Northern Times. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-03-30 00:00:00

TttE LATEST TELEGRAMS. FRANCE. ?Al t's, Tuesday, M arc h 29.—The Patrie states that Government has decided upon adding a fourth batallion to each of the 100th infantry regiments of the li ne. of The new batallions have to be formed out the third and sixth companies of the already batallions. The Emperor received Count uavour toda Probabl y quiy, at two o'clock p.m. The Count will t Paris to_ m orrow f or Turin. THE FRENCH FUNDS. PA RIs, Tuesday, March 29th., 11 44 a.m.—R en t es `-'"lllericed very fiat, at 68.10, and are now 68.5. 1 , 115 P.m.—Th e B ourse opened with a declining —nde neY; Rentes 67.90, being a fall of more than Per cent. since yesterday. 3R - P.m.—An i m p rovemen t h as ta k en p l ace, an d c ' 05 e at 68.10 for money, and 68.5 for account. Railway shares about the same as yesterday. F OREIGN INTELLIGENCE. FRANCE. sta ll v A ß;is , Mondy, 6 p.m.—The period of M. Cavern: l 'l 1 „"/ 1 Paris is uncertain; some believe he wi ll remain In a day or two ; others that he will appears some time longer' By all accounts he and very very well pleased, is in high spirits, N , l • l ` . confident of success in the object of his a isit, 1,. Ile has dined with the Emperor since his nl r rival A eri tete-a-tete. Not even Prince Napoleon la li t"" less M. Walewski was present. That the he t ' er should be dispensed with, no one wonders ; R 18 ale Occupant of the Hotel des Affairs Etran _eres , Q , se r i m : u‘C., but has really as little to do with any s in the question of politics as the statue of Spartacu fe at , e garden of the Tuileries. Now, if M. Cavour's e cm : i r es express contentment and joy, it is naturally like' 4l l.. ed hat the Imperial policy must be wahr repr' tu °ugh it is otherwise spoken of to all, °sect utives of foreign Powers. Perhaps, aftteie ot.fadeeneterli,se iseetntetrencoen quoted from the Piedmontese th e i ‘ e l of the Friday is true, that theeo b n- Sardinian army is re-assured warlike P a Pers a h ell e jav elista of Paris. Some _of the mo derate re ge ner a taze- I have been recommendedth use more little handleYto Kaage in speaking of Austria, and discuss the subject so as to aford as f ale forei g U a s Possible for rejoinders on the part o The G a , i tiress. ass umed cett e d e I , France protests against the right 1144i ir 8 of u s y en t ie A great Powers of interfering in the strutted Aaz e e li n T il e `lary States. ~I.lleted L 1 the engineer, at Havre, who Fond orders ~ t h e machines of the Aigle, has received sheathed t o „,, construct machinery for three frigates to e La D es "`' With iron. These frigates are to be called that letter from 4 ,tr act i on, L , Abordage, and. L'Assaut. Marseilles, of the 26th inst., states tov e ," fresh expedition has been organised for dis . - corid lug. the c,, source of the Nile.. The expedition is had; - !. by M. Miani, a Venetian, who has in -". kjair o for the last ten years. AUSTRIA. VIE li triet i rn .1 -k, March 26.—The Congress was to have aeees-3nediately, but a new difficulty, which must refuses lead to some delay, has arisen. Sardinia Will n eB t° discontinue her armaments, and Austria he r „I send a Plenipotentiary to .. the . Congress if rae aac ,' ; nu-vrsary persists in maintaining such _a -Post " t g and aggressive attitude. The Ost-Deutsehe ti ( di l ,Yesterd ay could not and utehr,atte observed that the Congress . in the midst of the clang and clash of arms , . 1 -' m- -- " i "laell Austria agreed to the proposed Con 6aere„; s 'le made disarmament on the part of f o llrs ;La t a conditio sine qua non. As a matter ono th e EraVaere will be a diplomatic correspondence be, th a l t eet ' a i n,d the end of the thing will probablyher tro o s fromSaroinia will consent to withdraw +I, Parin, P a and ik l i .e immediate frontiers of Lombardy, aecept e 'd 44. --Lodena. All the great Powers . have Ch aPell le protocol of the Congress o . f Aix-la- Such b e ; as t he basis for future negotiations ;and, th at e i-eg the case, it is by no means unlikely T he Sardi n i a Will be admitted to the Congress. t Pow.,,ll:tissian proposition is, that the Five Great Ilardiall meet in Congress, but France will to b ' fail to ur ge the be allow e d that Sardinia ought, in justice, to take part in the deliberations on Will s not of things in Italy. This Government the Con ob ject to th e a d miss i on o f Sardinia to elai ni gr e ss, but, as a matter o f course, it will Shooid"7_ same Privilege for the other Italian States. /toi ' t ae great Powers agree to meet Naples, thei rl r e ' Tuse anY, Modena, and Parma in conference, Nri r.epeentatives will have to give the pas to the th e el , ( it being expressly stipulated in an annex e e „ f le rnia Act of Congress that the pal ahre shall take precedence of the ambassadors War ~e ilve YB of the other Governments. T Cout' art Y in Austria is exceedingly annoyed that alia it: Buoi has accepted the Russian proposition, a fail u ,'t Predicts that the Congress will prove dg, -e " The evil day," says a man of high stand will„ . ai ar i e Il e 18 ° lily postponed, for concession will be c l from Austria, which she neither can nor 4.l Cili: 2; P rit France has played her game with great Whit , o ls r she will be able to complete her armaments s Nvhi e h . "Lie diplomatists are engaged in negotiation It Ls e,sallet possibly lead to a satisfactory result." ace„' v ident to me that Russia is about to balance ie;nts.,with Austria. fr og ding to telegraphic advices of the 23rd inst., 411 ece s - Tles, the King, who has just undergone a -4.41 operation, is much better. 1 The \,,, SPAIN. ' 1), % t , Z-Ladrid journals of the 24th have reached us. e reat n - fi 'enate on the previous day an incident whic ° I I . th - ' some sensation occurred. In the discussion o att ael e bill o f 2 , 0 00,000,000 reals General Callonge ,°r I) Z l ,:„s illegal, certain bills voted by the Chamber he T'iiki e 'Vs and sanctioned by the Crown ; and . s titt °II I te- ` ll his attacks in spite of repeated warning k t he P • e4.le a s contrarreysident (General de la Concha) that C r - validi ty to the standing orders to question uw n. of the acts of the Chamber and the kark, 4, General Callonge having continued his re could ‘"e President declared that the hon. member Gen er h et be allowed to speak in such a way . The 'wheel deur.- , glided that the Senate should decide 441 lir e !'" \vas to continue or not, but the President W U ; su ,,ell motion could be put, inasmuch as t d here I ller n- u 'eubt that he was violating the stan Fig 84648,1 Chamber decided that the motion bet aken into consideration. TILE CAPE MAIL, PLY. 4 ail , °tr Tli, Monday Evenine , .