The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-05-07 00:00:00

Entputal Varitament. HOUSE OF LORDS.—MoNnAr. Lord COLCHESTER wished to know if the Board of Directors of the East India Com) any had assigned any reasons for the recal of the Governor-General of India, and if sa, what were those reasons ? (Hear.) The like of WELLINGTON said the Beard of Direc tors had certainly stated their reasons, which were not considered valid by her Majesty's government : nay, fur ther, ministers had remonstrated against the procedure of the Board of Directors, though at the same time there could he no doubt that the Board had acted in a perfectly legal manner in recalling the Governor-General. The Board had that undoubted right conferred upon them in 1784, and it had been ratified since that time ; but it was a right which ought to be exercised with discretion. The present exercise of power. to say the least of it, was not a discreet exercise. (time, hear.) He repeated it was not a discreet exercise of power to recal an officer who had been in office little more than two years, and who had given satisfaction—recalling him, too, without making provision for a successor, in the present critical state of India. (Hear.) It was the mote indiscreet, inasmuch as the members of the Board, as a body, had no know ledge whatever of the causes which induced the Governor- General to act as be had thortglit fit ' • it was indiscreet, he repeated, to recal that o ffi cer, who had given such sa tisfaction. He would illustrate that indiscretion by going a little further. The Board of Directors, eto doubt, fre quently issued orders for a renal ; but they had hitherto, in most cases, attended to the remonstrances of the Go veramente even with respect to the present Governor- Geseral,during the last year they bad done so. What, he would ask, would kave become of the great operation beforeGuelior, if his noble friend the Governor-General had been withdrawn six or eight months ago? Conse quences-of a most dangerous character might have taken plaeelhad the grossindiscretion of the recal been persisted in. The present recal was the most indiscreet exercise of power.he had-cver witnessed during the long period of time that he had been in power. Lord Banuos AM said, it appeared to him to be a very anomalous law by which the'Governor-General was com pelled to take office. He was of opinion that ill-omened clause in Mr. Pitt's bill Of 1789 was intended to be con sidered as a.deed 'letter, and, if exercised, only to be so with the utmost discretion. Whether that had been done on the present occasion he left the house to judge, alter the strong censure pronounced by the noble duke. The Marquis of CLAN RiCARDE expressed his surprise that the 'noble duke opposite should pronounce such a grave eee-ure against the East India Company without giving rfdble lords some notice of his intention. The house could not but suppose that the Board of Directors had - ccgent reasons for acting as they had done. He wished to know if it were the intention of ministers to lay on the table the conespondence which had taken place between the Board of Control and the East India Com patty The Duke Of 'WELLINGTON said there could be no ob jection to give all the information possible. Lord Cestenene could not help regretting that the noble duke bad thought proper to pronounce, on this oc casion, such a heavy censure on the directors of the East India Company. The noble duke should be aware th at what fell from 'bun had very great weight; and he was sure that all who'heard and all who would read what had fallen from him must come to the conclusion that he strongly condemned the conduct of the East India Direc tors. 'lt might turn out that they were to blame, but at present the censure was altogether premature. Their lordships.were ignorant of theeircumstances under which this recal had taken place. - The noble duke had informed the house. that the directors bad accompanied their inti mation of the recal with the reasons on which they acted, but with regard to:those reasons the noble duke had been entirely silent. The Marquis of 'LONDONDERRY presented a petition from the coalowners of the north, against the proposed tax on coals, for the improvement of the port of London. Lord 'WHARNCLIFFE said, with reference to the sub ject of a'reduction of the duty upon coals, which had been mentioned in the other house of parliament, he had only to remark that the government had not as yet decided upon carrying out the proposition, and he rather thought that the government would riot at present be disposed to decide upon taking such a course. The Marquis of Nottetesate postponed his motion for an inquiry into the subject connected with the Board of Charitable Bequests in Ireland for another week. HOUSE OF COMMONS. - MONDAY. THE BUDGET. On the notion of the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER the house then went into a committee of ways and means, Mr. Greene in the chair. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER rose and said, — He thought it desirable to avail himself of this opportunity of bringing under the consideration of the house the view of the financial condition of the country which the house is entitled to expect, and , which it must be anxious to re ceive at the bands of her Majesty's government. He was happy—and he was sure those hon. gentlemen who differed from his views would be happy also—that the views which he bad entertained of a speedy revival of industry and commercial enterprise had been realised, and that the alarming forebodings which were indulged in had turned out to be groundless. He called the attention of the house to the situation in which they stood when this question was last before them, touching more particularly on the China opium debt. The balance sheet showed on one side £2,000,000 to have been received from the East India Company and the China opium claim. The estimate he had made of the public income during the course of last year, has undoubtedly been very greatly exceeded. The amount that had been received from the Customs is £21,426,000, instead of the £19.000,000 at which he had estimated it. This included £350,000 arising from the duties on grain and wines, the importations of both of which were considerably greater than was expected. The duty on sugar had increased £200,000 and upon tea £300,000. There was an augmentation also in the duties on cotton wool, amounting to £200,000. an indication of increased activity in the manufacturing districts. He es timated the excise revenue at £13,000,000, and the amount it yielded was 12,900,000. The taxes estimated at £4,200,000, produced 4,192,000. The increase from the Post-office, he was happy to announce, exceeded anticipa tion, the receipts were £628,000. The revenue from the Crown lands, estimated at 130,000, produced 147,000. The miscellaneous estimates were £870,000, the receipts were £803,000. The total of the estimates on these several items were £50,150,000, and they had produced £52,138,840, being an increase of £2,700,000 beyond his calculations. The army expenditure last year was £6,188.000, being a reduction of £500,000 ! Taking the sums together he had calculated on a surplus of £700.000, but it had from the causes shown, and £650,000 less beipg required for the navy, produced a surplus of £4,165,000. (Loud cheering). At the close of last year there was a deficiency of .£2,400,000. He however believed that deficiency to be rather appar ent.than real, and, recommended to the House to make no provision for the payment of that deficiency—not to raise means by loan for the purpose of getting rid of it, but that it should be defrayed out of the surplus of future years, as circumstances, from time to time, might allo v ; and he was happy to be able to announce to the House that the deficiency for 1843, which amounted altogether to £2,749,000, had been clared off and discharged out of the produce of the revenue of the present year, and after the discharge of the debt incurred in the course of last year, it will enable us to present to the public a surplus of £1,400,000 on the Ist of April last passed.—(Cheers.) So far then as the past year was concerned he believed the House would agree with him tbat his statement was sa tisfactory. He would proceed to consider the estimates and prospects for the year on which they had entered. Mr. Cowrier (Athlone.)—What is the amount of the property-tax ? The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER.