The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-03-12 00:00:00

imperial Varliament. HOUSE OF LORDS.—Mos. ..DAY. A number of petitions were pre_tftt e d f rom nurnt.rous places in the dioceses of St. knaph and Bangor agui.:st the union of the sees St. Asaph and Ban gor . . Lord BRouGnAm, kn presenting a petition from Sir Augustus &Este. whose claim, he said, to the Dukedom of Sussex, the Earldom of Inverness, and the Barony of Arktow, was now before the Committee of Privileges. The petitioner stated that one of his witnesses, the Che valier Bunsen, the Minister from the Court of Prussia, was about to leave this country, and would be absent for three months. He, therefOre, prayed that the evidence of the Chevalier Bunsen should be taken de bene esse, due notice being given to the Attorney-General. After a short discussion, the petition was laid on the table. HOUSE OF COMMONS.-MONDAY. The SPEAKER informed the house, that the sureties offered for prosecuting the petition against the return of Mr. Bruges for Devizes were found to be unexceptionable. Mr. W. GLADSTONE, in rising to propose the resolu tions of the Railway Committee, said, as the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway happened to be one of those upon which the question would arise, whether it ought to be considered as a competing line, he should take an oppor tunity of proposing that the committee upon the bill should be deferred for a time, in case the house should agree to the resolutions he was about to move. These resolutions he had now to move in conformity with the desire of the committee of which be had now the honour to be the chairman, and as they had already been placed in the hands of the house, he hoped hon. gentlemen had made themselves acquainted with them. The right hon ourable gentleman concluded by moving a resolution to the following effect :—" That in each case, where bills are now pending to authorise the construction of new lines of railway competing with one another, such bills be res pectively referred to one committee." - The 'notion was opposed by Col. Sibthorp, and a divi sion having taken place the motion was carried by a ma jority of 200 to 3. Before the house resolved itself into committee of Supply, a conversation was originated by Mr. Borthwick about the appointment of a time for the discussion of the poor law. - Sir J, GRAHAM announced the intention of govern ment to bring on that subject when the factory bill should Lave been disposed of. Mr. WILLIAMS then entered into a general survey of the army estimates, which, he contended, were too large to be borne by the country in its present distressed state, and proposed that they should be referred to a select committee Mr. S. CRAWFORD complained of the unconstitutional nature of so large a standing army. Why was it neces sary to the safety of life and property that the standing army should be so large? He moved, as an amendment, a resolution that the maintenence of a large standing army was unconstitutional and dangerous.. This amendment, after a brief discussion, was nega tived by a majority of 79. After some other votes had been agreed to the house resumed, and the further consideration of the estimates was postponed nntil Friday. HOUSE OF LORDS. -TUESDAY. - - ----- - - The Lord CHANCELLOR presented a petition from a person called Samuel Gray, who had been four times charged with shooting at different individuals, and who had been convicted on the last occasion. The petitioner prayed that their Lordships would provide him with money to enable him to bring his sentence under revision, which it was quite clear their Lordships could not do. The Earl of YARBOROUGH presented petitions from Lincolnshire against any alteration of the Corn-Laws. Earl BROWNLOW presented 42 similar petitions from the North Riding of Yorkshire. The Marquis of CLANRICARDE begged to ask if the Landlord and Tenant Commissioners for Ireland intended any alteration of the law which might affect leases or covenants entered into before the issuing of the commis sion ; and further, whether the commissioners intended to report upon the proportion which existed between rent and the value of land. (Hear.) He also wished to know whether it was intended to report the evidence of the commission ? The Earl of DEVON said he considered it would be premature for him, standing alone, as it were, in that House, to answer the questions put to him by his noble friend. The Commissioners had nothing to do with the law of real property in Ireland. The Marquis of CLANRICARDE asked was it intended to make any alteration in existing covenants between landlords and tenants ? The Earl of DEVON—I must decline to answer so delicate a question. The Marquis of NORMANBY moved for a return of the number and the names of the Stipendiary Magistrates appointed in Ireland since the Ist of Jan. 1841.—Or dered.—Adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS.-TUESDAY. On the motion of Mr. Gladstone the following mem bers were nominated a select committee on classification of railway bills, in conformity with the fifth resolution on railways :—Mr. Baring, Sir C. Lemon, Mr. Rice, Mr. Acland, and Sir J. Walsh, with power to send for per sons, papers, and records. . Mr. W. WILLIAMS moved that no motion, if opposed, should be brought forward and discussed in that House tato. A.fto.• oomp member said he was convinced one-half of the time of the House was now consumed in idle debates. (Loud cries of " Hear, hear," from the Ministerial benches, which was several times repeated.) There was great complaint against the late Government for not proceeding with important business, but he did not think that a change of administration had been of any benefit to the public. Mr. BROTHEILTON seconded the motion, which was ost by a majority of 146 to 16. Lord ASHLEY said the House were spared the inflic tion of a long and painful statement by the assent of Government to the proposition of which he had given notice—that a select committee be appointed to inquire into the mode of administering relief to the sick poor under the provisions of the Poor Law Amendment Act, and to report the evidence taken before them with their opinions to the House. The report of the committee on the army estimates was brought up, and the House adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS.-WEDNESDAY. The County Coroner' Bill went into committee, and that part of it which proposes an increase of mileage from 9d. to ls. occasioned a good deal of discussion. The larger sum was carried on a division. The other orders of the day were disposed of without remark, and before 7 o'clock the house adjourned. HOUSE OF COMMONS.-THURSDAY. Mr. LABOUCHERE, in pursuance of his notice, brought under the attention of the H ou se of Com m ons the subject of our commerce with the Brazils. The exports of those countries amounted, he said, to upwards of £7,000,000 sterling, of which more than £4,000,000 consisted in su gar, coffee, and cotton wool. While Brazil contented her self under her present treaty with a maximum duty of 15 per cent. on our goods, we imposed a prohibitory duty of 300 per cent. upon her sugar, and 200 per cent. upon her coffee. Thus a very small proportion of Brazilian produce was directly imported into England. Our exports to Bra zil had been more than £3,000.000 sterling, but were now little beyond £2,000,000 sterling. This was a very ano malous state of things, and placed our own manufacturers and merchants at a great disadvantage in comparison with those of other states. who could import directly the pro duce of Brazil to their own countries, in exchange for their own exports, while British vessels, unless they shipped the produce of Brazil to some foreign port, were under the necessity of returning in ballast. A change in the exist ing system would be highly beneficial to the shipping in terests. Foreign nations, particularly France, were now gaining ground upon us in the Brazilian markets ; the Brazilian commerce of France, in particular, was rapidly increasing. The house was bound to protect British mer chants in this great and still important, though no longer increasing, branch of commerce. The treaty in 1827, be tween England and Brazil, was to expire in November, and a great and natural anxiety existed about the terms on which it was to be renewed. He hoped the Brazilians might yet have the wisdom to reject the doctrine of reci procity, and abstain from imposing retaliatory duties ; but something was always to be feared from passion and