The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-03-04 00:00:00

PUSH ON! AWAKE! and listen. Everywhere— From upland, grove, and lawn, Out breathes the universal prayer, The orison of morn. Arise ! and don thy working garb ; All nature is astir : Let honest motives be thy barb, And usefulness thy spur. Stop not to list the boisterous jeers, (He would be what thou art :) They should not e'en offend thine ears, Still less disturb thy heart. What though you have no shining hoard, (Inheritance or stealth ;) To purchase at the broker's board The recompense of wealth— Push on ! you're rusting while you stand ; Inaction will not do; Take life's small bundle in your band, And trudge it briskly through. Push on ! Don't blush because you have a patch In honest labour won ; There's many a small cot roof d with thatch Far happier than a throne. Push on ! the world is large enough For you, and me, and all ; You must expect a share of rough, And, now and then, a fall. But, up again ! act out your part— Bear smilingly your load; There's nothing like a cheery heart To mend a stony road. _ _ Push on ! Jump over all the ifs and buts; There's always some kind hand To lift life's wagon from the ruts, Or poke away the sand. Remember, when your sky of blue Is shadowed by a cloud, The sun will shine as soon for you As for the monarch proud. It is but written on the moon, That toil alone endures; The king would dance a rigadoon With that blithe soul of yours. Push on ! you're rusting while you stand ; Inaction will not do ; Take life's small bundle in your hand, And trudge it briskly through. LITERATURE. The Natural History of Dee-side and Braemar. By the late William Macgillivray, M.D. Edited by Edwin Lankester, M.D. This book, which has been printed for private cir culation, has many claims upon general attention, and presents itself to us with peculiar interest. As a charming and diligently compiled transcript of the natural history of a most interesting district of the Scottish Highlands, the work is sure to command a wide circle of admirers ; while its merits as the pro duction of a sagacious and unpretending though zealous and enlightened naturalist will secure for it the approbation of the scientific student. Apart from these considerations, however, the general reader will find much to interest and delight him in its pages, while the facts connected with its production confer on it an adventitious value. The district of country the natural history of which is traced with such pains taking fidelity by the late Professor Macgillivray is one presenting a variety of claims upon the attention of all classes. The varied beauty, the grandeur— indeed the sublimity of the scenery included within its range, have long rendered it a favourite theatre of study to the tourist in search of the picturesque. In its secluded dells, among its bold mountain ridges, and on its precipitous and craggy steeps, the botanist, the zoologist, and the mineralogist have found exten sive and varied stores in which to prosecute their favourite studies. Added to these sources of interest, within these few• years past, Dee-side and Braemar have acquired fresh and strengthening claims as the favoured northern retreat, " the Highland home " of our beloved sovereign, the arena in which are centred the forest and hill sports of the Prince-Consort; and among whose glades and mountains their children, as well as themselves, inhale the invigorating mountain breezes. To each one of all these claims to notice, Professor Macgillivray was sensitively alive. The district was familiar to him from frequent examina tion, and dear through many associations ; and in the year 1850, he paid it his last exploring visit. On this occasion he completed the' MS. which forms the body of the work, but which, alas ! he was not destined to see published. _ _ It embraces elaborate and tasteful descriptions of the scenery, is rich and valuable in its geological memoranda, and is full and interesting in its details of the botany and zoology of the district; and it is more over so full of the modest spirit, so replete with the patient industry, and so fully instinct with the pains taking earnestness of the author's character, as to be at once instructive and delightful. Professor Mac gillivray was one of those remarkable men with whom the history of our literature and science abounds. Born in one of the humbler walks of life, and with few opportunities of early culture, he nevertheless, through difficulties of no ordinary kind, pushed his way by slow degrees through the earliest stages of his elementary education ; and, from childhood, devoted to the study of natural history, he began, while yet in dawning manhood, to occupy attention among the naturalists of the Scottish metropolis. Shortly after the opening of the magnificent museum of the Royal College of Surgeons in Edinburgh, in the noble building which it now occupies, Mr. Macgillivray was appointed its conservator ; which responsible and honourable office he held till, in 1841, he received from the Crown the appointment of Professor of Civil and Natural History in Mareschal College, Aberdeen. He was a volumi nous writer on various subjects connected with natural history, and was the literary coadjutor of the cele brated Audubon, in bringing out his great ornitholo gical work. The work now under consideration is the last from the pen of its accomplished author, and, besides its intrinsic merits as a literary and scientific production, will be looked on with increased interest from the peculiar circumstances under which it has been pub lished. The death of the author occurred almost simultaneously with the completion of the text, and it is not improbable that the publication of the book would not have been proceeded with, but for the interference of Her Majesty, who, being well acquainted with the object and character of the work, commanded that the MS. should be purchased and published. This has been done, and the volume has been issued in a style worthy of the subject and the circumstances. It is very handsomely printed, and is most tastefully got up. It is illustrated with fourteen engraved views and two maps : among the former are three scenes from the pencil of the Viscountess Canning, the others m b ac eig h chiefly the artistic productions of ProfessorMacgillivray and his accomplished daughter. Copies of this beautiful work have, with regal munifi cence, been presented by Prince Albert to numerous distinguished naturalists and most of the public libraries in the kingdom, among which institutions the Liverpool Free Library has received one. The book, which is written iu a pleasing style, is at once popular and instructive. The peculiar bearing and bias of the author's mind, and also the advantages to be derived from a patient inquiry into the arcana of Nature, are well illustrated in the following remarks ON THE STUDY OF NATURAL HISTORY. Oar object in examining the stone, the rock, the lichen, the moss, the flower, the fruit, the insect, the bird, or the quad ruped, is to exercise our faculties by learning how beautifully and with what wisdom all things have been constructed, how wonderfully they are formed with relation to each other, and how manifestly they display a power of which we could form no conception were we not to attend to its working as exhibited by them. It is true we cannot fully Comprehend the compli cated relations of the most common objects, much less under stand the ordination of the universe, or even of our own world ; but we labour in hope ; we are studying, some of us, no doubt, very superficially—others more profoundly—the works of the Deity, and the more progress we make the more we glorify Him by an intelligent , not a vague admiration. There are some who aim at the knowledge of general laws, some who seek simple facts. I ^% Parties will find enough to engage their faculties, and neither will do the work of the other efficiently. There is no reason why one should despise the other. Contempt of anything but viceindicates an unsound mind, a defective judgment, an ignorance of the relations which men have to each other and to their creator, an undue self-estimation and a contempt of the rights of other men. He who measures the orbit of a comet has not, there. fore, higher faculties than he who examines the cytoblast of a fungus ; and there is far more to be seen by us in a beetle than in a planet —upon that granite mountain opposite, at the distance of nine or ten miles, than in the sun and the moon and the stars. Such pleasing self-abnegation and sincere devotion to his favourite study was eminently characteristic of Macgillivray. Jealousy of others found no place in his simple and unpretending yet earnest mind. The work has been carefully and judiciously edited by Dr. Lankester, who adds an interesting appendix to the