—XS,3IS,OOO, which is somewhat larger than the estimate he had made last year, in consequence (as we understood) of there be ing a larger return from Scotland than he had anticipated. Now, in making the estimate for the year on which they had entered, he would adhere to the rule he had laid laid down for himself on a former occasion, that of not being betrayed into too sanguine expectations, which the future would not bear out. He therefore contented him self with taking the Customs at little more than the amount they had actually produced last year, viz., £21,500,000. £BOO,OOO of which was derived from corn ; and as the state of the harvest in this country was not yet ascer tained, he thought it prudent to estimate the Customs at no more than they had produced last year, viz., £21,500,000. He also estimated the Excise as in the year gone by, at £13,000,000. He took the Stamps at £7,000,000, the Assessed Taves at £4.200,000, and the Property Tax at £5,100,000. To these he added the Post office at £600,000 only, and, for this reason, the revenue of the Post-office made some little progress in the course of last year, and he doubted not that in the coarse of next year it would make a certain progress also. The Crown lands he would take at £130,000, and the miscellaneous estimates at £250,000, making a total of £51,790,000. 'With regard to the National debt the payment for the last year was £29,300,000—f0r the present, £27,697,000. (Cries of Hear, hear.") The deficiency of what must be paid in the present year, ascompared with last, amounted to £1,400,000; but the House must not be led into the delusion that that is the real decrease. The real diminu tion of the debt, in the present year, was one-half of the benefit deriveable from the Three and. a-Half per cents., being £313 , 000. The charges for the year on account of the debt and consolidated fund amounted to £3,097,000. This included the Exchequer-bills, and the interest there on. The estimate for the army amounted to £6,616,000. The estimate of the navy to £6,250,000 instead of £6,380,000, es in the preceding year; and, in this expen diture, provision had been made for the great national works, The ordnance to a sum of £1,842,000, and the miscellaneous . estimates, he calculated would amount to somewhere about £3,000,000. He then alluded to the beneficial working of the reduc tion of the Three-a.nd-a-H elf per cents. The amount of dissentients in England amounted to £60,994, and in Ire land to £13,280. He then alluded to the position of Go vernment with the South Sea Co. and the payment of the grant by the 55th George 111., for which a fund had been sunk which now produced about £300,000 ; and there was a deficit of £239,000, for which the public were paying £11,860 a year. lie recommended an arrangement with the company. The total expenditure of the year for the ' ordinary service . £l 7 ,700,000, and for the extraordinary service £816,000, making a total of £lB 546,000. So th a t, if that sum %len' added to , 4 be deht, which was £30,097.170, e the total expenditure of thear would be £48,643.170. It that be deducted from the gro rsatnountof the rev nue, that is £51,790,000, it would leave a'n apparent surplus (subject i to the reductions a hich he h.'d before alb dad to) of £3,116.000, but if allowances were' made for that portion of the debt which will be due next 'ear, that aill 1 ave the sui plus £2,376,000. ('` Hear, 1,,.';0," an I cheer,.) (lie ittoOnle Wit t The hon. gentleman then referred to \` s' which had produced In 1842, £5,100,000, and that this tax was imposed with the double object of supplying, dur ing an interval, the previous deficiency of the regular re venue of the country, and for giving time for certain re pealed duties to recover, so as to be as productive as be fore the reduction was effected. As this question is in teresting and important, we will give the Chancellor's own words upon it. " The income tax was submit'ed by my right hon. friend to the house, and he stated his opi nion that if this tax were continued for five years, it would have the effect which he anticipated, (Cries of " Three years.") My right hon. friend took it for a short's pe riod. My right hon. friend indeed took it Am a shorter period—for three years—and he did so on this ground, that if at the expiration of that period the result which he had anticipated to occur at tne end of five years should not occur; then the house would have an opportunity of considering whether they would continue that impost for the same period, or whether they would take another mode of supplying any deficiency which might exist. I have no hesitation in saying that, at the present moment, I cannot form any estimate of what those reductions may be. When I look at the list of articles in the tariff on which reductions of duty took place, and at the increased consumption which has taken place of those—when I find that only on five has consumption decreased, while on all the rest consumption has increased—l must say, I enter tain, very sanguine feelings as to the ultimate success of the experiment. But the house will be good enough to bear in mind that in some main articles—timber, 1 will especially mention—on which a reduction of the duty has taken place, that reduction did not come into operation until the middle of last year. The experiment, therefore, in these instances, has not had a fair trial; and I am not therefore, prepared to say what course ought hereafter to be pursued in respect of them. In the course of the next year the property-tax must necessarily come under the consideration of the house, and it will be for it to say what course it would pursue with respect to the continuance or discontinuance of that impost." The hon. gentleman then went on to state the reasons which had induced him to refuse to consent to any large reduction of taxation. He proposed, however, to effect some reductions, and the first was to remove the distinc tive duty between flint and bottle glass, the former paying a duty of 2d., and the latter of three farthings. This al teration is to take place on the sth July, and will only cause a reduction of £45,000 a year. He also proposed to repeal the duty on vinegar, which produced last year £23,000. He wished for this reduction, because manu facturers would be much benefited by its repeal, and also because it was an article so generally in use by the public. He would however allow one year for the dealer to get rid of the stock on hand. The next reduction was an import ant one—on marine assurance. "The present rate of duty," said the hon. gentleman, " is as follows :—For every £lOO, where the premium does not exceed 15s. per ' cent., the duty levied amounts to is. 3d. per cent : where the premium exceeds 155., but does not exceed 305., the duty is 2s. 6d. per cent. ; and where it exceeds 305., the duty amounts to ss. per cent. This presses unduly upon small insurances. I therefore propose to reduce the duty and to vary the rates according to the following scale. For every -£lOO insurance, in which the premium does not exceed 10s., I propose to levy a duty of 3d. instead of is. 3d. ; where the premium does exceed 10s., but does not exceed 205., a duty of 6d. instead of ls. 3d. ; and in some cases 2s. 6d., as at present • where the premium exceeds 20s, but does not exceed 30s. a duty of ls. ; where it exceeds 30s. but does not exceed 40s. a duty of 2s. ; where it exceeds 40s. but does not exceed 50s. a duty of 3s. ; where it exceeds 50s. but does not exceed 60s. a duty of 4s. ; and where it is above 60s. a duty of ss. I calculate that during the course of the present year the diminution of revenue consequent upon this reduction will amount to £lOO,OOO. But I calculate that during the course of the following two years after the change shall have been effected, there will be a sensible increase in the disposition of foreigners to come to this country to effect their insurances, and that the country will reap the advantage even if no advantage should be derived by the revenue in consequence of this reduction." He proposed the reduction of the duty on currants from 225. to 155., in consequence of the great con s u m pti on o f the article by the lower orders. The duty on foreign coffee he proposed to reduce from Bd. to 6d., and he in tended to increase the duty on chicory root, which had been mixed with coffee to a great extent. The last article in which he intended to propose any alteration was wool, and he proposed to take off this tax altogether. That duty produced last year about £lOO,OOO. The total proposed reductions would amount, in round numbers, to £400,000. The hon. gentleman then said he was de sirous of placing before the public the determination of government with respect to the article of sugar. (Hear, hear.) He said that the treaty which enabled Brazil to bring slave-grown sugar into this country would expire in November next, and he intended, in mov ing the sugar duties, to recommend to the house, that from and after November next the duty upon sugar produced in those countries which are exempt from the taint of the slave-trade—that do not raise sugar by means of slave labour—shall be reduced from their present amount. By this means we shall throw open, under certain regulations, to countries eastward of the Cape of Good Hepe, a valuable trade, and shall most especially encour age the growing commerce with China, with which country, hitherto, our relations have been extremely confined. In thus speaking of countries eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, I must impress upon the house that I refer only to such with which we have relations, and wherein the sugar is not raised by means of slavery. Sir, the differential duty which I shall propose to this house to be imposed on sugars from count' ies free from the tarnish of slavery will be 10s per cwt.