irritation. The object of his present motion was to press upon the government the necessity of an immediate reduc tion in the sugar duties. Mr. EWART seconded the motion. Mr. GLADSTONE, in opposing the address, disclaimed all intention to give any the slightest intimation of the course which government might find it necessary to adopt in the present session respecting any of the import duties. If gentlemen chose to craw any conclusion respecting that course, they must draw it at their own risk. A remission of duty had already been made in favour of Brazil, upon coffee, and still more extensively upon cotton wool, and Other reductions had been made benefitting no smaller a proportion in all than four-fifths of her aggregate export. Her sugar, about which so much had been said, was only about one-fifth of that export. He quoted the arguments which the Whigs themselves, when in office, had been wont, until their last year, to direct against th e re d uct i on of the duty on sugar, and which were prin c ip a ll y f oun d e d on the objection to stimulating the slave -trade. And clearly if the reasons for the reduction were good f or any thing, they demonstrated that it would increase slave-la bour in Brazil, and, consequently, stimulate the traffic with Africa. The present question, therefore, was not one merely of sanction to slavery, but of encouragement to the slave-trade. After specifying some difficulties, arising from the unreasonable demands of the Brazilian ziegociators, he stated that all which Brazil had offered in return for the large concessions she expected, was to con fine her future duties on cotton goods, the chief article of English export, within the moderate limit of 40 per cent. Mr. MILNER. Ginsori ridiculed the notiqn of negociat ing for the suppression of slavery in Brazil. There was no official authority there which could effect that suppres sion; it could only be effected by public opi n i on , w hi ch all your negotiations could not influence. But your anti slavery zeal was only a pretence. The real object was to favour the West Indian class. What he d eman d e d was, a complete equality between foreign and colonial im posts. Mr. BRIGHT (the Quaker member for Durham) said, the anti-slavery plea. when used by gentlemen opposed to him, was a dishonest one. The husine!:s of that house was not to look after morality in the Brazils, but to take to ishi~:g pe• , ple of Ind. Thwe who h.,d c a re of the properly abstain f rom us i ng scruples Of conscience might 518 ,ee-grown sugar, but had no right to prevent the use of it by others who had no such scruples. The supply was unequal to the demand ; and he had heard of no remedy for the deficiency. In an angry voice he imputed the resistance of the opponents of this motion to selfish in terest ; but immediately afterwards admitted that his own trade was materially connected with that of Brazil. He. delivered many of the usual commonplaces of the League, introducing corn as well as sugar, until the house, who at first had listened to him co ur t eous l y an d a t ten ti ve l y , be came impatient both of his topics and of the tone which he assumed in laying them down ; and the latter part of his speech was a constant struggle to be audible above the disapprobation which be had excited. Mr. BARING apprehended that the failure of the ne gotiation with Brazil was imputable to the lateness of our attempt to deal with th e ques ti on o f h er p r oduce. Sir ROBERT PEEL showed, from documents, that in the last year the consumption of sugar had been greater than in any one of the seven previous years, except 1841 ; and that, nevertheless, the price last year had been lower than in any part of that preceding period. He would say nothing to preclude the renewal of negociation ; but if such a renewal were attempted, this vote would be pre cisely the way to keep up the demands of the Brazilian minister. He treated as futile the apprehension that fo reigners would supersede us in the Brazilian markets. He admitted that England had purchased from her indi vidual colonists the right of dealing with the sugar ques tion ; but a nation having a great colonial empire must have regard to higher considerations than the mereinte rest of the consumers in the cheapness of sugar. If, as Mr. Bright would have it, cheap sugar was the only pro per object of our legislation, it would follow that we ought to restore slavery and the slave-trade in our own colonies. Captain Denman bad suggested a system of blockade along the African coast, by which the govern ment hoped that the slave-trade would be effectually sup pressed ; but if cheap sugar were the only proper object of England, parliament would not be justified in taxing the English people for the force proposed. Lord PALMERSTON admitted that the government were quite right in rejecting such proposals as the Brazilian minister had made ; but thought that if negotiation had been attempted at an early period, the disposition of Bra zil would have been found more favourable. The object now declared was not to suppress slavery, but only the slave-trade ; and he hoped this concession was a step to others. The truth was, that the present declarations of government were made, not for the sake of the slaves, but to obtain the support of the colonial party. Ministers were liberal enough in their professions ; but when any thing practical was recommended, they fell back upon their monopolist supporters. The house then divided—against the motion, 205 ; for it, 132 ; majority against it, 73. HOUSE OF LORDS.-FRIDAY. Lord BROUGHAM moved the second reading of the Privy Council Appellate Jurisdiction Bill. Considerable discussion took place, but eventually the bill was read a second time, and referred to a select committee. HOUSE OF COMMONS.-FRIDAY. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER brought forward his proposition for the reduction of the interest upon the Three-and-a-Half per Cent. Annuities, and stated the mode by which he proposes to carry out the operation. The total stock to be affected by the operation amounts to the sum of £249,600,000. Of this sum there was £10,000,000 Three-and-a-Half per Cent. Stock created in 1818, which stood upon a somewhat different footing from the remainder, for the holders were guaranteed not to be reduced without six months' notice, and were not to be paid off in less sums than £500,000 at a time. These conditions would be strictly oherved, but in all other respects the several kinds of stock were to be similarly dealt with. Every bolder of £lOO in the Three-and-a- Half per Cents. would be allowed a like sum in a New Three-and-a-Quarter per Cent. Stock, upon which 34- per cent. interest would be paid until the 10th of October, 1854, and from that date the interest would be only 3 per cent., with a guarantee, however, that there should be no further reduction for twenty years from that period. The arrangement to be carried out as usual, the holders being allowed a limited time to express their dissent. With respect to the stock created in 1818. that would be paid off according to the conditions of the loan, unless the holders previously signified their assent to accept the New Three and-a-Quarter per Cents. ; and with respect to the re mainder of the stocks, the holders resident in England would be allowed until the 23d of March to signify their assent ; those in Europe, until the 22d of June ; and those out of Europe, until February, 1845. If he succeeded in carrying out this financial operation, he calculated upon effecting an immediate saving to the public of £625,000 a year, and a further saving of £625,000 in 1854, making a total saving of £1,250,000 a year, without any disturb ance of the public interests, and without any augmentation of the capital of the debt. It was also his intention to equalise the payments of the dividends at each quarter of the year, so as to prevent that derangement in monetary affairs which the present inequality continually occasions. Mr. F. BARING felt great satisfaction in concurring with a proposition which he must say was a very honest scheme for a Chancellor of the Exchequer. Sir J. R. Reid, Mr. P. M. Stewart, Sir J. Easthope, Mr. Williams, and other hon. members also expressed their unequivocal gratification with the propositions. A resoluti )n in support of the plan of the Chancellor of the Exchequer was the❑ unanimously agreed to. On the motion for the house resolving itself into a committee of supply. Mr. EWART brought under the consideration of the house the present state