Northern Times. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-06-27 00:00:00

ROBERT MIILLINER, (Successor to GOIST $ Co.), (Late with Wm, orne, London), CARRIAGE AND FARNESS MANUFACTURER, 59 alid iI. GAT CEIARLOTTE-STREET , LIVERPOOL, MANUFACTURES. OF RVBRY DESCRIPTION OF FASHIONABI.R CARRIAGES. ore Agent for the Patent Dio!aptes, for whi c h itt Prize Medal was aw arded at ; heGreit Exhibition. A Great Variety of New and Fashionable CARRIAGES always on view, which are ready for .rnmediate use. Estimates given for tvairs. CARRIAGES TAKEN IN EXCHANGE. Good Standing on moderate terms. Carriages sold by Com ransion. Merchants supplied with Carriages for exportation on liberal !rms. TRAWBERRIES ANb CREAM , READY A TEN O'CLOCK. I C E S. STRAWBERRY CREAM AND CHERRY WATER. AMERICAN DRINKS. MORRISH'S MERCHANTS' DINING ROOMS, LANCASTER-BUILDINGS, TIT EiE BARN-STREET. :kAITSEAENTS, PUBLIC IIIEE'PING3, &c. THIS DAY. P_oYAL A m fur FT EATHE —Dramatic Performance-7 p.m. HENGLER 9 3 GRAND CIRQUIS VARIETE, Dale-street-7 p.m. Sr Geo RGE'S HALL—Organ Performances-3 p.m. FREEMASON'S HALL—Gallery of Anatorny-11 a.m. to 10 p.m ay AL Cotosseux—General Entertainment-6.30 p.m. ZooLoetcar. GARDENS—Grand and Varied Entertainments. t o- For particulars see advertisements. a •,r4 , - 1 41 , r ./.. . 7, .....= j SATURDAY, JUNE 27, 1857 THE DAY'S NEWS In the House of Commons last night, the Attorney-General moved the adoption of the Lords' Bill, respecting Probate of Wills, Administration, kc. Sze. By this bill it was proposed to divide the country into districts, with courts which might exercise jurisdiction in cases of property not exceeding the value of . £1,500, the London court having jurisdiction in all other cases. Mr. Henley expressed himself in favour of the bill, and seconded the motion for the second reading,as the, principle of local jurisdiction was a most impor tant step in the right direction. A discussion occurred, in which some exception was taken to the expediency of compensating the judges, whose offices would be abolished by the passing of the bill, several members expressing themselves deci dedly against saddling the country with the ex pense. After some discussion, the bill was read a second time, and some other business having been transacted, the House adjourned. In the House of Lords, the Earl of Albemarle presented a petition from the King and Princes of Oude, complaining of the conduct of the East India Company, and asking for a Select Corn mittee of the House to inquire into the circum stances of the case. The attention of the House was drawn by Lord Dungannon to the conduct of certain magistrates of Kilkenny, who had made very unseemly remarks upon the bench respecting Scripture readers in that town, and had only fined a person in 61. for an as sault upon one of that fraternity. Earl Granville stated that the magistrates had denied the ex pressions laid to their charge. After a few words from Lord Derby, the matter dropped. A futile attempt was made to throw out the Ministers' Money Bill, but a division showed twenty-four for the third reading, and seven against. If we are to place any reliance upon a London cotemporary, there is at length a prospect of some public movement being attempted in favour of Parlimentary Reform. "We understand," says tho authority alluded to, " that a considerable number of the leading Reformers, both in and out of Parliament, have met and agreed on certain general principles, which they think ought to be insisted upon in any measure of reform that may be offered to the country, A committee has been appointed to prepare a document embodying these views, preparatory to making an appeal to the people for support. We are not at liberty at present to mention names ; but we believe the gentlemen engaged in this movement will not fail to command the general confidence of the • oun try." Of political gossip, in addition to the above, there is a great variety flying about ; but not much faith can be put in any of the reports. It would appear, however, that the Premier is very wrath at the slender majority by which the Ministers' Money Bill passed the second reading in the Lords. It is whispered that there has been a serious row in the Cabinet, and a severe onslaught on the Parliamentary managers by the Premier; that, for almost the first time in his life, he has been in a towering rage, and objurgated right and left among his colleagues and subordi nates. The result has been immense activity in the machinery under the stage ; every sort of blandishment, threat, promise, vow—all the Hay terian art has been put in force to smooth things ; and a " whip," the most severe that could be con centrated, was brought to bear on the Ministerial peers, in order to meet the Opposition in commit tee on the Ministers' Money Bill, where proxies would not count,and the personal presence of peers demanded. The halt, the lame, the blind,. old and young, had the screw put on them, and it was found that the efforts made were so successful that a email majority would have been present during the discussion in the committee. This, and the defection of the Earl of Ellenborough (whose con duct on the question, it is said, influenced several Conservative peers, who would at least have stayed away), it is said, induced Lord Derby to withdraw his opposition to the future progress of the bill. The course taken by the noble Earl has been the subject of some comment, and ill-natured things have been said about his opposition not having been hearty from the first ; but there is little doubt that the motives which influenced him were founded on a well-considered exercise of his dis