The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-02-27 00:00:00

Eniperial 13arliaturnt. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—MoNDA-z, Mr. HortsmAN commenced the debate on the state of Ireland by complaining of the spirit in which the late trials had been conducted, and denied that they would 'have the effect of quieting that country. Mr. SIDNEY HERBERT had hoped that Ireland was not to be again made a battle field of party. The charges at first brought against the government respecting the conduct of the trials had now, both by Lord Howick and Sir G. Grey, been admitted to be without foundation. He drew a happy omen for Ireland from the tolerant tone of the Protestant speakers in this debate, when the only religious acerbity exhibited had come from the opposite party. Mr. JOHN O'CONNELL said, that he should employ the little liberty which might be left to hires before his sentence in renewing with undiminished zeal, the efforts which had earned foc i him the honour of a conviction. lie only wished that, as he was young and strong, and able to bear punishment, a heavy measure of it might be in. Bicted rather on him, than on those whose years and constitution were less adapted to endure it. He called on the British Parliament and people to be just to Ireland : if they should persist further in injustice, let the conse quences be on their heads. Colonel VERNER bore testimony to the good conduct and forbearance of the Protestants in the north of Ire land, under circumstances of much irritation. Mr. FERRAND animadverted on the indecorum com mitted a few nights ago by that small republican party in the house who had cheered Mr. O'Connell on his entrance into it. The loudest among them all was Mr. Hume, who had, not long since, advised the Canadians to shake off the baneful domination of the mother country.: He condemned the Ette opts which the opposition were making to plunder the Protestant Church. The motion of the noble lord, however, instead of strengthening, had wea kened the Whigs : he bad smashed both himself and his party. _ - Sir C. NAPIER asserted Mr. O'Connell's disinterest. edness. He thought tha trials would do no good ; but desired he might not be understood to be a Repealer. Mr. MACAULAY said it formed a prima' facie case for a committee of inquiry that a great country, with so many natural advantages as Ireland, and with a popula tion amounting to more than a fourth of the whole peo ple of the empire, should at this day be governed, not by love, but by force. He trusted that Sir. 11. Peel would inquire, not what had been said forty years ago about th e Church, but whether the Irish Church was now a good or a bad institution—whether or not it accomplished its ends —whether it was in reality the poor man's Church—the means of comfort and of education to the people. Sir %V. FOLLETT said, that the speech of Mr. Macau lay, able as it was, had suggested no arguments for voting in favour of Lord John Russell's motion. He begged the house to observe that it was a motion brought forward, subsequently indeed to the verdict, but previously to the sentence, which was still pending; and surely such a time was little fitted for such a discussion in the House of Commons, and surely a deep responsibility would rest on those who had originated it. lie adverted to, and answer ed the charges respecting the omitted lists, and the ex clusion of Roman Catholics from judicial appointments; and expressed his hope that the disposition now mani fested, and the measures now proposed, by the govern ment would have the effect of restoring a better state of feeling in Ireland. Lord JOHN RUSSELL explained, and the debate was again adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS.-TUESDAY. The adjourned debate on Ireland was resumed by Mr. Hawes, who spoke in favour of the motion, as did the O'Connor Don, Sir W. James, Mr. E. Buller, Mr. Las celles, Mr. GiOorne, and Sir T. Wilde. The only m!mbers who replied to them were Lord C. Hamilton and Mr. A. S. O'Brien. Sir T. WILDE with much vehemence attacked every part of the conduct of government and advocated the legality of agitation, without which, he said, nothing was ever to be obtained from government. With a view to explain some statement of the hon. member with refer ence to the omission of names from the jury list, Mr. SHAW made some remarks disproving that there was improper conduct in this respect in the government officers. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—WEDNEsnAy. The report on the Birkenhead Improvement Bill was brought up. Several other private bills were forwarded a stage. The County Coroners 13111 was read a second time. There was considerable discussion on the Horse-racing Penalties Suspension Bill, several members objecting to it as partial in its nature, and Mr. BRIGHT, moving an amendment to extend the provisions of the bill to all pro ceedings of common informers under the authority of any penal statute. The amendment was afterwards withdrawn, and the bill passed through committee; a clause being added which would extend the protection granted to bets made on or before the Ist of June next. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL for IRELAND in resuming the adjourned debate on Ireland proposed to give an account to the house of all the steps which he had taken in the late trial in their consecutive order. Within a few days after the informations had been sworn on which the trial proceeded the streets of Dublin were placarded with bills, holding out as a government spy and a wilful perjurer the principal witness for the crown, Mr. Hughes, a gen tleman to whose honour and integrity Mr. O'Connell himself had borne testimony in the course of the trial. The bill was sent before the grand jury on the 2d of No vembery ; and on the 6th, while it was still before them, an application, which might long before have been made to the commission, was made to the Court of Queen's Bench, charging perjury against the principal witness, with a view to prejudice the minds of the grand jury. The neat application was for copies of the indictment ; they asked for eight copies, calculating probably upon delay; but this move had been anticipated, and the eight copies were all ready, and were at once handed over. They then required to examine all the copies with the original, hoping to find some valiance ' • but here they we re again foiled, by the care with which the copies had been prepared. They next required the names of the witnesses and the caption as parts of the indictment; but, consider ing these attempts also as made solely for delay, he had resisted them, and the court had decided in his favour. Then came a set of pleas in abatement, again for delay ; be resisted the reception of them as too late, filed demur rers instantly, and proposed to argue them next mor n in g ; but the traversers' counsel, who had been five days in preparing these pleas, required a further four day rule before they would come to the argument. In resisting these delays, be had done only what, as a public officer, he was bound to do. The argumentcame on, and his demur rers were allowed. This was on the 22d of November. He had then called upon the court, on the authority of decided cases, to require an immediate plea ; and then at length, though not without a further struggle for more time, a plea of " Not Guil;y" was put upon the record. The term being now near its end, he had applied to the court to exercise its statutory power of specially fixing a trial at bar in vacation. This they opposed—first, because they wished more time for preparation ; and, secondly, because of the state of the special jury books, which, as they then stood, comprehended only twenty-five Catholics able to serve. On the second ground, and on that solely, 'be bad assented to a postponement from the 11th of De cember to the 15th of January. He had expected that the new jury lists would be earlier ready, and he did still think that the clerks of the peace had not been so diligent as they ought. On the 29th or 30th of December the jury papers were handed to the jury, whose duty it was, within ten days from that time, to prepare a special jury list. Until the sheriff had completed that list, it was liable to alteration ; and if the crown solicitor had consented to give a copy, as he was asked to do, before that time, and an alteration had taken place meanwhile, there would have been a fresh application for delay on the ground that the traversers had been misled by the list. On the special jury list for 1843, which he had consented to pass by, there had been twenty-five Roman Catholics ; on that for 1844, which he had consented to wait for, there were 188. A protest was made aga i ns t th e ballot for the jury, on the ground that a p.per, containing Roman Catholic names, had been omitted in the recorder's office. To that protest the crown solicitor certainly did not think it his duty to accede. He must observe, that the striking