of our commercial relations with 1.11.4 .rt.i GIR.O LV tue war now raging between the states of Buenos Ayres and Monte Video. Sir R. PEEL said he entertained a hope, from recent accounts, that peace would be shortly restored in that quarter. The contest was one rather of factions than of states, and if the British resident and British naval commander had exceeded their instructions, it must have been from disgust at the sanguinary nature of the war carried on there, which they were naturally anxious to see brought to a close. The house then went into committee, and proceeded with the army estimates, which were all disposed of, as were also the ordnance estimates, after which the house adjourned. FOREIGN 4• COLONIAL INTELLIGENCE. - INDIA AND CHINA. (From the Times.) The news from India is of the following dates :—China, Dec. 28 Gwalior, Jan. 30 • and Bombay, Feb. 1. The Hon. East India dompany's steamer Cleopatra arrived at Suez on the 19th Jan., with sixty passengers. On the 28th and 29th of December two severe battles were fought in the vicinity of the capital of Gwalior • one of IVlaharajpoor, the oth er o f P unn i ar , i n w hi c h our forces proved victorious. The British army, under the Commander-in-Chief, was about 14,000 strong, of which 300 were cavalry, and 40 pieces of artillery. The forces opposed to them were composed of 15,000 infantry, 3,000 cavalry, and 100 guns. Our loss on these occasions has been very severe, the list amounting to 144 killed and 866 wounded. Nine British officers have fallen in action or died of their wounds, — viz., General Churchill, Colonel Sanders, Major Crom melin, Captains Stewart, Magrath, and Cobban, Lieu tenants Newton and Leaths, and Ensign Bray. On the part of the enemy the c asua lties are estimated at 3,000 to 4,000 killed, and twice as many wounded. The fort of Gwalior was immediately after surrendered to our troops, and the leading chiefs at once tendered submission. Our army retires within the Company's territories immedi ately, and we are not to occupy that country, nor in any way to intermeddle with its internal arrangements. During the action his Excellency the Governor, Lady Gough, and her daughter, were frequently at the side of the Commander-in-Chief, exposed to great danger. The Governor-General was expected to start for Cal cutta on the 23d. India is in general peaceful ; the troops at Sukkur are rapidly recovering. The Commander-in-Chief has appointed Major-Gene ral Valiant to act as Quartermaster-General of her Ma jesty's forces, vice Churchill, deceased, until her Majes ty's pleasure be known. Affairs in the Punjaub are by no means settled, and it was reported that the Affghauns had taken possession of Peshawur. In Scinde matters are much the same. Our troops are recovering a little from their sickness. Our lasi dates from China are up to the 28th of Dec. Business at Chusan and Canton is generally dull. Capt. Brooke proceeds by this day's steamer to England, as the bearer of the supplementary treaty and despatches from Sir Henry Pottinger. The port of Shanghaye was officially opened on the 17th of November, by Captain Balfour, the appointed Consal. Colonel Butterworth, Governor of the Straits of Malacca, arrived at Penang on the 21st of November. We regret to state that some cases of plague are re ported in Alexandria. GENERAL GREY'S BATTLE DESPATCH DATED DE CEMBER 30TH.—I have the satisfaction to report to your excellency, th a t t h e l e f t w i ng of the army of Gwa lior, under my command, yesterday obtained a complete' victory over a large force of the Gwalior troops, under the command of Colonel Secunder, consisting of about 12,000 men of all arms, and captured all their guns, 24 in number, one standard, all their ammunition, and some treasure, &c. Agreeably to your excellency's orders I marched from Simmereca on the 2611 instant, and encamped at Burka ka-Serai. I had information of the Gwalior troops being in position at Antree, seven miles in front of my camp, and in their intention of making a night attack. O n th e 29th (yesterday) I made one march to this place, 15 miles, being desirous of getting through the narrow valley fr om Himmutghur to Punniar. The enemy (as it afterwards appeared) marched from the Antree Pass early on the morning of yesterday by a parallel movement, with the left wing concealed behind a lofty and extensive range of hills, some miles distant on our right, and took up a strong position on the heights in the immediate vicinity of the f o rtifi e d v ill age o f M an gore, near Punniar, and commenced firing on my immense line of baggage. I immediately detached all the cavalry I could spare under Brigadier Harriott, and an addition of a troop of horse artillery under Captai n B r i n d, w hich, on approaching the baggage on the o th er s id e o f th e town of Punniar, took up a position, and returned the fire of the enemy with much precision and effect. Every attempt was made by Brigadier Marriott to attack the enemy, but, from the ground being intersected by ravines, this ab l e officer was prevented from hrinjog the cavalry into action, and proceeded with them to the rear-guard, having I) , s.en under a smart cannonade. 9b urt tour o'clock p. 111., Ole t.pliqpy was ob s er% rd 1..“ have I,kett up a very strong position'on a chain of high four miles to the east of our camp. I decided immediately to attack him, and detached her Majesty's 3rd Buffs, and a company of sappers and miners to take up a position on an opposite ridge, followed afterwards to the right by the 39th Regi ment Native Infantry, consisting of five companies, until I could bring up the force, amounting to two thousand and seven men and then make an attack upon theenemy's flank and centre, and drive him from the strong position he occupied • owing to the lateness of the day, it was some time before Icould support the force I had detached. The Buffs and Sappers attacked the enemy's centre, exposed to a galling fire from their guns, but most gallantly carried every position before them, drove the enemy from bight to hight, and captured eleven of its guns and the s.andard. I cannot sufficiently express how much indebted I feel to Lieutenant. Colonel Clunie, who commanded the Buffs, for the gallant and judicious manner he took his regiment into action, and overcame all obstacles. The wing of the 39th Native Infantry, with Brigadier Yates, was conduc ted to the crest of a hill commanding the enemy's left, and after pouring in a destructive fire, rushed down on him and on approaching the nullah below was exposed to a heavy fire from two guns which they captured. Briga dier Yates, and Major Earle, commanded the 39th Native Infantry, — were both wounded at this place, end I have to thank them for the manner in which the battery was carried. The 2nd Infantry Brigade, under the command of acting Brigadier Anderson, K.l - I „ Her Majesty's 50th Regiment, arrived in time to nut a finish to the action, and formed on the crest of the hill, and by a most gallant and judicious movement attacked the enemy's left and completely defeated him, taking the remainner of his guns. Although attended by severe loss, these victories have not been surpassei in brilliancy by any achievement of the Anglo-Indian army. A thousand of the British troops were placed hors de combat, but comparatively few were killed, none more, it is believd, than 150. The ene my is said to have Ipst in both affairs upwards of 4000 men. Nine officers have been killed or died of their wounds, namely Major-General Churchill, Colonel San ders, Eajor Crommelin, Captains Stewart, Magrath, and Cobban ; Lieutenants Newton and Leaths ; Ensign Bray. The loss of the enemy is estimated at between 3000 and 4000 killed and wounded, with the loss of 56 pieces of ar tillery. The army under the Commander-in-chief was about 4,000 strong, of which 3,000 were cavalry, and 40 pieces of artillery. The force opposed to this-15,000 infantry, 300 cavalry, and 100 guns. The wing under Gen. Grey, including the Sippree Contingent, 7,000 strong , including 1,800 caalry and 18 guns ; the Mahrat tas mustered about 12,000, with from 20 to 3C guns. The fort was immediately surrendered, and the chiefs came in and made submission. It is not our intention to occupy the country, but we insist upon the mainte nance of a subsidiary force consisting of seven regiments of infantry. These to be taken charge of by the Com pany's officers solely, and under our own control. The army retires to within its own territories immediately. Lord Ellenborough was to start