cretion, especially if some things that are rumoured on the subject are true. The screw, they say, is to be kept on the Ministerial peers until the Oaths Bill come before the committee in the Upper House; and we hear that Lord Lyndhurst has stated that he will carry the bill through all its stages. In our colums to-day will be found full parti culars of the arrest of the man, Spollen, charged with the murder of Mr. Little, cashier of the Mid land Great Western Railway Company of Ireland. The wife of the prisoner gave the information which led to his capture. It appears that on the night of the murder he came home, as she alleges, about eight o'clock, with a considerable amount of gold and silver coin in his possession, and informed her that it was Mr. Little's money, and that he had mur dered him. He th en , i n her presence, threw his pocket-book and also his neck-tie into the fire, and smeared his coat with paint in places where it was stained with blood. They both set about con eealing the money. She told the police the hiding place of a portion of it, also stating that the bag containing £47, which was found not long after the murder, in the carriage department, dripping with wet was her husband's, and that he placed it in the tank. It is further alleged that Spollen was at work in the place shortly before that discovery was made. The correctness of her statement as to the concealed money was fully established early in the afternoon, when the police pro ceeded to the places indicated, and there found between £l4O and £l5O in one snot, in gold and notes, nearly defaced by damp, and £67 in silver in another place. The larger sum was hidden in a cavity or dyke between two walls, about four feet asunder, one of them forming a boundary of the railway premises, and the other of the North Union Workhouse. In a stream which runs at some dis tance lower down, and near which there is a range of small cottages, of which he occupies one, the silver was concealed. The hammer and razor which were found in the canal, not far from this part of the railway premises, she declares her belief to have been her husband's. On the• day that the razor was discovered he appeared very excited and uneasy, and said ho had thrown in the case with it, and that, if it were found, the identity of the razor might be established. The hammer, it is said, was observed at the time to have some marks on it as if of paint or putty. She states that he informed her on the night of the murder that he made his escape through the roof—a cir cumstance which, like the other details of her information, if it be correctly represented, sets aside preconceived notions and theories on the subject of the murder. The wife stated that her sole object in giving the information which had led to the arrest was the hope that the prisoner might turn his thoughts to the salvation of his soul ; and we are informed that she exclaimed more than once, whilst the charge was being entered, " Oh ! you villain !—you murdered the man for the sake of the money ; you murdered the man !" Some short time ago we gave the particulars of a melee between Mr. Hodgson a magistrate of Bir mingham, and Mr. Collis, a solicitor of the same town. The affair arose out of the banquet to the Duke of Cambridge. Collis went to Hodgson's office and there maltreated him. He was brought before the Recorder on Wednesday, and was found guilty of the offence. The judgment was delayed to the following morning, when Collis having made an apology, he was only fitied £5O. This, we should think, was neither law nor justice. What is a fine of £5O to a man in independant circum stances? and to make the matter worse, Mr. Hodgson has not had the use of one of his arms for the last twenty years. This alone should have been a suffic:ent protection against such an unmanly assault as that made by Collis. Cardinal Wiseman has heen granted a new trial in the case of the action brought against him by L'Abbe Roux, provided the former pay the costs. meeting of merchants, ship-owners, and others interested iu the Mereatitile Marine Act, was held in London yesterday, for the purpose of taking into consideration the evils arising from the unjust operations of some of its clauses. The distribution of the Victoria Cross came off yesterday in Hyde-park. London. The ceremony on the whole was a failure—true there were a large . number of persons present, but not one tithe of them witnessed the proceedings. The troops assembled were about 8,000. The people numbered 15,000. The men who received the Victoria Cross from the hands of the Queen have certainly merited the distinction. They have been selected for special acts of bravery, but in reality those very acts thus described, or at least a large proportion of them were, as detailed in the Gazette, rather acts of supreme humanity performed under circum stances of entire self-abnegation. Men like these are an honour to any country, but it is a great mistake to suppose that the qualities they have displayed shine more lustrously on the battle field than elsewhere. Compare the grand display in Hyde-park with the quiet, almost obscure, distri bution of rewards the other day by the society for saving life from fire ; yet the men who received the latter displayed as much cool devotion in the cause of humanity, and risked their lives as entirely as did any of the Crimean heroes, and with less motive of approbation. Yesterday the annual monthly accounts relating to trade and navigation were issued. They give the figures for the month of May last, and for the five months of the year ending with May, and show a sustained increase of British exports. These during May