volume, under the title of " Notes on the Deer of Scotland," in which much valuable and not very generally known information is conveyed. The Papal Con.spiretcy Exposed ; or, the Roraish Corporation Dangerous to the Political Liberty and Social Interests of Man. By Edward Beecher, D.D. ; with Preface by the Rev. James Begg, D.D. Edinburgh : James Nichol. This is a volume containing the result of much reading and no small amount of study. It is written with much energy ; and, if lacking in some of the attributes of polished literary composition, it more than compensates for that deficiency by the intense earnestness with which the subject is treated, and in the clearness with which the social dangers against which it holds out warning. are treated. The author of the work has, with much zeal, devoted his attention to an examination of the origin and progress of papal domination. In prosecution of this object he has dili gently read the popular and collated the less generally known authorities ; and from these he deduces argu ments in favour of the conclusion inferred in the title of his book. The scenes and incidents upon which his theory is built are not new, but are, unfortunately for the credit of onr sinful nature, too well known and too generally authenticated to admit of contradic tion, or to be even open to cavil. The chief duty of the author, then, has been so to co nn e c t an d weave th em into a continuous, consistent, and strong web, and so to present them to his readers that no one can miss his object or mistake his meaning. This he has done clearly and well. His next object has been to point out the gross inconsistency between the papal usurpa tion, as that is taught and acted on by its accredited teachers, and the freedom of thought and action incul cated by American institutions. He satisfactorily shows that the wiles and cruelty of the Romish Church, as these have been exercised with undeviating aim through successive ages, have proved too strong for the practical opposition of civil government ; while her peculiarly constructed tenets, framed entirely for her own aggrandisement, have invariably resulted in such a prostration of the human intellect as to render her sway, politically, as dangerous as it was morally noxious and degrading. Having established and illustrated these points of importance, he proceeds to show, that as Popery has been, so it will always be, inimical to free institu tions and to free thought. This latter position he deduces, with considerable logical clearness, from the past history and present operations of the Romish adherents in the United States, and argues with much force, that if a check be not put upon those proceed ings, even the vigorous republicanism of America will quail and perish before the insidious machina tions of Rome and the stealthy advances of her cunning and unscrupulous myrmidons. To avert this, he calls loudly upon his countrymen to resist the inroads of the Romish clergy made in all directions, and emphatically warns them of the danger ere it be too late. The volume, which is illustrated by a spirited wood cut from the graver of Adams, is also furnished with a preface, addressed to the British public, by the Rev. Dr. Begg, in which that gentleman, in his usual style of declamation, calls the attention of British Protest ants to the value and importance of the work. Blackwood's _Magazine. Edinburgh : Blackwoods. The number for March opens with a review of a History of Rome, by the Yen. Dr. Liddell, Dean of Christchurch, Oxford, in which much interesting' light is thrown on ancient history, by the inscriptions discovered through the researches of enterprising travellers in the East. " Monteil" is a story from the French, and though we have a kind of national prejudice against French literature, the present cor dial alliance between the two nations may justify the translation of a story which possesses considerable merit. " Biography gone Mad," is a withering sar casm of' the recently-published biographies of two notorious New York editors. The writer is unsparing in his denunciation of the libel upon literature by such works, and might have included in his anathema the Recollections of the late Samuel Rogers. An article on the Greek Church contains some valuable informa tion on a phase of Christianity which, whilst it was made the pretext for a quarrel which led to the war with Russia, will, after peace has been concluded, excite still greater interest than it has yet done, as being the direct antagonistic principle to Mohammed anism. The recent war of words, in the United States, on British influence in Central America, though not likely to result in more than bluster, will give an interest nevertheless to the article entitled "Nicaragua and the Filibusters," which details the recent pro ceedings in that district. In a paper on " The Scottish Fisheries," attention is called to a subject of con siderable importance to our northern neighbours, from its promising, under proper manage men t, t o become one of the most considerable sources of wealth as well as means for the employment of native industry. In striking contrast with the previous article on " Bio graphy Gone Mad," is a review of the memoir of the " Rev. Sydney Smith." As a rare event in Black wood's .Magazine, this number concludes with two papers on the same subject ; the one headed " Peerages for Life," by an English, and the other entitled " The Wensleydale Creation," by a Scotch lawyer. By both writers the subject is handled in a masterly style, and the dangers to the Constitution, had resist ance not been so nobly made by the House of Lords, are ably pointed out. On the whole, this number contains much, both of the useful and ornamental, that is well deserving of perusal, and Blackwood's Magazine maintains its position at the head of our periodical literature. FASHIONS FOR MARCH. A fashionable dressmaker has just completed some mourning orders, including several ball-dresses. Among them may be mentioned one or two of Chantilly lace. Other dresses are composed of black silk, trimmed either with flounces of Chantilly lace or with flounces of tulle embroidered with je t Moire antique is also adapted for ball-dresses worn in mourn ing. One has been made of moire antique of a beautiful pearl grey. The skirt is nearly covered with flounces of crape of the same tint as the moire, and the flounces are trimmed with vine-leaves and grapes formed of black satin. A wreath of the foliage and berries of the service-tree in grey and black is the coiffure to be worn with this dress. For out-door dress, in mourning, black alpaca, poplin, and paramatta, are suitable materials. A paramatta dress, just made, is ornamented with a front trimming formed of two large ruches of black sarsenet ribbon edged with black guipure. These ruches pass up the skirt, one on each side, in the tablier manner. A trimming of ribbon passes along the upper part of the arm-hole, and is continued down the front of the corsage to the waist, so as to form bretelles. The sleeves, from the shoulder to the elbow, set rather closely to the arm, and are trimmed with narrow ruches of ribbon disposed in perpendicular rows. Below the elbow they are finished by a deep frill. Among the novelties in lace articles may be mentioned some very elegant capes or pelerines. They droop over the shoulders, descending as low as the waist at the back, thereby resembling, in some measure, the cardinal capes formerly so much in fashion. These pelerines are very prettily trimmed with bows of coloured ribbon. The new berthes present some novelty. They are composed of black or white lace, worked muslin, or tulle, and are ornamented with bows and ruches of ribbon; or, when destined to be worn in ball costume, with narrow wreaths of flowers. These berthes are round behind, and in front the two sides are prolonged so as to form long ends, which cross in front of the corsage, and are left to flow over the skirt of the dress. Sometimes the ends, instead of crossing in front of the corsage, are apart as far as the waist : they then turn in a slight curve, one to the right, and the other to the left side. The space in front of the corsage be tween the two sides of the berthe is filled up by a series of bows of ribbon, small bouquets of flowers or ornaments of jewellery, &c., placed one above another, the lowest being at the point in the centre of the waist. Berthes of this descrip tion are occasionally made in muslin and organdy, and are covered with needle-work,intermingledwithmedallions of lace. The fashions for spring are not yet decidedly fixed ; but we may mention that in silk, rich, dark hues will be among the fashionable colours of the coming season. Silks with broad stripes, and those of chequered patterns in various colours, which have been so long popular, also continue in fashion. A beautiful ball-dress, made within the last week, is com posed of white silk. The skirt is trimmed half way up with bouillonnes of tulle, sprigged with the crocus in every colour, encircled with grass. A tunic of Chantilly lace covers the upper part of the silk skirt, and descends to the top of the bouillonnes of tulle.