The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-06-08 00:00:00

•, * ~ `-. ' \ fropertal Varliament. HOUSE OF LORDS.--MONDAY. The Marquis of LANSDOWNE, in reply to Lord Broug ham, said that no convention had been entered into' re specting the affairs of Portugal, though a protocol had been signed by Great -Britain, France, and. Spain, the object of which was the pacification of that country. A discussion then arose on a question of appointing the !elect committee on the Birmingham and Oxford Railway bill, which ended in a division, when the numbers were— for the committee, 29; against it, 22; majority, 7. HOUSE OF COMMONS. —MONDAY. The House proceeded to consider the lords' amend ments on the Poor Relief (Ireland) Bill, the most im portant of which were adopted, after some discussion. The House afterwards resolved itself into a committee, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer moved a resolution granting an advance of .-1:00,tri) in aid of the rates to be made for the maintenance of the poor in Ireland until next harvest. After some discussion, this resolution was paused with out a division. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—TUESDAY. The Earl of LINCOLN moved an address to Her Majesty, praying her to take into her most gracious consideration the means by which colonization might be made subsidi ary to other measures for the improvement . of the social condition of Ireland. His lordship, in a very long and able speech, explained that his object was to obtain a commission to inquire —first, whether colonization could be applied so as to relieve those who remained in Ireland ; secondly, w hether it could be applied so as to relieve those who left Ireland : and lastly, whether it could be so con ducted as not to interfere with the interests of our colo nies. Mr. HAWES, as under-secretary of the colonies, in replying to the motion, admitted most of the principles contained in his lordship's speech; but differed from him as to the expediency of appointing a commission to in quire into such a subject. He refused to move any amendment on the motion of Lord Lincoln, and suggested to the noble lord the propriety of withdrawing it. A long discussion then took place, in which Mr: Ore gery, Mr, V. Smith, Sir It. Peel, Lord John Russell, Mr. Hope, Mr. Hume, Mr. M. O'Connell, Mr. F. Scott, Sir W. James, Lord J. Manners , and Mr. Aglioriby took part. In conclusion the address was agreed to; but Lord J. ItteisEaa intimated that he should advise Her Majesty not to issue a commission of inquiry, but to conduct the inquiry through the agency of .the executive Government. He expressed his readiness to advise the governors of our North American colonies to consult their executive councils and their local assemblies as to the plans of emigration to which: they would lend their aid ; and he added that he would lay the result of those consultations on the table, along - with the opinions of the _administration upon them, early in the next session of Parliament. Mr. BouvrnrE was bringing before the house the con duct of a clergyman of the Established Church, whom be accused of having refused to bury a pauper, when Mr. HENLEY moved that the house be counted, and . 40 members not being present, it stood adjourned. • HOUSE OF LORDS.—TIIURSDAY. • A select committee was nom inated and appointed, to whom was referred the Clergy Offences Bill. The Lunatic Asylums Bill went,through committee, after which the Heritable Jurisdiction (Scotland) Bills, in troduced by Lord Campbell, was read a second time. The Poor-law Supervision (Ireland) Bill was then, after some dh7cussion, read a second time, to be committed pro _forma on. Monday next. The Commons' amendments tnthe Poor-law (Ireland) Bill were then agreed to, as were those to the Landed Pro perty (Ireland) Bill. A select committee was then appointed, on the motion of the Marquess of LANSDOWNE, to consider the expedi ency of adopting measures for suspending further proceed ings on any or all of the railway bills during the present session, enabling the parties thereto to proceed with them, under certain conditions, next session of parliament. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—TnuusnAY. Sir G. GREY moved that the house resolve itself into committee on the Prisons Bill, and as that bill formed a part of the general plan of her Majesty's government with regard to secondary punishments, he thought it advisable then to state to the house what the scope and object of that plan were. The object_ of the Prisons Bill was to constitute a new board of management for our three great national prisons, of Millbank, Pentonville, and Parkhurst; the new board to be similar in its main features to the plan by which the Pentonville prison was now superintended. The head commissioner was to be in constant communi cation with the Secretary of State, and the duties of the new commission were to embrace, inter alia, those here tofore performed by the Supelintendent of Convicts, an office which it was designed to supersede. The sentence in the case of criminals is to be divided, the early : portion of it being designed to be of a reformatory ! icbaracter. With this view it is proposed tha t the p rinci- ple of punishment carried out in the Pentonville prison should be made applicable to all convicts who, from age or other circumstances, may be capable of having it applied to them. The majority of convicts, after the expiration of a limited period of solitary confinement, I are to be employed in this country, or in Bermuda and Gibraltar, on public works. The greater portion of them will then be removed to the Australian colonies, where they will he free men, entitled to the fruits of their la bour, and no longer subjected to the demoralising pro cesses which convicts have hitherto undergone in the penal settlements. In pther words, the strictly penal part of the sentence is to be passed in this country, or in Gibraltar or Bermuda ; the actual deportation of the con victs not to take place so long as they are subject to penal I restraint, whilst, on their arrival in the colonies, they are to be treated with a view to their dispersion, instead of their aggregation as heretofore, with all its demoralising influences. The three great English prisons, with the county gaols. many of which have recently been enlarged, together with the Perth Penitentiary in Scotland, and a general prison for penal purr:NO.3 erected in Ireland, are relied upon as affording sufficient itOcOmmodation for all the conviotf, ; A t, may be sentenced to punishment. ine Pentonville system had been found efficient in the highest degree as a reformatory punishment, but it was necessary to apply it with every precaution. The Go vernment regarded eighteen months as the utmost term for which it should be inflicted, and six months as the shortest. The average period would be twelve months, subject to curtailment in particular instances, as the health or mental capacity of the prisoner might seem to require. He was prepared to accede to a recommenda tion which had been made to him by an honourable mem ber by adding a clause which would provide that any ex pense which should be incurred by the custody of this class of offenders in county gaols should not fall upon the county, but should be defrayed by the same source as the cost of convicts generally was now defrayed from. Such prisoners as were convicted of offences of a not very hein, ous character would, as the consequence of good behaviour during the first stage of their imprisonment, be entitled to a speedy removal to a distant colony with a conditional pardon. The scheme which he proposed might be open to objections, but whatever might be, in the estimation of some honourable members, its unknown and speculative evils, they could not possibly equal in number and mag nitude those of the system of punishment which it was intended to abolish ' • a system which, whilst it had not had the desired effect in efficiently deterring from crime, had been prolific in the penal settlements of the utmost demoralization. A debate of considerable length followed, in which Vis count Mahon, Sir W.lVlolesworth, Mr. Bankes, and others took part. The debate was then adjourned. HOUSE OF LORDS.