amounted to 11,382,2041, against 8,733,3001 in May, 1858. In the first five months of 1857 the exports exceeded fi:ty millions ster ling. The shipping returns are equally favourable. The Committee on the Mersey Conservancy Bill have come to the conclusion that the preamble is proved, subject to certain arrangements, a copy of which will be submitted to counsel on either side on Monday. The Bank Returns this week are again of a favourable character. The bullion in • the bank coffers is set down at £11,172,862, being an increase of £263,607 on the previous returns. We have no exciting news from abroad this morning. The result of the French elections is now pretty well ascertained, and it is probable the opposition will have returned seven deputies. The responsible editor of the Memorial d' Amiens has been tried by the tribune of correctional police of Amiens, for having stated that a commissary of of police of Montdidier had abused his power in the electoral struggle. An inquiry has proved the incorrectness of this stat'ment, and the editor has been condemned to 15 days' imprisonment and 300 f. fine. This verdict is important, since the Siecle and two other papers are to be tried for having reproduced the article of the Memorial. The Universal German Gazette states that an amicable settlement of the Austro - Sardinian diffi culty is near at hand, everything concerning such a result having been, it declares, arranged diplo matically. Count de Morny, who represented the Emperor Napoleon at the coronation of the Czar in Moscow, and who had remained ever since in St. Peters burg, in the character of Ambassador Extraor dinary, has arrived at Berlin, on his way to Paris. The Emperor of Russia has left, on his journey to Western Europe, and the Sultan of Turkey has gone on his projected excursion. The police authority in Constantinople seems quite disjointed. Denmark is about to make tariff reforms ; and Sweden is promulgating laws of greater religious toleration. THE Educational Conference, held in London , under the auspices of his Royal Highness Prince ALBERT, has terminated its sittings ; and we are disposed to ask what good will result from the interchange of ideas and opinions which have taken place. The inaugural address of the Prince Consort was very good in its place. Had it been delivered by any other personage, however, it would have been regarded by the public, and particularly that portion of it who have made the philosophy of Education the subject of deep, earnest, and lengthened study, as a mere medium oration. No doubt the papers read, and the discussions and conversa tions which each evoked, will, if published at full length, be a most interesting- volume for the perusal and study of Educational Reformers ; but that they will find their way to, much less be perussd in, the dwellings of the working classes, is what we have no faith in. As far, then, as the promotion and extension of Education are concerned, we dare not hope for any great results. The complaint made by Prince ALBERT, in the inuugural address, and subsequently by the Bishop of OXFORD, was, that parents generally, as well as the children themselves, did not value an increase of knowledge in that important light which they should. As a necessary consequence of their indifference to the benefits to be obtained at our elementary schools. Parents preferred the prospect of immediate gain to the ultimate advantage of an increase of the mental and moral enlightenment of their offspring, Prince ALBERT tells us that it will probably happen that in this instance, as in most others, the cause of our social condition can THE NORTHERN TIMES.-LIVERPOOL, SATURDAY, JUNE 27. 1857 be traced to a state of ignorance and lethargic indifference on the subject among parents generally ; but the root of the evil will, he suspects, be found to extend into that field on which the political economist exercises his activity—the Labour Market—supply and demand. Agreeing with his Royal Highness, as to the general correctness of this idea, and admitting that there is also great ignorance and lethergy on the part of the parents, we cannot help thinking that the Conference could not have taken up a more important and interesting topic for investigation, than the causes which have produced such universal and unfavourable effect. Nor would it have required any lengthened argument to prove that the vast majority of cases of parental indifference to the education of their children arises from the imperfect character of the education—rather mere instruction imparted in the schools for the working classes. The tea:thers of these schools have not been properly fitted, prepared, and trained •for the multifarious duties of the school-room; hence they have been unable to leave a mental and moral stamp of a permanent character upon their pupils. In nothing has more empiricism reigned than in the wide domain of Education ; and in no department of the public service—for we hold that it belongs to it, and what is more, that it is the most important of the whole—has there been less care to render it equally useful and efficient. Education, worthy of the name, trains its recipients in a three-fold aspect—body, head, and heart ; but each branch of that training is in harmony with the other. Any other course is positively detrimental to the future happiness of the creature—male or female--subject to its influence. The student of that beautiful subject, man's constitution, knows that He who created the body knows His own work best, and having made it improvable, He has imposed upon us the duty of improving it to the utmost. This view is still more apparent when we