—that whereas British co- lonial sugars pay a duty of 24s per cwt., the sugar from the countries I refer to shall pay 34s per cwt. lam quite aware it may be said that although the treaty with Brazil is brought to a conclusion there is a treaty I with America, which contains a similar clause to the I other, entitles Ametica to the rights extended by us to the most favoured nation. Nothing can be further from my intention than to infringe the letter of any enactment existing with that or any other country, but I think that when we take the discussion on the sugar duties I shall be able to show that the sugar produced in the southern states of North America is not calculated to be brought into competition with the sugar, the produce of free la bour, I have now been speaking of. It would have been desirable to place the reduction of the duty on colonial su gar on a solid and permament foundation ; but it is ob vious that till November next it will beutterly impossible to act up on any principle of that description, for the doing so would paralyseall the trade in the interior. I think that the better course will be to admit foreign sugar at a discriminating duty, and continue it till that period shall arrive when the sugar duties come again under consideration. In doing this, far be it from me to entertain any ill feeling toward those countries whose sugar willremsin excluded. I think the reduction we have made in the coffee of those coun tries proves sufficiently that no such feeling animates the Government. The hon. gentleman, at the close of his luminous address, was loudly c h eere d ; and was congratu lated even by Mr. Hume, on his clear and satisfactory statement. The house shortly after adjourned. HOUSE OF LORDS.-TUESDAY. Lord COTTENHAM, in moving the second reading of his bill to amend the relations of creditors and debtors, explained that its object was to extend the remedy which had been applied in 1838 to executions on mesne process, and to release debtors from i m p r i sonmen t i n any s h ape. The bill was founded upon reports, the one made in 1832 and the other in 1840, to which the names of almost every person whose position entitled his opinion to especial at tention were affixed, and who, although in each case dis senting upon other points, unanimously agreed in the recommendations which were embodied in the bill. He described from these reports the utter ruin, in morals as well as estate, which imprisonment brought upon the debtor and his family, and showed also, upon the same authority, that this evil, to which about 5,000 persons per annum were subjected, was not necessary as a protec tion to the commercial interest. He then entered into a review of the legislation upon the subject down to the act by which arrest upon mesne process had been abolished, exposing the inconsistency of the bankrupt and insolvent laws, and contending that imprisonment, while inflicting great and most unjust cruelty upon the debtor, bad en tirely failed as a safeguard to the creditor. Under the proposed bill the debtor would be compelled to give up his property for the benefit of those to whom he Ras in debted, and would receive as a compensating boon an im munity from imprisonment. The distinction of the law between bankruptcy and insolvency would be removed, and the punishment of fraudulent debtors would be left to the ordinary tribunals, by which the contracting debts without a prospect of paying them would be treated as a substantive offence for the consideration of a jury. The LORD CHANCELLOR highly approved the measure, and promised it his cordial support. Lord Brougham, the Duke of Richmond, Lord Den man, and Lord Campbell, severally expressed their ap. probation of the bill, which was accordingly read a second time. HOUSE OF COMMONS.-TUESDAY. A question was put to Mr. Hogg by Lord JOCELYN, as to the papers which the Court of Directors o f the East India Company might feel disposed to produce iespecting the recall of the Governor-General of India. Mr. HOGG said, he was not the official organ of the Company, and had no authority to make any statement on the subject; but he presumed the Directors w ou ld b e governed by the course which might be pursued by her Majesty's Ministers. Mr. F. M RULE moved for leave to bring in a Bill to regulate the administration of oaths in the Universities of Scotland. These oaths were originally intended to apply to Episcopalians, but they had long been allowed to fall into desuetude, and weie only now revived in order to be enforced, not against Episcopalians but Presbyterians, owing to the recent schism in the Church of Scotland. As an illustration of the way in which these test oaths were made to apply, he stared, that when he was elected Lord Rector of the University of Glasgow, an objection was taken to him that he had joined the Free Church, al though when Sir R. Peel was elected to the same honora ble position, although known to be an Episcopalian, no test whatever was applied to him. His object was that professorships might be held by qualified men withou t the application of any illiberal test, with the exception of the ological professorships, with which he did not propose to interfere. Sir A. L. HAY seconded the motion. Sir J. GRAHAM said, that the Commission of 1830, ap pointed to inquire into the state of the Universities in Scotland, had reported the necessity of a more stringent application of the test. Epi•copalians, it was true, had Occasionally filled offices in the UniverAties, but no Pres byterian Dissenter had ever been allowed to fill any of the professorships, a fact which he much regretted, though he could not ennsent to rerno‘e any of the safeguards of the Church of Srot'and when he saw the open hostility to it avowed by the adherents of the Free Church, and %hen he remembered the importance of maintaining the corn _ pact by which the Universities and the Church of Scotland were declared to be for ever united. The right hon. baro net concluded by declaring himself opposed to the intro duction of the bill. Mr. UUTFIRRFURD said. it was a scandalous 9 - veCtscle to see these te a ts applied to a man like Si . : David Brew ster. By maintaining the test, the:;, were rendering the Church of Scotland sectarian 'hi the worst Blnse of the term. The UAW AnVonATE contended c‘or the necessity of retaining the tests, which was tilt more necessary bcctiuge cif the extent of the late 1-ecession in the Scotch Unwell, although he did not tidtnit that that secession comprised anything like two-thirds of the population. Sir b. CLERK warned the English gentlemen in the house that if this motion were carried they would soon have a similar attempt—indeed the hon. member who had last spoken had already such a motion on the paper—to abolish the oaths in the Universities of England. Some discussion ensued, in which Mr. M'Kenzie, Mr. Bannerman, Mr. P. W. Stewart, Mr. Colquboun, Mr. Hume, and Mr. Forbes took part; after which Mr. Fox Maule replied, and on a division his motion was nega tived by a majority of 128 to 101. The house adjourned at a quarter to one o'clock. THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. HOUSE OF COMMONS.-WEDNESDAY. The Masters and Servants Bill went into committee. Mr. T. DUNCOMBR moved as an amendment that the bill he considered in committee that day six months. Sir J. GRAHAM thought its defects could he got rid of in committee, and that when perfected it would be a use ful measure, he therefore supported it. After some further discussion a division took 'place, when there appeared— For going into committee 54 Against it The bill was lost amid considerable cheering. The house was counted out soon after. HOUSE OF LORDS.