Northern Times. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-01-21 00:00:00

Spe ll ' ell 60° WlliC`,: e CO had t ° _Cork lowing Quir e ' doe' ' nee!' rt is 4 1 11' a. 'l' „Roo, n•n for v 61 50 ee hid nontil! The agreea ;fey 33 10g,ie!: ..doc); anu 1,09' bead is ld 0. ds tist ol D e rvf: r actet will a 11c4 . hetbe r r isite (w it]) [„ th! inlit l4 a th 3 , t 2,4 4 ' The d e atlO ell, Lder :; a, ite oe „iitt Js " " ow ..0 ofri e ' A fi?' :ciw gad. 4artil! lova ao a if! blol l tiff bed' 0 oil ha° r th e l t he • tio ou ne g bun; fray " W e ' xtriv ;lib.° THE WAR QUESTION. PARIS, Jan. 19, A pamphlet, small in form, though spirited in tone, is expected to appear in a day or two. Its title is "Aurons nous la Gueire?" It purports to be from the pen of M. Felix Germain, a writer in the periodical press. I cannot say whether per mission will be .given- by the censorship for its Publication. I have only cast a hurried glance 'over its pages, but one or two extracts taken at random will give you some intimation of the sentiments of the author. And now (M. Germain asks) are we to have war ? Yes, if I remained alone to express useful truths. No; Nye shall not have it if France has the courage to think aloud; if the immense majority of the nation makes its voice heard, for the Chief of the State is deeply interested in listenin g to it and in following it. The only difficulty is how to make truth penetrate to him ; I confess that, With the etiquette at present in vigour, that is not a tr ifling embarrassment. The attempt must be made, however ; action is indispensable ; none of us would be safe from the consequences of a culpable inaction, a Perilous ap a thy. - In his speech on the distribution of the prizes at the Universal Exhibition of the 15th of November, 1855, the Emperor observed, "At the epoch of civilization at Which we now are, the success of armies, however rilliant, is transient." It is, intruth, public opinion Which gains the last victory. Ministers, senators, and deputies, councillors of state and prefects, you who are placed in the centre of the country to study its wants, to learn, its sentiments, its Wishes, and its alarms; collect and compare your opinions, e atefully observe who are those that rejoice, and who are they whom th e rum ours of war astonish, sadden, and er rifn—compare them and judge them, if you dare to Judge, th e mos t i n ti ma t e , the best friends, the most fai thful companions, the tried Achates of Louis Napo leon. By this last touch you will no longer hesitate to sa y all ; you will state in your reports all you know ; a nd from sphere to sphere the truth, stripped of its court trappings, that will reach to the foot of the throne. He Who fills that throne will see by the light of its torch a people does not repeat itself, and that a second edition of the first Empire is a dangerous chimera —a temptation proceeding from hell. He will see that the manners, the civilisation of Europe combine for peace ; that the very railroads themselves, by bringing people closer tog e th er , t ea ch them that they must no longer hate each other for the mere profit of their rulers, but for their own ruin. Better informed, and in language which few sovereigns have possessed in the same degree of literary Purity, the Emperor in a precise, clear, and ever emphatic style will dissipate disquietude, and put an end to the prevailing anxiety. He will confirm once more the unimpeachable sincerity of the famous Bordeaux speech— " the Empire is peace "--and at this powerful voice we shall see the swollen flood of public anxiety completely subside. Alluding in another passage to the error of those who think France could be easily led into war, he says,— krror, fatal error ! Go ! no matter, where, and get information. Penetrate into the garret of the poor man, into the workshops, the farmyards, the petty shops and larger warehouses, in every•spot, on all sides, you hear but one voice, and that voice raised in favour of general tran quillity. On every side you will be assured that France not only does not believe in the seasonableness of war, but that she is profoundly hostile to all projects of intervention abroad; that she reprobates beforehand all that would be done in that way ; and that, it the Government took a step in this direction, she would lose, with pain and sor row, her faith in the sincerity of the speech at Bordeaux ; -.France will no longer believe that' the Emperor means peace ! Cruelly undeceived, she will no longer contem plate but with affright the future which she so lately looked forward to with justifiable pride. Disenchanted, she will turn with sadness towards those who said to her, ' You desire the Empire—be, it so ?it is war with Europe !" In her consternntion she will reply, "It is too true !" And the Empire itself—what would become of it a m id th i s universal disenchantment ? B e un d er no delusi on ; have no doubt on the matter; out of 36,000,000 of people there are more than 35,000,000 who offer up Prayers for peace. The notion of re-editing the high deeds of the first empire appears to them an anachronism, and the temerity of madnesi. e, which It THE FRENCH PRESS. of is . t the. curious to note the ambiguous utterances French press on the war question. The -Patr puma', is till lately had taken rank as a peace now singularly careful to show that the d nevus from Vi enna l eaves a var i e ty o f other cultl s ope n . I t says open l y t h a t th e serious wfficulties relate to Italy, which, be it remembered, We were told semi-officially some days ago was not 1 1 1 the Emperor's mind when he spoke . to M. Hubner on N ew Year's Day. The Patr i e now says that there is no wisdom in denying the existence of complications which exist ; " on the iu Contrary, let us accustom ourselves to look them the . face, s o as to appreciate them calmly, and do minate them authoritatively. In a word, let us be calm, b ut w i thout going to sleep." The Presse, which, long before the public had taken alarm, knew by secret information of the storm which w as brewing, and wrote war articles Which passed a l mos t unperce i ve d —th e P resse , Which is supposed to represent the ideas of those unofficial councilors who, in all probability, knew more of wh a t i s passing in the Emperor's mind than his recog ni se d m i n i sters, says, i n an article eaded " Politics and the Bourse ; "We seek in vain the meaning of these