consider that the body is the instrument of the operation of the intellectual, and moral, and religious faculties; and that in proportion as that instrument is in a sound and healthy state, in the proportions are those operations the freer and and more perfect. It follows, therefore, that any scheme or plan of Education which neglects any one of these three-fold powers, is pursuing a dangerous course, and must fail in raising up a race of educated beings. We could write page upon page of this journal in vindication of this view, and of its paramount importance in the settling of any plan of national instruction. Yet, strange to say that it was almost overlooked, and merely blinked at in the deliberations of the Educational Conference. We have been spending large sums of money, public and private, to instruct the working classes. Since 1839, nearly twenty years, 2,000,0001. sterling has been spent in building school-houses, and about 1,250,0001. annually in supporting such schools—yet, Prince ALBERT declares that the parents of the working claases are ignorant, and, as a matter of course, indifferent to the spread of Education. What is this but a proof that the very Educa, tion which has been going on has been imperfect in quality and deficient in quantity ? Well, indeed, may the poet exclaim— " Ignorance is the curse of God ; Knowledge, the wings wherewith we fly to heaven." The teaching in our Elementary Schools has had for its immediate object the cramming of the intellect with words, without any study of the "things" which those words contain. The immortal MILTON, in his ancient treatise on Education, tells us, " though a linguist should pride himself to have all the tongues that Babel cleft this world into, yet if he have not studied the solid things in them, as well as the words and lessons, he were nothing so much to be esteemed a learned man as any yeoman or tradesman competently wise in his mother dialect only." Considerations such as these induce us to fear that little or no benefit will immediately arise from the deliberations of the Conference. We see that the defects complained of arises from the imperfection and non-philosophical character of our mode of imparting Education to the working classes. The first step to remedy the evils of existing plans, and get rid of their results, is the creation of a proper race of teachers—males and females—trained in all that relates to the cultivation, development, and practical exercise of the physical, mental, and moral faculties, planted in man by an all-wise and beneficent Creator, for the most glorious and holiest of purposes, To the consideration of this branch of the subject we shall return on another occasion. A SHORT time ago this country was visited by an eminent French gentleman, M. LEssePs, for the purpose of calling the attention of the British public to the project of the Suez Canal. He visited Manchester, Liverpool, Dublin, Glasgow, &c., eliciting the views of commercial and prac tical men on this great speculation. His plans were generally approved, and resolutions passed in support of them M. LESSEPS himself is very sanguine of the complete success of this under taking. He calculates the cost would be about 8,000,0001. The interest on that capital, at 5 per cent., would be 400,0001. Add an equal sum for working expenses and keeping it in repair, and we have 800,0001. of annual expense. The probable income, however, is estimated at one million-and-a-quarter of pounds. Appor tioning the amount that would have to be raised in the different nations to carry out this work, the sum that England would have to furnish would be a million-and-a-half. France the same amount. The length of the proposed canal to join the Mediterranean and the Red Sea would be 92 miles. The greatest width would be 329 feet, and 262 feet the least ; the depth would be 26 feet. It was once said that the level of the Red Sea was considerably higher than the Mediter ranean level. This is now found to be a mis take ; the level of both seas is almost identical. The entire intervening space that joins the seas has been surveyed by skilful engineers of many nations, who all concur in the statement that nature has placed no unsurmountable barrier in the way of such a work. If the money can be found the thing appears practicable. Nature even appears to have favoured the undertaking, for there is, midway, a lake that could be deepened into a spacious harbour and coaling station. There might be a fleet of steam tugs to conduct sailing vessels through this artificial Bosphorus. The naviga tion would be safe. Then , it would shorten, by nearly one half, the journey to India, Australia, and China. It is said that Lord PALMERSTON is somewhat averse to this enterprise, and favour rather the projected railway that is to run through the Euphrates. For our own part we favour both ; there is no incompatibility between them ; they are grand enterprises, promotive of peace and civilization, and worthy of being carried out by the most advanced nations of the earth. We can imagine no political reasons to discounte nance them The project of the Suez canal has the earnest support of the Sultan of Turkey and the Governor of Egypt. In a financial and com mercial point of view England would probably be the greatest gainer. A great impulse would be given to Turkey, Egypt, and the eastern parts of Africa, The land of the negro might be quickened in its pace of improvement. We should gain readier access to all our Eastern possessions and colonies, and be better able to defend India against Russia and all other machi- It is politic to maintain the indepen dence of Persia as a check