-FRIDAY. In reply to a question from Lord Brougham, The Marquis of LANDSDOWN expressed his regret that lie was unable, up to that moment, to lay upon the table of the house the papers which the noble and learned lord had moved for, relative to the intervention of England, France, and Spain, in the affairs of Portugal. Lord BROUGILUSI said he was by no means surprised at the delay. Lord STANLEY regarded the whole proceedings in this case as of the greatest importance, not only as they re garded Portugal and England, but as they affected the whole of Europe. The report on the Naval Prisons Bill was brought up and agreed to. Lord MONTEAGLE then moved for the appointment of a select committee to consider the propriety of adopting some plan of emigration, with a view to relieve Ireland of a portion of its redundant population. Earl GREY could not acquiesce in the appointment of the committee in the belief that it would realise the noble lord's own expectations. The difficulty of transferring a large amount of the population of Ireland to our colonies was greater than might be supposed, for they would have to study the disposition of the emigrants, with whom they would soon find they could not do as they liked; while, on the other hand, the adoption of the motion might of itself act as a check upon the present stream of emigration. He was not unwilling to give facilities to a well-conducted system of emigration, and would not therefore oppose the motion ; •but he would not hold out the ho p e of carr y in g out any plan upon so gigantic a scale as would relieve the existing pressure in Ireland. Earl FITZWILLIAM urged the necessity of adopting a plan of emigration, believing that the potato crop would again prove a failure this year, and it would require to grow two acres and a half of wheat to supply the deficiency occa sioned by the fail ure o f one acre o f - p - otatoes, in order t o support the existing p o p u l at i on. After some observations from Lord MONTEAGLE in reply, the motion was agreed to, and the committee was appointed. HOUSE OF COMMONS --p RIDAY On the motion of Mr. T. DUNCOMBE, Mr. Wortley and Mr. Cardwell were added to the committee on the Thames Conservancy Bill. Mr. LABOUCIIERE, in qnswer to Mr. S. O'BRIEN, re plied that he had reason to believe, though not in p osses _ sion of positive information, that the Irish judges had re commended a postponement of the assizes in Ireland. A conversation ensued on the affairs of Portugal, Mr. Humes motion in reference to British interference, at its close, being definitely fixed for Thursday next. Subsequently Mr. B. OSBORNE gave notice of his in tention, if the motion was not brought on on Monday next, as originally intended, to move a resolution that it is hostile to the liberties of Europe, and contrary to the uniform policy of the British Government, to cuter into any convention or treaty with any foreign power having for its object the maintenance of any particular dynasty in Portugal, or the suppression of popular opinion by force of arms. Lord PALMERSTON said the papers would prove that ;he object of the British Government was, not to estab- ~~ ~ ~ = II lish despotic government in Portugal, but to secure to the Portuguese people all the privileges which the constitu tion and the charter of Don Pedro had conferred on them. Lord J. RUSSELL observed. with respect to the report of a hostile collision in the Tagus, that his impression was, in the absence of positive information, that if any such had taken place it was between the ships of the Queen of Portugal and those of the Junta, and not be tween the latter and the British men-of-war. The noble lord, in answer to Mr. John Collett, also said that it was not the intention of the government, during the present parliament, to supply the deficiency in the number of members consequent upon the disfranchisement of Sud bury. The Wellington statue again attracted the notice of the house, Lord MORPETU stating, in answer to Mr. C. Beil:eley, that the sculptor had been requested to furnish a. design for an elevation and pedestal, and when approved the site would be determined on, but the status to remain in its present position until the new works were in a con dition to receive it. _ . The salt monopoly in India, the state of the potato crop in Ireland, and the relief of Irish distress, were the next subjects discussed. On the third reading of the Loan Discount Bill, Lord G. BENTINCK intimated his intention, but without fixing a time, of proposing a measure for the limitation or repeal of the Bank Charter Act of 1844. The adjourned debate on the subject of transportation and secondary punishment was resumed by Mr. EWART, who was followed by Mr. G. W. HOPE, Mr. E. DENISON, Sir J. Paiiington, Mr. Hu,..fr. and Mr. HAWES ; tile debate, on the motion of Mr. NEWDEGATE, standing still further adjourned to Monday. FOREIGN (5- COLONIAL INTELLIGENCE. The heart of O'Connell, enclosed in a silver urn, arrived at Rome on the 27th ult. _ _ . A New Zealand paper lately received from Wellington, is printed on blotting paper, as no printing paper could be found in the colony. The crop of apples in Normandy promises to he so large that the price of cyder has fallen very considerably in that country. tThe Hobart Town papers just received, bring the mel ancholy intelligence of the death of Sir Eardley Eardley Wilmot, Bart., which took place at Hobart Town, on the third of February last. The cause of Sir Eardley's death is stated to have been complete exhaustion of the frame—a decay of nature. Two barristers who were pleading, some months since, before the supreme court at Sydney, New South Wales, became so excited that'one told the other that he lied, and received a blow in return for the insult. A fight fol lowed, and lasted for some time ; but the combatants were ultimately separated, and were committed to prison for a short time by the judges. DEFEAT or THE ARABS.—The Moniteter publishes the official despatches of Marshal Bugeaud relative to his ex pedition into the country of the Kabyles. A battle had taken place, in which, as a matter of course, the unhappy natives were overwhelmed and decimated. No account is given of the number of natives killed and wounded, but it must have been very great. On the side of the Trench there were 57 men killed and wounded, among whom there was one officer killed and five wounded. IRELAND. Mr. O'Connell's remains are to Ire interred in Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin. The judges have resolved upon postponing the summer assizes for Ireland, already struck, to October next, in consequence of the prevalence of typhus fever through the country. This measure will act prejudicially against the innocent prisoners. The inhabitants of " Stony Batter," near Dublin, have applied to the street commissioners, for leave to change the name of that locality to " Palmerston Place," as the value of their property has been lessened by the oddness of the former designation. ATROCIOUS MURDERS.—Two women, one named Crow ley, and the other not known, who were taking.home some meal to supply their families, were murdered last week, in West Skull, on account of the provisions they carried, and their bodies were thrown into a lake. THI; LATE . MR. O'CONNELL'S WILL.—It is said that the whole of the landed property in Kerry, including Darrynane Abbey and the town residence in Merrion square, have been bequeathed to Mr. Maurice O'Connell, M.P. Mr. Daniel O'Connell, jun., is left £5,000, being part of a policy of insurance effected upon the life of his father. The name of Mr. Morgan O'Connell, who is already handsomely provided for in the Prerogative Court, is not, it is added, mentioned in the will. These are the only items that .have transpired ; but, as it is -generally believed that there will be a tolerably heavy draw upon the funds of the insurance offices, consequent - upon the death of Mr. O'Connell, it may be inferred that provision has been made for the other members of his numerous family. REPEAL ASSOCIATION.—A special committee meeting of the members of this body was held on Monday, at half past three o'clock, in the Corn Exchange-rooms, adjoining Conciliation-hall ,Mr. John O'Connell, M.P. for Kilkenny, in the chair, " for the purpose of taking measures to for ward the repeal cause." The minutes of the previous meetioghaving been read, Mr. O'Connell addressed the meeting. He said he thought they were called uporLto lose no time in considering what should be done to place the repeal movement on a firmer basis, and not to let it die with the man who had struggled for it during a long life. In order that no time should be lost, he had, at the sacrifice of feeling, attended there that day to lay before the committee certain resolutions, which be was sure would be adopted by the committee. • The news from Ireland mentions the appearance of the potato disease in Carlow and Tipperary as unquestionable. The disease has manifested itself in the stalk near the tuber. All accounts agree in describing the grain crops as affording promise of great abundance. Experienced farmers, judging from present appearances, are of opinion that the harvest will be somewhat later than the average period. The latest accounts from the country are in the main z ," 1 .561 - ny and diSteartening. It is only now, at the eleventh hour, that many relief committees are beginning to take any steps at all in the way of sanitary precautions. In some districts, especially where the relief committees are inactive, there is a decided increase of destitution and mortality. In some parts of Queen's County and Cork, the landlords and farmers have cheerfully agreed to a voluntary rating, for a limited period, in the hope that the exertions about to be made for the extension of em ployment under the Drainage Act, and other modes of productive labour, might enable the district ultimately to dispense with any rating, voluntary or compulsory.