—The Cape Royal this Sikamer Dane, Captain Hoffman, arrived here st Ileienlll°Ning. She left Table Bay Feb.l 21; he . asu a Ca , March 3; Ascension, March 6, with t a few ,Inails• She brought an average cargo, and Aie Passengers. b eell '''e t a p e prosperity was general. Peace had ti en Illaintainecir along the frontier. A communica t hat *had; however, just been received from Natal f the f,„ ar nad broken out between Umballi, chief_ o _uptlicanutiewr tahse elice„'onda Messa tribe, and the Bacas. In an d former had lost about fifty men, and 11 ° I I th e - r) making large preparations to retaliate , Tiler - " eas • 'Plibr e w as a rumour that the citizens of the t jeu o f the the Vaal River intended the destruc t he Le c hief Mahura and the stations of M the c entres o f tirawattention those great preparations to which o b been of the world has so recently travekbY Dr. Livingstone and other missionaries_a and oarbar-rs• as hoped, however, that such Th e ° ; 11.8 aggression would be abandoned.. ably i '4llnigrafion scheme was progressing f our him-, 11 the co lony, but the complaint was 4,ll4l'.l,grants not being sent out fast enough, A large general av of u er of juveniles had recently arrived from Holland, and favourable reports were made of them from all quarters. The first turf of a railroad from Cape Town to Wellington was to be cut by the end of March or beginning of April. A company had also been formed at Atala for the construction of a railway from D'Urban, and that was likely to be finished within the year ; if so, it will be the first railroad in South Africa. Parliament was summoned for Mardi 16. The small-pox had disappeared as an epidemic from Cape Town. The shipment of horses to India Was proceeding rapidly. The Early Morn left D'Urban on February 13th, with a cargo valued at £2o,ooo—an unprecedented freight, for England. A large quantity of it was ivory. Three more Arab dhows, fitted only for the slave trade, had been 'captured and destroyed, on the Mozambique coast, by the Lyra; and Captain Oldfield had been complimented by the Judge of the Vice-Admiralty Court on his vigilance and success in repressing this odious traffic. TIIE NORTHERN TIMES, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 1859 IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS-TUESDAY. The Lord Chancellor took his seat on the woolsack at five o'clock. JURIES IN CIVIL CAUSES BILL. The second reading of the Juries in Civil Causes Bill was moved by Lord Campbell, who vindicated and explained its provisions at considerable length. It provided that in place of unanimity, as at present, the agreement of three-fourths of the jury should carry the verdict. Lord Lyndhurst reprobated the subversion of a principle which had for 500 years prevailed throughout the whole system of British jurisdiction, and opposed the bill. The Bill was supported at considerable length by Earl Granville, Lord Cranworth, and Lord Kingsdown ; and opposed by the Lord Chancellor and Lord Wensleydale. On a division, the bill was rejected by 23 to 7. The House adjourned at 20 minutes to 10. HOUSE OF COMMONS.-TUESDAY. THE GOVERNMENT REFORM BILL. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, referring to the debate on the Reform Rill, said that it was desirable that some understanding should be come to as to its close, and proposed that the debate should adjourn over that night, but that it should be brought to a termination on Thursday. The suggestion was received with manifest favour on both sides of the house. The adjourned debate on the bill was then resumed by Mr. Gladstone, who observed that the house had manifested a singular unanimity on the subject of Reform, and the differ ences as to the general question between members on both sides of the house were so slight as to offer every opportunity for its satisfactory settlement. Any one who should listen to the debate blindfolded would not have been able to distinguish from which side the various opinions came, he therefore deeply regretted that with such a prospect before them, they should still be unable to agree. The noble lord, the member for London, was the last man to propose an irregular resolution. While he could not help objecting to that resolution on the ground of prudence and convenience, he did not object on the abstract to the resolutions proposed on the second reading of the bill, yet he maintained that this was the first time when a resolution was 'proposed hav ing reference solely to certain of its portions. It was a novelty, and he thought an inconvenient novelty. No doubt it was tempting, and the present dislocated state of parties to select certain unpopular details, and to demand a vote upon them He would not conceive a practice which, if it grew, up, would be more inconvenient and dangerous. These considerations compelled him to refuse his assent to the resolution. It had been said that the resolution was a factious movw 4 _ If so, it was a very bad one, and did not look like a joint . political plot on the part of the noble lords, the members for Tiverton and London. He reprobated the attack made by the Solicitor-General on Lord John Russell, as unworthy both of himself and of the house. The duty of all was to take that course which should lead to an early and satisfactory settlement of the question. He did not see in the resolution a pros pect of strong Government, or a decided measure brought in by that Government, and he could not help perceiving that the chief supporters of the resolution agreed only on that single ground, and would afterwards pursue a separate and individual course. The present difficulty arose from the want of judgment on the part of the government, in rejecting the advice of two of the ablest of their colleagues. Had they introduced a bill in accordance with that opinion, it would have met with very general support. Still, now that the step had been taken, it was the duty of the house to see how it could get out of its embarrassment. The actual government had great oppor tunities. If any other government had been in power, there would not have been the same unanimity on reform itself. The government had a further claim from those who, like himself, had been parties to 'former disappoint ments and entanglements on the subject of Reform. It was admitted that the state of feeling which existed in the country was highly satisfactory, , but this was not owing to the way in which Reform had been treated by the legislature. He enumerated the various abortive pledges and promises made by various governments —promises broken and avoided at one time, because there was a war ; at another because there was a peace—at one time by a dissolution of the legislation ; at another by the dissolution of the ministry. Let them not add to the mis givings of the country by doing anything to interfere further with its future progress. Many of the supporters of the resolution supported it more as a mild censure than as a direct negative, but the ministry refused to receive it as a caveat, on the part of the House, lest it should be overwhelmed by the force of the govern ment in committee. This took it as a direct censure on the bill, and they refused to go on with the bill if not carried. He must take them, however, as he found