-THURSDAY. Earl FITZWILLIAM gave notice that he would, on Tuesday next, move an address to the crown, praying her majesty to appoint a committee, with a view to the issuing of a commission of inquiry as to the points of the country it was desirable to connect by railways. Lord CAMPBELL moved that the house should resolve itself into committee upon his bill for allowing defendants, in whose case a writ of error may be obtained, to put in bail for their appearance to receive sentence, in the event of the decision being unfavourable, instead of at once be coming subject to the punishment imposed by the court appealed against. The LORD CNA NCELLOR denounced the hill as a scarcely disguised attempt to procure for Mr. O'Connell and his co-traversers a further exemption from the punish ment which, in pursuance of its public duty, the court by which they Imci been tried was about to impose upon them, and vigorously resisted a measure which, even on general grounds, he showed to be a means of defeating the ends of justice. In this view the house appeared to coincide, for after a few remarks from several noble lords the bill was sum marily rejected. HOUSE OF COMMONS.-THURSDAY. Petitions were presented in favour of the Ten Hours' Bill, by Lord ASHLEY, from the operatives of Wigan ; from the hands in the employ of Mr. T. Greenhalgh, Messrs. Lomax and Walker, and Mr. J. Hutchinson, of Bury. In answer to a question from Lord Sandon, Mr. GLAD STONE stated that he expected the bill for the alteration of the duties would be passed in the course of a fortnight or three weeks. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER moved for leave to introduce a bill to amend the laws respecting savings' banks. The low rate of interest upon other securities compared with that allowed upon deposits in savings banks had induced investments of money there by many persons not of the classes for whom these institutions had been intended. He proposed, therefore. to reduce the rate of interest in savings banks from 2id. to 2d. a day; and to enact that whenever the capital and interest should amount to £l5O all interest should cease. This bill would make some provisions for preventing abuses by persons investing money in those banks as trustees for others, and would contain some regulations upon minor points. Mr. H UME said he had long been persuaded that it was a fallacy to quote the amount of the deposits in these banks as a proof of the national prosperity. Leave was given to introduce the bill, and soon after six the house adjourned. HOUSE OF LOHDS.-FRIDAY. The LORD CHANCELLOR moved that their lordships should resolves themselves into committee on the Dissen ters' Chapels Bill, the objects of which he stated, and the principle of which he advocated in an able speech which elicited cheers from both sides of the house. The Bishop of LONDON opposed the motion, and con tended that the second clause went to legalise _the illegal use of a great trust. It was an ex pose facto law to legalise the use of chapels for purposes entirely contrary to those for which they were founded. It proposed that the application of the chapel for the last twenty years should he decisive as to the intention of thefonnder ; but surely it would be far better to take the application of it for the first twenty years of its foundation. The right reverend prelate moved as an amendment that the bill should be committed that day six months. . . . . . Lord BROUGH AM supported the bill of which be entirely approved. Its object was to prevent litigation by render ing it unnecessary to inquire into the peculiar tenets of the founder where there was an actual possession for thirty years. Besides it was a common thing for persons to leave sums to found chapels where doctrines were taught diametrically opposite to their own. The Bishop of EXETER said that although he stood, he believed, alone in his opposition to the first clause of the bill, yet in the exercise of his duty he felt it necessary to resist the legalising of bequests which were illegal ut the time they were made, because of the illegality at that time of the doctrines which they were intended to inculcate, although these doctrines might have been since that pe riod legalised. Lord COTTENHAM supported the bill, as did also Lord CAMPBELL, after which The Bishop of LONDON said he would not press his amendment to a division, perceiving from the feeling of the house that he had no chance of carrying it. After some observations from Lord TEYN HAM, the bill went through committee ; and their lordships then ad journed. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—FRIDAY. On the motion for the house resolving itseif into com mittee on the Factories Bill, Mr. ROEBUCK moved as an amendment, "That it is the opinion of this house that no interference with the power of adult labourers in factories to make contracts respecting the hours for which they shall be employed, be sanctioned by this house." He contended that the fac tory labourer was better paid and did not work harder than the agricultural and other labourers—indeed, the worst feature of his condition was, its being meddled with by the vice of legislation. He was anxious to emancipate the labourer from the heavy weight of Lord Ashley's humanity, and exceedingly regretted that Sir J. Graham should have meddled with the question of interference. Sir J. GRAHAM said that non-interference with adult labour was the principle of the bill as well as of the ex isting law, and it only went to carry out the protection to young persons, which was sanctioned by the legislature in 1833. The only departure from the prit &pie of the existing law was its interference with adult female labour, and this interference was sanctioned by the great majority of the manufacturers as a check upon the unfair opera tions of competing manufacturers. Females working in factories were entitled to protection, and he took his stand upon the necessity of limiting their toil to a period which their constitutions might enable them to sustain. Lord Howicx expressed his surprise that Sir J. Gra ham should call upon them to pass a bill which he admitted to be a violation of principle. The bill before the house was a feeble commencement, but it established the princi ple of interference, and if pasted it would he impossible to draw back. If any evils Omni(' result they must re medy them by throwing down all artificial restraints and commercial monopolies. Sir H. PEEL, admitted that the moral and intellectual improvement of the labouring population had been too much neglected by the legislature, but he feared that if a limitation to ten hours were adopted a struggle might fol low between wages and profits to the diminution of the comforts of the labourer, and thus the only consequence of an attempt to promote mortality by law would be the defeat of their own object. The interference aith female labour was, no doubt, a deparure from principle, but it was justified by the beneficial effects which were likely to flow from it. Lord J. RUSSELL said he was opposed to the amend ment of Mr. Roebuck, but thought interference should be limited to persons under 21 years of age, and that the ten hours principle should be gradually arrived at. Lord ASHLEY vindicated his former statements re spectirg labour in factories from imputations cast upon them by Mr. Roebuck. He declined discussing the ten hours principle until it should come regularly before the house upon the motion of which he had given notice upon the third reading of the bill. Afer a few observations from Mr. C, Wood, Mr. Ains worth, Mr. Fielden, Mr. M. Philips, and Mr. Parker, the house divided, and Mr. Roebuck's amendment was negatived by a majority of 282 to 76. The other orders of the day were then disposed of, and the house adjourned. FATHERS,GUARD YOUR DAUGHTERS FROM INFIDELS. —The Times gives a long account of the secret history of the capture, &c. of the parties convicted in the late will forgery cases. The article concludes with the following history of the two females implicated :—" The mother of Mrs. Dorey and Mrs. Saunders was the daughter of an aged soldier of the name of Crene, a pensioner at Fal mouth, and their father (Win. Richards) was the steward of a Lisbon government packet. On the proclamation of peace, Mr. Richards went to Lisbon to establish himself there, but he soon afterward died in embarrassed circum stances in that city. The daughters had been brought up as nailiners, but on their father's death, the mother and daughters opened a china shop at Falmouth, where they remained a few years, when they removed to Biddlesham, in Somersetshire, and at last to New Bond-street, Bath. where they carried en the business of straw-bonnet makers. In this street Sanders kept a fish shop, and thus from the circumstance of neighbourhood, became ac quainted with Lydia, who played the part of Emma Slack, and it is believed, led the unfr , rtunate n , an, with the aid of her sister, into all •lie mischief and misery, to the de- Oils of a hi. h the piii,Le have been so long accip.t rated. Here, also, Mrs. 1) r, y, then Genrgiana Richards, lv c-,nne ai qithinted will, Ca lisle, on on;., of his visits to !hit came, and