— [The Cork Constitution, however, declares the potato crop to be in a healthy state, and nays that there is a good deal of trickery employed to produce. the impression that the crop is gone, in order to keep up the price of grain.] CLERICAL INTELLIGENCE. In the House of Lords on 3londay night, the Archbishop of Dublin gave the important notice of his intention to bring in a bill to authorise the restoration, by the Crown, of some, or all, of the suppressed Irish bishoprics ; as a measure almost indispensable for the effectual progress of the Protestant Church in Ireland. This announcement, in opposition to which no intimation was given on the part of the government, derives additional weight from his Grace's known character as a liberal in politics. THE PROPER MORNING SERVICE FOR SUNDAY, THE 20TH INSTANT.—The Church and State Gazette reminds its readers, not only that the anniversary of the accession of her gracious Majesty to the throne of these realms will fall this year on a Sunday—viz., on Sunday, the 20th inst. ; but that, in such case, the proper office for the Sovereign's accession is appointed to be " wholly " and , " solely ' used as the morning service of such Sunday. Of the beauties of that particular service we need not speak. We will simply notice, in a congratulatory spirit, that not a solitary word can be found, in any portion of it, at which any political partisan could venture to cavil. DIOCESE or CHESTER.—The ceremony of laying the foundation stones of St. Mark's Church and schools, in the township of Dukinfield, by Francis Dukinfield Palmer Astley, Esq., Lord of the Manor, took place on Friday se'nnight, amidst a vast concourse of persons. This church, the site for which has been given by Mr. Astley, is intended to supply the wants of St. Mark's parish, Dukinfield, with a population of 7,000 people, by pro viding sittings for 923 persons, 800 of which will be free for ever.—On Saturday last, the ceremony of laying the corner-stone of the new church in St. James's district, Congleton, was performed with the customary formalities, by R. Wilbraham, Esq., the High Steward of the bo sough. PEWS IN CHURCHES.—At the confirmation at Norwich last week, the bishop of that diocese, in the course of his address, said he should consider it to be a dereliction of duty were he to pass over without notice or observation the most splendid and imposing . sight, affecting and touching to the heart, which he then saw before him-- one of the finest churches in the town divested of its pews and incumbrances, and become, as the Church of England ought to be, the poor man's church. Here the sittings were open to all ; here the rich and poor might alike praise their common God ; here might they alike offer up their thanks to their common Saviour. The change that had been wrought indeed demanded the gra titude of every true friend of the Church of England •, and he hoped and trusted that the noble example afforded by the church in which they were now assembled would not only be followed up by every other church in the dis trict, but that in future the Church of England generally would not be embarrassed by pews, to the exclusion of the poor, ; so that, as he had said before, the rich and poor might be able to kneel alike offering their thanks givings together under the same sacred roof. THE LATE BISHOP OF SODOR AND MAN.—Some time since a letter appeared in the Times on the subject of the rectory of Brailsford, in Derbyshire, for some time past in the hands of the family of the late Dr. Shir ley, Bishop of Sodor and Man. Dr. Shirley, it will be remembered, held the rectory of Brailsford at the time of his promotion to the episcopalbench, so that the next presentation to the living, as is usual in such cases, fell to the Government, and the Rev. J. Simon Wilkinson was appointed. The Bishop enjoyed his dignity but a few months, having died soon after his arrival in his new dio cese. These were the facts stated in the letter alluded to, I and our correspondent proceeded to show that by the sad , den death of the Bishop his aged father and mother were reduced to something like destitution, at the same time urging upon the Government, under the circumstances, to take the aged gentleman's case into consideration. The Government has adopted the suggestion, and in the most delicate, as well as in the most handsome manner, has restored Mr. Shirley to the family living, by trans ferring Mr. Jenkinson to the rectory of Battersea, falling to its gift by the promotion of Mr. Eden to the bishopric which the untimely death of Dr. Shirley rendered vacant. , )' `. - s )- TUE LTVERPOOL STATWARTI. POLITICAL GOSSIP. John Hornby, Esq., has come forward again for Black burn. Mr. Ferrand will not come forward .againior Knares borough. The amount actually paid in for the Cobden testimonial £65,288. Samuel Baker, Esq., a sterling Protestant, has come forward as a candidate for the representation of Stroud. Mr. Yates Peel has come out for Tamworth, in opposi tion to Sir Robert. If Sir Robert coalesce with Captain A'Court Mr. Yates Peel will stand a good chance. Dr. Gifford, late editor of the London Standard, is coming forward for Dublin University at the ensuing election. It is now said that it will be impossible to get through the business of Parliament before the 10th of July ; and that the elections will then follow immediately. The free traders have resolved to bring forward Mr. Villiers for South Lancashire, though le has declined to stand. _ _ _ Sir F. Kelly has come forward for Shrewsbury, and it is thought that he and Mr. Butler will be returned, and that Mr. Tomline, the late member, and a Peelite, will be ousted. LANCASTER.-Mr. Marton retires. Mr. Greene again offers himself. Mr. E. D. Salisbury, of Lancaster has come forward as a Conservative, and Mr. W. T. Gregson, of London, a native of Lancaster, as a Liberal. Middlesex, it appears, is likely to be " compromised." The Whigs could easily remove Thomas Wood from his seat, but only by subjecting their own member, Lord Robert Grosvenor, to an outlay of some £5,000. This, it is understood, his lordship dislikes ; and such is his in fluence, that rather than do anything displeasing to hint, the Colonel is to boleft.inpossession of his seat. BIRMINGIIAM.-Sir Robert Peel, to whom a requisi tion was in course of signature, desiring him to be come a candidate for Birmingham, and which had already been signed by upwards of 6000 electors, has declined the nomination, stating that " highly as he must value the fa vourable opinion of the constituent body and inhabitants of that borough, it would be wholly out of his power to accede to the requisition." A WORD OF ADVICE. - Ohl 'tis a CARD that ne'er can win, However vvnLi.. they play it:— Ohl 'tis a STONE that ne'er can stand,' - Though glad they be to lay it. But don't dispair, To make things square— A better choice is quickly found, If Oxford only seeks a-ROUND. AN ELECTIONEERING CLAIM.-Mr. J. Biggs recently commenced an action against the Reform Club, to recover the sum of £5OO, promised him towards defraying the expenses incurred in contesting South Leicestershire at the last general election : and the matter has been this week settled by the defendants paying the amount, with interest thereon, and the costs of the action. Mr. Biggs has also commenced proceedings against the borough members to obtain from them certain sums which, he alleges, their agent, (W. H. Ashurst, Esq.,) agreed to pay.—Leicester Chronicle. THE APPROACHING DISSOLUTION. - It has been just ascertained that it will not be possible to close the pre sent session until a somewhat later period than that hitherto announced. The public business which may be called, in the strict sense of the term, indispensable, can not possibly be got over before the 10th of July. That date advances so far into the season as to make a general election interfere inconveniently with the period in which the country will be, occupied with the harvest. Upon the whole, we learn that it is considered possible that the dis solution may be deferred until the autumn, but in no 'case can it be looked for earlier than the middle of July.