them. He shared in all objections to the bill which had been made on both sides of the house. He would not be a party to disfran chisement of the borough voters, to the uniformity of the franchise, to the absence of any provision for lowering the borough franchise. This last appeared to him to be the main object of any Reform Bill, without which they might as well save their time in the discussion of the subject. But the bill had one merit, to which sufficient credit had not been given. He fully approved its proposition for the re distribution of seats in this respect. It was an improve ment on the bill of 1854, to which he was himself a party. A measure proposing a much larger disfran chisement would have met with an opposition ,so formidable that it would have had no chance of succeeding. He did not approve of the wholesale disfranchisement of small boroughs, which secured the return of men by whom the government of the country could be carried on and represented, besides many of the separate interests which stood apart from the paramount interests of the nation. They secured the return of men of thought, and masters of civil wisdom, who had no small share in the good working of the system. The consequence of a single ingress into that house by the means of large numbers, would reduce the legislature to a dead level, destroying not only its ornament but its force and tending to results fatal to the liberty of the nation. He enumerated the great statesmen who had been introduced into that house at an early age, by means of the small boroughs. These boroughs were the nurseries of public men, who subsequently represented the most open and largest consti tuencies of the country. Without them none but a very limited class, some of dukes and earls, would have found their way into the hi:Rise, when still in early youth at an age when they could be best trained into efficient states men. How were the diverse powers and aptitudes which had raised the country to its present height to be intro duced into the house at an age to make them available for the public service, if the small constituencies were swept away ? 'Referring to the resolution, he asked Lord J. Russell if he would be nearer his object after he had carried his reso lution? His opinions were supported by an immense majority in that house. There was no danger but they would not prevail, but if expressed in the form of the resolu tion they would obtain at best but a narrow majority, but if brought forward in committee they would be carried almost with unanimity. These advocates would then be in effect masters of the situation. If therefore they do not pass the resolution, they were sure of attaining their objects, but were they so sure, if the resolutions were carried, of obtaining its object. He saw in it no effect whatever, except what would retard the settlement of the question. He admitted that the bill in itself deserved to be rejected on the second reading, bat it was a question with him of duty and prudence. They had been told by the government, that if the resolution was carried they would not carry on the bill. What then were they to do next. They would have lost an engine by which as it seemed they could carry out the ideas of the house. Neither a resigna tion nor a dissolution would tend to settle the question. They would have neither. The Government would drop the bill altogether, and go on without it. No, the house had a bill before them, let them keep it. The passing of the resolution would, therefore, be a misfortune to them all except the member for Birmingham, who frankly owned that he did not wish its settlement at the present moment. The credit of Parliament had suffered by these repeated miscarriages ; the interests of the country suffered by these •discussions of constitutional topics. Neither the house or the Government could keep up with the pressure and accu mulating busiims of the State. They could not afford the time which they frittered away on consideration of Reform ; still more, to keep •)en this question had of itself an unwholesom e and injurious effect. He, therefore, would vote with the single object of obtaining a settlement of the question, with no respect either to parties or to Government. He should, for these reasons, vote against the resolution, convinced that by so doing they would best discharge their duties as the chiefs of the guardians of the British constitution. Mr. Moncrieff denied that the course taken on the pre sent occasion had any thing to do with the party factions motives, which had been confirmed by the debate, that the points raised by the resolution were not isolated points, but were essential principles of the bill. Were it otherwise, how came it to pass that the two colleagues of the Government had retired rather than consent to these points? He discussed at length the sub ject of reform ; he had no fear, he said, of the extension of the borough suffrage, but he had of the extension of influence. The bill contained provisions tending to the first, but no effectual provisions tending to the second. The bill diminished the popular influence and increased that of persons locally unconnected with the constituencies. The popular influence had never been exerted to any bad effect that it should be thus dealt with. He argued in detail against the various propositions of the bill, contending that they were such as statesmen ought not to adopt. The ministry had proposed the adoption of a £lO in counties, and a £6 in the boroughs. They would have been met on that side in the most liberal spirit. He maintained the claims of the educated working classes to which their conduct deserved, and which they might demand as a right from the legislation, whose duty was to serve and protect them. Mr. Robert Palmer opposed the resolution, though dis approving . of the principle of uniformity of franchise and the reduction of the county franchise to £lO. Upon these grounds he hesitated before he could make up his mind to vote for the second reading, but hearing from the Ministry that the provisions of the bill were to be considered in committee, and hoping that Mr. Walpole and Mr. Henley would make their motions for a £2O county franchise and a £6 borough franchise, he ftlt that he could give his vote in favour of the bill. I Mr. Westhead brought forward a series of facts to settle the injurious effects of the proposed transfer of the votes of the borough freeholders to the counties. The country asked for a reduction of the franchise, and all they got was this transfer; the opinions of Mr. Walpole and Mr. Henley would, if carried out, have met, in his opinion, all the requirements of moderate reform. The most vicious point in the bill was the distrust it manifested of the people of England. He supported the resolution, though he should be sorry to displace the Ministry who had so conducted themselves on all occasions as to deserve the respect of the country. Major Edwards, though he did not approve of all the