to the blosplieo‘ous doctrine. city, surf 10 this et Carlisle, the whole of the _Mindy ascribe their lota. ruin." FORF IUN A,\D COLONIAL. INDIA AND CHINA. (From the Times.) iltwe received by extraordinary express Calcutta pa pers of the 14th, and Bombay papers and correspondence to , 4* 13th of March inclusive, brought by the Bentinck, bleb reached Suez on the 12th of April ; they were brought to Marseilles from Alexandria direct by the French steamer. The latest dates brought by the Bentinck, which reach ed Suez on the 12th instant, are from Calcutta to the 14th, and Bombay to the 13th March. The steamer Carnac was despatched from Bombay on the evening of the 13th to Ceylon, to meet the Bentinck, on her passage from Cal cutta to Suez. The mails which had left London on the 6th of Febru ary had arrived at Bombay, but the letters were not to be delivered until the following day. The most important military news refers to the refusal of one Madras and two Bengal regiments to proceed to Scinde on finding that they were not to be allowed full batta. There is nothing of importance from Lahore and Aft% ghanistan, but it is supposed that these two states will shortly come to open hostilities. The Sesostris arrived at Bombay on the 10th of March from China, which country she left on the 15th of Febru ary, having on board, amongst other passengers, Major- General Sir James Schoedde. The town of Victoria was quite healthy, and it was hoped that the ensuing summer would not be so fatal as the last. Several daring attempts at robbery had been made at Hong Kong. Sir H. Pot tinger had evinced an earnest desire to act up to the treaty with China. Her Majesty's 55th Regiment was under orders for immediate embarkation for England. Her Majesty's ship Dido, Captain Keppel, left for Calcutta on the 2d of February, having on board Lord Saltoun, late Commander of the Forces, who arrived at Suez in the Beniinck, and will proceed to England by the (Great) Li verpool. Little was doing in teas on account of the high prices demanded. The Governor-General arrived at Calcutta on the 28th of February , and on the 29th published a most liberal grant of batta to all the troops that were engaged in Gwa lior and in Scinde. India in general is tranquil. _ _ A letter from Calcutta, dated March 15, contains this passage :—" Scinde is finally and for ever annexed to the British possessions." Malta letters of the 23d of April, received by this ex press, brings no news." HURRICANE OFF THE MAURITIUS. Within the last few days the subjoined intelligence has been received at Lloyd's, announcing a most fearful storm having occurred in the month of January last, off the Mauritius, by which, we regret to state, several splendid ships were totally lost. It is described to have been the severest that has visited that island for many years, and lasted nearly 28 hours. Among them the H ugh Matthie, an Indiaman, on her first voyage, having only been launch ed by the owners, Messrs. Sparks and Co., at Maryport, in Devonshire, in the early portion of last year ; and the purpose for which she put into the Mauritius was to land about eighty emigrants and their families from Calcutta, and afterwards to proceed on the remainder of the voyage to England. Through the zeal and vigorous exertions of the captain and pilot. every soul (except one man) was saved. The unfortunate person who was lost was one of the emigrants, who, it seems, was washed overboard by the breakers. The last letters received from the Mauri tius state that the ship had become a complete wreck, and her fragments have been sold to the highest bidder. She had a valuable cargo on board, consisting of merchandize and East India produce, very little of which was saved. The total loss was computed at £25,000 portions of which sum will fall on one or two insurance companies. The emigrant ship Amity was also a beautifully built ship, and it is somewhat remarkable that she likewise was on her " first passage" when overtaken and destroyed by the tempest. This ship belonged to Liverpool, which port she sailed from for Bombay in June last, and made an ex traordinary quick passage. From Bombay she proceeded to the Mauritius, with emigrants for that Island, which place she reached in safety on the 2d of January. One of the vessels that left Liverpool at the same time that the Amity did, was unable to bear up against the violence of the ocean, and was eventually hurled upon the rocks. Two other ships soon shared a similar fate, which, lamentable to detail, also had a number of emigrants on board. The ship Marion, Captain Ross, 350 tons burthen, also in the emigrant trade, was wrecked within a short distance of the spot where the H ugh Matthie went on shore. She was from Calcutta, and had a valuable and miscellaneous cargo ; providentially the whole of the emigrants were saved, though they endured the most severe sufferings, con equent anon their destitute state. She was lost under precisely similar circumstances to those already detailed. The Malay brig, Captain Shaw, with a number of emi grants also on board, was lost at the same time on the same coast. The whole of the passengers were saved, as also the crew. Another ves ,, el, called the Bordeaux, was lost during the storm, but all on board saved. _ Letters were on Friday evening received, mentioning the total loss by fire of the ship Palestine, between 500 and 600 tons burthen, belonging to the port of Newcastle upon-Tyne, off the Cape of Good Hope, in the month of February last. Great anxiety is felt for the safety of the crew: none of them have b en seen or heard of since the occur rence. She left Newcastle in the early part of Septem ber last, and was bound for the East Indies. The Havannah papers mention the failure of the house of M ooyor and Co., of that place, for 700,000 dollars. ANOTHER DUEL.—We are sorry to be compelled to state that a duel took place Yesterday morning, between General W. Debuys, the State-treasurer, and Mr. R. Richardson, which is likely to be attended with fatal con sequences and deprive the State of a valuable servant. The parties met at the New Orleans Ball-room, at twelve o'clock, and fought with sharpened foils. Mr. Richard son was severely wounded in the shoulder, and General Debuys was run through the lower part of the body. We were informed last evening that but faint hopes were en tertained of his recovery.—New Orleans Tropic, 25th March. INTOLERANCE AT ROME.—A weekly meeting of Eng lishmen has for some time past been held in Rome, in the apartments of an Englishman of rank, for the purpose of reading the Scriptures and prayer, at which the Dean of Ardagh has presided, and Dr. Keith. the writer on pro phecy ; Dr. Harris, of Cheshunt ; Mr. Ellis, the South Sea missionary ; several English clergymen, and persons from Germany and America, have been present. On one of these occasions, the assembly was turned into a mis sionary meeting, in behalf of the London societies, and Lord Gainsborough took the chair. The ecclesiastics, however, although they complain so loudly of the exclu sion of the Jesuits by the Queen of Tahiti, have put a stop to the meetings. The landlord of the house in which the meetings were held was sent for, and a prods verbal was drawn up (which he was compelled to sign,) enjoining him not again to let his house to " Methodists," and not any more to hold a public kitchen in bis house. The poor man d;d not so much care about the first part of the order; but applied to the government to relax the order about his kitchen. This they at once did ; saying, their object had only been to stop the meetings, and, if that object were effected, he need not be afraid to furnish dinners. Of course, this policy succeeded, and the meetings ceased. Letter in the Globe. IRE LAND. THE DUBLIN TRIALS. On Monday last the Solicitor General resumed his address on the part of the crown. The learned gen tleman commenced his arguments by replying to the fourth ground of objection specified in Mr. O'Connell's notice of motion, viz., that no evidence had been given of any material or evident fact having taken place within the venue laid in the indictment. He then proceeded at great length to reply to the statements put forth about what was termed the "fraudulent" suppres sion of names from the jury list, and went through the objections of the traversers seriatim, and argued that there was not the slightest reason for granting a new trial on the grounds relied on. On Tuesday the Solicitor-General concluded his ad dress at one o'clock, when counsel for the traversers com menced their addresses, and occupied the time of the court until Friday at noon, when the Attorney-General rose to reply, and continued his speech until the adjourn ment of the court. On Saturday the full court sat, pursuant to adjourn ment, at two o'clock, when