— The Lady's Newspaper. RECIPROCAL CONFIDENCE. A few days ago, a young woman, the wife of Frederick Piper, applied to the Cranbrook magistrates for advice, stating that she was in a state of destitution, and could obtain no relief. Her husband was a drunken, idle fellow, who might have work, but would not do it ; and the parish would give her nothing but an order for herself, her child, and husband, for the union -house, whither he refused to go. Mr. Dadson confirmed this account, and the Rev. F. Barrow suggested the giving of relief, on which he would issue a warrant against Piper for neglecting to maintain his family. On Thursday last, he was accordingly committed for a month. Piper, it seems, is a private in the West Kent Militia. On being called out last summer, on duty, he endeavoured to coax his wife out of her wedding ring; but she withstood the seductive wiles of the charmer till the day of leave-taking for Aldershott, when, with the "parting kiss," she gave him the golden hoop from her finger as a pledge of affection never to be parted with. On arriving at head quarters, however, he hastened to a pawnbroker's to melt the hymeneal token, when he found to his mortification that his wife had substituted for the bit of gold a common brass cur tain ring—a ruse of which it will be long ere Frederick hears the last among his comrades. The young wife, it is said, acted on her mother's advice in the matter.—South-Eastern Gazett e . TRIAL ca, OFFENDERS BlLL.—This new bill, empowering the Court of queen's Bench to order cert a in offenders to be tried at the Central Criminal Court, has been sent down from the Lords for confirmation by the Lower House. The former court is hereby empowered to order any indictment which has been removed into it by c ertiorari to be tried at the Central Dear to be expedient to the ends oCfr justice Court, e l (asi na lf it re sh cen a t ll app ear ease,. )When such order has been made the depositions are to be returned to the Central Criminal Court, and the Drisoner is to be safely re moved to Newgate, the keeper of the original prison being required to do so simply on the production of an office copy of the said order, without writ of habeas corpitc No defendant need appear in person before the Court of Queen'. Bench. The Central Criminal Court may order the payment of the expenses of prosecutors and witnesses, rewards, &c. No obiection can be raised to any writ of certiorari, either in the Criminal Court or in a court of error. A prisoner convicted at the Central Criminal Court under thi s ac t ma y be punished either in the county where the crime was committed, or within the ju dges. Where of the court, at the di scre ti on o f the Where the crown obtains a trial, at the Central Criminal Court, the expense of witnesses is to be advanced to the defendant. The treasurer of the county where the offence was committed must pay for the prisoner's maintenance iu Newgate, THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. THE WAR. As has been the case for a considerable time past, the intel ligence received from the seat of war has been less generally details of warlike events than intimations of peacefully-con ducted operations deemed requisite for carrying out to their legitimate conclusion the advantages which have resulted from the prowess of our soldiers and the success of their arms. The demolition of the Sebastopol forts has succeeded to the destruction of the docks, and both operations seem now to have been completed by the DESTRUCTION OF FORT ALEXANDER, concerning which the correspondent of the Times, writing from the camp before Sebastopol, on the 11th of February, says : The sole incident that has occurred here since my letter of the 9th is the destruction of Fort Alexander, which was blown up, in three explosions, at one this afternoon. The destruction was very complete, but the place does not look such a perfect level as the site of Fort Nicholas, and the sea face has been intentionally left standing. The explosions were the loudest we have heard this year, especially the first of the three. The day was dry, but not bright, and the absence of sun detracted from the striking nature of the spectacle, which was, however, sufficiently imposing, but not equal to that of fort Nicholas's downfall. Notwithstanding the distance, the explosions sounded very loud up in the camp, and persons who were well in the rear of Cathcart's Hill assure me that they felt the ground tremble, and that the huts they were in seemed to rock. The Russians, who had been firing a little from the Inkerman batterries just before the fort blew up, were per fectly silent for some time after the explosion, apparently thinking it more dignified calmly to contemplate the destruc tion of their fortresses than to exhibit impotent wrath, and unprofitably to expend their ammunition. At a later period of the day they fired more than usual from the north side. In the Karabelnaia our engineers continue to amuse them selves, and small explosions are not unfrequent. This after noon the White Buildings, as they are generally called, adjoining the dockyard, were partly on fire. SPECULATIONS AS. TO PEACE OR WAR Occupy much attention in the Camp, and concerning these the same authority, writing under the same date, remarks : The question of peace or war is still the one engrossing topic which occupies all minds, and comes uppermost in most con versations. Every post is looked for with the most intense anxiety, and thousands of times daily is the question asked, " When shall we know positively whether this year will wit ness a bloody campaign or a peaceful return home ?" The camp is divided into the peace party and the war party, each predicting in accordance with its wishes. The ambitious, the needy, those who think that another six months of war will give them the promotion they may await for years if peace be made, those whose sole patrimony is their sword, and those born soldiers who love war for war's sake, are full of fight, and adduce the most cogent arguments in favour of a continu ation of hostilities. It is curious to hear the diametrically opposite opinions that are uttered :—" Peace is certain, we shall all be home in a few weeks, is the assurance you receive from officers who did not enter the army to fight, and whom honour alone, and no taste for the work, has brought and kept so long out here. " The Russians are only trying to gain time," says the next man you meet, a thorough soldier, to whom hard ship and danger are as nothing, and who covets promotion and the higher pay it will bring, for he has a wife and children at home, and little but his pay to maintain them with ; " the report of peace is all humbug. See yonder, they are erecting platforms in Balaklava harbour, to ship the troops to Asia." Each man sees through his own glasses. The platforms would serve equally well to ship troops to England. Among the mercantile community in the Crimea, the vendors of wines and spirits, sauces, pickles, preserves, biscuits, tea, coffee, hams, crockery, butter, cheese, and a multitude of other groceries and Italian warehouseries, great alarm has been spread by the announcement of a probable peace. Forgetting their enormous past profits, they think only of their ap proaching loss. As far as concerns the English dealers and sutlers at Kadikoi and Donnybrook, and a few isolated shops scattered through the camp, their case does not call for, nor is it likely to excite, much commiseration. With very rare exceptions they have sold bad things at exorbitant prices. At Kamiesch the French reckon on getting rid of their good qualities of wine to the Russians, but there is an immense quantity of yin ordinaire (most of it extremely ordinaire and rather logwoody) concerning the disposal of which they are very uneasy, since they know the Russians to be too good judges to buy it, and they fear they will be obliged to incur the expense of shipping it to Constantinople, where they hope to find cus tomers for it among the principal hotel-keepers, who will bottle it, put seals on the corks and labels on the glass, and retail it at 6f. or Bf. the bottle, as the choicest produce of Bur gundy and Bordeaux vineyards, sacking, with that peculiar calmness and complacency which are characteristic of your thorough-bred Constantinople innkeeper, some 600 per cent. profit, and grumbling the while at the hardness of the times. The half-yearly inspections continue. To-day the 48th and 68th were inspected and reviewed on Cathcart's-hill. They turned out extremely well, went through some evolutions in a highly creditable manner, and gave perfect satisfaction to General Garrett. TUESDAY, FEB. 12.