provisions of the bill, thought that the good predoininated over the bad, and thought that the Government deserved the thanks of the community, for having brought forward their bill under circumstances of great difficulty. The bill enfranchised more than 300,000 of the population, and on that ground he should warmly support the second reading. If the resolution was carried it was the duty of the Government to appeal to the country against a movement brought on by the factious conduct of the opposition. He had no fear of the resolution, which would be, he was persuaded, nothing less than the complete annihilation of the Whig party. The opinion of all the in fluential classes in the country was favourable to the present ministry. Mr. Collier said, the arguments in favour of the bill had been feeble, itw and far 'between, and self-convicting, the best that could be said of it by its ministerial defenders was, that it could be amended in committee ; he knew not which statements were most damaging to the bill, those of its defenders, or those of its opponents. If all honorable members acted as they had spoken, the ministers would not have fifty supporters. They were now called upon to vote contrary to their convictions for insufficient reasons. According to the argu ment of Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Horsman, who had said that everything could be done in committee, the second reading of a bill was a mere matter of form. It had been said that by the alteration of a few lines they could make the bill a good one. Why, they could destroy the British Constitution in six lines. The Crown and the House of Lords could be overthrown, and the six points of the charter established in eighteen lines. He was not to be deterred from voting in accordance with his duty, by threats either of resignation or dissolution. It was altogether a mistake to suppose that to agree to the second reading of the bill would settle the question ; that mistake was founed on an erroneous estimate of the feelings of the people. The country was now quiet, because every one expected that the House would reject the measure. That measure was a dod ,, e intended not to reform, but to keep a certain party in power. If the bill were read a second time, an agitation would follow equal to that which took place four and twenty years a g o. He supported the resolution as negativ ing the bill, and stated a reason for so doing. Sir J. Walsh said that the Government, as Conservatives, could not be expected to bring forward a bill which would satisfy men of advanced opinion, but they did hope that they would have been assisted in settling the question. The Liberal party constituted, without a doubt, the majority of the House; but they were split into so many divisions that any agreement between themselves upon the principles of reform was impossible, nor could they force a Govern ment to carry out those principles. The only hope was in the Conservative party, and under these circumstances he should give his decided opposition to the resolution. Mr. Owen Stanley explained his reasons for putting a vote of censure upon the notice paper, and 'for withdrawing that notice after the explicit declaration of the Attorney- General for Ireland, that the Government would consider the rejection of the bill equivalent to a vote of censure. Mr. Macaulay contended that the bill conferred a wide extension of the franchise on the community, and protested against the way in which it was discussed in detail on the motion for the second reading. He defended the principles of the bill, including the uniformity of suffrage and the propositions respecting the borough freeholders. He com plained that the opposition had made the subject a handle for electioneering speeches - in that house. There were only two systems in which the franchise could be conferred either by indiscriminate admission or by selection. The bill adopted the system of selection, and carried it out on principles which he fully approved. He pointed out that many . of the supporters of the resolution held very advanced views on the subject, and gave their support in furtherance of those views. It was, therefore, only to be expected that the passing of those resolutions, instead of being a settlement of the question, would be the signal for a renewed and dangerous agitation. In opposing the re solution, he at least knew what he was voting against, while its advocates did not know what they were voting for. Mr. Mellor congratulated the government on having at last found an independent member, who ventured to defend the principles of the bill. He did not believe that the bill ought to be allowed to go into committee, resting as it was on such objectionable foundations. He protested against the imputations thrown out against the opponents of the bill, as disunited and factious. The Ministerial party as was shown by their speeches on this occasion were at least as little united, while the conduct of the Ministry last year was open to the charge of party combinations. Ho did not see why, if the resolution passed the Ministry, if it was sincere, should not proceed with the bill which retained some points which he approved. Believiw , that the resolu tion expressed, is a concentrated force of objections to the bill, he should cordially support them. Mr. Hardy urged the house to take advantage of the opportunity forsettling the question of reform, an opportunity which might never occur again in so favourable a form. It was impossible to introduce a bill which would give uni versal satisfaction, but the proper course under such cir cumstances was to consider it in committee. He blamed the course adopted by Lord John Russell by attacking the bill by resolution. The bill respected local rights, it deprived no man of his franchise, and was framed on principles of justice and equality. It contained a basis on which they might fairly consider what would be of most advantage to the interests of the country. The sup porters of the resolution had different objects in view, and would, if carried, entail great difficulties hereafter on some of those supporters. It was supported by Mr. Bright on the avowed ground that he wished to bide his time. The language held by Mr. Bright in the provincial towns was highly to be reprobated, especially with regard to the aristocracy. Mr. Bright found many listeners, but few ad herents, and was unable to rally the country round to his proposal to Americanise our institutions. Recurring to the bill itself, he defended the course pursued with regard to the borough voters, observing that those voters were in most instances more anxious to vote for the boroughs in which they had an interest, than for those counties in which they had none. Whatever might be the result of the discussion, the Government had, at least, endeavoured to settle great questions, and had shown its sense of dignity in refusing to accept an insulting resolu tion. Let these opponents reflect upon the