- mintuit - atrzost seemed to extr.;nd to- fraud. Under these,cir--I cumstances, he moved, "'Tat the-bill introduced into , parlia- ment• entitled `A Bill to =new:tate Law of Partnership,' is. fraught with evils of the greatest magnitude to the-true in-• terests-oftbe commerce and credit of this country."' M.- Clamsrorrrun Busicnnii, in a lengthy speech,.secondedi the proposition, believing that: thebill recently intro dhced into the house- by Mr: Lowe was fraught with evils of thegteatest magnitude to the commerce-of the country. E3O:VARD HEATu, er.,president of the Chamber, had, nolesitation in reiterating the-sentimeuts he had. on \former ccetisions.freely expressed on this- subject. Having urged that-. it wasa, libel on all commercial and trading integrity to say , that - partnerships under this- bill would not be-as honestly. entered: into as those framod. under. the old law, he-:..'onelude& by-moving, as an amendment, "That the principle-cfethebilli is sound, and worthy or adoption, but that provision should', be made for capital lent under the clauses of this bill remain, lug liable to all debts contracted while in the hands of the borrower Ito connect responsibility strictly with extensibility], ..:And: to give facilities to the-public for ascertaining::ben loans Are- w it hd raw n ." Mr. JOHN DIXoN seconded: the amendment. Mr. ROBERT LAM01.5.:r.,;. in snpporting the amendment, sug• gested the insertion of aalaraoTaph, to the effect thut anlause should be introduced into.tbelill, postponing the cluim.of the lender of money until aU the creditors were satisfied. After a discussion„4 which several members.took:part,.the amendment was lost by. ahmt two to one. Siverat. other amendments were suseessirely negatived, arA. the. original motion was carried by : 25.. to 12. Mr. MAcPIB then.,iioved " That the councilkthia:charober Ibe instructed to tc.ke• immediate action upon, the foregoing resolution, and by- orpatition embodying such,resolution, and declaratory of the former decision of the chomber,.supported by a deputation from the couueil, to prever.t, if possible, the till to amend the-low of partnership passitolle legislature, or any other inmeAre which seeks to introilAc.e.soina.terial an innovation." This gave rise to, another warm discussinth. and ultimately it was carried by 20. to 9. On the proposition of Mr. TommzisoN., seconded by Mr. FISHER, the council were recommended., to. inquire vigilantly into the prof4ious of the bill for the btaerporation and regu 7 lation of joint-stock companies, and to amply teparliament for a further at4suftleient extension of tiria.before it was sent to the connittoe,in order that they might f . beable to make them selves acquainted with its provisions. This concluded the business • ant?;, after a sitting of four hours, aowte of thanks to the chairman terminated the pro ceedings., ('KITED GASLIGHjT COMPANY. 'Xiia half-yearly meeting woz.held, an Tuesday; Mr. G. H. Lawrence in the chair. M CARSON read the following report : 'At the half-yearly meeting, in February, the directors hare. only to request the proprietors to authorise the payment of a dividend arising from the current yew's profits up to the 3ist December, 1855, as the annual accounts will not be made. up until the 30th une, pursuant to the company's Act of "'orna ment. The directors, afte a careful examination of the accounts, are prepared to recommend to the proprietors now to declare a dividend, for the balf-year ending the 31st December last, at the rate of £5 per cent. an the consolidated stock et the com pany, and of 14s. Id. on the £25 A shares; such dividends to be payable on tie 20th instant. At the meeting of the proprietors, in August last, their attention was celled to the inquiry on gas supply then pending before a committee of the Town Council. Subsequently that committee made a report, a copy of which was officially trans mitted to the directors, whereupon they gave it their full con sideration, and without delay prepared and sent to the Council their reply. Both documents have been extensively circu lated, and therefore the directors felt it unnecessary to set them forth at length in this report. The directors have rea son to believe that their reply was favourably received by the public, and that it has tended to remove no inconsiderable portion of the prejudice which has been created by parties whose interest it is to keep up a constant agitation with respect to gas supply in this borough. The Town Council, at their meeting on the 9th day of January last, passed certain resolutions on this subject, a copy of which was transmitted to the board, and the same, with the directors reply thereto, will be submitted to the meeting. The Town Council, at its meeting on 'the 