— Britannia. NORTH WALES.—In Flintshire, Sir S. R.Glynne makes a courteous retiring bow to the Whig government, and lets in the Hon. E. L. Mostyn. Sir R. Bulkeley leaves the Flintshire boroughs to the possession of Sir John Hamner, and proceeds to Anglesea to expel from thence an ill-con .ditioned brother whig, the Hon. W. 0. Stanley. - Carnar vonshire county and boroughs are to remain undisturbed. In Denbighshire the family compact seems to have failed; and the present members, Sir Watkin W. Wynn and the Hon. W. Bagot, will be re-elected, notwithstanding the goodwill of Colonel Myddleton Biddulph to stir up a fer ment thereat. From the Denbighshire boroughs Mr. Townshend Mainwariug, a worthy, well-meaning man, retires ; and Mr. Wynne, of Coed Coch, an earnest Con , servative, seems likely to be his successor. LAW INTELLIGENCE. The Queen's Bench has decided in favour of Mr. Ro gerson, in the long-disputed case relative to the coroner ship of Wigan. A rule nisi has been obtained against Thomas Smerdon, proprietor of a publication called the Daily Advertiser, for a criminal information charging him with having pub lished the following libel, on Saturday week, on Miss Eliza Cook :—" Eliza Cook.—Considerable anxiety exists on the part of the public who do not read the poetical con tributions to the Dispatch, to know what reasons can have induced its proprietor to present his subscribers with a portrait of a woman who has murdered her own child. Such is fame amongst the masses. A murderess is a heroine, and a poetess unknown." In a paragraph which subsequently appeared in the _Daily Advertiser, Mr. Smerdon expressed his great regret that the first para.- - graph should havetWir conStrued into - a libel; anallVOlved himself to be a warm admirer of the genius of Miss Cook. He also gave the following somewhat singular reason for the publication of the alleged libel :—" The fact that one Eliza Cooke or Cook, had recently been executed for murder, and that we had heard the question asked by a friend, who was not over well read in modern poetry -what could have induced the Dispatch to give such a "portrait ?—led to the publication of the paragraph ; and, if a libel, we considered it rather as a libel upon 'the taste which was better read in the criminal reporth of the journal than in its poetical columns, to which a pointed allusion was made." DEATH OF DR. CHALMERS. (From the Edinburgh Witness of June 1s1.) It is with feelings to which we can give no adequate ex pression, that we have to intimate to our readers the death of this super-eminently great and good man. Dr. Chal mers died at his residence at Morningside on the morn ing of Monday the 31st. The Doctor retired to rest at an early hour on Sabbath evening in perfect health, as it appeared to his family, and to a brother clergyman who was living under his roof. Next morning, Professor Macdougal, who expected to have received a packet of papers from the Doctor, sent, at about twenty minutes before eight, to inquire whether the papers had been left out. The house-keeper knocked at the door of the Doctor's bed-room, but receiving no an swer, and concluding that the Doctor was asleep, sent to the Professor a reply, intimating that the papers would be sent as soon as the Doctor should awake. Half an hour later another party called, when the house-keeper knocked as before, and still received no answer. This, taken in connection with the fact that the Doctor had not rung his bell at six o'clock for his cup of coffee, as was his wont, awakened the fears of the domestics, who agreed to enter the chamber, and ascertain if all were well with their reverend master. On entering, they were horror-struck on discovering that the Doctor, partly erect, partly reclin ing on his pillow, had fallen into a sleep of death. Not venturing themselves to communicate the mournful intel ligence to the family, they went instantly to the residence of Professor Macdougal, immediately adjoining, and com municated to him the melancholy tidings. Stunned by the intelligence, the Professor hastened to the Do ctor' s residence, and entered his sleeping apartment, and, draw ing aside the bed curtains, saw, alas the lifeless form of one he had so deeply revered, and with whom he had con versed but the day before. The Doctor, it appeared, had been sitting erect when overtaken by the stroke of death, and he still retained in part that position. The massy head gently reclined on the pillow. The arms were folded peacefully on the breast. There was a slight air of op pression and heaviness on the brow, but not a wrinkle, not A trace of sorrow or pain disturbed its smoothness. The countenance wore an attitude of deep repose. Pro fessor Macdougal grasped the hand. It was cold as mar ble. Life had been absent for several hours. No conflict had preceded dissolution. As a proof of this, we may mention that the bed clothes were gathered about his person, and had plainly not been disturbed by any struggle at the moment of departure. On the fore noon of Monday, the Doctor was to give in the report of the College Committee to the General Assembly of the Free Church ; and, in anticipation of that event, his pa pers and writing materials lay beside him in bed, so ar ranged that he might begin his work so soon as he should awake. It was only on Friday evening that Dr. Chalmers re turned from London, where he had given evidence before the Site Committee. He preached on three several Sab baths in England, with all the fire and vehemence of his former days, and to crowded audiences, including the Prime Minister, and other influential members of the Le gislature. On his way home, he visited his sisters at Glo'ster, and in doing so fulfilled the purposes and long ings which he had cherished for years. On arriving in Edinburgh, his family and friends found him, as it ap peared to them, in excellent health and spirits. On Sab bath afternoon he attended public worship, in company with Dr. Cunningham, in the Free Church of Morning side. The announcement of the melancholy event made a pro found impression on the members of Assembly. They had met expecting that day to see him amongst them, but were called, alas ! to listen to the mournful announce ment of the Moderator, that " he was not, for God had taken him." Another paper says, that when the doctor was found, " the legs of the body were crossed over each other, by one of them being drawn upwards to the knee of the other ; and betwixt them a basin was firmly retained, which it is supposed the aged divine must have taken into bed on experiencing the first access_of the fatal attack from feeling a disposition to vomit, such as might be created by any sudden apoplectic stroke, or even by spasms. The body was quite cold when discovered by the servant : Doctor Chalmers had been dead some time." The remains- of the lamented doctor were interred on Friday, in the Grange cemetery, Edinburgh, an immense concourse of persons being present. A very long proces sion was formed, consisting of the General Assembly of the Free Church, the professors and students of the Free College, the ministers and elders of the Free Church, the rector and masters of the High School in their gowns, the rector pastor and students of the Free Church Normal School, Free Church teachers, &c., and the whole was closed by a large body of private citizens. After the procession were about ninety carriages. The Rev. Mr. Addis, the Free Church minister at Mormingside, of whose congregation. Dr. Chalmers wa - s an elder, officiated at the grave. RAILWAY. AFFAIRS. There is every likelihood of the extension of the broad gauge to 'Scotland, the directors of the North British Railway being it is said, to consider the propriety of its adoption. FATAL ''RAILWAY AcCIDENT.—A fatal occurrence hap pened on, the Bristol and Birmingham railway, at Norton, on Tuesday. 'Three men employ ed on the works laid down, and actually went to sleep, and in that position, a luggage train coining up, two of them were run over, and one was killed on the spot. The other is so severely injured that it is doubtful whether he can -recover. The Railway calls due, in the present month, amount to £3,646,362, so far as they have been advertised to the present time. it must be noticed that of the total of X3,646;362, a sum of £1,550,000 consists of calls on two foreign lines, and that as one-half the shares in these companies are probably held abroad, a deduction of £775;000 should be made, which would thus render the total £2,871,362. FATAL RAILWAY ACCIDENT.