course they w ere pursuing, which would entail upon them the necessity of proposing a measure of their own, produced under pres sure, when the country would be no longer calm. They m ight be found taking a step fatal to themselves as a party to the interests of the country, and which would compel them to take refuge hereafter under the protection of the Conservatives, against the rocks and missiles hurled on them by tzgerald undert oo k th e defence of Lord 3. Russell t having propos e d th e resolution, and from h r e s. Radicals.r for.F i Mr. having been a party to the disf ranc hi sement of the 40s. freeholders in Ireland. That measure was proposed by Sir R. Peel, contrary to the opinion of the noble lord. The way to stem the tide of democracy was not by bringing in a bill under the pretence of reform, but a really satisfactory measure. With the exception of the members of the Government, and Mr. Maeauley, no one had ventured to defend the principles of • the details of the bill. He demanded that the Government should, before the debate closed, state its intentions as to a reform bill for Ireland, and, if so, on what basis it was to be placed. Was the county occupation franchise to be reduced, or that of the borough to be altered. He should support the resolution, reserving to himself the right of suspending his decision as to the second reading till he saw whether those resolutions were accepted by the Government or not. Mr. Du Pre moved the adjournment of the house. Sir D. Norrevs, Mr. Lindsay, Mr. Collins, Mr. Joseph Locke, and other members, demanded that an opportunity should be given to all members, who were desirous of so doing, of expressing their opinion, and protested against the understanding that the debate was to close on Thursday. Sir J. Pakington said that if the house desired it, no difficulty would be thrown in the way of the continuance o' the debate. Lord J. Russell said that the matter might be left till Thursday arrived. The debate was then adjourned The Patents for Inventions of War Bill was read a third' time, and passed. The House then adjourned at a quarter before one. EXTRAORDINARY CASE OF EXTRAVAGANCE. At the Insolvent Debtors Court, London, yesterday, Thomas Lloyd, described as a gentleman, having formerly been in the army, and whose case was before the court on a former occasion, appeared for adjudication. The complaint was one of reckless extravagance, made on the part of Mr. Thomel, dressmaker, of Regent-street. Mr. Reed opened, and Mr. Sargood supported. There were sixty-two resi dences in the schedule, and the debts were nearly £20,000, of which about £10,003 was due to the insolvent's father, living in Ireland The insolvent was married some years ago. and his income was about zoo a year. He had travelled about in various parts of the United Kingdom, and had contracted debts. He owed Mr. Thomel £BO, and the prior debt had been paid by Mrs. Lloyd's father. The insolvent went to prison in May last, and the vesting order was the 22nd of January. Mr. Reed urged upon the court that a judgment should be given to mark its sense of the reckless extravagance pur sued by the insolvent. The Commissioner reasoned with Mr. Thomel, who declared that he wanted justice, and remarked that the insolvent's father was a rich man. Mr. Commissioner Murphy said the court would,- never put the screw of imprisonment on a man because his father was rich. Already had the insolvent been 11 months in prison. Mr. Thome' suggested that further imprison 'ment would keep him 'out of mischief, and prevent further debt. (A laugh.) Mr. Commissioner Murphy said he should consider the time the insolvent had been in. prison, and he expressed his intention to give a judgment which would have the effect to make the imprisonment extend over twelve months. His Hononr gave a judgmmit of three calendar months from the vesting order on the 22nd January. AMERICAN AFFAIRS. FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT. THE CONGRESS : EXTRA SESSION : UNSATISFACTORY RESULTS OF THE LABOURS OF CONGRESS : MORTIFICATION OF THE PRESIDENT : THE CUBA PROJECT AS DISTANT AS EVER. NEW ERA OF FILIBUSTERING. NECESSITY OF A NEW SESSION OF CONGRESS TO SUPPLY OMMISSIONS AND FAILURES. THE NEW YORK POLICE : SCANDALOUS DISCLOSURES OF CORRUPTION. THE PURCHASE OF MOUNT VERNON : EXTRAORDINARY EFFORTS TO EFFECT IT. THE " LOBBY " CORRUPTIONS AT ALBANY. THE 66 SICKLES TRAGEDY : " MORBID SYMPATHY WITH ITS HERO: A TRUE BILL OF MURDER AGAINST HIM. EXCUSES OF CERTAIN OF THE RELIGIOUS PAPERS. SPIRITUALISM : REVELATIONS OF ITS PERNICIOUS EFFECTS. The administration at Washington have deter mined to call an extra-session, of Congress. It has been found, as it was supposed would be the case, to be an indispensable necessity, principally on account of the Post Office Department, which the wretched party squabbles of the House have left so shamefully unprovided. for. The deficiency of more than four millions of dollars which will accrue by the end of next June, must be met, unless the whole postal service is to be thrown into confusion, ; if not given up altogether.' It is a most discreditable state of affairs, and shows what a reckless body of men the majority of Congress is composed of. They knew well the dead lock. into which they would throw that important branch of the public service, and the perplexity and annoyance they would occasion the President. But they appear to have cared for none of these things. The Post Office, you are aware, is a costly public department. Unlike yours, its reve nue falls very far short of its expenditure, as its necessities, calculated to the end of June, so forci bly show. The time for the . extra-session is not yet fixed ; but it is expected to be in August. Other matters will have to occupy its attention, besides the Post Office ; it may not, therefore, be so short an affair as was at first supposed. The brief extra session of the Senate,—if its sitting for three or four days longer than the term of Congress deserves such a designation,—has resulted in nothing of any great moment. Its principal business was the confirmation of two or three un important bills which had found their way through the House, amid great confusion, at the last. It is said the President is much mortified at the result of the sessional proceedings altogether. Some of his " best laid schemes " have, through their misdoin, evidently gone, as the Scotch say, " a-gley." His dashing scheme of the annexation of Cuba, favour ably, not to say frantically, though it was affected to be received, has come to nothing. Words, words, plenty of words there have been,—plenty of bluster, —plenty of threat. But is it one whit nearer of accomplishment ? On the contrary, it is, if anything, farther off than ever; for the spirit of cupidity, and, in some quarters, even of freebooting, it has excited, has not only put the Powers of Europe on their guard, but has alarmed the sober-minded and the just of the American people themselves. The mischievous