13th instant, took into consideration the question of gas supply, and sanc tioned the appointment of an inspector of meters, which they considered all that was necessary for the protection of the public. The directors can only assure the consumers that no exer tion on their part shall be wanting faithfully to carry out every provision in the act of parliament for their interest, and that, too, with the utmost liberality consistent with the just claims of the proprietors. As the whole amount has been paid up on the 1270 £25 A shares, being the shares numbered 8081 to 9350, . both inclusive, the directors recommend that they be now con verted into consolidated stock, such conversion to take effect from the Ist day of April next. - That inasmuch as the sum of £31,400, which was secured on the bonds of the company, has been paid out of funds belong- [FIBRuAizt 26, 1856. ing to the company, the directors request the proprietors to pass a resolution authorising them to re-borrow the like sup". of £31,400." The CHAIRMAN stated that, though there was no dimilitt' tion in the amount recommended for dividend, the reductioll in the amount of gas from 4s. 6d. t o 4 s . h a d ma d e a n• inroad upon the funds of the company, which even increased O li c i sumption could not at present counte r b a l ance . He I, ° great faith, however, in the elasticity of the concern, if t h l were only allowed to preserve unha rasse d th e ev en tenor 0, their way. The most serious charges had bee n made agd!o sb them, not only as a company, but i n th e i r i n di v id ua l capdc,t7; but he felt confident that, in the reply of the directors, t ue . l, had fairly met and refuted all these charges. In conclusio n : the company would meet the official s , w h o m i g ht b e appointtl by the council to test the metres, in the most cordial sPir l i as they believed such an appointment would be advantageo us both to themselves and to the public. The report was the n adopted, the dividend of 5 per cent. for the half-year adn c " tioned; and the directors empowered to borrow g31, 4 r, under the provisions of the act. The re so l u ti on f or th e collie' v dation of the £25 A shares was carried unanimously. ECCLESIASTICAL INTE LLIGEYCA PREFERMENTS AND APPOINTMENTS. Rev. E. L. Blenkinsopp, Perpetual Curate of St. Jamesitt Lathona, to be officiating Chaplain to the Army in Turkey. Rev. A. Carden, B. A., to the Perpetual Curacy of Tredingtouf Gloucestershire. Rev. A. Caxenove, 8.A., of Exeter College, Oxford, to the Curacy of Frittenden, Bent. • Rev. W. R. Co!beck, 8.D., Vicar of Fressin g a e ld, S u ffolk, to aliiiii"sio' • rl honorary Canonry in the Cathedral of Norwich. ship of o ß r . M Cow, ode e r l I n College, Calcutta. f• il 0 Rev. W. H. Devil', to the Stipendiary Curacy of the WI. Liverpool. r o y f a ll n l az p i I o a l l e i t n i c H a i all E c , o O n K o r m o r y d f y i it t o t t l I , t e e P P r r e o s f i e d s e s n o c r i Rev. H. Hall, M. A. r tathe Rectory of Semley, near Shaftesbil Rev. E. M. Hall. WA. ; Incumbent of Idl e , to beChaplato the North Bierley Union r Bradford. Rev. H. F. Harnitton,HtA, to the Rectory of Langton-, Herring' sear Weymouth. Rev. R. M. Hope, to thelricarage of Ecclet hall, Staffardstrirr••4 Rev. E. G. Hunt, M.A., to be Chaplain Priest of the Fari o " Ottery St. Mary. Devon. Rev. W. S. C. Lowndes tolbe• Rectory of Hartwell, with' lit tle Flampden, near Aylesbury. • Rev. I. P. Prescott, M.A., to the Rectory of Willi n gale DO ef with Shellow Bowells, Essex. Rev. F. Simpson, sen., to theNicarage of Carnaby.cum-gra il, tborpe, Yorkshire. Rev. C. S. Taylor, to the Curacy of St. Mark's, Glouceste r ' [the insertion of the Rev. D. B. Binney' s a pp o i ntment to t ll7 Curacy r a few weeks since, was errbneous.3 Rev. M. Wilkinson, to the Incumbency of Nether P o pp near near York. DIOCESE OF CHUSTER. Tug topay BISHOP of CHESTEZ: intends to hold his nev ordinatiOn at Chester on Trinity Sunday. Candidates I ° r ordination.on that day must send in all their papers compleL e. to Char'.4.3-J.-W. Parry, Esq., Chester,. his• lordship's secretal , on or before Monday the 7th April next ;. after which none can be received, except under special circumstances. THE BISHOP' OV LITCHFIELD A.I.TXX. 4r NFXOTIA.T IOSS FOE Pnaors....—The following address to the clergy of "'L i diocese, from' the Lord Bishop of Litchfield,. has just bee 3 published :—'To-the Reverend the Clergy... of the Diocese of Litchfield.—EceleshalL. Feb. 18.