of a special jury was not in the nature of a challenge • it was compul sory on each party to strike; and it might as well be in quired what motives had influenced the strike on the side of the defendants, as what motives bad guided the crown. On the 12th of January a motion was made to quash the jury panel. Sir T. Wilde had said, the Irish Attorney- General ought to have consented, but he had practised a delusion on the house and the public in not stating what the consequences of such a consent would have been. He himself would therefore explain them. The panel enultl have been quashed only upon the principle that the jury list of 1844 was a nullity. There were other cases to be tried in Ireland besides this traverse ; and if he had as sented to any addition to the- jurors' book, every case to be so tried would have been effected ; but, in truth, and for that very reason, he had no power to consent, and so it had been admitted by some of the traversers' own counsel. No doubt he might have consented to quash the panel altogether; but the law prescribed, that where the panel of any year should be quashed, all cases must be tried by the panel of the preceding year; and if the new panel, containing 188 Roman Catholics, had been set aside, either the traversers must have been tried on the old panel, containing only twenty-five Roman Catholics, or the trial must have been postponed to 1845. There had been a strange affidavit of Mr. Mahony about the omitted names. Mr. Justice Perrin had declared his conviction that there was nothing in this to affect the Parties conducting the prosecution ; whether there might not hale been some contrivance by a certain Roman Ca tholic eletk in the office, who had very improperly allowed the traversers attorneys to have access to the papers was another question ; certainly Mr. Mah o ny had not stated in his affidavit that this clerk was unconscious of the transaction. He then came to the striking of the Roman Catholics from the jury list. The crown solicitor had stated on affidavit, that he believed these Catholics to be repealers • Mr. Shell had said in court he would disp rove that on ;ffidavit, but, after waiting a month Mr. sh e ll, instead of producing an affidavit founded on the regul ar registers of the Repeal Association, which record every individual subscriber, had produced an affidavit on the mere hearsay of the traversers' attorney, and even this applying to only two individuals. Most of the other nine were, in fact, not only repealers, but very active repealers. There was a perfect right to strike off any in dividuals, without any reason at all ; but here there was reason of the most cogent kind. Sir T. Wilde bad said, that the Irish Attorney-General would not have dared to set aside the jurors on a common jury, when the chal lenge would have been an open one. Yes, lie would have dared to challenge, and would have challenged, every corn. mon juror whom he had believed to be a repealer. How had the powers at present in his hands been exercised during the late government by those who now criticised his conduct? He stated the circumstances of a case in in which Mr. Shed, prosecuting on a charge which affected a fellow-creature's life, had set aside, out of 36 jurors, no fewer than 29 protestants ; when the prisoner was allowed, in all. but twenty peremotory challenges. What had been the cause for setting aside those twenty nine Protestants? . He defe n d e d hi mse lf aga i nst the charge of petty hostility in harshly compelling the presence of the traversers throughout the trials, showing the gross uns truth of that imputation. He vindicated the frame and scope of the indictment, and ridiculed the notion that the leaders of a monster meeting could not be guilty of over awing the legislature, unless the mob were actually gath ered together in Palace-yard. The count which had been represented by the Attorney-General of the late govern ment as such a s t ra i n upon t h e l aw, was cop i e d ver b a ti m from an indictment preferred by himself under that ad ministration : If, then, the present law-officers of Ire land had been to blame, it was for having fallen into what he must admit was a general bad habit—the imitation of the acts of the late Attorney-General. He repelled with indignation the charge of partiality adduced against the Lord Chief Justice. With reference to his challenging Mr.Fitzgibbon, the Attorney-General said, complaint has been made against me—and I admit with just foundation —for one act which I committed in the course of these proceedings. I was misled by a feeling of irritation which ought not to have governed any act of mine, circumstan ced as I was. (Hear, hear.) I permitted myself, the court having adjourned for a few minutes, immediately after insulting language had been applied to me, to take a step which I deeply regret. (Cheers.) But this I can say, that lam sure there is-not a gentleman in this house who would not make allowance for a person acting under the impression that an improper charge had been brought against him. (Cheers.) I wish to be understood, when I advert to Mr. Fitzgibbon's name, that I shall not say one syllable to hurt his feelings. He is absent, but I be lieve if he were present he would admit that language had escaped from him inadvertently. Entertaining those views, I shall not say one syllable that can inculpate him. It would be base and treacherous of me if I did so. I take the blame upon myself—(cheers,)— and can only say further that I considered—l cannot say whether rightly or wrongly—that I had had a gross insult passed upon me. Whatever my character may be—and I think I may appeal to my political opponents—l may at least say that, during the whole of my life in Ireland, I have kept up a character for personal honour and integrity. (Loud cheers.) Conceiving that an imputation had been thrown out against what I considered to be my personal honour, in a feeling of excitement during the adjourn ment of the court for two or three minutes, I penned that note. If the court had never adjourned, it would never have happened at all, because it would have passed off in a few minutes. (Cheers.) 1 wrote the note out of court, it was suggested that I wrote it in court, but that was not so : I wrote it in a chamber adjoining the court, and I thought that the judge and jury and all were out of court ; not that that indeed makes much difference ; nor do I urge it as an excuse—far from it. (Loud cheers from all sides of the house.) I admit I acted with impropriety, but under the circumstances, with a strong feeling that a personal insult had been passed upon me, I do think that gentleman of generous feeling will be inclined to make some allowance. (Renewed cheers.) I shall add noth ing more with respect to this, except that I am willing to say, as Mr. Fitzgibbon is absent, that I believe I was mis taken in the construction I put on his language. (Cheers.) I only advert to it, because if I did not, it might be sup posed from my silence that I am a person not willing to admit when I am wrong ; and I am by no means desirous to be subject to such an imputation. (Cheers.) He did not know whether he had, but he might have, omitted to answer some matters which had been alleged against him, in consequence of not having been present at the earlier part of the debate, and he was not so practiced in the ways of that house as other honourable gentlemen might be. lie did not feel quite at home yet in the House of Commons, though he felt quite at home in court. (Loud cheers.) But he felt bound to say that the attention and patience with which he had been listened to in the course of the remarks which he had thought it necessary to make, and the indulgence which he had received from both sides of the house, would make him more easy for the future, and when next he should feel called upon to address them he trusted that he should not make so gross a trespass on their time as he had upon the present occasion. (The right honourable and learned gentleman, upon resuming his seat, was saluted with a burs. of applause from every quarter of the house ; he was immediately surrounded by a large number of friends, who seemed to compliment him most warmly upon the speech which he had just made to the house.) Mr. D. BROWNE rose while the house was still in con siderable confusion, and proposed the adjournment of the debate. There were several cries for " Sheil," but that right honourable and learned gentleman shook his head and called out once or twice—" No, I shan't; no, 1 shan't; and as there was no amendment to the motion, the debate was adjourned. On the motion of Mr. GIBSON, the following gentle men were appointed the Select Committee upon :Taming, viz,—Mr. M. Gibson, Mr. Lascelles, Viscount Palmer ston, Mr. James Wortley, Mr. Hume, Mr. B. Escott, Mr. V. Smith, Mr. Cochrane, Mr. Hayter, Viscount Jocelyn, Mr. Hawes, Colonel Peel, Capt. Berkeley, Sir H. Seymour, and Mr. M. Sutton. The orders of the day were then disposed of, and the house adjourned at twelve o'clock. HOUSE OF LORDS.