for Calcutta on the 23rd of January. His lordship was in the heat of the action at Maharajpoor on the 29th. The troops recover but slowly from their late sickness. The Punjaub remains in the same state as formerly. We have news from China to the 28th December, but there is nothing worth no ticing. G;alior, the fort taken by our troops, is, from its strength, called the Gibraltar of the Fast. It covers the top of a hill nearly two miles long, but narrow • the sides are very precipitous,' a n d th e hi g h es t p ar t, whic h is at the north end, is 342 feet above the surrounding plain. The rampart conforms to the brow of the hill all round, and the area within is full of buildings, reservoirs of water, wells, and cultivated land. At the foot of the mountain, on the east side, is the town, which is large and well built. It is 68 miles south by east of Agra. The British took it by a nocturnal escalade in 1780. This description will account for the severe loss de scribed in the despatch. THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. WEST INDIES. Papers have been received by the Forth steamer to the following dates :—Jamaica, the 9th of February ; Barba does, the 4th ; Demerara, the 3rd ; and Trinidad, the Ist. This vessel brings 1,116,000 dollars, having the Mexican mail on board, but the principal of this sum is supposed to be on mining account, though it is said 75,000 dollars are consigned to the Mexican agency as remittances towards the dividend due in April next. The Jamaica Despatch of the latest date thus refers to matters in that island : "There is little alteration in the political horizon of our island since the transmission of our mails per last packet. Our legislative body, as well as the grand court, have re sumed their deliberations in Spanish Town ; and we expect both the legislature and the executive branches of the go vernment will take an early opportunity of contradicting some of the misrepresentations of the British press rela tive to their opinions on the necessity of an accession of free labourers for this colony. Bishop Spencer has been duly installed, and the church of St. Jago de la Vega created a cathedral. Religious instruction and general education are progressing rapidly, and everything but the panacea for all our evils—increased cultivation—is pro ceeding harmoniously. The weather is still dry and disa greeable, and the prevailing north breezes have caused some sickness. We have, however, escaped the alarming shocks of earthquake felt at Grenada, Barbadoes, and other of the neighbouring islands." Private investigation connected with the late robbery at the Jamaica Bank is alluded to as tending to a discovery of the culprit. Her Majesty's schooner Pickle bad arrived from Port Royal, with specie for the troops, and was about to proceed to the coast of Cuba. According to the Demerara papers, the weather, not ;to kJ^o vriagaiG un favourable for agricultural operations. At the meeting of the British Guiana Bank a dividend of 2 per cent. for .&he half year had been declared. The business of the establishment appears to have improved under a vigorous inquiry adopted by a competent committee called in by the directors to satisfy the public of the stability of the establishment. By the revised management discounts had increased, cash credits were prudently reduced, a considerable sum on protested bills had been recovered, and what seems to have crowned the success of the year's operations was the satisfactory statement that there was not in all the accounts a single dishonoured obligation. Mercantile affairs showed symptoms of increased confi dence, and though the improvement was slow, there was every hope that the steadiness observed would not readily again relapse into the depression from which they were now recovering. A slight shock of an earthquake was felt in Demerara on the 19th of January. Bank exchange is quoted 475 dollars per £lOO at .90 days, and private bills ruled 470 dollars per £lOO at the same date. The Barbadoes accounts give very little interesting news. The weather continued changeable, and few of the overdue vessels from England had arrived. At the latest dates appearances indicated either heavy rains or a thunder storm. From Trinidad, Dominica, and Antigua scarcely a fact comes worthy of record. The arrival of the outward mail had, indeed, supplied the conductors of the several papers with a mass of interesting news from England, of which they readily availed themselves. Sir H. M`Leod, the Governor of Trinidad, had been assaulted while riding out in his carriage, by a drunken black, who, how ever, apparently, was unacquainted with the party he had abused, and hence the attendance of his Excellency to ask redress of his grievances at the hands of the local ma gistrates had created much surprise among the negro population, when they found that punishment could not be inflicted by the Governor, even when his own person was concerned, without an appeal first made to a court of justice. At Martinique a severe shock of an earthquake had been experienced, but, fortunately, no damage fol lowed. AMERICAN STATES' DEBTS. The remarks of the Rev. Sidney Smith on the conduct of the United States towards the holders of State Bonds, and other signs of the States' indebtedness, have produced, it would seem, a salutary effect upon the minds of the American people, who are about to make an effort to wipe away the disgrace that now attaches to the union, in con sequence of repudiation. It appears, from accounts re ceived from New York, that the legislature of Pennsyl vania has at last made a move in relation, to their State Debt. The house has taken up the subject in earnest, and passed a bill providing for the February interest. This bill contemplates to pay cash for the interest when the amount does not exceed twenty dollars, and the issue of Six per Cent. Certificates, for all larger sums, payable in August, 1846. The bill requires the applicant to make affidavit setting forth that the stock is the bona fide pro perty of the person in whose name it stands, and that he is not the owner of other certificates, and has not divided his stock for the purpose of receiving such payment. The several States have lately made moves regarding their debts that must be very gratifying to those particularly interested. New York has taken an important step in this matter. A resolution passed the House of Assembly, by a vote of 61 to 46, to stop all appropriation of public works, or any other system of internal improvement, until the debt of the state was liquidated or reduced. The legisla ture of Alama has passed, and the governor approved, a bill increasing taxation , by placing a tax on property here tofore free. Goods sold by auction, all kinds of commis sion businesses, insurances, all lands, foreign and domestic inerchandize, money whether employed in usury or other ways, also all cotton warehouses, which are charged with a fractional rate of half a cent on each bale stored, are made to contribute a quota of this taxation. This bill creating taxes, added to the act of February last year, will create an annual revenue of 350,000 dollars. The legislature of Ohio have in contemplation a bill creating additional revenue from direct taxation. The committee of ways and means in the assembly of Michigan have re ported a bill recommending the sale of the public works for State Bonds. The indebtedness of the State on the Ist of July, 1845, on account of the five million loan, would be 3,131,903 dollars. The value of the Central and Southern Railroad is estimated to be 2,776,297 dollars, which would leave a balance of 355,607 dollars to be pro vided for by the State in some other way. The income from these internal improvements may, in time, be more than sufficient to pay the annual interest on the whole debt, but the committee, considering that result proble matical, advise a bona fide sale of the interest of the State in the works. The legislature of Tennessee have also made a movement which may be considered highly fa vourable to the improvement of its state securities. With regard to Louisiana nothing very decisive can be reckoned on ; but the legislature of Indiana has adjourned without doing anything towards the liquidation of the State debt. They plead poverty, and there is truth in the plea. Maryland has made no decisive move yet. THE VETERINARY PROFESSION.