—On Sunday, a fatal ac cident took place on the London and North-Western Railway, near Chalk Farm. A man named Dogherty was in the act of crossing the line, near the Chalk Farm bridge, when he was suddenly knocked down by an engine coming through the bridge on the up line. The engine passed over both thighs, crushing him in a frightful manner, and he died soon after. RAILWAY TRAFFIC.—The amount of traffic for the last week, on upwards of 2730 miles of railway, was £376,650, thus accounted f0r:—£97,510 for the convey ance of passengers only, £42,329 for the carriage of goods, and a remainder of £36,811 for passengers and goods to gether, not respectively apportioned; being an increase of £35.776 over the corresponding week of last year, when the mileage was about 2292. On Saturday, at a meeting of the St. Helens' Canal and Rail Way proprietors, the bill for enabling " the coin. puny to make branch railways to Warrington and to Black brook, and to take a lease of the. Rainford branch of the London and North Western Railway," was agreed to. The chairman, Gilbert Greenall, Esq., spoke in high terms of the prospects of the company, and said that the line, from being one of the lowest, might become as valua ble as any railway in the kingdom. FATAL RAILWAY ACCIDENT.—On Monday night, as the down train of the Brighton and Portsmouth Railway was passing Bosham, the carriage got off the line, and the I I coupling-chain; which connects with the passenger-car riage breaking, the former was precipitated down the em bankment, killing the engineer, and injuring the stoker so severely that his death was hourly expected. From the fortunate circumstance of the connecting chain giving way the passengers escaped unharmed. THE LANCASHIRE RAILWAY BILLS.—The Committee of the House of Commons on Group No. 36, to whom the various Railway Bills in this neighbourhood were re ferred, have decided as follows :—Manchester and South port Railway7--carried. East Lancashire. Railway—Pres ton Extension carried—Southport Branch rejected. Lon don and North Western Railway—Ormskirk, Rainford, and Widnes Branches carried. The Deviations and Branches about St. Helens and Collins Green rejected. St. Helens Canal and Railway—Warrington and Black brook Branches carried. • • LONDON AND NORTH WESTERN.—Referring to the traffic tables of this line for the first four- weeks of May in 1846 and 1847 respectively, we • find • the total receipts freni Merchandise, &c., in the forther, amounted to £52,207; in the present year, to £54,217. • The difference of Something over £2,000 in faionr of .1847 would seem to be of little moment, did we overlook the different state of the times at the several periods compared- 7 -forgetting that all kinds of business in the May of 1846 were in high activity, while the present month • has been a season of unusual anxiety and . restraint in every branch of trade and manufacture. RAILWAY BILLS.—Those .bills now before parliament will certainly have their progress suspended this session, to he resumed in the next, at the stage they left off, should the promoters. think fit. The constitution of the com mittee appointed last week, in the House of Lords, and the understood wishes of the government, leave no possibility of a rational doubt as to this result. - The com mittee are expected to despatch this little business in a summary way : to meet, decide, and report, will occupy no more than three days ; and probably next Friday the recommendations will be discussed in the house, with a de cided predisposition to hasten the intended effect. LIVERPOOL, AND BURY RAILWAY.—This railway is progressing rapidly in the neighbourhood of Wigan, and lacing. contracted for in divisions, each portion will soon be completed so as to form a junction with the other parts of the line on both sides of the town. The first part of works approaching the town in the direction from-Liver pool is now being carried across the Fourteen Meadows, towards the Seven Stars Inn, at the bottom of Wallgate. A bridge is in course of erection across the canal, and there will also be another bridge across the river Douglas. A bridge is also in a state of completion over the Liver . - pool and Preston railway. The line then proceeds in the direction of the ince road, near the estate of Mr. Ander ton, and is then carried on towards Amberswood Comm On. At a short distance from the Ince road a valuable stone .quarry has been discovered by Mr. M'Cormick, the con tractor, who, of course, will realise a golden harvest from the bowels of the earth, a great portion of stone having been used in the construction of the bridges upon that portion of the line for which he has contracted; and the delf is now being fillad up in order to carry the railroad across it. This line, when completed, will shorten the distance between Wigan and Liverpool, and. also afford the Means of transit to many populous villages in the dis trict through which it runs. COURT AND FASHION. The Court remains at Windsor, where the Duke of Wellington and a perfect galaxy of illustrious foreigners have been staying. On Wednesday, the Queen and Prince Albert, attended by their guests, were present at Ascot Heath Races, and afterwards the Queen gave a grand banquet in St. George's Hall to the Grand Duke Constantine of Russia, the Hereditary Grand Duke and Duchess of Saxe Weimar, the Prince of Lucca, Prince George of Cambridge, Prince Edward of Saxe Weithar, the Prince of Leiningen, Prince F. Liechtenstein, and a large number of illustrious and noble persons. THE QUEEN DOWAGER.—It is her Majesty's intention, at the advice of her physicians, to pass the next winter at Madeira for the advantage of the climate. The Dowager Queen will be accompq,pied by the principal members of her court and a limited suit of domestics ; and a vessel of the royal navy will convey her Majesty to her destination. The Duchess of Kent will leave England to-day for the continent. _ _ The Countess (Dowager) of Sefton, who has been se verely indisposed, is rapidly regaining her health. The Earl and Countess of Sefton have returned to town from visiting the Dowager Countess Craven, at her seat in Berks. _ . _ His Royal Highness Prince Oscar of Sweden, third son of the King of Sweden, arrived at Portsmouth on Satur day, and proceeded to the metropolis by the South-Wes tern Railway. Mrs. Hudson the wife of the Railway King,:had a grand evening party and concert, at Albert-gate-house, on Mon day. Most of the vocalists of the Italian Opera took part in the concert. The Duke of Wellington was one of the early arrivals amongst the guests. The Duke of Wellington purposes to give a grand entertainment on the 14th instant, at Apsley House, in celebration of the baptism of the infant daughter of Lord and Lady Charles Wellesley. The Queen has been pleased t to signify her intention to stand sponso r to the infant. Count D'Orsay has completed a full-sized picture of the Queen on horseback. The horse, an iron grey, is in the act of bounding for ward ; the Queen, in a redriding habit and a black hat, sits confidently. It is said that the likeness of the Queen is good, but that the action of the figure too much resembles that of a riding master. THE DUKE OF BUCFINGIIA.M.—A correspondent sends us the following :—" Painful rumours are afloat as to matters at Stowe-bouse, the residence of the Duke of Buckingham. The result of the circumstance is said to be a determination on the part of his Grace and the Duchess to leave England for a few years. It is said that Stowe-house will be shut up, and the gamekeepers, &c., dismissed.. We understand the Marquis of Chandos will forthwith form an establishment, and take up his resi dence at Wotton-house."—Globe. A COUNTRY PARTY GOVERNMENT. (From the Oxford and Cambridge Review) There are ample materials left uncorrupted for the for mation of an able and honest Administration ' as such an assignment of offices as the following, for instance, abun dantly testifies : First Lord of the Treasury—Lord Stanley. Chancellor of the Exchequer—Lord George Bentinck. Secretary of State for the Home Department—Mr. Gladstone. Secretary of State for the Foreign Department—Lord Ashburton. Secretary of State for the Colonial Department—Sir R. R. Vyvyan. First Lord of the Admiralty—Duke of Northumberland. Lord Chancellor—Mr. Stuart. President of the Council—Earl Talbot. Lord Privy Seal—Lord Feversham. President of the Board of Trade—Earl of Lonsdale. President of the Board of Control—Earl of Powis. - Postmaster-General—Duke of Buckingham. Paymaster-General of the Forces—Mr. Colquhoun. Woods and Forests—Lord John Manners. ' Secretary for Ireland—Mr. Disraeli. Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster—Sir R. Inglis. LECTURE :BY THE REV. DR. M'NEILE ON THE TRIAL AND ACQUITTAL OF THE SEVEN BISHOPS. 'The lecture upon the above subject, as illustrated by the splendid painting by J. R. Herbert, R.A., which has been looked forward to with such intense interest by the Pro testant community of Liverpool, was delivered on Tues day evening last, at the - Amphitheatre, to one of the most numerous and respectable audiences ever collected within the walls of that building. Upwards of three thousand persons must have been present; and probably half as many more were disappointed of getting admitted, the tickets issued having been taken up two days before the lecture. The money realized—a large sumis to be handed over to the St. Jude's Fund for the relief of the destitute in Ireland and Scotland. Amongst those present on the platform and in the house, we noticed the fol lowing :—ltevds. F. Parry, David Anderson, Drummond Anderson, Wm. Pollock, F. Ould, W. Warr, 11. H..llig gins, Wm. Hughes, John Jones, (St. Andrew's,) J. Jones, (St. Paul's,) Groom, Carr, (St. Helen's,) David James, Benjamin Clarke, J. R. Connor, W. Gibbon, C. H. Watling, Thos. Irwin, Geo. Cuthbert, and S. Fento n; S. Holme s R. Harbord, T. T. Glazebrooke, J. Edwards, Wm. Jones, J. A Tinne, J. H. Webster, Wm. Maples, E. L. Falloon, Duckworth, C. J. Townley, Charles Cotesworth, J. K. Rounwthaite, Thos Forsyth, Win. Rowett, C. S. Parker, Esq., Dr. Vose, and John 'l‘l`Neile, Esq., of Belfast. After an appropriate prayer had been offered up by the Rev. Fielding Ould, the Rev. Dr. M`Neile rose amidst great applause to deliver the lecture, and, in the first in stance, drew a distinction between the use of pictures as aids or 'illustrations of historical facts and pictures em ployed in religious devotion. The former, Protestants were prepared to sanction, whilst the latter they rejected utterly. Ho then drew attention to the subject of the picture. The trial of the bishops was not, in itself, one in which any religious question was directly involved, although its result decided the question whether this coun try, at the arbitrary will of the monarch, should be sub jected to the domination of popery. It turned upon two points --a point of law and a point of fact. The point of law was as to the prerogative of the crown to suspend the 1 laws in force against Roman Catholics and Nonconform istS, and a point of fact as to the publication of an alleged libel by the bishops, which publication was construed by the law officers of the crown to amount to the commission of a misdemeanour. The rev.'doctor then entered into an able and detailed history of the steps by , which King James had pressed the nation on, by the exercise of his prerogative, in favour of popery, until the crisis in which the resistance of the bishops was the occasion of arresting him. On ascending the throne, it at once be came clear that his design was to papalize the nation. It was avowed by him to the French ambassador ; and all his subsequent acts confirmed the avowal. His appoint ments to offices of trust were for the most part exercised in favour of papists. He made strenuous efforts to pro cure a parliament that would consent to repeal the test acts ; and when he failed, he kept the country a year and a half without a session, by successive prorogations. To get his friends into professorships in the universities, where they might have an opportunity to poison the minds of the youth of England, was another cherished object, which the honour of having first thwarted belongs to Cambridge, which university, through its vice-chancellor refused to admit a Benedictine monk to the degree of master of arts, without the oaths prescribed under the test acts having been duly taken. Forthis conduct the vice-chancellor was summoned before the ecclesiastical commission ; and it is worthy of being known, that one of the deputation from the university who accompanied him on the occasion was the then professor of mathematics, afterwards Sir Isaac Newton. In the following year, an attempt was made by James to force upon the university of Oxford a Roman Catholic as president of Magdalen College, which was resisted successfully, and a fitting party elected. The fellows of the college were suspended by the king ; their president was ejected by force, and the king's nominee inducted by force. At this time, Stilling fleet,, Tillotson, Sherlock, Wharton, and other lights of the church were exercising the ministerial office, and were popular, and hence unpalatable to the court. An example was therefore to be made ; and Dr. Sharp, rector of St. Giles's, was the party fixed upon for attack. The Bishop 'of LOndon was desired to suspend him, and refused, for which lie was himself deprived of his spieitual office, the king not daring to touch his temporalities, which could not have been done without an outrage upon the law. The event which precipitated the crisis, for which these encroachments had prepared the public mind, was the re fusal of the bishops to obey the mandate of the king, which required of them to cause to be read in all the churches the declaration of liberty of conscience—a decla ration ostensibly directed for the relief of dissenters, but universakly recognised as being for the aggrandisement ul timately of Popery. A memorial, conveying that refusal, was presented to the king ; and as the result, the bishops were summoned to appear before the privy council on the Bth of June, and after undergoing an examination were committed to the Tower. Their journey thither was a triumphal progress, the populace pressing forward to sa lute them along the whole line of their route. Of the trial itself much need not be said, the only interestingfea tures being the speech of Mr. Somers, one of the counsel for the accused, from which the reverend lecturer quoted some passages. The conclusion of the lecture. describing the effect produced by the delivery of the verdict, we give in his own words : The trial lasted ten hours ; and although, as I have already admitted, the question of the reformed religion, the question of the Church of England, whether she should still be preserved as a national establishment, or whether the law that protected her as a national establish ment should be relaxed, suspended,—although these questions were not actually before the court, who does not see that all this was involved in the issue of the trial ? (Hear, hear.) A verdict in favour of the King would have cast the Church of England without the power of resist ance, without the power of remonstrance, without help, and without hope, at the feet of a Popish bigot. Hence the awful excitement concerning the trial. The jury re tired at seven o'clock. They were overheard in loud words at midnight, and towards three o'clock in the morning. It was a night much to be remembered in England ! The whple difficulty was afterwards ascer tained to have arisen from one juror, who held out a long time against the rest. His name was Michael Arnold, brewer to the King's household. At last, however, he was convinced, and at six o'clock in the morning intelli gence was sent to the Chief Justice that the jury were agreed in their verdict. The court sat at nine. All the bnches were covered with the nobility and gentry. The hall was crowded. All the streets leading to it were blocked up with an immense concourse of people, eager and anxious expectants. And was all this for a mere dry point of law ? Was there nothing connected with our religion about it, nothing connected with the preserva tion of our national church ? Oh ! yes ; everything; as regarded the public feeling—everything ! The people were persuaded, thoroughly persuaded, that their religion and their liberties were in danger. They believed that the enemies of their country had found a friend in their King. They believed that the bishops of the church were standing in the struggle, heading the true fight for the defence of the dearest pri vile g es of the nation. (Hear, hear.) Hence it was that all were in such a state of ex citement. B o e h tN e ve in jury weeredstuemn summoned into i t n h t e o j ucsoturicets; thetook ma d e proclamation for silence. Sir Samuel Astrey, e t c h i r t i e e e i r :r the officer appointed to form the jury, asked—" Are you agreed in your verdict ?" The jury said "Yes." " Who shall say for you ?,' " The foreman." Sir Samuel As trey called on Sir Roger Langley. The foreman stood I up. That is the moment arrested by thepainter. lam sorry you are not near enough , all of you, to have an adequate notion of the power of the painter—his power over his own art, and the knowledge of our common nature, in the ex pression he has thrown into the various countenances and attitudes at that eventful moment. Here [pointing to the picture] sit the bishops, and there the judges here are the counsel for the crown, and the bishops, and behind here the jury, and there stands the foreman. Though you cannot see it'close enough here, 1 am informed it will be at your option to see it in Bold-street, No. 82, on pre senting your cards. (Hear.) It was a moment of breath less suspense, and the next was a moment of tumultuous victory. The foreman said, " Not guilty !"