*--TIIURSDAY. Lord MONTEAGLE moved for certain papers connected with the appointment of Mr. Holt Waring to the deanery of Dronaore, impugning the appointment as one ill calcu lated to conciliate the Catholics, inasmuch as Mr. Holt Waring had been secretary and chaplain to the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland, of which he had been a member from 1798 to 1825. This appointment, he contended, was inconsistent with the principles laid down in Sir R. Peel's letter to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland respecting the disposal of church patronage in that country. The Earl of RIPON said the office was merely a dignity without any emolument, and Mr. Ilolt Waring had been recommended for the appointment as the oldest beneficed clergyman in the diocese, not only by the chapter but also by the bishop : _ _ _ The Marqilis of WESTMEATH attacked Lord Monteagle in very warm and personal language, reminded him of the retirement of Sir John Newport, in order to make room for himself, and said that the words " Holt Waring " looked as well attached to a sinecure as that of " Spring Rice" to a pensioned peerage. The papers were ordered, and their lordships adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—ThuasnAr. Sir R. PEEL stated, in reply to a question from Sir G• Grey, that dispatches had been received confirming the occupation of Otaheite by the French : He hoped, how ever, that the event had occurred without the previous sanction of the French government, and thought that a t present any discussion on the subject would be premature. The adjourned debate was resumed by Mr. M. O'Corz- NELL, who spoke in support of the motion. After Mr. Gregory and several members had spoken, Sir HOWARD DOUGLAS sought to show that the repeal agitation had not been undertaken with any view to do good to Ireland, but in order to restore to power a party that never either could or would do good to that country. He did not believe that any British ministry would ever abandon the church ; but every Irish grievance, he hoped, would be redressed, so far as this could be done con sistently with the security to the church. Mr. SHELL began by defending himself against the charge brought against him by the Attorney General for Ireland, of having a packed jury, on the occasion of a trial for murder at the Tipperary assizes. At that trial it was his particular wish that the prisoner should be tried by a mixed jury, and finding the opposite party were setting Catholics aside, he determined to do the same to Pro testants. The consequence was that they obtained a jury of seven Catholics and five Protestants. Mr. Sheil then read extracts from his own speech on the occasion of that trial, to show the liberal and forbearing spirit in which he had carried on the prosecution. The right hon. gentle man next proceeded to an elaborate criticism of the con • duct of government in the late trial, and argued that while so many suspicious circumstances existed, a committee was absolutely necessary, that a searching inquiry might be instituted. He dwelt with much earnestness on what has been called the exclusion of Roman Catholics from the jury. Eight of those Catholics, he admitted, had been most properly excluded ; they were members of the Re peal Association, and ought, therefore, not to have been on the jury. There were two, however, who were quite unexceptionable, neither of them having ever subscribed to the funds of the Repeal Association. Was it wonder ful that the Catholics, to a man, should have been indig nant at such treatment? After long dwelling on the de tails of the trial, the right hon. gentleman called on the government to say how was Ireland to be governed ? Pro testant juries, Protestant verdicts, and Protestant gaolers must have Protestant bayonets to support them. The great question, however, was the position of the two churches. Government must have measures on this sub ject in contemplation, and parliament ought not to bekept in ignorance of them. At the conclusion of the right hon. gentleman's speech the debate was again adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS.-FRIDAY. The adjourned debate on the state of Ireland was re commenced by the ATTORNEY-GENERAI, (Sir P. Pol lock), who explained the reasons by which he had him self b een i n d uce d to postpone a revenue trial alluded to by Sir T. Wilde, observing that it was only under special circumstances, involving some real hardship on the de fendant, and not upon every light suggestion, that he should think it right to consent to such postponement. He gave a manly exposition of the principles on which, at the out se t o f his official career, Sir R. Peel had coun selled him to act, and of the way in which he had fol lowed that advice, looking not to the mere letter of the law, but to the general considerations of justice and mercy.„, He animadverted with much pleasantry on Mr. 'llacaulay's disclaimer of the legal character and profes sion ; and having expressed his admiration for the talent evinced in the right hon. and learned member's late speech, he commented upon its remarkable deficiency in point of practical suggestion. Addressing himself to the subject of the Irish trials, he exposed the absurdity of the complaint that the case had not been left to a common jury : indeed he should as soon have thought of taking a case of high treason to he tried at the quarter sessions. Mr. Shell had made a mistake in speaking of the special jury as selected: the 48 names were first taken by ballot, then reduced to 24 by a st r ike o f 12 on ea ch side, and again reduced from 24 to the final 12 by another ballot. The resort to a special jury in this case had been sanc tioned by the unanimous opinion of the law officers on both sides of the Channel ; and if the lots had fallen un fortunately for the traversers, that result was no ground of imputation upon the prosecutor. He had himself, at Carmarthen, set aside no fewer than 30 persons called upon a common jury; he had been obliged to do that, because he had received credible information that a great number of the persons on that panel had been out in the riots ; he had been enabled to do it, because his conduct on former prosecutions had been honoured with the __ ap probation of pa r li amen t, an d " character was strengt h." But that could not have been done to the full extent in Dublin, by reason of the extraordinary excitement pre vailing there; and thus public justice required, that in stead of taking common jurors, the Crown should refer the subject to a special jury, where the process would be by striking, and not by challenging. Now he admitted that, emteris paribus, a Roman Catholic juror on the Irish trials would have been preferable for the Crown to a Protestant.; but here ccetera were not paria. He ad mitted that the duty of the law officers should be executed with deference to, public opinion ; but to leave on the jury a man who had signed a requisition for a repeal meeting, would have been to merge that duty in a spurious libe rality. He much regretted that a notion should have been circulated of any intention to insult the Roman Catholics: no man, not even Mr. Shell himself, had a mind more alien from such a wish. He vindicated the common law from Sir T. Wilde's attack upon it. The trial by jury rested on the common law, and the trial by jury was the foundation of public opinion. The decisions of the Judges, ,proceeding on no statute, but on the principles of this common law, had fixed the most im portant grounds of British liberty—had put an end to general warrants—had settled the right of the imported slave to freedom—had abolished the state of villenage throughout this realm. The doctrine of conspiracy was as old as the law of England ; and he vindicated the rea sonableness and utility of it. It had been said, why did you not indict for attending an illegal meeting? It was well that such a course had not been taken ; for this jury, to whom such blind partiality had been imputed, had refused to find that these meetings were illegal; and if there had been an acquittal on that ground, you would now have possessed no check on the repeal movement. Why not have prosecuted for libel ? He owned that he did not like the present law of libel; it was his habit to dissuade even private prosecutors from proceeding upon it - and prosecutions for public libel had been disused not only by himself but by all the law officers for a consider able time. He hoped he should not get into disfavour by showing that he had himself, on one occasion or other, done almost all the things charged against the Irish Attorney-General. For instance, with respect to the challenge to the array, he had done at Cardiff just what the Irish Attorney-General had done in Dublin; he had demurred to such a challenge. It was a challenge on account of fraud by persons unknown. There was no possibility of trying such