The ATTORNEY-GENERAL continued his arguments, replying to the objections raised respecting the judge's charge, and the evidence of the newspapers. At nearly a quarter-past five o' clock the Attorney-General concluded in these words :—" 1 can say, with a great magistrate on an occasion and under circumstances not unlike this, Ego hoc animo semper fui, vt invidiam virtute partam gloriam non invidiam putarem." The Attorney-General resumed his seat amidst demonstrations of applause. Mr. W HITESIDE adverted to the fact of there having been at least twelve new cases cited by the Attorney-Ge neral in the course of his arguments, and the traversers' counsel, he said, had a right to eon - uncut upon them. Mr. MONAHAN said when the traversers' consel waived (heir right to be heard by two counsel each, it was upon the understanding that the Solicitor-General should men tion all the cases on which the Crown meant to rely, so that the traversers' counsel would comment upon them ; and Mr. Justice Burton said, that if any case not men tioned by the Solicitor-General was afterwards relied on, that the traversers' counsel would he entitled to comment on them. After some discussion on this point. Judge BURTON said, that if, on looking more fully into the cases cited by the crown, the judges were of opinion that it was essential for the traversers to have a reply, they would be allowed it. The court adjourned at a quarter-past five. FATAL ACCIDENT AT DUBLIN.—On .Tuesday, Lieut. Scott, of the sth Fusil , ers, was thrown from his horse during parade in the Phoenix Park, and received so severe a wound on his head. that he was taken home to Ship street Barracks in a state of insensibility, and died during the night. THE REPEAL A S.•3OCIATION.—At the weekly meeting of this body on Monday last, Mr. O'Connell spoke at ;rent len g th an d ma d e f requent a ll us i on t o the probability if his being speedily imprisoned. He moved that the as sociation, at its rising, should adjourn to prepare an ad .tress to the people of Lel aid respecting the conduct they 'tight to pursue at the termination of the state trials. Tile rent for the week amounted to the small sum of £l9O. MO3T DISTRESSING ACCIDENT.—A very afflicting ca. iruity occurred on Lough Neagh, on Fr;day, by which Mr, Alexander Charters : Mr. Henry Nelaon, and Mr. Allen Bell, have been consigned to an early grave. They had, that day, gone on the lake, on a pleasure excursion ; and when rounding Ram's-island. the vachtin which they were capsized, in a sudden and violent squall, and sunk, when the three young men perished. Several persons on the shore witnessed the occurrence, but no assistance could be afforded. All the bodies have been recovered.— Belfast Whig. SUPERSTITION.—The following occurrence, which took place last week at a place called Candlebrack, in the parish of Inniscarra, deserves to be made public, not only as awful in itself, but as showing the degraded state of su perstition i n which the people are kept. A young woman, daughter of a farmer living at that place, had been disap. pointed in a matrimonial arrangement, in consequence of her parents not giving the amount of money required on the man's part ; and he was in consequence married to another. The former woman, who lived as servant some miles from her father's, proceeded in the middle of the night to the house of her parents, with a lighted candle in a lantern, set file to the thatch while the inmates—her parents and brothers and sisters—were asleep, and then drowned herself in the river Toonah which flows by that place.—The family escaped with great difficulty, but the house and furniture, and a quantity of potatoes, were consumed to ashes. The body of the unfortunate woman was found lifeless in the river, part of ber dress found tied to the lantern which she had left on the bank, apparently for the purpose of marking the place. The awful super stition connected with the occurrence is this :—When found in the river, a Romish scapular was upon her body, which it appears was part of a regular set of that kind of trumpery, worn by persons in Romish orders, which the poor infatuated creature had purchased the day before from the venders of such things in Cork, evidently with a ♦iew of screening her soul from the guilt of the foul and awful crime she had then in contemplation. Had this wretched superstition rested with the unfortunate woman herself, it might have lost much of its weight, as a sample of the spiritual degradation of the peasantry ; but the fol lowing facts give it general application :—The parents and friends of the woman not only carefully kept the scapular found with her in the river, upon her dead body, at the wake, but had the other Popish rags above alluded to brought and put upon her, and had her buried with them ; and a report was circulated through the neighbourhood, that though the scapular had not kept her from drowning, yet it had showed its wonderful power in keeping her body perfectly dry in the water.—Cork Constitution. LAW INTELLIGENCE. COURT OF EXCHEQUER, TUESDAY, April 30. PICKFORD V. GRAND JUNCTION RAILWAY COMPANY. This was an action in which the plaintiff, the well known carrier, sought to recover compensation from the defendants for the breach of an alleged contract to for ward certain goods of a perishable character from Liver pool to London on the night of their delivery at the Liverpool goods station. At the trial it appeared that the goods in question were taken to the Wapping station at ten minutes past six in the evening, when the carman was told by the warehouseman that he was in plenty of time. The goods, however, did not go forward on that evening, and the owners havine enforced their losses from the plaintiff. be in turn brought this action against the railway company. On cross-examination of plaintiff's witnesses it was shown that there was a large board on the premi ses in Wapping, the purport of which was that " goods received after 4 o'clock p. m. would go forward to next working day," there being but one goods train from Liverpool to London on each of the week days. The jury having found for the defendant under the direc tion of the learned judge, Lord Abinger, on the ground that there was no evidence of a special contract to for ward these goods on the same evening, a rule nisi was af terwards obtained for a new trial, on the ground of mis direction, and that there was no evidence to warrant the verdict of the jury. Mr. Erle and Mr. Crompton now showed cause. The action was on a supposed special contract, which was a deviation from the general one set forth to the public by the board, and it was one which the servant of the compa ny could have no authority to make so as to bind the de fendants. The contract rather was to send forward the goods so received at the earliest reasonable time, and though goods might have been torwarded when left later than 7 o'clock even, still the company were not bound to do so. There was no evidence whatever to warrant the jury in saying that there was any special contract, in the first place; and in the next, there was no misdirection in his Lordship's telling the jury that in his opinion there was none, which was all he did say. Mr. Martin and Mr. Cardwell supported the rule, and contended that the learned judge was not justified in leav ing the facts to the jury as he had done, for the defend ants ought to be bound by the agreement entered into by their clerk or weigher at the station. That person had informed the plaintiff's agent that the goods were in time, and that, coupled with the enquiry, certainly was very good evidence of a special contract in respect of the goods so delivered. The Court was of opinion that there bad been a misdi rection on this point and therefore— The rule was made absolute for a new trial. It is said that Mr. Serjeant Goulburn, brother of the Chancellor of the Exch-quer, is to auccerd the late Mr. Merivale as one of the Commissioners of the Court of Bankruptcy. The salary is £2OOO. It was expected that yesterday morning the Solicitor- General would move the Court of Queen's Bench fur a criminal information against Mr. H u mfrey , the barrister, for his speech against the Duke of Marlborough at the recent election for Woodstock. RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE. On Wednesday morning, the branch railway from the Bricklayers' Arms station to Folkestone and Dover was opened, in due ceremony, to the public. The entire line of the Bristol and Exeter Railway was opened on Wednesday in the usual manner by the direc tors. GREAT NORTH Or ENGLAND RAILWAY.—A. special meeting of this company was held on Tuesday, when it was agreed to raise a further sum of £300,000 by the issue of 7,500 new shares of £4O each. RAILWAY BILLS.