—1 have nothing to add to the above, except information of the opening of the New Theatre Royal, Fourth Division, which took place last night, when John Dobbs and Going to the Derby were performed to an admir ing audience of about 300 soldiers and non-commissioned officers. There has been rain in the night, but it is now fine, and remarkably mild. It is nine a.m., and the thermometer stands at 40 degs. out of doors. In addition to the mere speculations relative to the future course of events, as these appear to verge towards peace or war, other matters afford more tangible grounds than unaided conjecture. Conspicuous among these is the RUMOURED RETREAT OF A PORTION OF THE RUSSIAN ARMY. On this subject the correspondent of the Daily News writes as follows : It is said that intelligence has been received, through the secret service, of a very large portion of the Russian force having quitted the north side, and proceeded towards Sim pheropol, probably with a view of proceeding towards Perecop. As many as 26,000 men are stated to have left the north and Mackenzie Heights together during the last ten days or a fortnight. There is scarcely any change worth noticing in the. British camps. Some companies of artillery, which have been for some time employed in fatigue duties at the Ordnance Wharf, and in unloading ships, were moved up to the front the day before yesterday. They are now engaged in removing guns from some of the Russian fortifications. There is a talk of one division of the troops in front moving down shortly to Balaclava for the purpose of putting on board ship shot, shell, and other artillery and quartermaster-general's stores, prepara tory to evacuating the heights above Sebastopol. It is not known what division of the army will be selected for this duty. The French fortifications around Kamiesch and Kazatch are still advancing ; they are on so extensive and substantial a scale, and provided with so powerful an armament, that they excite the wonder of all who visit them. Our wharves at Kazatch are also making progress, but the depot of stores deposited there has already accumulated to an inconvenient extent. The detachment which was furnished from the 7th Fusiliers is scarcely strong enough to ensure the necessary protection. A difficulty exists respecting the transport of these stores, as the French object to one using their macada mised road from Kamiesch, and the open plain is quite im passable for vehicles. The French traffic alone causes constant repair of their road to be necessary ; the most substantial roads in our own camps can only be kept in order during wet weather by the most unremitting attention, so peculiarly soft and friable is the limestone found in this part of the Crimea. While conjectures as to the future occupy attention in the manner and to the extent referred to, the amusements of both officers and men appear not only not to be forgotten, but to be attended to with considerable assiduity. The Daily News' correspondent gives the subjoined account of A MATCH IN RIFLE SHOOTING. A match in rifle shooting, which excited considerable inte rest in the army, came off yesterday afternoon at the practice ground in the Karabelnaia ravine—Lieut.-colonel Blane, mili tary secretary, and Captain A. Ponsonby, aid-de-camp to Gene ral Codrington, had challenged the whole army. The firing was to be at 200 yards' distance; the Minie rifle, with fixed bayonets, as employed on actual service, was to be the weapon used, and the palm of victory was to be decided in the usual manner by the target. Lieut.-colonel Kennedy, of the adju tant-general's department, who was formerly chief instructor in the musketry school at llythe, and now superintends the small arms department in the army in the East, selected the men who were to compete with the officers already named. One man was to be chosen to represent each division of the army. To select this candidate for the principal match, the best shot was ascertained in each regiment, and these picked soldiers were then pitted against each other; the best proved shot among these remained the representative of the division. Four divisions were, however, only represented in the contest, the Guards, second, fourth, and light; it being understood that the men selected from these were so superior to all others as to distance them beyond a chance of success. The match came off at 3 p.m. A trial shot was first made by each candi date, which did not count towards the decision of the contest. Four rounds were then fired, each firing one shot in succession. The result gave the victory to the soldiers—a sergeant of the 20th Regiment being first on the list. Next to him a corporal of the 77th Regiment gained the greatest number of points. The Guards' candidate followed, and then Colonel Blane. Captain Ponsonby, who is reputed a good shot, was singularly unfortunate on this occasion. General Codrington, and a very numerous assemblage of staff and regimental officers, as well as a large body of soldiers, were present to witness the match. Some file firing and other practice followed. The Sebastopol clasps, to be added to the Crimean medals, have arrived, and are shortly to be distributed to the army. SICKNESS IN THE FRENCH ARMY. Last year the complaints from the Crimea, relative to sickness and mortality from disease, were chiefly directed to the miserably defective arrangements in the British camp complaint as to the state of our allies was little if at all heard: This absence of adverse observation was by many conjectured to arise more from the overwhelming magnitude of the evil among our -troops, which, by comparison, obliterated the impression created by smaller sufferings. That such a con jecture was the true one is now borne out by the fact that the French army has during the present winter been said to suffer very severely. The correspondent of the TimeB , writing from Marseilles, on the 20th February, says : Every ship which arrives from Constantinople brings a greater or less number of soldiers labouring under typhus fever, scurvy, or frost-bite. The mail steam-packet Jourdain, which arrived on Saturday night, brought 127 passengers, of whom eight were suffering so seriously from typhus fever that it was found necessary to land them at the island of the Frioul, under the charge of an officer of the Board of Health. The director of the Sanitary Board of Marseilles is unremit ting in his precautions to prevent the propagation of contagi ous diseases in the town. Surgeon Malinowski, of the Jourdain, a Pole by birth, unfortunately died on Monday of determination of blood to the head, caused, it is believed, by anxiety and fatigue in attending the sick. His funeral was attended by the captain and crew of the Jourdain, and by all his country men resident at Marseilles. The Sardinian steamer Italia, from Constantinople the Bth instant, arrived on Sunday. She brought 103 soldiers from the Crimea, of whom it was wee sary to land 80 at the lazaretto of the Frioul. The steam packet Gange, bringing the Constantinople mails of the 11th inst., arrived last evening. She brought 215 passengers. Many of the soldiers being infected, the packet was placed in temporary quarantine, until the Sanitary Board held a con sultation. The sick were sent to the Frioul, and the Gauge was admitted to pratique. An officer who arrived by the Gange states that there are 25,000 ol.the French army of the East in hospital, viz., 15,000 in the Crimea, and 10,000 at Con stantinople. The prevailing diseases are typhus fever and scurvy. This statement is in some degree confirmed by a private letter received by a shipowner here from one of his captains employed in the transport service, in which he says that there are 4,000 French troops in hospital at Eupatoria. The mortality among the horses in the Crimea is said to be very great. The commander of a transport, at present in the Joliette, says that of 150 horses he took from here to the Cri mea, it was found necessary to shoot 100, glanders having broken out amongst them. General Lebceuf, of the Artillery, arrived in the Gange. He has left for Paris, where he is to take the comn3and of the Artillery of the Imperial Guard. THE RUSSIAN BLACK SEA FLEET. A letter from Inkerman of the 7th, in the Presse d' Orient, says :—" Preparations are now being made for the total de struction of the Russian vessels sunk in the harbour of Sebas topol. This operation, some persons say, will be performed by throwing very heavy shells, so that they shall drop perpen dicularly on the vessels, and, by bursting, knock the vessels to pieces. These vessels, however, must be by this time half destroyed by the sea worm, the teredo navalis, which is pe culiar to the