to Russian aggran disement in the East. By aid of this great work we could better support our Persian ally. What ever tends to promote rapid communication among men tends to promote peace, and to expand industry. If there had been an electric telegraph connecting Pekin with London we should probably at this moment be at peace with China. How many misunderstandings and causes of war will be precluded when men are able to communicate instantaneously, on the wings of the lightning. These, then, are the sort of works in which great nations should hold rivalry—canals, harbours of refuge, railways, electric telegraphs, &c. Far better spend millions a year in such works than even in demolishing Sebastopols, enforcing on the Chinese respect for the British flag, or even in Aldershott camps and military parades at home. At present we are like children fond of gewgaws and bright colours, enticed by the soldiers' red coat, and all the pomp and circumstance of so-called glorious war. The time will come for the NAPJLEONS of peace; but when, we think it safest for our own prophetical reputation not to specify. Only all such works and enterprizes as we now refer to will help forward that better state of feeling when men shall recognize that they are made in the brotherhood of equality, in order that they may do good and not evil, one to another, all the days of their life. nations. THE benefits and importance of the " Limited Liability" Act are becoming every day more and more apparent. Not only are the commercial classes taking advantage of the provisions of this law, but we find that it has been resorted to in order to promote the moral and intellectual improvement of the working portion of the com munity. Our readers will have perceived in the columns of this paper, on Wednesday last, the prospectus of a new company, entitled, the " Liverpool Recreative Company," which has for its object the providing of means for recrea tion and amusement to the industrious classes, at a cost within the reach of every one not actually a pauper. Believing that such a company has within it the germ of much future good, we have perused the prospectus with great satisfaction, and heartily wish every success to the undertaking. Any one conversant with the condition and habits of the working classes of Liverpool must admit that there exists in the town a great want of means of unobjectionable recreation. In this respect, we are far behind our neighbours of Manchester. There is no public park, with its refreshment-rooms, Library, Museum, and a School of Art, with gymnastic apparatus attached, where all can go and instruct—rather, educate both mind and body. It is true we have a Public Library and a Museum, which, in after years, will be a great intellectual resort; but in Public Parks we still lag behind. Our friends on the other side of the Mersey, although the residents of an infant town—Birkenhead, far outstrip us in this respect. Concerts for the million cannot, as in Birmingham and Manches ter, be produced in Liverpool, unless at a ruinous cost. To remedy these defects, and to rid society of the numerous kinds of amusements got up for the people by private speculation, all of which partake more or less of an objectionable tendency, is the grand design of the Liverpool Recreative Company, Any one who will walk through Williamson-square and its immediate environs, or the equally notorious vicinity of Lime -street, must admit that each and all of these concert-rooms are more or less the nurseries of crime and immorality. We do not aver that such is the object of their proprietors. They have embarked in the undertaking of supplying comic and sentimental music for the people, but the sine qua non for admission is, that you must drink or smoke something—the quality in every case being of the most delete rious character. Independent of this, you are sealed up in a confined room, where clouds of smoke from tobacco-pipes, or cabbage-leaved cigars, almost stifles the very breath within you. The songs too, in many cases, are of an obscene character ; and the looks and gestures of the singers lead the contemplative to the conclusion that, be they male or female, they are devoid of that feeling of modesty which ought to manifest itself in every human being. Moreover, the sons of toil, or the pent-up office clerk, who is chained to his desk from morning until night, cannot obtain health for the body, or beneficial instruction to the intellect, at such exhibitions. Any thing immoral tends to debase man; render him the slave of principles and feelings which are opposed to the indivi dual's peace and well-being; and the sitting in such places as described must operate upon his physical constitution in a very detrimental manner. If, then, the " Liverpool Recreative Company" can, by the project which they put forward, improve these serious social evils, it merits public patronage and commendation. The prospectus informs us that the means proposed to effect the objects in view are a covered play ground for gymnastic exercises, and other suitable physical amusements; a concert and lecture-room, for musical and intellectual exercises ; and reading, refreshment, and smoking-rooms, together with an abundant supply of water, soap, and towels. As to the practicability of the plan, much, of course, must depend upon the manner in which the undertaking is encouraged by the public. And, looking at this part of the matter, we think that the managers have shown much tact in making the shares 71., which may be paid by monthly instalments of half-a-crown each. In this way the whole people of Liver pool can join the good cause, and thereby give