—In the House of Commons, on Friday night, the Leeds and Selby Purchase, the Poutop and South Shields, and the Newcastle and Darlington Junction, and the Tyne Bridge Railway Bill t i were read a third time and passed. MANCHESTER AND LIVERPOOL RAILWAY COMPANY. —The junction of this railway 'with the Leeds and Man. chester, which took place on Saturday, will form an im portant epoch in railway annals. It is notorious that hitherto on this railway there have been no third class carriages, and even those known as the second class have been the shabbiest and the least calculated for the public comfort of any in the kingdom ; both these matters of just complaint are about being redressed, thanks to the la bours of the House of Commons Railway Committee. There are to be third class carriages, and the fare will, it is reported, be moderate, and the present second class car riages wilt be converted into the low fared ones, whilst the second will be constructed with some regard to the com fort of the passengers, a thing hitherto unknown on this line. RAILWAY STATISTICS.—The extent of railways already constructed and in operation in the united kingdom is 2,000 miles; the sum which has already been actually ex pended in their formation is no less than £79,000,000 sterling ; the projects now before parliament will, if sanc tioned, add nearly another 1,000 miles to the existing length of our railways, and were the cost of their construc tion to be equal to the rate of executing the existing lines, almost £40,000,000 sterlin g wou ld b e added to railway in vestments ; but, as the cost will not reach that rate, to add another £30,000,000 sterling to railway stock will be probably a more truthful calculation. Thus, in a few years, the enormous sum of £109,000,000 of money will have been invested by tke English capitalists in the con structioi of railways at home, besides a very considerable sum which has been sent out of the country to assist in the formation of foreign railways. THE CHESTER AND HOLYHEAD RAILWAY.—This bill was brought under a committee of the House of Commons on Monday last, Mr. Marshall in the chair. The bill was opposed by the Bishop of Bangor, Sir Charles Smith, and Mr. James Bateman. On Tuesday evening, Sir G. Clerk was added to the committee, and a considerable amount of traffic at present existing on the line was proved by se veral witnesses—as much as would show a clear income to the proprietors of the line of at least six per cent. On Thursday the committee came to the unanimous determi nation that the preamble of the bill was proved. Sir G. Clerk then proposed to examine Mr. Giles, the engineer, as to the utility of adopting his line at Chester, which would have the effect of leaving out the city. This was opposed by the committee generally, and it was understood that the sanction of the government would undoubtedly be given to the bill. The clauses were considered on Fri day, when at the suggestion of the government, a clause was introduced suspending the works from the river be tween Ogwyn and the Menai Bridge, until next session, when a bill will be introduced g , ving power to the com pany to make an iron bridge over the Menai Straits at the Britannia Rocks, and fixing the line which the railway shall traverse between these two points. This arrange ment puts an end to the opposition, and there appears to be no doubt of the bill now passing, and M r. Stephenson's line being finally adopted, according to his plans. SHREWSBURY AND GRAND JUNCTION RAILWAY.— R lD ai a l D w O a t y he e r h p r a o r n l i o e f le o , u r o f p a s p a e tu r w r d e a r y n s l e a r s t t n m extract f n r g o , m as th a e rumour, the proposed formation of the Trent valley line from Stafford to Rugby, by the united influence and funds of the three powerful companies most interested in the project. We now have authority to state that the arrange. ment there alluded to is decided upon, and that the Lon don and Birmingham, the Grand Junctio n , an d t h e Man chester and Birmingham Companies, have agreed to unite in going to parliament next session for this line, which, it is understood, has also the decided sanction of govern ment. The carrying of the Shrewsbury line into the Trent valley line, at its junction, at or near Stafford, will render that the quickest and best route to London, and thus de prive the Wolverhampton project of the one solitary ar gument in its favour, namely, that it would save half-an hour's time in a London journey. From the union of the London and Birmingham and Grand Junction Companies in the formation of it, the prospect of Shrewsbury remain ing permanently the terminus ot the branch in this direc tion, has assumed a much more certain and definite as pect than was previously the case, notviithstandiner, the obvious interest and declared intention of the Grand Junction Company to make it such. The surveyors o' ti e Grand Junction Company have been in the nrigl.bour lood of Shrewsbury during several days last virek, ease fully surveying and taking the levels of lines in every di rection.—Shrew aut.& journal. May 7. CLER.CAL morning, Bachelor o e t ot : h . ei following Divinity.—Rev. 2.—lna e—grßeee vs Peteren r g e r ega Pt conferred:—ieoane e h o l l v d o e r n c e s t t h e i this n College. W t o It astersc s of R A u r . ts E.—dwßay. Ni::atorn t ter ; John W ilii a m M e n ce , R ev . John Ht-nry Nurse, Wor cester; William George Bust, P e mb ro k e; R ev . Willi am Cobb, Christchurch. Bachelors of Arts.—Thomas Patridge Nunn, St. Mary Hall, George Ridley, Cnristchurch, Grand Compounders; John Buller Yarde Buller, flinty Ochtellony Middle ton, St. Mary Hall • William Balf Jur, Lincoln; Richard Bright, Fa;Kax William Cartwright, B urr i ngtoit Stopford Thomas Mills, Christchurch ; John Charles Bagshalvt Henry Brooks, Samuel Plant, scholar of Brazenose ; John Lowder Ray, Magdalen-hall ; Louis Balfour Clutterbuck, Wadham ; Aneurin Lloyd Lodge, Je-us ; Cr ail , s William Lawrence, Fellow of New Coll ege ; Ed mun d D u B u i sso n, Oriel; John Balguy, Morton; Henry Clarence Pigott, scholar of University ; Charles Inglehy, James Thomas Boles, Richard Seymour Conway Ch-rrnside, Exeter; George Poingdestre, scholar of Pembroke. The Bishop of Chester has nominated Richard Wall, B.A. (tvventy-fourth Wrangler, 1844,) to theVice-Princi palship of the Training College, Chester. Rev. James Garbett, Professor of Poetry at Oxford, has been collated by the Bishop of Chichester to the pre bendal! stall in Chichester Cathedral, vacant by the deatk of the Rev. Thomas Heberden. The Rev. Richard Waldo Sibthorpe, the recent convert to the komish faith, who is on a visit to the Rev. Thos. Dikes, at the Charter House, in Hull, partook of the sacrament in St. Joha's Church, in that town, on Sunday week. The Rev. Edward Field, D.D., was consecrated Bishop of Newfoundland. in the chapel of Lambeth Palace,. ow Sunday week. He was presented to the Archbishop of Canterbury by the Bishops of Bangor and Worcester, the Bishop of London being the other consecrating bishop. Several clergymen were present, and among them the Rev. D. Jarvis, of the diocese of Connecticut, United States. ETON COLLEGE, MAY I.—lt has just been notified to the authorities of the College that his Royal Highness Prince Albert will lay the foundation-stone of the eaten-. sive new buildings which are to be erected forthwith, at an expense of £26,000, immediately cun'iguous to the ancient edifice, in that portion of the premises known as Weston's-yard. It having been considered for some time past that the manner in which the boys on the foundation of the College were lodged was not in accordance with the present habits and feelings of society, and being also in many respects objectionable and injurious to the best in terests of the institution, the authorities of the College determined upon making great additions to the fabric, in order that extensive and commodious apartments might be provided for sleeping and for study, and likewise for those meals which the boys do not take at present in the College hall. COLONIAL CHURCH SOCIETY.