Black Sea. In order to give an idea of the ravages committed by this little insect, I may mention the case of the English steamer Gertrude, which has never quitted the Black Sea since the commencement of the war. She has been employed in the service of the port for the daily wants of the army. The captain lately received orders to return to Eng land, but he replied that, in consequence of the ravages made by this worm on his vessel, she was not in a fit state to under take the voyage. This insect finds its way between the cop per and the bottoms of the vessels, and then eats into the wood. The English have sought a remedy for the evil, and have made experiments on the Caradoc, the Banshee, and the Telegraph. One side of their bottoms has been covered with a kind of gum, and the other left in its usual state. After a certain time the latter part was covered with a layer of what resembled moss, and the vessels answered their helm better on one side than on the other. These experiments, however, were not complete, as the above vessels have not remained con stantly in the Black Sea. THE PEACE NEWS AT EUPATORIA. The following is an extract of a letter from Eupatoria of the 9th, published by the Constitutionnel "A letter from Eupatoria of the 9th mentions the conster nation into which the Tartar population of that place have been thrown by the news of the prospect of peace, which will pro bably expose them to the most severe retaliatory measures on the part of the Russians. It is the same in the valley of Baidar, at Kertch, and wherever the allied armies have come into con tact with the native population. Within 48 hours after the allies landed at Eupatoria, 35,000 Tartars, men, women, and children, with 10,000 horses, 4,000 or 5,000 carts, 150,000 sheep, and nearly 60,000 head of other cattle, came into Eupatoria, where there were before not more than 12,000 inhabitants. Their object, of course, was to fly from the Russians, whose vengeance they feared from having received the allies in a friendly manner. From 3,000 to 4,000 young Tartars have since then engaged in the service of the allied armies as labourers and carmen. Scurvy, typhus, and cholera have carried off at least the half of the Tartars who had placed them selves under the immediate protection of the allies. Those who remain are generally of the class in better circumstances, and are consequently the most compromised. Russia will never forgive them, and feelings of humanity as well as of honour call on the allies to protect the inhabitants of a country which has been subject to invasion. The coasts of Anatolia are near, they are fertile and thinly peopled, and 20,000 Mussulman subjects the more would be for the Ottoman empire an element of riches more desirable and not less glorious than an extension of territory. It may be added that the Tartars, like all other oppressed races, surpass in activity, in intelligence, and in in dustry, the conquering party, which for the last four centuries have reigned on the two shores of the Bosphorus." THE WAR IN ASIA. Ewzwizor If, Jew. 29.—A French merchant has just arrived here from Tiflis, by the way of Alexandropol and Kars. It appears certain that the Russians are preparing to invest our city in the spring. They are already occupied in disciplining the Armenian and Georgian levies. The regular army of the Caucasus consists at present of about 80,000 men. Of these, 10,000 are stationed so as to serve as a protection against Schamyl, 10,000 watch the army of Omar Pacha, and the re maining 50,000 are close to our frontier, under the command of General Mouravieff. In addition to these forces, they will have in the spring 20,000 new troops, more or less disciplined. We hear at least that we are to have here an English army of 30,000 foot and 10,000 horse. It is reported that this force will be under the command of Sir Colin Campbell. It is toler ably certain that the Egyptian troops to be sent here will amount to 30,000 men. We hear that for some days past strong Russian detachments were seen in the neighbourhood of Olte, sixteen hours' journey distant from here. Their inten tion is, perhaps, to get possession of the stores of corn in the district. THE BALTIC. Athices from Copenhagen of Sunday last state that the Great Belt is free from ice. KIEL, Feb. 23. Intelligence has been received by telegraph this morning that the English fleet may be immediately expected herb. Already considerable activity is displayed in getting ready for their re ception; and as we have now fine spring weather, with the thermometer at 40, all is in their favour. The jetties for land ing along the shore of the bay, which had been removed while the ice rendered them of little service, are now being replaced, and the inhabitants are looking forward with pleasure to a renewal of their intercourse with the fleet, from which many derive much pleasure and satisfaction, and not a few consider able profit and advantage. There is a degree of intimacy between the English and the people of Holstein which is quite unknown in their connexion with their fellow-subjects, there. COURT AND FASHION. 0 THE LEVEE.—The Queen held a levee (the second this season) on Wednesday, in St. James's Palace. Her Majesty wore a train of white poplin embroidered in gold and flowers, trimmed with fringe to correspond. The petticoat was white satin, trimmed with white satin ribbon. Her Majesty's head dress was formed of emeralds and diamonds. The presentations were not very numerous, and consisted principally of military and naval officers.—Her Majesty's dinner party in the even ing included the Princess Royal, the Duke and Duchess of Argyle, Mr. Buchanan, the United States minister; Count Titzthum, the Saxon minister; the Earl.of Eglinton, the Earl and Countess of Mount Charles, Viscount Monek, Lord Ernest Bruce, Lord and Lady Robert Grosvenor, the Right Hon. B. and Mrs, Disraeli, and Sir Benjamin Hawes. THE SHIPPING DUES BILL. ( PROM TILE PRESS. Tao' we're patching up Peace with the Russians, Mid ourselves we are quarrelling still, And we've had some amusing discussions On Bobby Lowe's Shipping Dues Bill. In vain Robin droned in the Senate, In the Times Robin scribbled in vain— For a leader more dull, who could pen it ? Who could speak in less logical strain ? Bob thought that his Bushranging pleadings Had grounded him well in the law; But Thesiger followed his leadings, And proved in each statement a flaw. The Commons were sore discontented With the shallow pretensions of Bobby, And Pam, driven nearly demented, Called the culprit out into the lobby : " Why the deuce need you meddle with shipping, With law, corporation, or due ? My Ministry's surely caught tripping Enough without succour from you. " I deserve to be kicked for believing You could father a measure of worth ; My dulness is quite past conceiving, But I'll strangle your whelp in its birth." So on Tuesday Pam told us quite gaily " The bill had been carefully weighed, That the Cabinet sat on it daily, But, ahem ! he was rather afraid— " And thought the most dignified course For the Government now to adopt, In fact, they would not now enforce This bill, which had better be dropped." Disraeli withered with scorn The imbecile holders of place, Who sat there and writhed so forlorn, Without honesty, genius, or grace : Without genius to govern the realm, Or grace for their faults to atone, Or honour to give up the helm, Into manlier hands than their own. While the House with approval gave ear To the eloquent leader's harangue, A creature they called Labouchere, With the look of a dog you would hang, Bose, and froth'd up his syllabub spite, So trashy, so sour, and so weak, Pam groaned that " the shame of that night Was as nought till his sub rose to speak, " With that wonderful instinct of hate For the genius which dullards must feel, As the rusts which foul vapours create Ever seek the most glistening steel. " Alas ! but my Cabinet's full Of men whom the people well know Are as Labouchere, spiteful and dull, And as vain and as empty as Lowe." MB churchwardens of Chelmsford have adopted the plan of a voluntary rate. It is now in the course of collection, and though the amount is Cd. in the pound, it is met with the utmost good feeling, not one, we believe, of those who dissent from the Church having yet refused to pay it.