their countenance to a project which aims at the eradication of alarming social evils, and supply ing in their stead true mental, moral, and physical enjoyments, all of which will render the recipients abler and better regulated members of the great human family. It may be objected that the starting of such a company is an interference with the public generally, and depriving those now in the habit of supplying popular amusements, of a means of carrying on their trade, We should be the very last to advocate the establishment of a company such as that now projected, if we could for a moment believe that it was intended that the shareholders should make it a means of personal pecuniary gain. But if the well-being of the whole community is the end and aim of the founders of the company, and if they can effect their purposes, then we declare that the good of the many must be considered, although it may interfere with a very small fraction of those engaged in public and beer-house duties. As a further inducement that the project is a genuine one, the list of consulting directors, and of the actual managers, is amply sufficient. The former are all gentlemen who have the people's good at heart, and the business character of the latter encourage the confident hope that every promise made will be faithfully performed and carried out. TIIE SHIP OCEAN BEIDE .—ln the Quebec Morning Chronicle, of the 29th May, appears the following complimentary address to Captain William Atkins, and the officers of the ship Ocean Bride. This fine ship, 1,300 tons bur then, the property of Messrs. Henry Milvain and Sons, of Newcastle,F, sailed from Liverpool on the 3rd of May last, with 395 passengers, and arrived at Quebec without a single casunltY, on the 27th of the same month. She is reported to have passed eighty ships in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The following is the address :—" To Captain Atkins, of the Ocean Bride.—The under sign!ol, cabin passengers by the Ocean Bride, from Liverpool to Quebec, beg thus publicly to express their grateful thanks to Captain Atkins and officers, and Mr. David Shannon, surgeon of the ship, for their uniform kindness and civility shown to them and the whole of the passengers during the voyage, and, at the same time, earnestly to recommend intending emigrants to avail themselves of any future opportunity that may occur of taking passage in the same vessel.— Frank Griffiths, Birmingham; Simon Powell, Ross, Herefor,lshire Edward W. Colley, Birmingham; John Ballendon, Orkney; Henry Hanff, Christiania, Norway ; Robert Wurr, Norwich ; John Dryar, London ; Thomas Garwood, Woodrising, Norfolk; William Parsons, Ross, Herefordshire ; John Pastilow, Woiverhampton; Robert Wil liams, Liverpool ; Thomas Ewen, Leith ; Samuel Sugden, Keighley ; George Luck, London; Henry James Brill, Brighton, Sussex; James Chethem, Manchester; A. Barton, C romer, Norfolk: Edward Dawes, Lond,n; Edmund Nixon, Liverpool; Benjamin Chilton, Bristol ; John Nicholson, Horsham, Sussex; Jonas Hanah, Dorset; Charles McCauley, Dablin ; John Calcheth, Northampton; Wm. Emerson, Jams Mar.in, Birmingham—cabin passengers. Quebec, 29th May. 1857." The ship and her commander are well knows in this port, and duly appreciated. A CANADIAN Sratsre.—As is usual in the spring of the year, we have had lately very extensive conflagrations in the woods, more par ticularly al)ng the different lines of railroad. Between Richmond and Quebec all travelling was obstructed by the fire. The passengers and mails had to be conveyed by a circuitous route through the woods, and placed in a freight train waiting to receive them at a point beyond the fire. Near Becancour some eighteen buildings were burned, besides a large quantity of lumber and about 5,000 cords of firewood. Eetween Montreal and Richmond another large fire raged, delaying the train for some hours. A woad shed at the Acton depot, with about 3,000 cords of firewood, was destroyed. Similar fires pre vailed about the same time between this and Cornwall, and a quan tity of fencing and wood was burned on the line of the Grand Trunk. On the Og lensbnrg Road a large portion of the track had to be relaid from damage received by the fire. These " burns" in the spring are looked upon an a matter of course, and are expected as regularly as the shadfiles, which I am glad to see have again made their appear ance, notwithstanding they are somewhat of a nuisance from their immense numbers, although perfectly harmless. Their arrival, how ever, heralds the advent of that most excellent river fish the shad, which are now finding their way to market in large numbers, and will help to keep down market prices, which this year are high indeed, although nothing compared with what prevails in Western Canada. We shall also soon have abundant supplies of salmon from the Lower St. Lawrence. w hat a vast amount of piscine wealth there is in that immense basin, awaiting there to be properly exploiter, as the French would say.—Toronto Correspondent. - Tan GREAT EArrsaN.