an allegation, therefore there was no course but to demur ; and he would cordially share the responsibility of the Irish Attorney-General. It was alleged in this debate that Mr. O'Connell had not had a fair trial ; let that be proved, even now, and in the next term a new trial would be granted him by the court. This was the proper and constitutional answer to the imputation of unfairness. He was sincerely anxious for the welfare of Ireland, but he held that it might be accomplished with out invasion upon the church. On the subject of educa tion he would go to the fullest extent ; he felt that to the relief of the necessities of the poorer country there ought to be no limit but the means of the richer. He insisted on the preservation of the union, and urged the necessity of a harmonious and cordial co-operation of parties. This speech, both in its progress and when he concluded it, was cordially cheered from both sides of the house. Mr. O'CosiN ELL said be was not about to speak of him self :he had come for a different purpose —to make a pro testation and to ask a question—to protest against any new wrong to his country, and to ask how Ireland was to be governed. Before the union she had an independent par liament of her own. If she had been raised to a more prosperous condition by the union, then let the wisdom of that measure be praised ; for Mr. Pitt's argument in re commendation of it was, that it would increase her pros perity. What was the result? Mr. Kohl, in his work, as quoted by The Times of the preceding day, had attested that her condition was worse than that of the most desti tute countries in Europe. There were other testimonies to the like effect, and particularly the opinions of the poor law commissioners, who had shown that about one-third of her whole population was in a state of pauperism. The ratio of population from 1830 to 1840 had been actually less than in the ten years preceding. Little would he care for what had passed on the late trials, if lie could open the eyes of the wise and good in England to the real state of Ireland. At all events he could never forget, and be would fully relate to his countrymen, the sympathy he had met in England. But he had little hope of justice. Why were not the franchises, why were not the corporate insti tutions, of the two countries the same ? Was there any man now, on either side of the house, who did not wish that the union had been made complete. You could have made your own arrangements then ; but the cry of " the Church in danger" prevented that, and your union was like the identification of the shark with its prey—the swal lowing up of the one by the other. The Whigs, who suc ceeded Mr. Pitt, were able to effect nothing for Ireland ; all they asked was but to make Catholic officers, naval and military, capable of promot ion, but they could not succeed, though the measure in reality went only to increase the Crown's prerogative. The no-popery cry was raised to an incredible height and extent. Mr. Perceval made ex clusion his staple. He resolved that the Catholics should go no further ; but they resolved that they would, and they combined for that purpose. Mr. O'Connell then sketched the history of these combinations to the year 1825. In that year all might have been settled ; the clergy, with their bishops, were prepared to concur in a general arrangement; but the offer was refused. Upon this the county of Clare returned him to parliament ; emancipation necessarily followed, and it was granted, but in an undignified way, as a thing enforced and extorted. The reform bill was the consequence of the emancipation ; but in that reform bill the franchise bestowed upon Ireland was measured out with the most unjust parsimony ; in proof of which he referred to several Irish counties with large populations and small constituencies. The repeal question was then debated in the house. It was rejected ; but the house re solved that it would redress the grievances of Ireland. That pled e, however, was not fulfilled. He read a petition which he had presented from the Precursor's So ciety, setting forth what they considered and claimed as their rights. From this he proceeded to the late prose cutions. He protested against them, in the name of the Irish people,—first, because the meetings were not illegal, unless, indeed, illegality were constituted by the repetition of many acts each individually legal. Secondly, because every Catholic had been struck from the jury; with re spect to which, he defended himself against a charge made against him on a former evening —that he had him self been guilty of packing jurors. It was a base and false insinuation that Catholic jurors would perjure them selves. He acquitted Mr. Shaw of any evil intention in the omission of the jury names, and of his clerk having received any bribe. He blamed the demurrer upon the challenge to the array ; and spoke in bitter terms of the Lord Chief Justice's charge to the jury. With respect to the measures proposed by the government, he treated them as of little value. What they ought to do on the subjects they meant to deal with was to make each Ro man Catholic bishop a sole corporation—t o improve the borough franchise, clearing it from the grand jury cess— to give to the counties as large a constituency, in pro portion to their population, as the English counties en joyed—and to bring back the law of landlord and tenant to what it was before the union. But there were other things to be done. The government should remodel the financial arrangements between England and Ireland — enlarge the Irish corporate franchise to an equality with that of England—provide against absenteeism, which was a crime in Ireland, and ought to be punished—and in crease the number of Irish representatives. There was _ • ___ one more grievance, greater than all the rest—the church. Until there were religious equality, there could be no political freedom but that could not b e accomp li s h e d b y money. The Catholic clergy would not accept a pecuniary provision ; nor could your treasury afford an adequate one; any pittance you could give would but irritate, not satiafy. Could not religion thrive unless backed by money ? He was going back to Ireland to convey the answer of parliament, but he feared it would not be a satisfactory one. His anxiety was to see men act to gether like brothers, without distinction between English and Irish, Protestant and Catholic. Sir R. PEEL bespoke the indulgence of the House, as having to travel over a field exhausted by nine nights of debate. He began by denying the historical assertions of Mr. O'Connell. The independent Parliament he talked of had been the most corrupt that ever existed ; and so Mr. Grattan described it. During its existence, accord ing to Mr. O'Connell, the happiness of Ireland was almost perfect; yet for the last 20 years of its time there had been a constant series of insurrection acts; that parlia ment itself was composed exclusively of protestants ; and the protestant church existed unbroken. It might be imagined what misstatements the learned member was ac customed to make.to his countrymen, when he could ven ture to make such assertions in the face of the House of Commons. This was a party motion ; and in order to make it impossible that the government should agree to it, in which case the noble mover must have proposed something for the welfare of Ireland, the motion had been mixed with a censure upon Ministers themselves. The noble lord seemed to have been' solving a question in poli tical noxious, how to combine the maximum of crimina tion against the government with the minimum of incon venient engagement to himself. He might have been a little less acrimonious ; considering the sort of house he lived in, be might have thrown fewerstones. The example was one which he himself would not ittsjtate. With re ference to Lord John Russell's attack ors the Lord Chan cellor, he vindicated that eminent nobleman, and the selection of him for his high office ; repeated Lord Lynd hurst's own explanation ; and rebuked thi - conduct of Lord John Russell and the whigs to Lord-Ilunket, an Irishman of the highest qualifications, who*, only six weeks before they left office, they, the advocates Of the ex- - elusive claims of - Irishmen to judicial office, had 'removed from the Great Seal of Ireland to gratify the vanity of a Scotchman ! Lord John Russel had endeavoured fornake him (Sir Robert Peel) responsible for what Mr. Bradsha w had said at an election dinner about Roman catholic ap pointments ; but really this was pushing the doctrine of conspiracy somewhat further than the Government itself had ever carried it. He read the instructions which he had given to the Lord Lieutenant, directing him to include in his patronage such Roman Catholics as had not taken part in political agitations. Those instruc tions had been acted upon at the first opportunity, in the instance of Sergeant Howley, and the reward of the go vernment bad been