—Essex Herald. TII E LATE RAILWAY COMPETITION. — The London and North-western, Midland, Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincoln shire, and Great Northern Railway Companies have issued a joint notice, intimating that the reduced fares between Lon don and the various towns in the Midland and Yorkshire dis tricts have been withdrawn on and after the Ist of March. ENTERTAINMENT AT THE MANSICN-ITOUSE, LONDON: The Eight Hon. the Lord Mayor entertained a very numerous party on Wednesday night, consisting chiefly of merchants connected with Canada and the United States. The dinner was chiefly in honour of Mr. Buchanan, the American minister ; but, in consequence of a command of Her Majesty to dine at the palace, he was unable to attend. The Lord Mayor gave "Prosperity to the trade of Bristol, Liverpool, Birmingham, Newcastle, and Manchester." The toast was acknowledged by Mr. H. Berkeley, Mr. Ewart, Mr. Muntz, and Mr. Headlam, respectively. PARLIAMENTARY INTELLIGENCE. HOUSE OF LORDS. TUESDAY. Their lordships met at five o'clock. NATIONAL GALLERY OF PORTRAITS.—EarI STANHOPE gave notice that on this day (Tuesday) he should move an address to her Majesty, praying that her Majesty will gra ciously be pleased to take into her royal consideration, in con nexion with the site for the present National Gallery, the practicability and expediency of forming by degrees a gallery of original portraits ; such portraits to consist, as far as possi ble, of those persons who are most honourably commemorated in British history, as warriors or as statesmen, or in arts, in literature, and in science. MERCANTILE Liws.—The LORD CHANCELLOR called atten tion to the second report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the Mercantile Laws of the United Kingdom, and moved the first reading of two bills on the subject, with the understanding that they should be referred to a select com mittee.—Lords BROUGHAM and CAMPBELL expressed their approbation of the course pursued by the Lord Chancellor, and the bills were then read a first time. TICKETS OF LEAVE.—A discussion then arose upon the ticket-of-leave system, in the course of which Lord HAR ROWBY said that, naturally, if no transportation were allowed, criminals, after a certain term of imprisonment, must be turned loose on society.—This declaration excited great alarm in the mind of Lord MALMESBURY, who understood Lord HARROWBY to say that it was impossible to return to trans portation, and that the country must be given over to the present intolerable ticket-of-leave system.—After some ex planation from the Duke of ARGYLL, the matter dropped.— Their Lordships adjourned at half-past six. THURSDAY. The Royal assent was given by commission to the House of Commons Offices Bill, and the ➢ietropolitan Police Bill.—The Royal Commissioners were the Lord Chancellor, the Duke of Argyll, and the Earl of Harrowby. On the motion of Lord REDESDALB, The Charitable Uses Bill was read a first time. On the motion of the Earl of HAEROWBY, the Turnpike Trusts Arrangements Bill was read a second time. APPELLATE JURISDICTION, The Earl of DERBY moved for the appointnient of a Select Committee to inquire whether it is expedient to make any, and what, arrangements to secure a more efficient exercise of the judicial functions of the house as the supreme Court of Appeal. Having described the appellate jurisdiction of the House of Lords as a posler inherited by the Barons from the I great council of the realm, which exercised it in the earliest times, Lord Derby said that notwithstanding the'antiquity of the privilege, he did not consider it so essential to the fitting discharge of the other functions of the house as many appeared to imagine. It no doubt placed the law lords in a very high, responsible, and important position ; 'and perhaps the sem blance of authority it gave the lay peers might have some weight in public estimation. But if it became necessary to choose between maintaining a privilege of the house and failing to administer justice to Her Majesty's subjects, he would say, let justice be properly administered, whatever pri vileges the house might be called on to abandon. That ap peals were supposed to be heard and decided by the House of Peers was merely a legal fiction, and from that fiction the stigma on the house as a court of appeal had arisen. It was necessary to keep up.the appearance of the peers being present to form a quorum, as if they had met for legislative business ; but they had nothing whatever to do with the decision ; they merely assented to any decision put to them by the Lord Chancellor. They paid no attention to the proceedings, nor even affected to give any opinion upon them. In all the objections made to the working of the present system he did not concur; some of them bad been exaggerated. These objections he detailed, stating also the difficulties in the way of remedying them, and suggesting that in cases of common law, the house should call in the advice of the com mon law judges; in cases of equity, that of the vice-chan cellors, and have the power, in Scotch cases, of summoning to its aid some of the most eminent of the Scotch judges; all cases to be referred to the legal members of the house, as a judicial committee, which should embody the decision of the judges in a report to be presented to the whole house, and agreed to as a matter of form, but still preserving to it the right of its jurisdiction. Earl GRLIVILLE moved as an amendment the addition to the motion of the words—" and, further, how any such pro vision would affect the character of this house." He thought Lord Derby's motion the most fitting opportunity of consider ing the judicial question, and regretted that the subject of the constitution of the Peers had been introduced in the other House of Parliament. Lord CAMPBELL, Lord ST.LEONARD'S, and Lord BROUGHAM supported the motion for a committee, which, as amended, was agreed to. The committee was then appointed, and the house ad journed. . _ FRIDAY. Their lordships met at five o'clock. TORTURE IN INDIA.—The Earl of ALBEMARLE moved for various returns connected with the taxation of the nations of India, the means employed to levy it, and the character of the officers of police and revenue, in illustration of the offi cial report recently laid before parliament on the system of torture used by the government agents in the Presidency of Madras. To these returns and to the report itself, which he recommended the house carefully to peruse, he gave notice that he should hereafter call its more direct attention. It was almost incredible that such a system should have existed fifty years ; that for so long a period the native population of so large a district should have been subjected to the cruelty of agents, who, acting at once as a police and collectors of reve nue, were often themselves merely associations of thieves. The -facts contained in the- report -had-been rumoured before, but it was only now they were fully ascertained and confirmed. It was the duty of the legislature to regard with mistrust every thing proceeding from the Indian government, which had always been merciless in its administration whenever its reve nue was concerned. The English government was also partly responsible, but rather in theory than reality, for the division of powers in the present system practically reduced the re sponsibility of both to a fiction; otherwise torture could not have boen continually used for half a century among 20,000,000 of people, without the public in England being aware of it.—Earl GRANVILLE said the returns would cause much trouble, expense, and delay, as it would be necessary, for certain information, to refer to India ; but the government was so anxious no information should be withheld, that he should make no objection to the production of the papers asked for.—After a brief discussion the motion was agreed to. The Commons Enclosure Bill was read a second time. The Joint-Stock Banks (Scotland) Bill was read a third time and passed ; and the House adjourned at twenty minutes past six o'clock. HOUSE OF COMMONS. TUESDAY. Petitions against opening the British Museum, the National Galleries, the Crystal Palace, &c., on Sunday, were presented by Mr. Horsfall, from Farnworth, Lancashire, and from the Mariner's Church congregation of Liverpool; against the Counties and Boroughs Police Bill, by Mr. Parker, from the mayor and corporation of Preston ; and by Mr. Horsfall, from the Law Society of Liverpool (signed by the president), praying the house not to pass the Qualification of Justices Bill, with the clause prohibiting attorneys, solicitors, proctors, &c., acting as justices. LOCAL DUES ON SHIPPING.—In answer to Mr. LINDSAY, Mr. LOWE said, it had never been intended to confer any power on the Board of Trade by this bill to apply taxes raised at one port for the benefit of another port. Neither had it been contemplated to apply the moneys raised at any port to any other purpose than the payment of debts or to shipping purposes at the port where they were levied, and if they were to be applied to shipping purposes they would be administered by the harbour authorities, and not by the Board of Trade. All that the Board of Trade required would be an estimate of the manner in which any particular sum was to be expended, in order to guard against any of those dues being applied to purely municipal purposes. _ . Tin CRIMEAN COMMISSION.