—(applause) —"Not guilty!!" shouted the dense crowd—" Not guilty!" reverberated the roof, as if Westminster-hall had partaken of the joyful sound—" Not guilty 1" issued out of the windows--" Not guilty !" ran along the streets—hats, caps, bonnets, were thrown into the air —[here the rev. gentleman was interrupted by deafening cheers]—and as they arose they were followed by the sound of " Not guilty !" The ready bonfires and fireworks showed the tone of the public mind, and the state of expectation they were for this anticipated triumph. They blazed—they burst ; and the very rockets, as they rushed towards heaven, seemed to explode to the tune of " Not guilty !" (Great applause.) Eye encountered eye—hand was grasped in hand —men, women and children ran, and shouted, as they ran, " Not guilty !" (Continued heer ing.) The sound rolling across the city, reached the inhabitants of Whitechapel ; thence it reverberated to Kensington, and along the suburban road to Hounslow ; where, caught up by the troops there encamped under their royal master, it sounded like a knell of death in the affrighted ear of the King. All England felt it. " Not guilty !" our Protestant Church is safe ! " Not guilty !" our Popish King is beaten " Not guilty !" our laws are preserved ; our constitution has escaped ; our noble Pro testant defenders are " Not guilty !" (Immense ap plause.) But stay ! Amidst the boisterous clamours of a triumphing nation, a gentler, a tenderer, a holier in cense is arising, from the penetrated bosoms of the bishops. " Not unto us," I can imagine them feeling and saying, " Not unto us," however steadfast in the hour of trial ; not unto our clergy here in London, however faith ful in that debate ; not unto our counsel, however com petent; not unto our jury, however honest; not un t o man at all but as a secondary instrument, but unto thy name be the praise, 0 Lord, for thy glory and for thy name's sake !" Yes ; there was the deepest triumph of all, in the meek, the penetrated, the humble gratitude of those men of God. (Applause.) Now, I cannot, I may not, attempt any very extended application of this subject ; • but this I must say, that for several years last past our parliament have been effecting against our church and constitution what James 11. could not effect. (Hear.) Liberty of conscience has been on the forefront of their measures, considered legally ; while substantially encou ragement to Popery has been the issue of those measures considered politically. (Hear, hear.) And now a crisis is at hand. Not the trial of a few champions in a court of law, but the triumph of the masses at a general election. Let Protestantism be the ruling word—Protestantism in dependent of all difference in secular politics. The time has come for mutual sacrifices in defence of Protestantism, or you will have Protestantism sacrificed while you are de fending your private interests. (Hear, hear.) Whatever we have, Whigs or Tories, Protectionists or Free Traders, June 8, 1817. Churchmen or Dissenters, let us by all means have a Pro testant. Let us have men who know that the utmost to be expected from Popery is that when brought in by a ge neral toleration, she will get power for a general persecu tion. And then there may be some hope still that the real sinews of our liberty and national strength shall be again firm, and that the cry, the triumphant. cry, of our nation again shall be, " Our Protestant defenders are not guilty !" (Applause.) There is a movement in this direction— I have heard of it in several parts of the country. Only this day I got an account by a newspaper from Berkshire of a movement there, where some faithful Protestants brought the two members for Reading to the test. And it appears that Mr. Russell and my Lord Chelsea have taken the Protestant declaration very handsomely. Now amongst ourselves. (Laughter and applause.) I very sincerely regret that anything should happen to render it advisable for our noble or gallant representative to retire. A better member than the noble lord, with respect to all the com mercial interests of the town and kingdom, it would be difficult, I may perhaps say impossible, to find. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) Courteousin his deportment, obliging. in his disposition, affable in his manner, clear in his intel ligence; diligent, regular, punctual, persevering in his habits of business, he had entitled himself to unfeigned respect; while at the same time he had won the cordial affection of all who were thrown in contact with him: I do sincerely hope that whateter disappointment may be experienced in the events of the last few days, that no such feelings, no such irritations may arise, as shall in duce the slightest want of cordiality among ourselves, or create any needless divisions of which our enemies would speedily take advantage. Let no crimination or recrimi ' nation waste precious time, and disturb precious harmony. If there be a large section of the town that wants a man to represent them, well, let us have fair play, and let us have peace and quietness. lam going to take upon me a great proposal,—that two respectable men, varying in polities, but at one and determined for Protestantism, shall be sent to Parliament without a contest. (Hear.) Let our Reformers and our Conserva tives, as they call themselves, agree in this matter. Let them each have a respectable, high-conditioned, and com petent man to represent their secular interests ; but as far as Protestantism is concerned, both Con servatives indeed . And why not both Protestants ? Why should we suppose that the Reformers in this town, or in the country, are opposed to Protestantism ? Why should we suppose they are such great fools as to he duped with an appearance of liberty of conscience, which is only a prelude to universal per secution. Why should we imagine that they, who ac cording to their accounts, stand the farthest from Popery, should he willing to have it in the country ; when we, whom they accuse of having a little of it about our selves, are anxious to keep it out ? (Hear, and cheers.) But I must not persevere in this strain : I must cometo a conclusion, by asking a question to which the subject na turally leads,—" What is to be done with Ireland ?" The first thing is what you have been engaged in for some months, and which I entreat you to continue doing a little longer—feed her,-for she'is starving still. It was to add to our funds for doing thiS that your admission to place this evening has been paid for, that there might be no expense attending the meeting, and a fund to add to our supplies for our poor indigent brethren. But what is to be done to Ireland politically ? Why, I ask you to listen to what Lord Ashley says. Hear him when he spoke to the electors of Bath, the other day. " Instead of attempting—vainly attempting—to govern the people by the priests, govern the priests by the people." (Loud cheers.) But how is this to be done. I quite grant it no easy matter to govern the priests. (A laugh.) Fcr they have laws of their own and a sovereign of their own, and an allegiance of their own, which takes precedence of their allegiance to Queen Victoria. Therefore it is no easy matter for our laws to govern them. -But this is the mode by which we should try to govern them. Educate the people. (Hear.) Educate them well: educate "tlaem scripturally, without fearing the bugbear of proselytism ; carry out sound and efficient Protestant measures, to-the mortificatiw, no doubt, of a few thousand priests, but to the substantial movement, every way, of the social and moral condition of millions of the people (ApplauSe.) If we had a Protestant parliament and a Protestant go vernment, that would put an end, at once and for ever, to all hopes of success to the conspirators against our established religion—that would show them that there was no prospect of success for them in overthrowing the Established Church and re-establishing