—HeT Majesty has granted to the Professors of the Veterinary Art, a char ter of incorporation, by which they are recognised as a rrofes,ion as well as a body politic. This is an important Ftrp gAned, and opens bright rrospeets for vetetio 21 - y science, skilful practice in which is more demanded in England than in ony other country. IRE LAND. REPEAL ASSOCIATION.—Th 9 only business at the meeting of this association on Monday, was the reading of a letter from O'Connell, in which he accounted for his absence from Ireland by the public dinner to be given to him in London this day (Tuesday). The repeal rent was £495 4s. Od. MURDER.—A private of the 66th regiment, named John Cordery, murdered the scrjeant of the regiment, on Thursday week in the most cold blooded manner, by shooting him through the body. The regiment is sta tioned at Belfast, and it is believed the murderer was ex cited to the deed through fear of having a delinquency, of which he had been guilty, reported. FIVE MEN DROWNED.—On the morning of yesterday week, during the continuance of the storm, five fishermen from Clogher were lost. They had proceeded to sea on the previous evening, and were overtaken by the gale. The boat in which the unfortunate men were in, was found drifting about the Nanny Water. By this melancholy oc currence sixteen children were left fatherless, and unpro vided for.—Drogheda Journal. DESTRUCTION OF SHEEP.—There has been a great destruction of sheep for miles round our town, for some weeks past, by dogs which are permitted to prowl about the country. On Saturday night last, eight sheep, the property of Baron Pennefather, were destroyed at Knockeevon, and many farmers in the neighbourhood suffered a similar loss. It appears this destruction of pro perty was caused by the parish priest's dog, which was traced to his house and killed, much against the will of its owner. In other localities numbers of sheep have been destroyed by dogs, which should be properly secured by their owners, and this loss of property prevented.— Tipperary Constitution. ATHLONE ELECTION PETITION.—OD Tuesday last, the Committee of the House of Commons selected to try the merits of the petition against the return of Mr. Col lett, as member for Athlone, were sworn at the table of the House, and on Wednesday they commenced their in quiry. The committee consisted of Mr. J. S. Pakington, Mr. Wm. Beckett, Mr. W. 0. Stanley, Mr. H. G. Ward, Mr. W. Cripps, Mr. R. Currie, and Mr. Lock nart. On Thursday, two Irish witnesses were examined, who negatived the facts they had been called to prove ; and in consequence the petitioners' Counsel withdrew the petition. Mr. Collett was accordingly declared elected. EXTRAORDINARY TRIAL FOR RIBTIONISI4,—.A re markable case arising out of this nefarious conspiracy was tried at the Meath assizes last week. A man named Lynch was indicted for ribbonism, the principal witness being an informer. who for three years acted as parishmaster and paymaster of the association. If there is any credit to he placed on the evidence of this miscreant, the horrible re velations disclosed are of a nature calculated to arouse the worst feelings of any man who may, even inadvertently, render himself obnoxious to this system of Irish Thuggism. In the course of his direct examination " Paymaster" Blake (the informer) swore " that he had often issued money for assassinations !" and on his re-examination by Chief-Justice Doherty he affirmed, "that any person joining the association can complain of such as are ob noxious to him, or supposed to be tyrannical, and can have them either ill-treated, beaten, or murdered I" The jury were discharged without agreeing to a verdict; but 11, it is stated, were for finding the prisoner guilty.—Standard. THE VICEREGAL GENERAL GAOL DELIVERER: The following timely observations appear in the Cork Consti tution of Saturday When Lord Normandy lately, in allusion to his gaol deliveries, stated that few of the per sons whom he discharged were ever re-committed, he exhibited a marvellous forgetfulness of facts. Why, of 16 whom he pardoned, and of 41 whose sentences he com muted in the gaol of our own city, 13 were re-committed, and of those no fewer than ten were in due time trans ported. One of the latter—Mary Lynch—was subse quently five times committed, and at last transported ; Jeremiah Twomey, alias Old Lock, was subsequently six times committed, and finally transported, while two others were twice committed. Of the whole 57 (who were liberated between January, 1835, and April, 1839,) there were at the time of their sentences being commuted or themselves discharged, 34 under sentence of transporta tion and two under sentence of death. In the county gaol, 47 prisoners experienced the benefit of vioeregal liberality. Of these 18 had been under sentence of trans portation, 11 of them for life ; but how many of them it became the duty of the Government to introduce a second or third time to the notice of the judge, or what was their ultimate destiny, we are, unfortunately, not informed. The Recorder, we observe, passed sentence of transpor tation yesterday on a fellow named Corkery. who had been some years ago similarly sentenced by one of the judges, but for whose release his worship was unable to account. The explanation, however, is easy. Corke r y was liberated by Lord Normandy, and he has since been living on the plunder of the citizens, on whom that vain and visionary Viceroy so inconsiderately let him loose. Fortunately for us we have now a Viceroy who has too much interest in the peace of the country to turn out its malefactors for the poor purpose of raising a shout or ob taining a reputation for humanity." THE CONSPIRATORS-THE MINISTRY. (From the Times of Wednesday.) When the notice was originally served on the Dublin Repealers, that they were to be prosecuted at the suit of the Crown, the first exclamation raised by them and their friends was, " Oh, that's all a joke—there can be no such intention—Ministers dare not do it." As the matter began to look a little serious, the cry was changed : "Oh, we'll take care that the trials shall last these six months, for thousands of witnesses are to be subpoened from among , the millions who have attended th e mons t er 4 . meetings. " Ne=t, theirat-were to be healed for evasion and delay an entire furnace full of irons, of the most novel and ingenious manufacture. The indictment was irregular—the panel was to be quashed—the trials were to commence de novo—another whole year was to be con sumed—and, as the grand move of all, the catholics of both countries were to rise as one man, to resist their "infamous exclusion" from the jury-box, and to avenge their insulted honour. These threats failing, and after the trials did actua ly commence, objections and complaints were multiplied; the stream of abuse and violence ran the stronger the more the ground was narrowed. The witnesses of the crown could not be contradicted ; on the side of the prisoners, therefore, none were called ; speeches were delivered, long, loud, and manifold ; the jury were charged and the culprits were found guilty. Then came a new and strange phenomenon. Men con• victed by law took their seats as convicts among the legis lators of the land : they made speeches inculpatory of the proceedings under which they had been found guilty. Ever since, they have, most of them been daily going back to Ireland, calling round them fresh assemblages of un cured repealers, and by a series of inflammatory boasts or murmurs inciting them to a renewal of those disorders for which their own approaching sentence now bangs over their heads. To show how little has even yet been done in the way of moral medicine for this popular delusion and insanity, the disaffected press is, at this moment, as wild in its ex travagancies as at any former period. Actually, late as is the hour, we find the same course of unseemly swagger, and foolish as well as fruitless bullying, resorted to that was practised by O'Connell while he was still unprose cuted, and when he cried out, " I dare the government to go to law with me." They did go to law, however. The like attempts at intimidation were practised upon the jury, who were first told, that " no jury could venture to find a verdict of guilty." But a verdict of guilty was found ; and now the song is, the " Crown will not dare to execute judgment on the traversers." Now, setting aside the good taste, and comeliness of such rhodomontade, is it not most absurd for men to threaten those who have, figuratively speaking, the rope about their necks? For where is the common sense of all this immodest violence? The parties to it must have seen that the Government and the