—The announcement which was made a short time bark of of the successful negotiations entered into between the Directors of the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada and the Eastern Steam N av i ga ti on c o mpany, according te Which the Great F,t,ltont will make her first trip to Portland, State Maine, has excited consider.. able attention, not only amongst those persons who are interested in Canada, but amongst the public genera'ly. Of course, in so novel as well as so great an undertaking, it is a matter of some uncertainty when the " leviathan of the seas " will be finally ready for the voyage; but there is the fullest reason for believing that It will take place early next spring. Our readers are already familiar with the details of the elaborate preparations making for the comfort and accommodation of the passengers of the Great Eastern, of whom it is calculated that she will be able to take out no less than one thousand first class, two thousand second class, and three thousand third, at very reasonable fares. The duration of the voyage from the port of embark Ition, wherever It msy be decided upon, to Portland will not be more than seven days, and her speed, at full power, it is estimated, will be at least 18 knots an hour. Arrangements, it is said, are in progress to issue Tourists' Tickets, for whom the Great Eastern will remain sev:ral weeks at Portland, affording a most favourable opportunity, which will no doubt be extensively acted upon, for persons desiroas of paying a visit to the U nited States and Canada. Such an opportunity of visi ing the western continent, with the slightest possible personal inconvenience, may per. ape never occur again. No doub. the Great Eastern will be a great object of attraction to our American cousins during her stay at Portland, and although we may often have been indeb'ed to them fir valuable hints in naval matters, still it must be almitted that the bola Lies of the "mammoth ship" and its successful realisation, wi 1 eclipse the pro verbial go-a-bead propensities even of Brother Jonathan himself.— Canadian Netcs. THE COURT. The Queen was conducted to a state supper about twelve o'clock on Wednesday night, by Earl Spenc r, Lord Steward of the Household . Her Majesty and Prince Albert were accompanied to the banquetting room by the Princm Royal, the Archduke Maxlmiian of Austria, Prince Frederick William of Prussia, and the other illuArious visitors. The Queen and the royal party aftewards returned to the ball and concert room. Her Majesty's piper played after supcer. DISTRIBUTION OF THE VICTORIA CROSS, Yesterday morning, the long promised distribution of the order o f valour by her Majesty, took place in Hyde Park; in the presence of one of the largest and most brilliant agsemblages that has probably ever been known in this country. The Queen entered the park at to n o'clek, her arrival being announced by a royal salute from the bat teries on the left of the line. Her Majesty was accompanied by Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, and other member a of the Royal Family, Prince Frederick William of Prassia, fluke an d Duchess of Cambridge, Plncess Mary of Cambridge, and a most brilliant staff, and the various members of the Household. Imme diately upon her arrival, the Queen rode round the lines, the band s playing as she passed. When her Majesty had taken her position, the recipienti passed, one at a time, each presenting his card to Sir G. A. Wetherell, Adjutant-General, who stated the names to her Majesty as they approached. The men who were to receive the cross, as they stood in line, pre,ented a very strange appearance, for 831:a0 of them having lefc the service ware not attired in regimentals. 04 of them was dressed as a private gentleman, another as a policeman, and a th'rd was in the dress of a park-keeper. Her Majesty remained on horseback, surrounded by her royal visitors and staff, with their backs to the gallery, and the cross was handed to each of the men by the Queen, but she was so hid len from view that very few saw how it was delivered. The total number of recipi - ents of the cross was—royal navy 12; marines, 2 ; and army, 47. Many others were entitled to receive it, but were unable to be present, owing to teing in foreign countries or otherwise incapacitated from attending. An early opportunity will be taken to deli ..er it in the Queen's name. The troops on the field numbered upwards of 8,000. LONDON AND NORTH WESTERN RAILWAY. A special general meeting of this company took place yesterday, at the Euston station, to consider certain bills now pending in pa rlia ment. For authorising the conversion of parts of the Shropsh re Cana to purposes of a railway, and the making and maintaining of a railway accordingly, and for authorising arrangements between the London and North Western Railway Company and other companies, and for ther purposes. For making a railway from the Llanidloes and New - town Railway, in the parish of Llandinam, in the county of Montgom - ery, to the town of Machynlleth, in the same county. To empower the Stockport, Disley, and Whaley Bridge Railway Company to extend their railway to Buxton, and for other purposes connected with their undertaking. To authorise the construction of a railway from Castle Douglas, in the stewartry of Kircndbright, t o Portpatrick, in the cou,lty of Wigtown. For making a railway from the North and Sonth• . Western Junction Railway, in the parish of Ealing, to Richmond, to be called the Richmond and Kew Extension Railway, and for other purposes.