Popery—that they must give it up for ever—and that would educate the peo ple in all the departments of civil knowledge, but especi ally in the word of their salvation—why, we should soon have Ireland completely emancipated. We should have her native millions freed from a foreign yoke: We shOuld have her native language made the medium of Gospel blessings instead of Papal curses. We should have her native resources drawn out—her mines and fisheries effi ciently wrought by a capital which would then be safe. We should have Englishmen going to trade there, and finding a fit reward for their labours. We should have a real union—an intercommunion of interest and religion. (Hear.) Only let the Bible—the Irish Bible—have fair play, and what the Bible in English did for England— what the Bible in Erse did for Scotland—the - Biblci in Irish can do for Ireland. (Cheers.) Then we shall have the vision verified, not as he would have had it who wished to see her in the Pope's tiara, but as we would have it who wish to see her an ornament in the diadem of Protestant England— " - Great, glorious, and free, First flower of the earth, and first gem of the sea." The rev. doctor sat down amidst a tumult of applause- THE FALL OF THE BRIDGE AT CHESTER. The inquisition into the cause of this memorable acci— dent took place on Wednesday. A painter, of the name of Clegg, proved that, when employed to paint the girders of the new bridge in April and May last, he observed a deflection of 11 to 2 1 - inches in the middle girder when a ballast train went over, and of 31-- to 4 inches when a passenger train passed over. Two or three painters gave similar evidence. General Sir Charles William Pasley said, I was inspec tor-general of railways at the time this line was opened. I surveyed the bridge previous to its being opened to the public. That was on the 20th of October last, and my report, irr which I pronounced it to be safe and efficient, was dated on the 22nd of the same month. I did not ex amine all the smaller details of the bridge. I inspected carefully all the drawings and dimensions of the various parts, and examined it as much in detail as I considered necessary. I compared the drawings and dimensions given on the plan with the actual building. This is an iron girder bridge, in three openings or spans of 98 feet each; wrought-iron tension bars are used to truss or strengthen-it. I always was of opinion, and am so still, that these wrought-iron tension bars are not of great use, because I think that the expansion of wrought or cast iron, from heat, differs in some degree, though not very greatly, but that the iron girders being very massive, and the wrought-iron tension bars thin, and of much smaller dimensions, that the sun may act very powerfully upon the wrought-iron tension bars, and not much upon the iron girders ; and that therefore even supposing them to be adjusted for a moderate temperature, intensely hot weather coming on may destroy the proportion, and do away with the benefit of these tension bars. It mar be asked, therefore, what was my reason for approving- the bridge under these circumstances ; upon which I may re mark, that there have been a great number o f theme bridges erected on railways in England, both be f°re an 1 some after I held th e appo i ntment of Inspector of:lßira.ilßwoabyes.rt slopnheeonfsotnheseever expressedfailed.anpinion, 0 G e nera t h a t the train was pro c e e di ng f as t er th an h a d b een sta t e d, and that the tender by some means got off the rails, and on passing over the bridge struck the girder a lateral blow and frac tured it. Joseph Locke, Esq., C.E., said—l have inspected the fallen part of the bridge over the Dee. I have been there this morning for the first time, and we examined all the evidence which is furnished to us by the fragments, and I coincide very much with Mr. Stevenson that this acci dent did not occur from the vertical pressure, but from a side blow. Without going into the question of the ten sion bars as an aid to the girders, I take it that the girders would not have themselves given way from the weight of the train passing over them at the time ; and I therefore directed my attention to the fragments with a view to es tablish that a side blow had been struck. I believe that the part of the girder which is broken out could only have been fractured by a side blow ; and I am confirmed in that opinion by the fact, that, at the point where the girder was struck, the leaf of the tension bar has been cut in two. I have no doubt that the axle-box of the tender struck that blow, for I find the paint from the tender on .the bar. I have no doubt also that the tender inn up the tension rod, stripping off the clips, and struck the masonry at the termination of these bars. The axle-box would come underneath the pillar-cap, or cornice stone, which find is broken off and thrown into the bed of the r iver. I then trace the mark of the axle box along the inner sid e of the masonry ; and the tender in passing along has dis placed the whole masonry about ten inches, by the fore° with which it was acting against it. To prove that this was caused by the axle-box, I find a great m ar k a hoy . ° this corresponding with the wooden part of the tenders. Believing that the tender had got off the rails before the point where the fracture in the bridge took.. place, I el l ; deavoured to find wheth er th ere were an y mar k s u p o n 0 ; 4 " road of anything havin g b een o ff th e - ra il s on th e pa that is standing ; there is no such indication. Upon hear ing that some chairs had been found in the river, T ej atnined them, and I found that some of them were snipP by the flanges of the wheels, in the ordinary wa y s how"( by a carriage thrown off the rails. I found a heaP twelve or twenty chairs, and out of the lot four of tlte'" were snipped by the flange of a wheel. [They were pro, duced in court.] Ido not think that mark could be 1 0 1 5 duced in any other way than by a carriage wheel off t line. I can account for the tearing away of rods Or Oct thing of that kind by the falling of the carriages, but 0, 0 for the mark in the chair. I believe the supports of bridge were quite adequate, but I frankly state that I vo not like cast-iron girders in any shape myself. r e Coroner: They are cheaper I suppose 7] No ; therL o more expensive ; a brick or stone bridge could have constructed 'much cheaper. Sometimes the Ad m ire , ; 0? the Board of Trade, and the Commissioners of Raill n , require bridges of large span to be adopted, without c sidering the safety of the public travelling on the r ailivtV ia t or the convenience of the company. lam not aware .%1 the present bridge was constructed at the request of " of those bodies. cite Charles Vignolles, Esq., C.E., said he joined gr. lic ti ci in the examination of the fragments of the bridg e, _ c a c i. I coincided with him most fully and entirely, that the ' ; ` tio g dent was occasioned by a lateral blow. From the po sit be in which the carriages were described as having-falle,!9_,; was fully convinced that it had arisen from a side I , __ l °oe for they lay transversely instead of longitudinallY o .. e came down here with the conviction that the bridge not sufficiently strong, but that opinion had been • !T h e now. He was not in favour of such bridges, though had been obliged to erect them on several occasions. The inquest was adjourned for a fortnight. (The above to form the Cabinet.) Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland—Duke of Cleitland. Master of the Mint—Marquis of Granby. Secretary to the Admiralty—Mr. Stafford O'Brien. Secretary at War—Hon. H. T. Liddell. Junior Lords of the Treasury—Lord March, Lord Os sulston, and Hon. F. Scott. Under-Secretary for the Home Department—Mr. New degate. Under-Secretary for the Foreign Department—Mr. Milnes Gaskell. Under-Secretary for the Colonial Department—Mr. Christopher. Junior Lords of the Admiralty—Lord Ingestre, Mr. J. N. Gladstone, Hon. A. Duncombe, and Hon. C. Harris. Joint Secretaries to the Treasury—Mr. T. Baring and Mr. R. Hodgson. Attorney-General—Mr. Pemberton Leigh. Solicitor-General—The Hon. Mr. Talbot. Vice-President of the Board of Trade—Mr. P. H. S. Joint Secretaries to the Board of Control—Mr. Grogan and Lord Clive. - Master-General of the Ordnance—Sir Howard Douglas. Surveyor-General of the Ordnance—Lord Hotham. Clerk of the Ordnance—Mr..W. Beresford- Lord Chamberlain—Lord Warde. Lord Steward—Earl of Hardwicke. Mater of the 'Horse—Marquis of Waterford. found i pinned pencil, was ma waa bra parents some v( before t FATA O'Dont Rodney, cannot i severely of Mr. attentio his brot six year A fire south C tinguish damage