—In reply to a question, Lord PALMERSTON said, he then held in his hand a copy of the Royal warrant constituting the commission, which he was just about to lay on the table. The names of the com missioners were Lord Seaton, General 111`11fahon, Lord Beauchamp, General Rowan, Sir John Bell, General Peel, and General Knollys. . _ In reply to a question put by Mr. EWART, Lord PALMER STON said, the endeavours of her Majesty's government had been directed for some years past, and very recently most urgently, to induce the Turkish government to construct a serviceable road from Trebizonde to Erzeroum. LOCAL DUES ON SHIPPING. On the order for resuming the debate upon the second reading of the Local Daes on Shipping, &c., Bill, Lord PALMBRSTON said, he was anxious to state to the house the course which her Majesty's government, on full con sideration, had deemed it their duty to take with regard to this measure. They had felt that these burdens upon the shipping and industry of the country were matters which de served the interference of Parliament, and, with the view of liberating those interests from such burdens under which it was not fitting that they should labour, this measure had been proposed to Parliament. In the discussion upon the bill, nothing, he observed, had been said by its opponents to shake the confidence of the governmentin the justice and policy of the course they had pursued. But in that discussion it became manifest that, in the case of some of the towns affected by the bill, there were circumstances of far greater complication than the government were at first led to suppose, and which could be very imperfectly and inconveniently dealt with in a com mittee of the whole house, so as to arrive at a conclusion satis factory to the government or just to the parties concerned. The bill consisted of two parts,—one relating to the passing tolls, and the other to the diferential and town dues. With reference to the last, it was evident that a great variety of representations was entitled to be made by the towns, and these special eases it would be difficult to deal with in a com mittee on the bill. Considerable difference of opinion prevailed on the subject of these dues, and the government had come to the conclusion that it would be more consistent with public convenience, and more likely to lead to a clear understanding and a satisfactory arrangement of the complicated details relating to the differential and town dues, to refer that por tion of the measure to the consideration of a select committee. The government, therefore, thought that the course most re spectful to the house was to withdraw the bill, for the pur pose of taking the whole matter into consideration, and, while the complicated details were referred to a select com mittee, seeing whether the other simpler matters might not be made the subject of a separate bill. He proposed, there fore, to withdraw the present bill. Mr. DISRAELI said, he had heard the proposition of Lord Palmerston with satisfaction. When he had considered the alarming character of the bill, supported by a speech more calculated than any speech he had ever listened to in that house to disturb and alarm the public mind, and to unsettle all confidence in prescription, he had felt it to be his duty, the previous evening, to impress upon the house the expediency of coming to a quick decision upon the question : The noble lord, he observed, had spoken of the consideration bestowed upon the subject; but he (Mr. Disareli) wished to know what part of it could have received any consideration by the govern ment. The house was now told that a select committee was to investigate the subject; but if it had already been thoroughly investigated by the government, where was the necessity of a select committee ? What was the use of a cabinet and of a responsible ministry, if they could bring forward crude measures, then recoil from them and de volve their duty upon a select committee ? Mr. Disraeli con cluded with some caustic remarks upon the general conduct of the Government business this session in that and the other House of Parliament, which had witnessed, he said, the defeat and discomfiture of Ministers by their own followers. Mr. LASOVCABBE animadverted upon the tone adopted by [MARCH 4, 1856, Mr. Disraeli, which he contrasted with the temperate spirit in which the debate of the preceding day bad been conducted. He defended the course taken by the Government with refer ence to this bill, which, having been founded upon the report of a commission, was not open, he said, to the reproach of crudeness, and he thought, when the circumstances of the case were duly considered, the song of triumph which Mr. Disraeli had thought proper to sing upon that occasion would be moderated. After a few remarks from Mr. HEADLAM and Mr. HAD FIELD, the order was discharged, and the bill was withdrawn. The'Charitable Uses Bill ;as read a third time and passed, after a short discussion of the amendments proposed. The Select Committee on the Court of Chancery (Ireland) Bill, and that on St. James's Park, were nominated, not without some opposition. The house adjourned at five minutes after seven o'clock. WEDNESDAY. Petitions were presented by Mr. BAINES, from Mr. Jonathan Peel and other magistrates, residing on the borders of Lan cashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire, in favour of the Police (Counties and Boroughs) Bill. On the order for the second reading of the Contractors Dis qualification Removal Bill, Mr. MITCHELL, after stating the reasons which had induced him- to introduce the bill that the present law was evaded, that the proper constitutional check should be the responsibility of the Ministers of the Crown, and that the exclusion of contractors from the House narrowed the field of competition, and to that extent operated to the detriment of the public service—said that, 'as he found there was a strong prejudice against the measure, and as Mr. Br- CA.RDO had announced a motion for a committee to inquire into the whole subject, he moved that the order be discharged. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said he was glad that the bill was withdrawn. He thought it was not desirable to alter the law as to contracts with different departments which were not submitted to Parliament, those departments having power to vary the terms of the contract and to grant indulgences, thereby influencing the contractor. The objec tions to the present law, that it was not difficult to be evaded, and that sometimes persons inadvertently entered into con tracts while members of the House, and thereby incurred pe nalties, applied to almost all penal statutes. A s t o l oan con tracts, committee of last session had come to the conclu sion that they were of a totally different nature from the other. Loan contractors were mere go-betweens, the parties being the Executive Government and the public; the negotia tions with the loan contractors were preliminary only; they were not completed until sanctioned by Parliament, and until the engagements, binding on both parties, were carried into effect by an act; and the Executive Government could not vary the terms of the contract. In his opinion, the decision of the committee was well founded, and he was disposed for the pre sent to let the question rest upon that decision.—After some further remarks, the order was discharged, so that the bill is withdrawn. Mr. COLVILLE, in moving the second reading of the Justices of the Peace Qualification Bill, stated that its object was to enlarge the qualification and to extend it to personal property —Sir G. GREY said, although objections might be taken to , some parts of the bill, they might be removed in committee, and he did not object to its principle, that landed property should not be the - sole qualification for the office. After a short discussion, the bill was read a second time. - On the order for the second reading of the Annuities Bill,- the CHANCELLOR, of the EXCHEQUER, adverting to the debate upon the first order of the day, repeated that he had no doubt of the rectitude of the decision of the committee of last year;. nevertheless, he could not shut his eyes to the fact that per sons of great weight did entertain doubts upon the point, and it was necessary to clear up those doubts one way or the other. He proposed, therefore, to introduce into this bill, when in committee. a clause of indemnity for subscribers to the existing loan, which would not throw any doubt upon the decision of the committee of last year, The bill was then read a second time, as were the Consolidated Fund Bill and thr Exchequer' Bills Funding Bill; and the house then adjourned at ten minutes to 2 o'clock. THURSDAY. Petitions were presented against opening the British Museum and other places of amusement on Sundays, by Mr. PeeL, from Tollington Townend, near Bury, Lancashire ; against the Counties and Boroughs Police Bill, by Mr. Acton, from the Town Council of the Borough of Wigan; and by Mr. L. Davies, from the parishioners of Llangunllo, and also from the parishes of Pembryn, and Bettevs, Cardi ganshire, praying that the enactment authorising the removal of St. David's College from Lampeter should be repealed, and that the endowment of St. David's College be increased by the addition of funds accruing from tithes in the counties of Car marthen, Cardigan, and Radnor, applicable to such an institu tion. In reply to a question, Sir G. GREY said, he hoped at an early day to be able to introduce the bill for the reform of the Corporation of the City of London. LOCAL DUES OW SHIPPING.