effect, at home, of having aroused that covetous spirit, is the inauguration, or something very like it, of a new era of filibusterism. " There are already signs," I see it stated, " in various quarters, that the filibuster spirit, which has been for some time on the ebb in this country, and which for a year past has been at slackwater point, is on the turn, and we may soon expect to see it set in with a strong flood,' --the plausible pretext for which is " the failure of Congress to confer upon the President the power necessary to carry out the policy which he initiated for the suppression of filibusterism and the support of an American policy in the defence of our citizens and our national interests on the one side, and on the other the efforts of the European Powers to establish in power in Mexico and Central America the anti-liberal party, under a political influence adverse to us,"—but the real cause of which is, there having been excited covetous desires by the incitements to acquisition, or annexation, which the President himself so injudi ciously employed. But to return, for a moment, to the short-comings of the late session of Congress. What are we to think of it, when we find even organs of the Govern ment declaring that, " to the great relief of the country, it ended its miserable existence on the 4th instant," leaving " a most formidable budget of legislative omissions, failures, deficiencies and unfinished business to the new Congress, which may thus be called together some months in advance of the first Monday in December next ?" That is to say, that a new Congress may have to be convened, expressly to do what the late Congress has refused, or at any rate failed to do ! The public journals of the day enumerate the divers urgent affairs to which the President's Message so earnestly directed attention, such as, touching foreign matters, a temporary military occupation of the northern provinces of Mexico ; authority to the Executive to employ the army and navy, if neces sary, in behalf of the peace and neutrality of the Isthmus transits of Central America : and a special appropriation to enable the President to enter into active negotiations for the purchase of the island of Cuba ; and, concerning domestic affairs, a general bankrupt law, including corporations ; a recommen dation in favour of some positive legislation in behalf of a railroad from the Mississippi valley to the Pacific Ocean ; and an appeal for the relief of an exhausted treasury, through a modification of the tariff, embracing such specific duties as would afford some encouraging incidental protection to our home manufactures, while increasing the treasury receipts from the foreign imports thus assessed. " Such," it is observed, " were the bold, practical, expedient, and popular recommendations of the last annual Message of Mr. Buchanan. And what has this Thirty-fifth democratic Congress left upon the record in response to these leading recommendations ? Nothing—literally nothing. The Cuba question, the affairs of Mexico and Central America, the bankrupt question, and the demands of a rapidly increasing public debt, and of an empty treasury, remain sub stantially untouched by Congress. The last act of the session was the authority given to Mr. Cobb to re-issue twenty millions of treasury notes, or, in other words, to go upon tick for twenty millions more, to make up the deficiencies in his current receipts through the ensuing fiscal year." And why this, as it is but too aptly called, "imposing schedule of Congressional omissions and failures," this " budget of blunders ?" The only, or, at any rate, the principal reason why, is that " the several Presi dential cliques and factions of the two Houses," have been fighting in defence of their party and personal interests, instead of doing their duty as the people's "senate and representatives in Congress assembled." Te descend from Federal to State affairs is not, on the present occasion, to enjoy the opportunity of describing any more satisfactory state of things. The city of New York is indignant at certain " scandalous developments," as they are styled, of the character and condition of its "Metropolitan Police," an institution which was fastened upon it by the State Legislature some two years ago. A Committee of the Senate has been occupied in investigating the case ; and the testimony they have obtained upon the spot, and which is now published, —and a copy of which I have before me, and thus can judge for myself,—is only too truly spoken of by the city press, when it is stated of it, " we will venture to say that a more disgraceful record of corruption, inefficiency and general misconduct, has rarely, if ever, been presented to the public." And it appears that the witnesses from whom the facts were elicited were not parties hostile to the force or the system, but for the most part officers, clerks, doorkeepers, and messengers attached to the police ;- so that, it is observed, " they cannot be suspected of. exaggeration in the statements they have made under oath." Some of the details of the evidence are perfectly astounding. It was shown, for instance, "that many members of the force are men of the worst character, some of them being well-known thieves and rowdies, who, before their appointment as conservators of the public peace and the lives and property of our citizens, had made acquaintance with the cells of the station houses and prisons for gross violation of the ldws. Drunkenness and rowdyism have been proved to exist in many of the station houses ; captains of police as well as the men, it is sworn, are frequent visitors to houses of ill-fame, and that, too, in the uniform of the force ; the most infamous conduct, hardly fit to he mentioned, has been prac tised with prostitutes in the police stations ; and one witness, himself an officer, testifies that this class, when arrested for disorderly conduct, are treated with more favour than ony other prisoners ; in many instances, while poor houseless people, seeking lodging in the station houses, are put into miserable cells, prostitutes arrested on some charge are treated to superior accommodations in the rooms of the officers, and receive especial favour at their hands." Then instances of the gravest corruption among the Commissioners are sworn to ; for ex ample, in such cases as the horses of the mounted police being kept in livery stables owned by a. brother of one of the Commissioners 3 the carriages used by the Commissioners hired from a member of the force ; and, from the evidence adduced on this point, it appears that these car riages have been occasionally used by the family of one of the Commissioners for their own private pleasure. Superintendents, clerks, men at large —all, or many of them, appear to have had " fine times of it," luxuriating all the while in salaries of the highest class ; " plenty of money and little to do," being the order of the day. Well may it be said, as I see it is, that " while