—The annual meeting of the Colonial Church Society was held on Wednesday evening, in Exeter Hall. Captain Sir E. Parry, R.N., presided. The Hon. W. Cowper, M.P., Mr. J. P. Plumptre, M.P. Mr. G. Finch, M r . J. Labouchere, the Rev. A. Thelwall, and a great num b er o f t h e l ay and de. rical friends of the society were on the platform. The secretary read the report, which gave a detailed account of the society's operations in Nova Scotia, Western Aus tralia, the Cape of Good Hope, the Bahama Islands, and various other parts of the world. The subscriptions and donations received during the past year amounted to £3.775 exclusive of collections in the colonies. The last accounts received from Syria announced that 200 inhabi tants of Hasbeya, a village situate at the foot of Mount Lebanon, had abjured the Greek orthodox religion to em brace Protestantism. Oxford was on Thursday the scene of unusual excite ment. The morning trains from town, and the coaches from all parts of the country, brought up vast numbersof the clergy, all apparently on one errand, and of one mind, as was proved by the resu l t . A t two o ' clock the Convoca tion-house was filled to overflowing, and the Vice Chan cellor proposed the new statute, w hi c h h a d f or i ts o bj ec t to settle the existing perplexities as to the con:it'ons and exercises requisite for theological degrees, by creating and granting to the Regius Professor of Divinity (Dr. Hamp den at present) an absolute doctrinal authority in the mat— ter, with a reference, on questions of Foam, to the Vice Chancellor. The statute was proposed in four clauses. The subject of the first was totally irrelevant, relating to degrees in law, and seemingly introduced to embarrass the voters, committing them, however, to a certain mode of examination, in a matter in which they would probably feel indifference. By anticipation it showed the fate of the rest of the statute, a n d was re j ec t e d by a large ma jority. The seco n d c l ause conta i ne d the proposed form , of exercises, and was th e su b stratum of the two remain ing. It was rejected by a ma j or ity of 341 to 21 . On the result being decl are d th e tw o last clauses were dis creetly withdrawn by the Vi c e Chancellor, and the Con vocation dissolved. It is s a id that Dr Hampden himself and his friends voted aga i ns t th e p r oposed statute, on the ground that the r e f erence on ques,ions of form to the - Vice-Chancellor was an inva s i on o f hi s su pp ose d a bsolute and irresponsible power in gr an ti ng d egrees . A mong t he non-resident members were Dr. Ho o k, th e D ean o f Chi. chester, Archdeacon Manning, Mr. Edward Churton, and a host of other characters well-known by name both here and elsewhere.— Times. CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY.—The forty-fourth anniversary meeting of this society was held on Tuesday, at Exeter Hall. The Earl of Chichester, President of the Society, took the chair. Amongst those on the plat form were the Bishops of Chester and Ripon, the Dean of Salisbury, Viscount S an d on , M.P., Si r R . H . Inglis, Bait., M.P., Mr. J. P. Plumptre, M.P., Mr. J. hound, M.P., Major-General Latter, Hon. E. Curzon, Right Hon. Sir G. Rose, Bart., Hon. Capt Waldegrave, R.N., Hon. Captain Maude, R.N., Archdeacon Hoare, Rev. FL Stowell, Drs. Marsh, H. Stewart, H. Green, J. Cunning ham, and sveral o'her clergymen. The proceedings having been open; c 1 by prayer, the noble Chairn an very, briefly addres..ed the meeting. With the exception of Jama'ca, there had been no contraction of missionary labour. During the past year, nine additional missions . ies had been sent out, 54 branch associations and 18 juvenile societies established, and 24 missionaries admitted to holy orders. The Duke of Manchester, Viscount Sandon, and Lord Lurgaik had accepted the office of vice-presidents. The report stated, that two yeprA ago the society was in a position of considerable embarrass ment, arising from excess of expenditure over income ; but last year, through the liberality of the Christian pub lic, that difficulty had been overcome. The committee had taken their stand upon those sound Evangelical and Protestant principles which had from its very foundation formed the chief characteristic of the society, and to which its prosperity a n d use f u l ness were attributable. The fi nancial statement, which was next read, gave the following results :—General fund. £97,791 2s. 3d. ; special fund for China mission, £1556 16s. I d .; capital fund, £2618 Is. 6d.; Fourah Bay Buildings Fund. £llBl 17s. ; Disabled Mis sionar.es Fund, £1145 19s. Total receipts, £104,323 159- 10d. The expenditure of the yent-, including contribu tions to local funds, amounted to £93,473 7s. 3d. The expenditure of the year, including contributions to local funds, amounted to £93,473 7s. 3d. The excess of income had been applied in part to the erection of buildings at Sierra Leone, with th e v i ew to t h e train i ng of na tive youths as local missonaries, to the discharge of a debt of £lOOO, remaining due on the last account, and the r, shine of £4318 15s. it had been deemed advisable to transter to the amount of capital, in order that the society's opera tions might not hereafter be interrupted by tempo.rary fluctuatlons in its financial department. The committee had raised the maximum of expenditure from £85,000 to £87,000 a year, exc l us i ve o f l oca l funds in the resveetive missions.—On Monday evening, the Lord Bish,p of London preached the forty-fourth anniversary sermon at St. Bride's Church, Fleet-street. THE SOCINIAN FRAUD BILL.—We perceive that this " conciliation" measure has passel a second reading On the motion of the Lord Chancellor without observation. This case, which involves the property and rights of the Presbyterian laity, as well as the principles of the law of the land respecting trusts, and the fundamental articles of the faith of Jesus Christ, can scarcely, we hope, 1) 456 the legislature as it were sub silentio, notwithstanding the "conciliation" spirit of a nothingarian or anythingarian minhtry. The following description of the bill is taken from a letter by J. Cook Evans, Esq. to Lord Lynd hurst : I hope that your lordship will permit me, without any sur picion of a want of that r• sp ec t w hi c h i s d ue to yo,ir lordship ' 6 rank, and that profound lea) ning which is at once till foundation and the ornament of your elevation, to state who; in my humble judgment, oug h t to have been the preamble, a " enacting clause in the bill in question. It should have 1 10 ' I think, in the following words :—" Whereas nearly three hat dred chapels, &c., rected, and in some cases, endowed, Trinitarian Presbyterians, and the maintenance and spreg of Trinitarian doctrines, ave, hy the lap e f time, and the al; faithfulness of trustees and m i n i sters, he - n perverted to To " maintenance and spread of doctrines common'y called tUnita rian. entirely opposed to a n d su b vers i ve of those enterta i o_, . by the pious founders, and f o r th e ma i ntenance of which do trines trines the said chapels, were erected and endow. d, anu the sanction of the law ; an d whereas the intentions of the founders of the said chap e l s are clearly asccrtainabl • by °fein rules of interpretation which the Cour a of Equity adopt„' the interpretation of all deeds of trust, whether for religic2,, e purposes, or for purpos es purely civil; and whereas some of ',t chapels, &c., so ere c t e d h ave b een restored to the purposo ei which they were o r i g i na l ly i ntended, and used, under the 4:1!od sions of the Court of Chancery and the House of Lords; 40 whereas it is expedi en t th a t t h e part i es who have v i olate d ; 1 0 ' re . trust, and hav e p eeve t e d property from its lawful use, a s 9 0 said, shall not be called to account for their malversatiol!!:, o f heretofore, but shall be confirmed and secured in possessPi u "py the property which they now do or shall hereafter uolanhich possess, us IT ENACTED. by, &c., &c., that, in all cases in , o vt the d ctrines to be taught in such chapels are not laid ~..o st s_ in the deeds declaring the trusts in 'express terms,' al P i ti e , or otherwise clearly ascertainable, according to the pi pf' eor , ' law, founded on common sense and - common justice.' t he sts gregation for twenty years In violation of the original tS U cb shall be a perpetual bar to all suits for the recovery of that property to its rightful use. And BE IT FURTHER ENAC T ED fre the usage of the congregation for the l as t twenty the i questing such chapel shall be conclusive evidence' ' l 7 e Thise c Tractarian founders intended the said chapels, &c. ,W do etri oe , for the propagation of Unitarian, and not Trinitarian ets.: for the subversion of their own faith, and not for itswrsese, or Hon, any presumption of law, or principle of Wu ° common justice,' notwithstanding. " • ,irt- . In We still hope that this bill, repu gn ant as it. is ice ple both to "common sense and common le yet be at res'ed. . The the The area of Newfoundland is 57,000 squ are eastpn pulaantidons—ouetxhtrce coasts —exceeds . ncin " e b g t e o r of clergy la but 26. Two stations are ui.ocre,r: r t heir Eg o where are clergymen more gladly reeeiveol r ebuilding f st, vices more eminently blis.ed. The ce. r t i s h elittrA 0 it. Civil drill. which will be also the a 11 0 1 tlie in'? t o John's, mai; estimated at £7,000, end but fivonit iwp oszilse "" liree ileficient y in the funds. ants tt had the means row libuted t l complete the work without further aid• wbeiramib‘e, tßit.