a torrent of abuse from the liberal party. The government had taken office in 1841, and until March, 1843, they had maintained in Ireland the smallest force which, except on one or two occasions, had ever been stationed there; they had reduced the Whig es htaebglain. sh re T en h t e men. go by2 v , e 4 r o a o menthad In done Mar ia cl n t, o l t B h 43 g , the agitation to provoke this ; but it did not suit the views of some persons that the government shculd be successful. The period was pecu liarly favourable to the movement, because the poor law of the late ministers was then coming into operation and galling all the poorer occupiers ; it was also a period of agricultural depression ; and tere was, moreover, an TIIE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. alarm on the subject of the tariff. The government was charged with allowing the meetings to proceed for the purpose of entrapping the agitators. He solemnly de nied that purpose. They had not thought it wise—nay, he thought it could be seldom wise, to apply to parliament for extraordinary powers, the effect of which was generally to impair the credit and efficacy of the ordinary law. The whigs had taken a different course; they had applied for a coercion bill; and he himself, instead of making a Lichfield-house compact with the opponents of that mea sure to turn out the whig government, had given his sup port to the bill. He read some of the provisions of that measure, which created new offences, and made them triable by court-martial. He had instructed the Lord Lieutenant, if any meetings should be announced, with respect to which there should be affidavits from firm and voluntary deponents stating it to be of such a character as to endanger the public peace, that a proclamation should be issued to forbid such meeting ; that, if necessary, the ground should be pre-occupied, and that, in the last re sort, it should be dispersed. Notice had not been want ing. The dismissal of the magistrates, and the Queen's speech on tne prorogation, had been sufficient warnings. For a while the government had abstained from directly interfering, not without some hope that the agitation might subside. But the meetings became more dan gerous; the day selected for one of them was the anni versary of the Irish rebellion ; the scenes of others were those of events associated with national exasperation. The Clontarf meeting had these distinguishing features— that it was attended with military array, that it was con vened in military language, and the troops of repeal ca valry were summoned to attend it. The law advisers of the crown were of opinion that these circumstances dis guished that from the previous meetings, and rendered it of itself illegal. The government then decided to issue the proclamation, to occupy the ground, and to appeal to the law. He justified that appeal ; and denied all inten tion of disrespect to the Roman Catholics. He read evi dence of the excitement then prevailing throughout Ire land, manifested even in the night by signal fires upon the hills of many counties ; and asked, whether these things were for the purpose of petition? The government had had no alternative but to call upon the law. A conviction was obtained, without bloodshed—without collision; and then the government were assailed by a powerful party, and arraigned, sometimes for too great forbearance, and sometimes for too great vigour. If they had taken any different course, this house would have rung with far other taunts—taunts for premature interference, or for a cow ardly disposition to spare the powerful and pursue the weak. It remained for him to deal with a much more important subject—the future policy of government in ! Ireland. He wondered it had not occurred to Mr. O'Con- nell, that if wealth and intelligence were of any import ance in a constituency, the extensive pauperism which he had mentioned as amounting to 70 per cent. on the whole agricultural population must be a strong argument against the extensive franchise demanded. He explained and vindicated the course which had been taken with respect to the Landlord and Tenant Commission. As to the franchise, he admitted that there ought to be, not identity between the two countries,which was impossible, but sub tantial equality. That was the principle which we ought to endeavour to establish throughout Irish affairs. Now as to the church. The legislature had given to the Pro testants at the union an assurance for the preservation of their establishment; and as far as national compact could have force, that establishment was protected. As autho rities for this protection, be cited Mr. Burke, Mr. Grattan, Mr. Plunket, and Sir John Newport. He would not say that the compact must bind the parliament in all possible circumstances, bnt he held that it ought not to be lightly disturbed. But there was a still higher ground—that of the welfare of Ireland itself. There must be some Church Establishment in that country, and it could not be Catholic, because the Catholics refused to ac cept endowments in connexion with the State. What then could be more unreasonable than to take from a Church which submitted itself to the State five-sixths of its property, for the purpose of transferring that propor tion to a Church which refused any such connexion? He could conceive nothing more likely to raise a spirit of the widest discord. His determination, therefore, was to uphold the Protestant Church in its full integrity, not excluding such reforms as might improve its usefulness. He proposed to give facilities for the endowments of private benefactors to the Roman Catholic Church and to increase very largely the grant for public education He referred with emotion, to the sacrifices which he had made for Ireland, when in order to carry emancipation, and, as he had hoped, to insure her tranquility, he hart risked private friendship and political connexion, and for feited the cherished representation of that university where his earliest ambition had been gratified. He hoped that if party did not mar the endeavour, Ireland might yet be governed by the ordinary law. He expressed his belief that there was a growing disposition to discard mere party feeling ; and concluded with an eloquent aspi ration for the day when the Sovereign of these kingdoms, alighting like some benevolent spirit on the shores of Ireland, might lay the foundation of the temple of peace. - - Lord John RUSSELL replied at some length ; and the House divided— Against the motion For it . ..324 .. 225 IRELAND. We are sorry to hear that a baronet of a neighbouring county, and his lady, have been threatened with the fate of the lamented Mr. Waller.—Limerick Chronicle. At Six-mile Bridge, county Clare, some vindictive miscreants disfigured a horse of the royal circus stud, exhibiting there, as they conceived the proprietor was an ally of Mr. Bond Hughes, the English reporter, in the prosecution of Mr. O'Connell and his associates. SPRING ASSIZES.—There are 73 persons for trial at the assizes to be held for the north riding of Tipperary, and up to Friday 49 for the south riding. In the calendar for the north riding there are 17 charged with murder, 5 with aiding in murder, and 3 with conspiracy to murder. MALICIOUS INJURY.—On Th ursday night some vil lains entered the garden of Joseph Weld, Esq., of Bag nalstown, and destroyed all his vines and valuable plants, and committed other damage of irreparable injury to his premises. —Carlow Sentinel. REPEAL ASSOCIATION.—Nothing of any moment oc curred at the meeting of this association on Monday. The liberator, of course, was not present. The rent for the week amounted to £562 6s. 3d. The most important announcement made was the severance of the connection between the Arbitration Courts and the Repeal Associa tion, and a recommendation that the members should settle their disputes amongst themselves. SAD OCCURRENCE.—Mr. W. Milward, of Waterford , whilst loading a double-barrelled gun placed a cap on the nipple, when he incautiously cocked it. The other barrel was then about being charged by him when the piece slipped in some way, and caused the loaded barrel to be discharged. The contents took effect immediately over the eye, and actually blew away part of his skull, causing instantaneous death. ARREST OF EIGHT RIBBONMEN.—CharIes M`Kelvey, sub-inspector of the Glasslough police station, having received information that several ribbonmen still held meetings in different parts of the country, took measures to have them arrested, and on Monday night last eight of them were taken into custody and lodged in Monaghan gaol. Three of them were arrested for the same offence a short time since, and escaped for want of sufficient evi dence to convict them. Papers connected with the sys tem were found on the prisoners. —Northern Standard. NEWS FOR THE " NATION."