—Mr. GIBSON observed that it had been stated by the government the other night, that it was desirable to have a select committee to inquire how the principle of this bill could be applied to particular cases, in reference to which it might be difficult to come to a decision in the whole house. He wished to ask the noble lord at the head of the government when the committee would be ap pointed P—Lord PALMERSTON replied that he would give notice early next week on the subject. Trrs CRIMEAN COMMISSION.—In reply to a question by Mr. Stanley, Lord PALMERSTON said—On a former evening I said that the general practice with regard to courts of this• kind was, that the inquiry should be conducted with closed doors. This inquiry, however, is of so peculiar a nature that it is the intention of the government that it should be taken with open doors, reserving, however, to the commissioners that discretion which must properly belong to them of conducting any particular part of it with closed doors. That is a discre tion which I am sure the court will not exercise without the fullast-and-moat satisfactory raaaouc---Witlx-pagard to-the se cond part of the hon. member's question, the commissioners have no power of administering an oath. They are not a court martial under the Mutiny Act, and no military court otherwise composed can examine upon oath unless specially empowered so to do by act of Parliament. THE CURRENCY. Mr. Muzfrz moved for a select committee to inquire how far the present monetary system is in accordance with the re quirements of the country, and to consider if it cannot be im proved and amended. He commenced by a distinct denial that he was an advocate of an inconvertible paper circu lation. He then entered upon a rapid historical survey of our monetary system from so early a period as that of William the Conqueror (when, he observed, the pound sterling was a pound weight of silver), the dryness of which was relieved by reflections upon the various crises and panics which the sys tem had experienced, especially during the last half century. His object, he said, was to inquire—nothing more—whether it was not possible to devise honest means by which the great vacillations of this system, the effects of which had been so destructive, could be prevented, so that justice might be done to all classes and all parties. Mr. PEACOCK supported the motion for an inquiry, but not upon the grounds put forward by Mr. Muntz, whose speech, he remarked, contained three fallacies ; fir s t, that the price of gold was fixed, whereas, he contended, it fluctuated like that of other commodities ; second, that the rate of interest de pended upon the price of gold, whereas it bore a relation and proportion to the supply of capital ; and third, that bank deposits could control the circulation of the country, which they were impotent to do. He supported the motion because he wished for an inquiry into the working of the Bank Char ter Act. Mr. DRUMMOND said this was a question more difficult to. discuss in that house than any other, because it was a question of pure science, and it was easy to bring forward an array of insulated facts; but, unless it was borne in mind that, in speaking of value, the precious metals must be held to be a. fixed and unalterable quantity, all would be confusion. To talk of the rise and fall of the precious metals was downright nonsense. They must be the sole measure of value. After a long discussion, in which several members took part, the Cne.NCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said he had been desirous before he expressed his own opinion upon this motion• of hearing whether there was a general and prevailing senti ment in favour of a committee. He did not understand what was the nature of the inquiry which the committee was to undertake. He put it to the house whether the inquiry • should be into matters of a speculative and philosophical character. The ground upon which the question had been argued was, that the subject of inquiry should be the Bank Act of 1844. If that was the object, it would be better, in stead of couching the motion in vague terms, to move for a committee to inquire into the operation of that act. As suming that to be the object of the motion, he repeated what he had stated upon a preceding night, that, in his opinion, the present moment was not peculiarly well suited for such an inquiry. The circumstances of the country were ex ceptional and extraordinary, and, if a committee was now appointed, the investigation would be to a great extent directed to the extraordinary circumstances of last autumn, and not to the general operations of the Act of 1844. There was nothing perilous in the condition of the Bank of England. The returns showed that the circulation amounted to £19,254,000 ; that of bullion to £10,576,000 ; the notes to £24,890,000, and the reserve to £6,848,000. Much hostile criticism, he observed, had been passed upon the arbitrary limit of £14,000,000 for the issue of notes, added to the amount of the bullion. Supposing that there was a valid objection to this limitation, the question was whether any body was prepared to propose a scheme preferable to the fixing an arbitrary amount. The plan suggested by Mr. Tooke was not, in his opinion, preferable to the present arrangement. He should vote, he said, against the appoint ment of a committee at the present moment. Nevertheless,. he was of opinion that there were parts of the Bank Act of 1844 which did require investigation when a proper time arrived for the prosecution of such an inquiry before a com petent tribunal. Upon a division, the motion was negatived by 115 to 68. THE IRISH JUDGES. Mr. J. PHlLLimonn moved for copies of the judgment pro. nounced by Mr. Justice TUREENS, one of the judges of the Court of Common Pleas in Ireland, in the case of " Talbot v. Talbot," before the High Court of Delegates, in Dublin, in 1856; and of the written 'proceedings and depositions taken in the same cause before the Consistory Court of Dublin, from which the appeal was made to the Court of Delegates, and which were laid before that Court. He did not propose, he said, that that House should act as a court of review or appeal, nor did he appear as the advocate of Mrs. Talbot or her friends; but he brought the subject before the House because the dignity and reverence due to the judicial seat were lost if charges of this kind, not anonymous, were to be passed over without notice. The charge he brought against the judge was incapacity, followed by most terrible and tragical conse charge which, if true, made it the dnty of the interfere for the protection of the subject. Mr. q H u o e u n s e e e s Phillimore gave a copious narrative of the facts of the case, w hich, he said, appeared on the face of the depositions, and in conclusion, accused the judge of admitting hearsay evidence of a witness whose direct evidence he had rejected, of misre presenting the testimony of other witnesses, and of interpo lating his judgment after its delivery. The motion was seconded by Mr. J. EwaaT. Mr. WniTzspan entered into a counter-statement of facts, by which he contended that the judgment in question was borne out, observing that Mr. Justice Torrens was only one of five judges of which the Court of Delegates consisted, and the judgment he delivered was that of the Court. Why, he asked, did not Mr. Phillimore assail the whole court ? The motion, if successful, would, be said, be fatal to the independence of the bench. The case was now before a competent tribunal, and this motion was calculated to forestall and prejudice it. After examining the charges preferred against Mr. Justice Torrens, he declared them to be either groundless or trivial, and asked what the house was going to do, whether it intended to proceed in the career of summoning judges before it upon garbled ex tracts of evidence. The motion he characterised as a mis chievous one, and he trusted to have the support of her Majesty's ministers in defending thejudges of a court appointed by their own Lord Chancellor.