—My ReVerend Frethren, -- We are at a ertsis-of no )tittle importance intur national state. The war, for the successful issue of which , we not long since implored the protection of Almighty God). has , ram or,, realised the anticipations. of difficulty and danger and• loss which we entered upon it- While, thereforec. we• look bac' upon its events ; .ive-haveinuch cause to be humbled: But we have much canoe 'to .be thar.lifid, also, for the signal' deliver. antes and succerzes with which our arms have-been and yet more for the unparalleled ministrationsof mercy which; the sufferings of' our siek and wounded soldiers-have•calle ° froth.. The war otill •continues; but the peace conference iric about to be held at'Petris"opeue a prospect of ito.-terminati oo. To the issue of that conference we cannot butbiokswitta n e common anxiety, Involving: as , it must the best interests ; net f this nation alone, but of Europe and the world.. It will. then, I trust, be regarded , otherwise than as aiwo'rd• spo in due season,' if I now ask you to 'beseech and: exhort' the people under your pastoral eare to be earnest in theiristipplico: tions to Him who disposes-the-hearts and minds of He will be pleased to-give• such a spirit of moderation age wisdom) to those whe.are appointed to take a part- , iff , the cog' ference as may leaclth a peace-concluded. upon righttprincipleP, and therefore honourable 'and beneffcial to all, tunducivO ti c , the security and prol:rerity ofnatsons, and to the extension 0.? Christ's kingdom of 'grace 'and. trnthr upon earti There no need to enlarge. Ivan the- subject; it speaka. for itself to' the thoughtful and the patriotic,. to the benevolent and the , Earnestly. - mnmending: it to your considaratiun,. l- remain your affectionate brother and faithful. servant, LIZCIEFLELD." COURT"AND) FASHION. TAN King of Pruciia.las - named Count Victor Scliweria "Hereditary head c00k..-" Pomerania, to be a peer, or membe r fcr life of the First Ch2.mber. Tam Queen has created- the Earluf Kenmare, in the peoragl; of Ireland,. a Baron cfahe United. Kingdom, by the title 011 Baron. Kenmare, of Cable:Bosse, in the county of K.3rry. Isis. considered pros able thatTtilfrEmperor of Austria wil l consent to be the godfather, by proxy, to the expected „heir to . the French throne. An ,Austrion• miment is to bear :the . norne.of the Emperor of;the French. Tzz Qum/ has dirtedletters•patant to be passed ander - el' Great Seal, granting- the, dignity of a Baron of the 17.niteu' Kingdom unto Sir Girt . John Heatheote, Bart., and to lily heirAmale, by the name,, style and. title of Baron A /e land of Aveland,. in the county.. of Lum.oki— • _ Sta lIEIIRY &A.'s reeiguedhis•respensible post as prinriPal librarian to the British, MUseum,.on: Saturday. The-raters" , has- served the publin•faithfully for more than fifty y33r s i during which time he has--not merely filled his office with4atis faction to men of letters ; but has.made important additions to the-great body of doeim - tzutarTillustrations of Nnglishhiatell . —Atienteum. • FiLTI(.CE DE ToRELat4 .of Naples ) _ after having, a fecvda9 s. since; passed the eveuing_at the.: house of one of his friend''' . on. his. return home villa-found dead. is his carriage from su attack >of apoplexy. 'The .-Princo.was the head of ona- of 'the branches of the ancient house of Carracciolo, from which has troseeded many illustiousvarriors, cardinals, and even Pope. Am?noAcerrrG 111.atatister.N—A. marriage is arranged..? take place early in the-spring between Sir Frederick Leupois . Arthur, Bart., and Lakly.Elizabeth Hay, third daughter of .th° Earli aid Countess of The marriage of Lady.. Al l" gusts Hay, fourth daaghter.of.theKarl and Countess 0f.,10 4 vi noun;, with the Hon- John. Twislatou Fiennes, eldest , servo' Lord Saye and Sele, willitaha tolaca-at the same time, Da is rumoured that Lord,s.Combermere, Strafford ; Seatoo c , aexi Cathcart, have heen....nanled as members of the. Goad o', Inquiry about to assertible, to consider the Crimean. re port Fru , John M'lsTeill. As much.of the. subject in questi-at, relate' . to' the cavalry, it is highly desirable that experienced. cavalry officers, such as Go/tends Brotheeton, Lovell, Maelean;.BS" should be associatelwith . the above• distinguished vaterans,o - them in theizrdaliberations. Tits Queen held.tite first levee. of the season on Wednesdal; in St. James's Palace. Her" Majesty wore a train of blue Ale' white silk brocade,.. titimoical with white blonde ; and. a whit e satin petticoat, trimmed with white satin ribbon aud-whit e Monde. The QUMII wore • on , the head a diamond.: and rubi, circlet. His Royal Highness. the Duke of Camhvidge his Serene Highaess Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar were present at the levee.