such a state of things exists in the police system it is no wonder that life and property are unprotected, or that the standard of morals should 'be low iu the metropolis. What can be expected of a body so utterly degraded, vicious and corrupt, as the police of this city is re presented,to be by the sworn statements of so many of its own members P" Such a state of affairs, under republican institutions, where the people, it is boasted, are " the source of all power," may in England have been taught impossible. But I state the case as it really is, and I do think it ought to have some effect in checking the yearnings of the English people after a purely democratic system of rule and governance, whether national or municipal. You are aware, no doubt, of the various devices that have been had recourse to, for the purpose of realising the sum of money requisite for the purchase of Washington's residence of Mount Vernon, on the Potomac, in Virginia, and where the mortal remains of the " Father of his Country " lie entombed. It is, you may remember, a ladies' project ; and their intention, I believe, is to enclose the house and the tomb, which adjoins it, in a glass case, after the construction of the Crystal Palace, and to ensure their preservation as they now stand. No one has done so much as the Hon. Edward Everett, formerly, you know, the American Minister in England, by lecturing in behalf of the fund. • It is stated that the sum total received and paid over by Mr. Everett to the treasurer of the fund now amounts to sixty thousand eight hundred and ninety-three dollars, eighty-one cents. I understand that about a thousand dollars more, accruing from the delivery of his " Washington," is outstanding, but will shortly be received and paid over by Mr. Everett. So that there is no doubt now about the speedy accomplish . of their object. The " Lobby" investigations at Albany have con tinued to disclose a variety of corruptions in the passage of Bills, by means of the bargains effected with members of the State Legislature, by those agents who ply their avocations in the lobbies of the Houses. One of the grossest jobs brought to light appears to have been in connection with the Albany Bridge Bill, to secure the passage of which, it is said, as large a sum as 50,000 dols. was spent. The " Sickles Tragedy," as the papers are now calling it, has not yet quite ceased in its excitement. The chief actor in it—the murderer himself—is become one of the most notable men, one of the foremost heroes of the day. " Mr. Sickles," says an account before me, " continues to receive visitors in the guard-room of the county jail. Crowds attend upon him daily. His mails are enormous, and he writes a great many letters. He is cool and collected, looking exceedingly well, and dressed with his usual precisio:a and taste. No complaints escape him, and though he converses freely with his friends, he gives way to no levity. His beautiful little girl, Laura, visits him daily." So that all horror of what he has done is eclipsed by the prurient interest which a morbid and mischievous sympathy is producing con cerning him. A letter in one of the newspapers, from a visitor to him, says,—" When he showed me some of the extracts from the Philadelphia papers which had been enclosed to him by some anonymous friend, he said, 4 I have the satisfaction to know that nearly every religious paper that has spoken of me has approved the step which I have been compelled to take." This is a very melancholy circumstance of the excitement,—the excuse which " nearly every religious paper" has made for him as a murderer. Here is one of their recorded opinions : it is that of a journal in the interest of the Presby terians, I believe, at New York, called the Observer,—" The Christian judgment is, that a scoundrel died like a dog by the hand of a murderer. There is no need of mincing the matter, or writing long columns to determine which was the most guilty. The wretch deserved God's wrath and curse, and has it. It was not the right of man, even of a wronged and ruined man, to inflict the judgment. But it came swift, terrible, and true. Its lesson will be wholesome." Now this, as a religious opinion, is very pernicious ; for although it does acknowledge that he ought not to have done the deed of vengeance and of blood, yet it suggests an exoneration which religion can never sanction. Besides, there is no doubt, I believe, that he was not in a condition to " cast the first stone "in such a transaction. The Grand Jury at Washington have just found a bill of indictment for murder against Sickles ; and there is understood to be a strong disposition to indict Butter worth, who was standing by when the murder was committed, as an accessory before the fact. The Grand Jury are said to have had a warm discussion on the subject, but their final determination was not known when the last accounts came away. It is believed that Butterworth was well aware of Sickles's intention to shoot Key when he kept the latter in conversation in the street until Sickles came up to him, and drew forth his revolver ; and even then, you will remember, he did not interfere to prevent the murder. There is a stronger feeling against Butter worth than against Sickles, on the ground that he had not the latter's provocation, and that he acted treacherously to his friend Key, in leading him, as it were, to the slaughter. There are a great many demoralising and defiling influences in American society to be dispelled, or at least neutralised, before the morals of the class of life to which those parties belong, can become such as to preclude these tragic occurrences in the domestic circle. " Spiritualism," and " Socialism," have done an incalculable amount of mischief. A popular pro fessor of the firstnamed of these most dangerous delu sions, one Dr. Hatch, having come to his senses, has pub lished a letter in which he makes shocking revelations about the secret immorality of spiritualism, and the dangerous tendency of the system as regards the domestic and social relations, more particularly in reference to the institution of marriage. According to the testimony of this person, so thoroughly initiated as he was in the diabolical device, and who has been behind the scenes and witnessed what he describes, the " free-love" system, so long patronised and encouraged in New York, has developed itself to full maturity in the spiritualist circles, and is bringing forth its appropriate fruit. Can one won der, then, at the prevalence of adultery ? A WIFE MURDERED IN THE STREET, AND SUICIDE OF THE HUSBAND. For some years the town of West Bromwich has not been in a state of such intense excitement as existed at a late hour on Friday night, last, on its becoming known that a young collier, named John Corbett, had cut his wife's throat in Reform-street, and directly after inflicted two such deep gashes in his own throat that it was thought he could not live many hours The circumstances under which this double