—The Marquis of Chandos presided and in explaining the provisions of the biil stated, in reference to the Shropshire Canal, that it was leased in 1849, for 21 years, to the Shropshire Union Company, at a rent equivalent to 5 per cent. on the purchase-money agreed upon, and this lease and the agreement to purchase was obligatory upon the present company under their original agreement with the Shropshire Union Company. The ohjecta of the bill were to carry into effect an agreemen t entered into in 1849 between the Shropshire Union Railways and Canal Company, and the proprietors of the Shropshire Canal Navigation, for the purchase of the Shropshire Canal, and to eonvert a portion of the canal into a railway. His hrdship observed that there was a large amount of mineral traffic from the canal, the whole of which was now transferred to the Shropshire Union Railway, near Wellington, and was forwarded by the lines of this company to Liverpool, Manchester, and elsewhere. co great, however, was th e difficulty of keeping the canal s❑pplied with water, and so inconve nient and expensive was the working of the traffic along the canal, owing to the nature of its construction, that it was feared that, unless converted into a railway, the present company would lose the whole of the traffic which they now received from the canal, and wand still remain liable to the rent required to defray the expenses of maintain ing the canal. LONDON CHAIVER%D BANK OF AUSTRALIA. Yesterday afternoon the fifth general meeting of the directors of the above bank was held at the London Tuvern-Mr. Duncan Dunbar in the chair. In their annual report the directors soy-" The spirit of over-trading and speculation manifested in the Australian markets during the past year has necessitated the exercise of the utmost caution in conducting the affairs of the bank at the various branches. It is, however, a subject for congratulation that the corporation is gradually extending its business, and acquiring fresh claims to the confidence of the colonists. The proposed establishment by the government of the colony of Victoria of a bank of issue, attended with prospective restrictons oa the operations of all existing banks, having excited some apprehension in the minds of several shareholders, the directors deem it fright to advert to the subject. The project appears to have met with but little support, for the colonial public were not slow to perceive that a measure of this character, while calculated to deter the future introduction of British capital to Australia, was also at variance with the principles of free trade, and could not, therefore, he otherwise than opposed to the true interests of a community essentially dependent on commerce for its prosperity. Under these circumstances, it is grstifying to the directors to be able to announce to the proprietors that the measure in question has been abandoned. The latest advices received from the colonies are as follows: viz., Sydney, 11th April, and Melbourne, 15th April. The letters of the inspector represent the bank's operations to be of a satisfactory oharacter. and its business steadily increasing. The accounts now placed before the shareholders are made up to the 31st December last. From these it will be seen, that after the usual deductions, there remains to the credit of profit and loss the sum of 2 ',WV. 6s. Id. ; from which the directors recommend a dividend to be paid of 2* per cent. for the half-year, ending 31:t December last, viz„ 16,875/. ; leaving a balance of 6,1021, 6s. Id. to be carried over to the next half-year, The accounts made up to December 31, 1856, show the following liabilities :-Notes in circulation, 253,7261. ; bids payable and other liabilities, 399,062/. 13s. 3d. ; depo sits, 371,3411. I6s. 2d. ; total due to the pnblia, 1,024,1301. 9s. sd. Capital-Original capital paid up, 503.000/. ; second capital Paid up, 200,000/. ; profit and loss, 22,977/. 6s. Id. ; total, 1,747,1 1 .7/. 15s. 6d. Asset;:-Coin and bullion, 658,5991 2s. ; bal ances due by other banks, 96,7591. i 1 s, 5 I ; bills receivable and other securities, 942,8431.195. ; freehold, leaseho:d, and other property of the corporation, 43,2141. 10s. 6d.; open policies, 1,4961. ss. 6d,; stamps, 4831. 3s. 1 Id. ; preliminary expenses, 3,6811, 3s. 2d. ; total, 1,747,1071. 15s. 64. Profit and Loss Account.--Dr.: To dividends viz., fourth dividend of 2 per cent. for haif year ending 31st December, 1855, 11,0001,; fifth dividend of 2i per cent. for half year ending 30th Jane, 1856, 14,3751. ; to proportion of preliminary exnenses-viz., for half year ending 30th June, 1856, 5811. 4s. 4s. ; for half year ending 31st December, tes6, 5811., 4s. 4d. ; to balance carried down, 22,977/ , 6s. Id. ; total 49,5141, 14s. 94 . Cr, : By balance at 31st December, 1855, p er last' statement, 11,1031. 14s. lld ; by balance of p:oflts in London and in the colonies for the year ending 1856, after ; d b ed y u b c a t l in an g ee cu b r r r o e u n g t h e t x d p o e w n n se , s 2 , 2 3 , 9 0 ; 4; 1 0 . 1 6 . 198. . 1d 31st December, lOd.; total 49 , 5141 . • The report was adopted. REVOLTING AFFAIR.—Nir. Arnold, at the Westminster police-court, London, was occupied a co ns id era bl e t i me i n i nv estigating charges of description against a revolting Stephen Fryer, between fi' . ty and six 'y years of age, butler to Mrs. Gorden, 47, Wilton- crescent . I t appear e to h ave b e en the praoice of the accused to invite page boys is the neighbourhood to his own h ome, i n S m i t h- street , Ch e l sea , a nd to [its rni , tress's pantry. The matter was first brought under the eogn;since of the police, by the mister of one of the toys, when Inspector Cummin's, of the B division, entered upon a se arc hi ng inv es tigation of the matter, and having heard th a t th e mus t f r i g htful practices had been going od for some time, brought three bays, under the age Ol'sixlete, to this court, wh .se information on oath was fully tak en and duly scrutinised by Mr. Arnold before a warrant was issued far the prisoner's apprehension. It is roost painful to add, than. the eviderce of two of the boys irresistibly leads to the conclusion, that, if not absolutely consenting parties, there appears to have bean neither that resistance nor immediate exposure that well-considered minds would most unqestiopaOly have prompted. The accused was remanded„