Parliament were little affected by it at an earlier stage of those proceedings ; that when the agitation was apparently most flourishing it was censured in Parliament, denounced from the Throne, proclaimed against, prosecuted, convicted—and all in spite of the bitterest execrations, the fiercest menaces, and the most arrogant scorn._ _ _ They sh - ould not, therefore, holloa while yet in the very thick of the forest. The penal laws of this country are not framed in a spirit of gratuitous hatred or revenge. Nothing so inhuman as mere vindictiveness could have actuated the Queen's mi nisters in commanding these prosocutions ; nothing like personal hostility to O'Connell can be supposed to mingle with their motives in calling for judgmert, any more than it did in determining the jury to bring in their verdict, or than it will govern the Judge in pronouncing sentence or the prisoners. Were the ministers in any case to have betrayed such a disgraceful sentiment, public opinion would on the instant have condemned and deserted them ; but the appeal to law was a solemn and long-neglected duty, reluctantly and too slowly performed—aheavy debt to public justice, to the safety of the state, to the peace and order of society. There was universal distrust throughout the nation—a confidence rather in the agitators of the realm than in its protectors —an extreme dread of disturbance, insurrection, convulsion, and dismemberment of the empire. What were individual sympathies or anti pathies weighed against such considerations? Well, but could anything have been so ruinous as the slightest mani festation of alarm, or weakness, on the part of the Queen's ministers? Their delay to prosecute was full of danger ; their shrinking from any feasibl e means o f success i n teir prosecution would have been fraught with still more se rious evil; but what would all such qualms have been, compared with a pusillanimous hesitation to punish such persevering and incorrigible malpractices, made unques tionable in the eye of the whole world, after years of dis graceful impunity ? No—this unwise imitation of Lord Normanby—this abuse of mercy, will not answer, if the Queen's govern ment do not mean to publish a reward for systematic contempt of the laws, disloyalty to the Monarch, and outrage to the peace of the community. What thanks, besides, would be gained, or what particle of credit for an exercise of mock lenity in such an instance? Why, the accomplices of the disclosed conspiracy have already con strued the matter by anticipation. They have r told yon that you dare not punish. If you fail to execute the sen tence, th y will have made good their accusation, and will boast that you spared by virtue of your own terrors, not from regard to what the criminals might suffer. We lull Ministers, if they fear to carry into effect that sentence, whatever it mcy be, wh'ch the judges shall have promul gated, they may as will prJelairo at once to all her Ma jesty's subjects, that "in Ireland," es Lord Wellesty said, it is " less dangerous to di fv the laws than to en force them." hate asked what feeling of Rratirinle will rerprite snob a timorous misapplication of the prerogative of mercy? and we answer our own question, by reterring to a legislative, not a judicial act--namely, the relief bill of 1829. There it was not charged upon government before hand, that it would not dare to refuse emancipation ; but it was broadly (and we always thought inconsideratel3 for a statesman so practical) acknowledged by the illustrious Duke of Wellington, himself the emancipatory minister, that if he had any longer withheld it, Ireland would have been in rebellion. It has served for a text to all agitators and sedition brewers, from that hour to this, to encourage each other, and their followers, in a conrse of incessant and harrassing turbulence—as thus:—" It was we, the Irish, that extorted emancipation, oy our own bravery and vigour—we owe nothing for it to the people of Eng land, who opposed it to the last; and we owe as little to the tory ministers, who in their very speeches confessed the truth—did homage to our resistless power, and pub lished to mankind, that it was from dread, not free will they unfettered us." , IRISH CHURCH. (Prom the Dublin Evening Mail-) When Mr. Sheil asserted in the House of Commons that " the Protestant church has made no way in two centuries in Ireland, while Popery is every day, and in every way, upon the advance," he either dishonestly sta ted that which he knew not to be correct, or he must have been culpably ignorant of the history of his own country, and of those events upon which he undertook to enlighten a British parliament. The Protestant religion, said the orator, has in two centuries made no way in Ire land. There are at this moment TWO MILLIONS OF PROTES TANTS in Ireland. Let this fact never be lost sight of or forgotten. The Protestants are TWO MILLIONS. The Roman Ca tholic‘ six. Where did the former come from ? How were they made ? From whom did they separate ? Why did they conform ? In the year of our Lord 1515, there were, according to an ancient roll from which we quote, and which, as a record, is admitted as unquestioned authority, SIXTY FIVE principal chiefs or heads of septs in Ireland. [The Dublin Mail then gives the names of the chiefs, and the provinces in which they are classed.] Now, Mr. Sheil—and more than Mr. Sheil—the whole nation will be astonished to learn that, of those sixty-five chieftains, with their direct and collateral branches— their connexions or followers—the descendants are all, with three exceptions, conformists to the Protestant faith—making, of course, allowances for a few families in which the religion is mixed amongst the minor and subor dinate branches; but we affirm, and without the fear of contradiction, which we court and challenge, that of the sixty-five Irish chieftains above named, the heads of only three have continued, or are now, professors of the Ro mish religion, without any admixture of Protestantism— namely : In Ulster—The Great O'Neil, of Tyroden. In Connaught—The O'Conor Don. The Mac Dermot (O'Gara of Coolavin. In Leinster, Munster, and Meath—Not one. So that the case stands thus : Of the representatives of the ancient Irish chieftains there are— Conformed (The descendants being either wholly Protestant or mixed.) Extinct...... •• • .• • O Roman Catholics 3 Total number . But those who charge the religion, as established by law in Ireland in connexion with the State, as having failed in its missionary character, will find that the con struction and erection of Protestant places of worship, and the ordination and increase of ministers of the re formed faith, kept pace with the spread of the religion itself, and was commensurate with the wants and require ments of those who departed from the superstitions of Popery, and came within the fold of the pure and re formed system of gospel truth, as preached by the Apostles. After the accession of the House of Hanover to the British throne, and during the reign of George the First, the number of Protestant clergy in each diocese in Ire land amounted to TWENTY-FOUR ! In 1726—The glebe-houses throughout the whole king dom reckoned but 141. In 1800—Nearly a century after, they had only increased to 295. In 1820—There were 768 glebe-houses, showing an in crease of 473 in the space of twenty years. In 1829—There were 250 glebe .houses in addition, pro ving the immense increase in the number of resident working clergy ' • and, in the same period, there were erected, or were in progress of erection, nearly 200 churches for the ac commodation of multiplying congregations. In 1806—The resident clergy reckoned ... 693 The Curates 560 In 1830—The resident clergy were (nearly double) . 