—Two cart loads of ord nance stores, containing 500 stand of arms, arrived here under a strong escort of the 16th. from Roscroa, on Satur day last, and proceeded on route on Monday morning, under the escort of an officer's party of the 52d for Killa loe. On Tuesday, there arrived from Killaloe, under the escort of the 52d, a quantity of ammunition to the amount of 20,000 rounds of ball cartridge for the use of the troops in this depot, and a like quantity to proceed to Temple more and Roscrea.-2Venagh Guardian. OUTRAGE.—Two large ricks of hay, the property of the Rev. Messrs. Grogan and Chapman, Protestant clergy men of Bagenalstown, were set on fire by some incenda ries on Thursday evening, and entirely consumed. The fires burst out simultaneously, although both gentlemen do not reside nearer than a quarter of a mile to each other —strong proof of the outrage being premeditated. Pro videntially the night was calm, otherwise the residence of one of the Rev. gentlemen, Mr. Chapman, and all his chattel property would have been burnt to the ground No reason can be assigned for the perpetration of this horrible outrage, as both gentlemen were singularly re markable for their benevolent disposition—their charity to the poor, and their kindness to their neighbours.— Cork paper. THE TRAVERSERS AND THE JURY.--Three out of eight of the-traversers have taken an oath denying the doctrine of transubstantiation, and declaring the sacrifice of the mass to be superstitious, and are, therefore, Pro testants. The oath was taken voluntarily, at a mature period of life, and with a full and perfect cognizance of its solemnity and its stringency; and we merely advert to the circumstance to show that it is unfair and unjust to vilify and malign the jurors, or to describe them as men influenced by religious animosity against persons of a different creed—as Protestants straining points, and per verting facts injurious to parties, because they were Ro man Catholics—when three out of eight of the traversers declared, on their oaths, sentiments and opinions much more exclusive in thair nature and character, tha❑ any, we understand, such as were ever expressed by the mem bers of the jury in the same proportion.—Dublin Mail. DIABOLIOAL ACT.—Saturday se'nnight some evil disposed person, at Cork, endeavoured to injure the cargo of the Severn steamer, the property of the Cork Steam Company, which, however, was fortunately discovered before going to sea, as it was intended she should sail the next morning. The crew of the vessel observed a large quantity of water during the morning in the hold of the •essel, the canse of which was quite unaccountable, as she had bee calked but a few days before, and on closer ex amination they remarked that it was becoming higher every moment ; the pumps were immediately set to work, and after great exertion they succeeded in drawing off the water. At ebb tide, after a strict scrutiny, a large augur hole was discovered in the after part of the vessel, and it is conjectured that the hole was bored the night before, the perpetrator being connected with a combination at present existing. A STRANGE FACT.—A soldier of the 46th depot at Boyle, whose term of service would entitle him to a good pension, resolved to look out for a wife, to make his even ing of life happy, so lie choose one, and the day for their nuptials had been named. The young woman lad a female friend for whom she entertained much affection, as they had been together from infancy, and she imparted to her the tidings of the approaching marriage. An evening or two after they both met the intended bride g room, and the expectant bride remarked upon a strikin g resemblance between the features of him who was to be her husband and her young friend. The other girl became agitated, asked the soldier a few questions, which he answered, and then falling into his arms, exclaimed—" My father !" It appears that twenty years ago he enlisted and left his wife and daughter (then an infant) behind—both were forgotten. But by looking for a wife he has found a daughter.--Limerick Chronicle. ABDUCTION OF AN INTENDED BRIDE.—On Sunday night last a party of men, about five in number, went to Vie house o' a farmer in the neighbourhood of this town, whose daughter was betrothed, and whose marriage was to take place before the Lent. They heat the old man of the house very severely, and cut his hands with some sharp instrument, and carried away the intended bride. When about forty yards from the house, the party were stopped by a stout young fellow from Nenagh, named Ryan, who had been apprised of the intent, and with the aid of a small boy, on hearing the car approaching, Ryan knocked down the horse and spilled the whole party on the road. They then threw the young girl over a wall into a field for safety, and after some show of resistance, on Ryan crying out, " come on boys, I have caught the villains ;" they made off in various directions. Some of the fellows are known : one has been apprehended, and the young girl was on Monday married to her own and her father's choice. Ryan deserves much credit for his gallantry on this occasion.--Nenagh Guardian. RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE. The plan for constructing a railway between Wolver hampton and Shrewsbury, to join the Grand Junction Railway, near the former town, has been again brought• forward. RAILWAY FROM WR EX 11 AM TO C ESTRR.---LaSt week a meeting was held at Wrexham in reference to a railway from that town to Chester. Resolutions were passed approving of the measure, and Sir W. W. 'Wynn and Sir R. Cunliffe support the measure. The verdict of manslaughter brought by the coroner's jury against the directors of the Bristol and Exeter Rail way, in consequence of an accident at Somerset-bridge, near Bridgewater, has been quashed in the Court of Queen's Bench. The second part of the wo ks of the railroad from Rouen to Havre, between Barentin and Flamenville (about nine English miles), has been contracted for (says the Journal des Chemins de Fer) by Messrs. Mackenzie and Brassey, at the sum of 2,008.635 f. NOTTINGHAM, NEWARK, AND LINCOLN RAILWAY. —The directors of the Midland Counties Railway have ordered a survey, under the superintendence of Mr. Robert Nottingham ounties to li N ne; Nottingham. The shares arc to be £25 each. — Derby ew a !it joining i o n f i n r g ai l a c y A fr i o i c m i land Counties a S r t k eph a e n n d so L n i ' n o c f ol a n Mercury. WOOLEN RAILWAYS.—A bill is at present before par liament, which has for its object the laying down of a wooden railway, upon Prosser's principle, from Guildford to Woking. It is said that wood, besides being very much cheaper than iron, is, in the way it is here intended to use it, more durable. A greater rate of speed can likewise be obtained upon it, and the specification of the patent sets orth many other advantages. SHEFFIELD AND MANCHES TER R AILWAY. —A great ; ATTACK ON THE JURY.—The Dublin Pilot has corn accommodation is about to be conferred on the town of , menced a particular analysis of the birth, pursuits, and Glossop by the immediate formation of a railroad to con- , station of each individual juror, who is thus held up to nect that town with the above line. The distance will be the anger of the repeal mob, villainously perverted and about a mile and a quarter, and constructed at the expense excited by the previous inflammatory falsehoods—nor, as of the Duke of Nortolk. An act of Parliament will not it seems, without effect. One of the jury, Mr. Floyd, is be nesessary. This will be the means of introduci n g a very thus assailed in the Pilot :—" The history of Floyd, from superior quality of stone to Manchester and Liverpool, for whom some liberals had hopes, and some conservatives building purposes, the property of the duke, and which fears—and we know not why, except, from the fact of abounds to a considerable extent in the neighbourhood of being an Englishman, that he got credit for a conscience Glossop.—Derby Paper. or sense which no one thinks of attributing to an Irish BIRMINGHAM AND GLOUCESTER RAILWAY.—The Orangeman—is briefly this : He commenced Irish life half-yearly meeting of this company was held on Friday. by selling, in the streets of Kilkenny, crockery, on a board or shelf, which was lent to him by Mr. Shearman, The receipts for the half year ending 31st December, 1843, have been £51,350 25., which is £2,291 9s. sd. a respectable Catholic shopkeeper of that town, who more than the corresponding period of l a st y ear . The permitted him to occupy th e s t reet b e f ore hi s door. F rom total expenditure is £37,639 is. ltd., and the disposable this beginning—and much to his credit so far—he stocked jury list, and thus, by the money obtained through the me balance is £13,762 14s. 7d. From this sum the directors shops, swore himsetf worth £5,000 qualification on the recommend a dividend of 30s. per share to be paid. The dividend in August was 12s. After the payment of this Irish t, ale was entitled to convict their benefactor." dividend £lll 16s. ld. will remain to be placed on the Can anything match ruffianism like this? And we learn credit of the next half year. During the past six months by the Nation that it is reported that one o f M r. F loyd ' s the passenger traffic exhibits an increase of £2,311 4s. 4d. 1 houses in Kilkenny has been wrecked i n consequence. over the corresponding period of 1842. As to the mer- 1 ORANGEISM.