murder, as it may well be called, occurred, stand thus. For a period of five years, the unhappy pair lived together in Walsall-street, and there is no question that, although they had two fine little boys, the issue of the marriage, yet jealousy on both sides prevailed, and mutual accusation.' and suspicions led to freqnent quarrels, and sometimes to blows, Two weeks ago they separated, Mrs. Corbett and the children going to the house of her father, John Bird, of Reform-street, and her husband taking lodg ings in Gad's-lane, near the Shoulder of Mutton public house. It would seem, from circumstances, that the man himself desired to make matters up ; at all events, the mur dered woman went to him at his lodgings on Sunday last., and passed the night in his company. Since the period of the separation Mrs. Corbett worked at " nailing" with her sister, Sarah Bird, in a s h o p a t th e b ac k o f the Hen and Chickens beerhouse, kept by Mrs Lydia Biddlestone. Corbett himself was employed at the Messrs. Dawes's new pit near Bromford Works. Here he was at his labour as usual until half-past six nn the night of the fatal occurrence. We have no particular account of him further until about eight o'clock the same evening, when he was seen in Reform-street, proceeding in the direction of the nailing shop where his wife worked. If he bad been drinking at all in the interval, we are assured that at this hour, although in a state of some excitement, he was quite sober. However, some person heard him remark, "There will be murder done this night." At 20 minutes past eight, his wife, accompanied by her sister, left the workshop. They had not proceeded many yards up Reform-street, on their road to their father's, when Corbett, who had hid himself behind a low wall just opposite the Hen and Chickens, sprang out into the road, and in an instant, putting his left arm round his wife's neck, inflicted a fearful cut on one side of her throat with a large clasp knife which he held in his right hand. The poor creature screamed "Murder," but instantly seizing her again in the same manner, Corbett made a fearful gash with the knife on the other side of her throat, a third in the direction of her bosom, and instantly ran off. A woman, named Weaver, coming up at the moment, by her aid and that of her sister , Corbett was led, or rathe r c arr i e d, bl ee di ng pro f usely, as f ar as Mr. Grainger's, the Globe Tavern. This is within a few yards of her father's house, and being taken there, the poor creature died from loss of blood and exhaustion, at a quarter to nine, less than half an hour after her throat was eut, as above described. Messrs. Keyte, Cotterill, and Manley, surgeons, were sent for.by Major McKnight, who was soon on the spot, and these gentlemen promptly attended, but they arrived only in time to hear from the poor sufferer the deep long-drawn sigh, which closed her life. The sister of deceased says that the tragic scene she witnessed was enacted without the murderer speaking a word, but Mrs. Weaver states that Corbett, asking his wife, " Will yon come and live with me ?" and receiving the word " No" in answer, said, " Then you shall live with no one else," and then did the murder. We have said that Corbett ran up Reform street with the bloody knife still in his hand, as seen by his own sister, Mrs. Harris, whose garden looks into this street. Ar rived at the top of Bull-street, the wretched man pointed the fatal weapon at his own throat, and by a desperate cut sepa rated his windpipe, and fell, bleeding and senseless, to the ground. Major M‘Knight, accompanied by Inspectcr Hclland and Police-constables Barris and Moss, came to the spot where Corbett lay with the knife still in his hand, and .whilst the officers remained with the poor wretch, who was taken to Mr. Broom's beerhouse close by, the medical gen tlemen referred to also arrived. The wounds which the murderer had inflicted upon himself were sewn up; and although Mr. Keyte aad Mr. Cotterill certified that he might be removed to his brother-in-law's (John Harris), Walsall-street, which was done in the course of Saturday morning, yet they considered his recovery impossible. Corbett was about 27 years of age, and h s p resented t w a l t re of the a t ree yearsthe housesun g o e f r, , theand parentsscene o f t o h f wr e tchednesse wife andat that o as it was bY te husband's sister was most distressing, enhancedwtothu the and p t r h e e se o n t c h e er of si t x he ye t a w r o s olifttlaegeb, nowoys referred to t , a on m e o th h ree r. There is a collateral circumstance in immediate connection with this tragedy which we publish, as the name of the party implicated was voluntarily and frealy communicated to us. Corbett, as previously stated, worked in a pit at Bromford, and the doggy of the pit is said by Corbett him self, when he left his work, to have repeatedly during the day of the murder, jeered him before the men in the pit with reference to his wife's leaving him. Ho was unmanly and base enough to avow that he had been improperly intimate with her during the week, and made other state ments which were well calculated to cause the deepest feel ings of anger and revenge in a husband against a woman who could thus act.—Birmingham Daily Post. BRIGHT I AND " THE " FUTTERMAN (Air —" Villikins an d his Dinah. " ) Oh ! 'tis of a famed merchant 'who Liverpool does dwell. Who supply folks with B utter who want it to sell ; Ins name it is Kelly, you scarce need be told, Whose Butter is worth all your silver and gold. As Kelly was wSeiingiginiiiig—oßultitit3elirtit-7-oBnn-ar3;li—Butter-li-day. In walks REFORM BRIGHT, and to him did say, Come leave your shop Kelly, and with me away, And I'll find you a place with no work and good pay. Singin'—Butter-li—Butter-li—Butter-li-day. Oh! no, my brave BRIGHT, that wont suit my mind, For to" cut my " old place" I do not feel inclined, So Tote you the good pay I will gladly make o'er, rve England with Butter a year or two more. Singin'—Butter-li—Butter-li—Butter-li-day. That's a good noble Kelly—then John Bright replied, You're a "Brick," my "old buck," and not to cc bribed; So, in order your Butter to put to the test, Send me weekly, henceforward a ton of your best. Singin' —Butter-li—Butter-li—Butter-li-day• MORAL. s N o ow ne a v l e l r y d o o u n, who h b o y n w o an m t e b an ut s te b r e , pyeorusuknadeodwto ,s4y , where ,W to ,:i b t 7l And as all want full value for their "tin," and t Think of Kelly the Butterman, and ReformerJoh n SINGING AND DANCING.—The jos' of the heart is expressed by singing; the delight of the mind and life by dancing. Both are perfectly compatible with, and i n d ee d flow from, interior religion. In ancient times, dancing w joined with praise of the Lord; and when it was done frost gratitnde to God, and a desire to make others happy, there is every reason to restore dancing to its honoured position, as with singing, a pure handmaid to the pure joys o f reli gion. - Dr. Bayley.