1200 And the Curates increased to 750 And this, be it remembered when the lives of the Protes tant clergy was perilled by the knife of the murderous as sassin, or the gun of the. midnight murderer ; and when he himself deprived of his lawful income by the fiendish confederacy in operation against him, went through the duties of his ministry along paths beset with danger, with none of the accompaniments pertaining to, and with scarcely clothing necessary for a gentleman—surrounded with pecuniary difficulties, and tormented by pressing creditors ; his life not insurable at any risk, or payment of any premium or by any company, so imminent was the peril in which he existed , and so precarious the tenure by which his life was held ; every comfort in which he had been reared abandoned—every elegance to which he had been accustomed yielded up—the education of his chil dren suspended—the means for its accomplishment hav ing ceased—his wife and his family literally wanting bread—and while the hard-working Protestant clergyman shrunk not from these dangers, and endured all these pri• vations for " conscience sake," the self-indulging parish priest and his illiterate coadjutor, in the security of un bolted doors and unbarred windows—free from danger, were indulging enjoyments which vulgar tastes and sen sual habits might suggest. Yet these are the two churches of which Mr. SHELL has asserted that the one (his own) " had struck its roots profoundly and widely in the belief and the affections of the people—growing beneath the axe, and opening in the blast—while the Protestant religion, although preserved is a magnificent conservatory, at prodigious cost, pined like a sickly exotic, to which no natural vitality could be imparted, and every expedient to force it into freshness or warm it into bloom had been essayed in vain." LAW INTELLIGENCE. On Monday last, Mr. Holt, one of the proprietors of the Age newspaper was tried and found guilty of having published a libel which imputed to Lord William Paget, that he had planted Winter, the witness on a late trial, under the sofa of his house, in pursuance of a vile and art ful scheme to extort money from Lord Cardigan. The de fendant was brought up in custody from the Queen's Prison, where he is confined for a libel on the Duke of Brunswick. IMPORTANT TO THE HOLDERS OF DISHONOURED BILLS.—In the Manchester District Court of Bankruptcy, on Saturday week, Mr. Commissioner Jemmett delivered an elaborate judgment in the bankruptcy case of Messrs- J. and J. Potter, to the effect that the owners of disho. noured bills of exchange were not obliged to give notice of the nonpayment to the assignees of a bankrupt drawer, acceptor, or endorser, but notice must be given to the parties to the bill, according to the custom of merchants. LORD CAMPBELL'S LAW OF LIBEL BILL.—The fol lowing is a sketch of the brief bill introduced into the House of Lords by Lord Campbell. The bill is entitled, " A bill to permit evidence of the truth of facts on the trial of public prosecutions for libel, or seditious words." The preamble sets forth, as the motive o f the bill, that " it is expedient that all cases of prosecution by informa tion or indictment by her Majesty's Attorney-General, or on behalf of the crown, for making or publishing any libel, or speaking any seditious words, which libel or words state facts alleged by the said information or in dictment to be false, the defendant should be permitted, on such notice as hereinafter mentioned, to give evidence, on the trial of such information or indictment, of the truth of such facts." The sole clause of this bill enacts that in all cases of prosecution on behalf of the crown for libel, &c. and that it may be lawful on behalf of the prosecution to give evidence on their falsity, &c. The bill has been read a second time, and referred to a com mittee. RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE. It is said that Mr. Robert Stevenson and Mr. Bidder, both of whom were most strongly prejudiced against the atmospheric principle for railways, have been conducting a series of experiments tit Kingstown, which have com• pletely altered their previous opinions. DUBLIN AND CASHEL RAILWAY.—The railroad from Dublin to Cashel will be commenced in the next summer, and will be completed in two years. The share list is filling rapidly in Dublin, 7,500 shares being already taken. The grand jury of Clare took up the subject very warmly, and on Friday some hundred shares *ere taken in Ennis. —Limerick Chronicle. A dividend of four-and-a-half per cent. has been declared for the half•year on the shares of the Sheffield and Rotherham Company, the balance of profits divisible among the shareholders having been £3,194 6s. 7d., the receipts having amounted to £8,938 13s. 9d., and the expenditure to £5,241 7s. 2d. BOLTON AND LEIGH RAILWAY COMPANY. —OD Sa turday ,Eltaieesd,lqad). stead of ,e?aositeflvi resigned for the purpose was of consi dering and sanctioning the arrangements which had been made . for carrying into dffect an amalgamation of this railway with the Liverpool and Manc e h .B es o t oT e t r hhe C fia o n, m ,de pany. The chair was occupied by Dr. Brandreth, and, after a brief discussion, the amalgamation of the line with the presid,d and Mr. Liverpool and Manchester Company was sanctioned. CHESTER AND BIRKENHEAD RAILWAY.—The pro prietors met at the Clarendon-rooms, stipnofFrid.ay, for the purpose of nominating ts?hisnatd,e dmregor:::tgliEnttleideldewmcaethrinltalasittr,oloti‘iffialburec. (William cto rs in the r. x.—William Jackson , q., supply the a brief discussion, the dneetors proposed Mr a d Lm. Dixon, r w aft h e resigned. r tts"l e hi : C eert d o 'e'B r i()lr s ;e: i cr i 'tt i 'io' f ttir u ri:v wbov) t te u i r ' e ts :v e la ni i n e :i t :s i t:a t f o ' ewee number ("'i that d )sequentiy determined those vkh re i- Ti r an d s March 12, 1844. UNIVERSITY AAD CLERICAL NEO. ORDINATION AT CHESTER.—On Sunday, Bishop held an ordination, when t h e foll l owing . wer ° w ird • ay, the mitred into holy orders : Black, 8.A., Worcester College, Oxford ; Frederick Adolphus La Trob•,s. roster, 8.A., Oriel; Henry Queen's; Jones, 8.A., ?.nd Robert Scarr Redfern. 8.A., Ed.7,ard Royds, 8.A., King's Hall and Brasennose_; Edward Tomlinson, 8.A., Trinity ; Alfred Gott Wool ward, 8.A., Magdalen; Edward Walker, 8.A., Pe el : broke, William Chawner, B.A. St. John's, Cambridge: — .Deacons :—Robert CorPe.r Samuel John Lyon, 8.A., and Thomas Troughton , Trinity; James Richard Whyte, 8.A., Downing Bateson, B.A. Charles Richard Huson, 8.A., Thom as I:eland, 8.A., and James Richardson 8.A.., Trini t y , Dublin ; Hugh Tho mas Down man , St. David's, La re ,P l e e i ter ; Henry Thomas Fl e tcher, Willi am Robert P a ' Wandby, and Thomas Wilson, St. Bees. Priest: ; Charles Rede Clifton, B.A. Merton College, Oxford., Robert Fletcher, 8.A.. and William Rishton Garnett, 8.A.. Brasennose ; William Thomas Redfern, Hall ; John Higg, M.A., New Inn Hall ; Jonathan Appleton, 8.A., Thomas Massey, B.A. Philip Thong: son, B.A. and William Shackleton, 'B.A. Cathernw Hall, Cambridge; t William Ashforth Cartledge, 13 • L A ,,: r St. John's; John Palmer Firm in, 8.A., and JohnPeeilw" ton Power, 8.A., Queen's ; William Clayton Gree,n. a er 8.A., and Charles John Graham Jones, 8.A., C iej " Hall; Charles Babington Jeaffreson, 8.A., Pembroke; Samuel Gideon Frederic Perry, Trinity : James Dillon Raven, 8.A., St. Mary Magdalen ; John Bowman Ti.arri ner, 8.A., Caius ; Patrick Reynolds, 8.A., Rm ue Francis Jones Shea, M.A., and Gustavus Adolphne George Warner, 8.A., Trinity, Dublin ; Jonathan &lit! William Hughes, William Henry Jones, John Dong'" Lateward, and Thomas Sabine, St. Bees. OXFORD, March s.—The election for the Vineria ll Scholarship took place this day, when the numbers wer e —for Mr. Burrows, of Wadham, 164 ; for Mr. Bathurst, of New College, 114 ; for Mr. Lingen, of Balliol, 95. OXFORD, March 7.—ln a congregation held this day" the following degrees were conferred : Masters of Arls.—Jens Pell, Exeter College, Grand Compounder; the hon. Edward Frederick Leveson Gower' • Christchurch ; Henry King, Scholar of Wadham • Re v ' George Pretyman, New Inn-ball ; Augustus V; T illi ael Ward, New Inn-hall. Bachelor of Art.—Francis Alexander Dawson, Ne i! Inn-hall. Mr. H. Worsley, of Exeter College, was this day elected a Michel Scholar of Queen's. Magdalen CAMBRIDGE, MARCH B.—At a congregation just held, the following degrees were conferred :—Masters of Art s ; • —Robert William Es s i ng t on , Ki ng ' s C o ll ege; R ow lan d Wilriams, Kin g ' s C o ll ege; an d Wi lliam Burdett, Queen': College. Bachelors of Arts.—Willia m A ger , St. John'' College ; Robert Wallis Belt, Emmanuel College • John Potter Jones, St. Catha r i ne ' s H a ll ; Thomas 'Clarke Onion, St. Catharine's Hall ; and Henry Mann, Trinity College. Ad Eundem.—Rev. Thomas Drew, D.D' , Trinity College, Dublin. MARISCHAL COLLEGE.—ELECTION OF LORD REC' TOR.—At the annual meeting of students held yesterday , for the election of the Lord Rector of Marischal College and University, the votes were equally divided between the Marquis of Breadalbane and the Marquis of Bute. The result is, there can be no rector this year.