—On the 12th inst. a meeting c was held at chandize there is an increase of 3,368 tons, but a d ecrease I w C a o r le d r s ai o n f e l a o, nd oo w o oasartatenngdemetlen from bythere A pi n mta a ti nd representatives of £2lO in the money. EASTERN COUNTIES RAILWAY..—The 15th general I when it was determined to re - organ i se t h e O range lodge, meeting of this company took place on Th urs d ay . C on - and a committee was appoi n t e d t o carry out that object formably with the resolutions adopted at a s p ec i a l genera l , !and the following re so l u ti ons were passed,— " That as , meeting of the proprietors held on the 25th o f O cto b er ; Orangemen we are bound to p reserve uns h a k en l oyalty to our gracious Queen, being Protestant, and t o su p por t h er last, the directors had concluded a n agreement w i t h t h e Northern and Eastern Company f or th e ama l gamat i on o f against all her enemies, forei gn or d omes ti c ; that we will the two lines, which had been effe c t e d on th e I st o f J anu- , stand together to defend with our p ro p er ti es an d li ves the integrity of the empire, as ce men t e d b y th e l eg i s l at i ve ary last, and at the same time the compl e ti on o f th e New- , port Extension line had come under th e con t ro l o f th e union ; and that we will, by the grace o f G o d, t o t h e b est ; Eastern Counties Company, and w a s p rocee di ng rap idl y . of our ability, maintain th e H o l y S cr i p t ures as t h e stan d - ' The expenditure up to the present time amounted—on and of faith and morals, Th a t th e O range I nst i tut i on the construction account, to £2,699,2 . 26; en the interest I commenced when this kingdom was threatened with love account, to £78,726 ; forming together £2,777,991, exclu- : stool by foreign enemies, and rebellion by internal foes;. sive of £100,537, being the differenc e b e t ween t h e li a bili- I and that our brethren in the year 1798, and at all other times, have proved by their acts as yeoman and Orange wasmen the strong attachment they have held to the Sover beenties and assets. The total expenditure for the m a i n li ne , therefore £2,878,529; but of this £22,121 having ' ferfeited, the actual capital raised and c h argea bl e f or eign and our once glorious constitution. That we have, dividends and interest against the receipt s was £2 , 844 , 408 . for some time past, witnessed with alarm the rebellious A contract had been concluded f or th e comp l et i on of t h e spirit which has shown itself — and that we are determined , as Protestants, to unite more closely in those bonds, that works for £lOO,OOO, the contractor agreeing to maintain the railway at the rate of £373 a mile per annum for ten our inveterate enemies, whose sole aim is our extirpation years. The traffic on the Northern and Eastern line, during the first seven weeks of the present year, showed an increase of 32 per cent. over that of the corresponding from this country for ever. That the Grand Lodge of will enable us in this time of peril to resist the attacks of which may wish to join themselves to it, and that all seven weeks of the precedi ng y ear; an d on t h e E astern Ulster do receive into union all lodges in the pro% ince Counties line the tr a ff ic h a d cons id era bl y i ncrease d d ur i ng county masters be ex-officio members of the Grand Lodge the same period of' time. On the traffic account, there of Ulster. was a balance of £26,610 14s. 9d. available fora dividend, IRELAND AND THE WHIGS.—The Whigs denounce the which the directors recommended should be declared at late state trials as absurd acid mischieveus—forgetting 4s. per share, payable from the sth of March next, sub- that when they were in power, they proclaimed O'Con ject to a deduction of 18. per share in respect of the £2 nell as a public incendiary from the throne; twice they per share not called. Contracts had been entered into prosecuted him, but without success, owing to the bung for the purchase of the Stratford Branch, and for leasing ling of their law-officers —notwithstanding they passed a the Harwich Extension line. The report was agreed to, stri ngen t c oercion bill, called the Whig Algerine Act, and the meeting then separated. under which they might obtain powers which the ordinary statutes did not give; and in the very last session of par liament, Lord John Russell insulted Sir Robert Peel fot not then having interfered to crush the repeal agitation, and attributed his unwillingness to resort to harsh mea sures to " a craven fear !" Nor is this all ; they taunt the present ministry with holding Ireland by military oc cupation, and boast of its happiness and tranquility under the Normanby-O'Connell administration of its affairs. Lord Stanley thus disposed of the pretence of military occupation — " It appears that this government, that rules by military force—this government, that is bent on super seding by brute force the ordinary course of law, and keeping down the people of lreland—had during the two years they had been in office up to the commencement of 1813. maintained just 2000 fewer men on an average than had been employed there by the hon. gentlemen oppo site during the whole seven years they were in power. (Loud cheers.) In the year 1833-1 need not go through EAST INDIA HousE.—On Wednesday an adjourned Court was held at the India House, for the purpose of considering the papers relative to Scinde. The chairman referred to the recent debate on Scinde in Parliament, and then said, " And now that the question is decided, the court do not consider that their duty is ended. They were now engaged in reviewing the whole of the proceedings, and, above all, they would give their serious considera tion to the cause of the deposed Ameers, with the view of ameliorating their condition, especially such of them as may be free from any imputation of treachery. Under these circumstances I would submit to the court the pro priety of abstaining at present, as a body, from expres sing an opinion on the subject ; they had better, I think, leave the matter in the hands of the Court of Directors." Aft er some di scuss i on, t h e c h a i rman ' s motion was carried. Feb. 27, 1811. I all the years. (A voice—" Rend all !") Well, the ntig' 1 tary force employed in Ireland in the year — Rank and File . 1832 was 1833 1831 And during the next seven years, from 1835 to 1311, the average force was 16,310 ; an d t h e l owest f orce i n any one year 14.687 ; whilst this de s p o ti c , thi s ar bi tra ry govern' ment has had in Ireland on an average of the two Yea"' 1842 and 1843, on l y 14,833 ran k and file; and in . the bmeolonwthlo3,f4o men, being l ay,lE42,the t t' e had in forcelrelan sce thedinafor union that that had ever b een ma i nta i ned in Ireland. (Loud cheers.) THE LEGISLATIVE UNION OF ENGLAND AND ISE" LAND. — The subject of the union with Ireland was thus alluded to by George the Third in his first speech to the t imperial parliament :—" My Lords and Gentleman, -- - a crisis so i m p or t ant to t h e i nterests of my people I &Pc", great satisfaction from being enabled, for the first West to avail myself of the parliament of my United Kingdoo of Great B r it a i n an d I re l an d . This memorable era, dill; tinguisbed by the accomplishment of a measure calculated to augment and consolidate the strength and resources el the empire, and t o cement more closely the interests st!,` affections of m y su bj ects, w ill , I trust, be equally mar k' by that vigour, energy, and firmness which the circen,' stances of our present situation peculiarly require." FOREIGN (5- COLONIAL INTELLIGENCE. WEST INDIES. --- The Tay steamer arrived at Southampton on Monde , bringing the West India mail. The dates fro:n Jamaica extend to the 24th ult. Th e Governor had returned to Spanish Town to be present at an ecclesiastical ceremony, after which he was about CO take a tour through the north side parishes. Loud cote; plaints are made of excessive drought in Manchester el , °! Elizabeth, and so scarce was the water that the wants 0 the population could not be properly satisfied. The corn crops had failed, and provisions were advancing in price• Much distress prevailed, and should the dry weather con tinue, great fears were entertained for the result. At Vete and St. Ann's a few light showers had fallen, but whollY insufficient to restore pasturage, or save the growing crops of provisions. The young canes are stated to have pro fited in some small respect from this change. Mr. Des' noues, the cashier of one of the island banks, had been tried for robber!, and acquitted. At the ►atest date Sit Charles Adam continued in