•. The presentations were nurr_ecoue, Os Tuesday morning, Her Majesty, accompanied .by Prince Albert and a partyofladies,ana attended also by Lord Faun:lure:* visited the Arsenal Lt Woolwi2h, for the purpose at inspect the trophies hrouglit. from, Sebastopol, by the- RuCOPhal lls i The principal object which. attracted the attentica of the re)? party was a field-piece with a ball stuck fast alc the male It is presumed, from, the peculiar position of the ball in the gun, that the-14tter• was. struck by a shot from au .Engiis' piece just as itt was discharged. The edge ot:th,e,.bore thereby flatteued in such a manner that the hall, could 1 19 _, come out. litle royal party having stayed abouthroe,quartew of an hour, r3tarned to. town, at noon. The electionaor-Leomiuster terminated, on.Thesday,in ti le ` return of the • conservative candidate ; the numbers, a t tivl close, beiagz—Hardy,. 179 ; Campbell, 101. Mr. Gathort° Hardy staall for Bradford on the ConservatiVe side in,lB- 1 f: along with, Mr. Wiekam, the present representative.. 1 father, ..30191 Hardy,. Esq., a great proprietor, of ironwork' the town„represeated Bradford in two parliaments. The-soy" G. HardY i .iS a rising man on the northern, circ,uit, and. tea; second-class at Oriel College, Oxford, the year in which the,' were only. one or two first-class men. He is a. man of latrr fortune, though a younger son. His fatter left him £250.,0°"‘ His politics are decidedly conservative, but, moderate. Ti,AE death of the Duke of Norfolk,. Premier puke, and hereditary Earl Marshal of England, took place on Monday' at Arundel Castle, after two years' gradual. declining healt though it was only on the day of his death th a t serio o , symptoms exhibited themselves. 7be. deceased Duke w s 'f born, on the 12th of August, 1791,. and. married 27th °, st Deceraber, 1814, Lady Charlotte Leveson Gower, elde f daughter of Granville first Duke of Sutherland, and sister 0 ,, the present Duke. By that marriage the late Duke had We i l sons and two daughters—namely,, the Earl of Arundel al 3 _4 Surrey (now the seventh Duke, of Norfolk, Lord Edvvo„l". Fitzalan Howard, M.P., married to Miss Talbot, niece of tc late Earl of Shrewsbury, Lord Bernard Howard, who died Egypt a few years ago ; Lady Mary, married to Lord F 0 15; and Lady Adeliza, married last autumn to Lord Geor,, 4 Manners, M.P. The late Mike, when Earl of Surrey, wt'i l the first Romanist who took the oaths and his seat the House of Commons after the passing of the Romalln Emancipation Act in 1829. The bill received the r05,.':, t the resigned l3th o f bas. April, s e returned for that borough, and took his seat in the Hous o . o assent H o r s h a o t i n i , . Commons on the Otb. of May following. He was ag. 11 ,1 returned for Horslikun at the general elections of 1830 51 11, 1831. At the next general election in 1832 he was re tartle.. l at a , li a d nd M the it. E ll arl H of ur S s u t, rr i e l f . vi l; :f in conjunction with Lord George Lennox, for the Westert'o Division of Sussex, and continued its representative uP 5 ,3 1841, when his. Grace was summoned by writ to the 11 °.1 1 00 of Lords, during the lifetime of his father, by the qp.: of Baron Maltravers, one of the ancient titles of the far°, 11:e -and on the 10th of March, 1842, he succeeded to the a u , ic e dom, on the death of his father. In July, 1839, his G r ",,de was a ppointed Treasurer of the Queen's Household, and 11 ,'' 1 0 a Privy Councillor. On Sir Robert Peel's retirement fr e t office in July, 1846, he succeeded the Earl of Jersey as 31 35 ,0 of the Horse, which office he held until the formation of Earl of Derby's ministry, Oa the Earl of Aberdeen tal' i o office, he was made Lord Steward of the Household, but 0 0 eep afterwards relinquished that place to Earl Sp encer , in D' ber, 1853. In politics his Graco was a Whig. He wash'-re" incensed at the Romish aggression, and the same year.,rel). flounced the Romish faith, and joined the Anglican Cl i " The deceased is succeeded in the dukedom and ancient honours by his son Henry Granville, Earl of Arundel, o e Surrey, born Nov. 7, 1815, and married on the 19th of J I :0 1 1839, to Augusta Mary, daughter of Admiral Sir Edf ° Lyons; G.C.8., Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterra ll o v fleet, by whom he has a youthful family. The present Die' was formerly in the Royal Horse Guards, a n d on his re o p; ment from the army, in 1837, entered the House of Conl e ro' as representative for Arundel, whi c h h e sa t f or in se' fei; parliaments. He also sat for the city of Limerick for 5 0 0 months. The Duke is a rabid Romanist, and highly este; the hy the Romish clergy. The l a t e D u k e was a K n i g ht 0 oc ie' Garter, a Fellow of the Royal Society, a n d severa l o ther s o d tics. The hereditary office of E ar l Ma rs h a l, so l ong conti'froO, in the Norfolk family, is descended by th e f ema l e side, Asti Thomas De Mowbray, Earl of Nottingh am , the firs' ''fr,rslial of England..