—Aberdeett Herald. TRACTARIANISM. Sir,—Being anxious to see and judge for myself as.te the proceedings in the churches under Tractarian 1 0 fluence, I went last Sunday to Margaret street ChaPe" London. It was the afternoon service that I attended, and I wall there nearly half an hour before the time. I could not help being struck with the prominent and imposing asPen t of the communion-table. It s e l eva ti on , t h e l arge cross . in basso-relievo, the gorgeous display of candlesticks, an embossed books, and sacramental service. I could 0 9" have a doubt but that there was a significant meaning is all this, and that it is intended to have a devotional in' fluence on the worshippers. And I am much mistaken if that prominent cross is not used as a help to devotion. The curate, Mr. Richards, came in early ; and after staying a few minutes in the vestry, went into a pew, i ll front of the communion-table. He was engaged in Vl' vate prayer, on his knees for ten or fifteen minutest during which he more than once lifted up his bead front under his hands, and looked earnestly for a minute or two towards the table, and then renewed his devotions. saw others do the same. Of course I cannot say positively what liras the fact, but certainly the impression was fully made on my mind that the cross was gazed upon as a help to devotion. Then for the reading-desk. I have no wish to quarrel with its abandonment, on the contrary, I felt thankful for the hint that was immediately suggested of the advantage of so simple a contrivance, especially in small churche! , where there is often a difficulty in arranging the pulpit and reading-desk ; a n d l a t once saw the expediency 01 , such an arrangement in a new church with which I have at present to do myself. But then the position of the i desk, at right a ng l es t o th e pu l p i t, and not fac i ng co congregation, the use of it only for the lessons, the entlse turning from it during the prayers, with the clergyman 6 face to the table; and during the psalms the turning of the minister's body round from the desk t o th e eas t, with solemn bows during the Glo r i a P a t r i every t i me of it° repetition ! What impression would all this make? And would that 1 could end my account of Mr. OakleY.' chapel here ; but in a sermon on Christ's temptation , In which there was an absence of everything that was calcu lated to cheer and encourage, and succour those that are tempted it was expressly stated, twice over, that peaan% and fasting were to expiate sin. Th e f anc if u l idea i started, that Christ fasted on the ba rren , c h eer l ess deser t ' and there submitted to the crav i ngs o f h unger, i n circle% o_ atone for the sin of our first parents in feasting 007 d forbidden fruit in the garden ; and the inferences °l re e to me to be int en d e d to b a drawn, that we manner fast in the wild erness o f t h e L enten season, t 131" we may atone for the sins of o ur p as t li ves. _From a Letter published by the Rev. W. Carus Wilson. !EXTRAORDINARY SURGICAL OPERATION. Th e Siecle, of the 3d instant, contains the following para graph :—" Dr. Canquoin's mode of treatment has recently been applied by his colleague, Dr. Millardet, to M. Du menil, a watchmaker, Rue due Faubourg-Montmartre , No. 32, for the cure of a cyst in the palm of the hand. This gentleman has thus cured, without compromising the life of his patient, a n a il ment t h at t h e most ce l e b r ated surgeons feared to attack with the knife. The successful termination of this case demonstrates, the advantage 1 : 4 the new method in removing a foreign body from allf large joint." The mode of treatment referred to is, We believe, that of applying caustic round the base of the tu mour, and gradually eating away, as it were, its founda tions. Dr. Canquoin is celebrated for his cures in cases of cancerous affection. RENTS AND BREAD.—Practical men have calculated that from Bs. to 10s. is the utmost that the rent adds t° the price of a quarter of wheat—say 10s. take the value of the refuse of the wheat, after the flour is abstractOt and the number of pounds of bread which the flour will make ; and it will be found that the rent of land adds about one farthing to the price of a pound of bread. From this the working man may calculate what he would gain and lose by a repeal of the Corn Laws—remembering that the reduction of Is. a week from his wages would be equal to the reduction in the price of 481bs. of bread; for-neces' sity he must reckon upon a reduction of wages, if, by ail' nihilating landowners' rentals, those who are now de pendent on their rents, from being customers for the pro ducts of labour, become themselves competitors in the labour market. The working man may therefore easily calculate on which side the balance will be, if he and his family lose a shilling in wages in less time than they eat forty-eight pounds of bread. This is a calculation which. may be profitably and s a f e l y ma d e i n t h eory , b ut we wou ld not recommend its being tested by practical experiments , lest there should be no opportunity of retracing the steps/ if it should be found that they are in a wrong direction. STRANGE STORY.—The Rev. Fredk. Day, of CAW , near Ashhurne, Derbyshire, has addressed to the Editor of The Times the following account of a singular circum stance, which has just occurred in that village :--Ten days ago, a person of gentlemanly appearance and con' versation stopped at a small public-house here, being um" able to proceed further on his intended journey, frays illness. He was without any money, and unable or 0.. 0 " willing to give an y sa ti s f actory account of himself. lie was visited by the clergyman of the parish, to whom h e. , confessed that he had run away f rom h ome for a triv i al offence, and he gave up the direction of his parent, 01 order that the clergyman might acquaint her with his sot' row and desire to return home. His sickness increasing' and the fear of death prevailing, he declared, after a fe/ i days. to a lady who visited him that Isis former story was fake, and the application of a Idiot.- to the chest disclose the fact that the pretended boy was a young woman' She positizely refuses to g i ve any accoun t o f th e cause , her disguise, declaring that she will never disgrace 1; d family by the disclosure of th e i r name . Sh e i s probl e ;', hasShee Fitzherbert, Lady C 19 years of age, hair rather inclining to auburn, cortg` l a eld Courier of Saturday, ion mm aatre p le a er l: s t a e n e d t h verygood, familiarneither w t a h l tall the S c riptures. slort, ladylike tional particulars of this case names of Mrs. Fitzherbert,mfoelnlotroinnegdadtti land, and s evera l ot h ers ; and at last, shortly before he r death, she said her mother was Mrs. Newton, who reside d near Macclesfield. The latter statement, however, it may be presumed, was made with a vie w t o prevent f ur ther solicitations on that subject, or th a t h er i ntellect h a d be; come impaired,for on inquiry amongst s evera l f a milies of e ven a relative . So st u di ously had she concealed her name, that it was after war d s found that the marks on her thereth a t name does h residentot appear i n the least linen, which was of a superior quality had been carefully oditerated. She exp i red on Monday' evening about k r it edi probabilitya t neighbourhoo d, of her be o'clock. On W e d nesday a coroner's inquest was held. was stated that she arrived at Calton on Saturday fortnigh t ' and passed by t h e name, before the discovery of her 0 1 of Arthur Fitzhetbert, she had letters written to several persons of that name i n Ireland, none of which have ° e' ,l answered. She h a d a l so a letter wr i tten to a lady iri Devonshire, who she said had been kind to her; but 0 9 4 has not been answered. She passed several days infer, disguise at th e G reen M an I nn, at A s hb orne, an d a t se wards at the I saac W a l ton , at D ove d a l e, at b o th th e G places she p a id f ree ly f or w h at s h e h a d , b ut too k on ly t , shillings w i t h her toCalton Moor House. She gav e n d, the landl or d' s daughter a new octavo pr a yer book, ll tel s somely bound, which h a d th e f o ll ow i ng i nscr i pt i o n vq.', in a female hand, on one of the blank leaves, Friend, from one who wishes them the spiritual blessT o a tit January 29th, 1844.' He r p erson i s thus described , s° ) ite. 5 feet hi g h, dark gr e y e y es , d ar k h a i r , teet h v ery Too anti regular, for complexion, with slight scar unde, to lett evri ) roty. Alter the cl,covt y site stated her On d ied be twenty-two, but she appe are d rat h er o ld er . She of bronchitis."