Kingstown Harbour, but his departure was daily expected, although it was not posi tively known that his instructions relative to Mexico were of a hostile character. Fever and dysentery had been rather on the increase of late, and the appearance of the small-pox in some of the other islands had caused the Cuban authorities to declare a quarantine of seven days against all vessels entering their port from the West In dies, Porto Rico excepted. With respect to business at Jamaica, it is represented as exceedingly dull, and money is stated to be scarce. The weather at Barbados had been very oppressive till within a few days of the 20th ult., when a change took place, and cold and chilly winds were experienced, and then the shock of an earthquake was felt, which being a severe one, although doing no damage, spread a good deal of alarm throughout the colony. Rain had followed , which, it was hoped, would do some good to the planta tions, and prepare the ground for agricultural operations. Several vessels were long overdue from England, and their arrival was anxiously expected to give some impetus to trade, which for weeks past had been in a torpid state. The other papers give very few interesting facts. The shok of an earthquake had been felt in St. Vincent's, St. Lucia, Dominica, and the neighbouring islands, but with out serious effect. At St. Lucia the weather was highly favourable to the crops, though not so favourable for road making. The planters of Dominica had commenced cut ting their canes, the yield of which was superior to previous years, while the season was fine, and the sugar manufac tured of good quality. At Trinidad a vessel had arrived with 216 emigrants from Rio de Janeiro, 93 of whom were women, and all being young and in health. They found when landed immediate employment. Another vessel with 300 more was shortly looked for from the same quarter. The Duke de Montpenser, one of the sons of Louis Phillippe, left Paris for Africa on Monday. RAISING OF THE BLOCKADE AT ARlCA.—Captain Nicholas, of H.M.S. Vindictive, in a letter dated the 11th of November last, has reported that the blockade of Arica has been raised, so that merchant ships may again enter freely into all ports of Peru. TUE LATE COUNTESS OF . ELGIN. —The Jamaica House of Assembly has evinced, by a unanimous grant of 300 guineas for a tablet to be erected in the cathedral church of Spanish Town to the memory of Lady Elgin, the high opinion entertained of her ladyship by the men - bees of that house. FIVE LIVES LOST.—Last week, during a dark and rough night, the Bremen barque Virginia ran down and sank the French barque La Seine, off the Start, and five of the crew of the latter perished ; the remainder got 0 1 1 board the Bremener. La Seine was from Havre, bow , " for Bordeaux, and had on board machinery for a neW steam-packet of 230-horse-power. Ssow Sroiur IN CANADA.—The vast quantity of snow which fell here within the last three weeks has beef' attended with circumstances of a very alarming and O r ; traordinary nature. In this town several buildings were c d o w w n e fi ll n i fined houset; staleshas literally crushed to atoms, through the enormous We'g' o of snow which damage ,an d t i atesh that been en t• a s l t l or t e h l e louses s s h ta e t d e s a h n at d sustained any injury.—C'ornwalt (Canada) Observer. • At the ensu;rig session of the Hanoverian estates the government intend asking a grant of 300,000 thalers towards building a national theatre at Hanover. An esti mate for that purpose has been delivered by the cour t architect, Mr. Laves, and the expenses calculated at 800,000 thalers. Should the grant of 300,000 be voted, the city of Ilanover is to furnish 100,000 thalers, and 400,000 the King has munificently proffered from hit private purse. LONGEVITY. —Solomon Herz Levi, an Israelite, lately died at Herxheirn. near Land au , i n the 109th year of his age, having retained to the last the full use of all his faculties. He was followed to his grave by Si children , grandchildren, and great grandchildren. One of his daughters, 73 years old, could with difficulty be removed from the inanimate remains of her parent. During his long and active career, the deceased had never been ill nor had recourse to Physicians. - - gentileTe Journal des Debals contains a long letter from a man with a very equivocal name for a narrator- - Goose; which, if the writer be not labouring to prove his just title to that cognomen, opens a case of very consi derable importance. The letter of Mr. Goose furnishes the details of the deposition of Queen Pomare, and the seizure and confiscation of her entire territory, the So ciety Islands, by the French Admiral Dupetit Thours, iu the name and for the benefit of the King of the French. HYDRO PATRY IN FRANC E. — Upon an application being made to the French Government for permission to open an hydropathic establishment in Paris, the government referred the subject to the French Academy for their opi nion. The following are the conclusions to which the academy arrived after mature consideration—" 1. That hydropathy is a dangerous therapeutical method which does not rest on facts ; 2, that its theory is chimerical ; 3, that it is in disaccord with our chymical and pathological doctrines; 4, that the Academy cannot in any way ap prove of it ; 5, that the use of cold water has been long in the domain of medicine and submitted to rules." IMPORTANT DISCOVERY IN EGYPT.—We rejoice to announce the most important discovery which has proba bly ever yet been made in the records and literature of ancient Egypt. Every reader is acquainted with the his tory of the celebrated Rosetta stone, and the happy sur mise of Dr. Young, that the trilingual inscriptions en that interesting monument were three versions of the same subject. Following out this idea, mutilated as all the Egyptian part of the stone is, he found that what re mained and could be deciphered was identical with the Greek text. Hence our grand key to the translation of the hieroglyphic characters and hieratic writings found_ among the relics of Egypt, on rocks, on the walls et buildings of every ki n d, on mummy cases, and on papyri is and it evident, that whatever could extend or add to this key must he of the utmost value. It was interpreted that the Rosetta inscription had also been set up in other temples; and the learned expressed a hope that in the course of time one o r more o f th em m i g h t rewar d the research of zealous antiqu ar i es . Th a t h ope h as b een ful filled. Dr. Lepsius has di scovere d ano th er copy of informed 10 , Rosetta inscripti on a t M eroe . The hieroglyphic is unusually perfect, an d s o we are Is MID otbo l Egyptian con., pa red w t r h i r t o in u g g . ho N al w a , n tro w . e th h e es t i h ta re te e n le o g t en to ds sa m y a , y be that this is likely to create a great revolution, by a vast acces sion to our means of knowledge, in the literature and history of the country so truly called the cradle of men' kind. It is a gratifying circumstance that the noble exW dition of the King of Prussia should have met with thre return. Copies of the inscription have, we understand , been made for Berlin ; but the main fact was como3unt cated 'tie letter to hi s exce ll ency the Chevalier Bunsen, the Prussian minister i n London. e believe that Dr. LeP." sins is directed completely to explore all this upper divi sion of the country, an d w ill not revisit Cairo till that is accomplished, probably about April. After some repose the expedition will proceed t o S yr i a, to exam i ne the Egyptian inscriptions there ; an d f rom w h at has a l rea 4Y transpired, there can be no doubt but that an extraordr nary new light will be thrown over the old world by thle royally liberal, auspicious, and fortunate effort.—Literarg Gazette. BANK OF M ANCRESTER.—The committee appointe d at the annual meeting in October last to investigate the affairs of the bank have presented their report to the proprietors. 1 - laving exercised the utmost discretion in the estimates placed on the value of the assets, whethe r in the form of real securities or personal obligations, thel had arrived at so near an approximation to the statemen t° contained in the report as to justify them in pronouncing the balance sheet exhibited to the shareholders on the 20th October, 1843, to have been (as far as could be el certained) a true and accurate statement of the position of the bank on the 30th of June, in that year. The can tnittee bad a l so exam i ne d th e b a l ance s h eet f or the ha e. year ending' the 31st December, 1813, and had the Fade' faction of reporting that this balance sheet showed a con:, siderable realisation of assets, and consequent re ducti on of liabilities f rom £440,936 t o £314 , 778 d ur i ng the boo year, and justified the hope th a t no f urt h er loss would result to the shareholders of thi s un f or t unate conc e r n re than what would be provided f or b y th e paymen t of second call.