violent alter nations of fear and hope which agitate the Bourse. Y "d, thing appeared lost to-d. .esterday every, _.6 app n , all is saved. Where, we may well ask , e the forewarning signs of the tempest, and where are the indications of the return of fine 'Weather which have alternately disturbed the impressionable imaginations of the financial 'World? What new light has burst upon the -situation ? Will the Austrian incident be dis entangled without a rupture by the supple hand 'of diplomacy, or must the Gordian knot be cut by the sword ? The whole question remains in just - as much uncertainty as ever, and no one is in a position to affirm that the solution has advanced -a single step either in one direction or another. What, then, is the meaning of all these heedless impulses which rush from the extremes of un justifiable panic to unreflecting confidence ? Let us beware lest behind these great movements of rise and fall there should be some of those artful m.aneeuvres which take advantage of, if they do not invent, the thousand contradictory rumours the origin of which is always unknown and the veracity of which it is impossible to ascertain. Articles published in journals which pass, rightly or wrongly, as organs which receive semi-official communications, are no sufficient guarantee for sensible men to believe that all difficulties are sud denly at an end. As to ourselves, who are not in the 'secret of the gods,' we shall not cease to recommend to the interests to which we are now addressing ourselves, the utmost prudence, and, moreover, that salutary distrust which' avoids the snares set for the credulous and unwary on the perfidious territory of the Bourse. We repeat, that there is no change whatever in the situation there is another Constitutionnel article, and that is all. A celebrated orator once said in the tribune, "Everything is possible in these days, the most unexpected things happen.' The event which the present generation have witnessed prove this mot to be a great truth. Let us, therefore, be prepared for every conjecture ; let us hope for peace, for immense interests are involved in it ; but let us wait war itself with firmness, if war is to ensue from the present complications. Let us look war in the face without desiring it, but without fearing it ; and and let us never forget that if war entails ever regrettable calamities, wai has sometimes served, and may again serve, the cause of justice civilisa tion, and liberty" VIENNA, Jan. 17 During the last day or two the leading German Papers have made exceedingly violent attacks on the French Government. The Kolner Zeitung, the Weser Zeitung, the National Zeitung, the Kreuz Zeitung, and the Augsbarg Allgentrtne Zeitung, expresses the opinions of different political parties, and consequently are co ntinually opp osed to each Other in home (German) matters, but they are unanimous in their condemnation of the policy of France. The Kolner Zeitung strongly urges the necessity for the establishment of a perfect understanding betw een Prussia, Austria and the other German States, and The Weser Zeitung, which is one of th e best conducted, and in general one of the most moderate Papers in Germany, declares that is the litti© nephew of a great uncle expects that Germany will patiently bear with his parvenu arrogance, he deceives himself. Another paper says, the vexatious policy of France has excited such indignation in Germany _that _the inhabitants of the great 'U,iherl;nd are in imminent dangei of forgetting the Concordat, and of uniting with Austria in opposing the aggressions of the Emperor Napoleon. The Kreuz Zeitung strongly protests against the conduct of the French Government, but it does not neglect to remind the Austrian Cabinet that it not very long ago was proud of its inti mate alliance with France. Persons who have recently come to this city from Southern Ger thany relate that there has not been such a political ferment since the year 1813, when the Germans rose as one man against the incorrigible troubler of the peace of Europe. A day or two since there was another demonstration of public feeling here. The Archduke Francis Charles, the father of the Emperor, was loudly cheered by the people while walking in the Prater. As a rule, the members of the Imperial family are permitted to take their constitutional walks in peace, but during the last few days the public has eagerly seized every opportunity of giving tokens of its sympathy and loyalty, Letters received from, officers stationed at Milan and Venice give insight into the feelings of the army. The troops openly express a wish that it may not be necessary to draw their swords against the Lombards and Venetians ; but they ardently hope there will be a foreign war. It is not distinctly said what is meant by a " foreign war : " but it is well known to me that the Austrian officers would greatly like to measure swords with the French. To use their own words, " there are old notches ( Scharten) to be whet out (auszuwetzen )." On Friday it was rumoured here that a battalion of the regiment " King of the Belgians" had been lost while crossing from Trieste to Venice, but positive information has been received that the troops in question reached their destination without any mishap. The battalions which are to remain in the province of Venice went there by sea from Trieste, but the troops- whose destination is Lombardy took the route of Casarsa and Conegliano. The troops which now form the garrison of this city are the regiments of the line—" Archduke William," from Cracow • " Baron Alemann," from Prague ; " Count Jellachich," from Wadowice, in Gallacia ; and the ith and 19th Battalion of Rifles, from Bochnia and Wieliczka. The regiments of the line " Baron Kellner " and " Count Hartmann," are on their way from Hermannstadt and Kron stadt, in Transylvania. The Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian has left Milan for Trieste, where he will meet the newly-married Bavarian Princess. Very great secresy is maintained here in regard to the intended future movements of the Governor- General of the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom, but it is believed that he will pass a part of the winter at Trieste, where the Archduchess Charlotte, who is far advanced in her pregnancy now is. We .now learn that the story of the two officers having been attacked at Milan is not entirely devoid of foun dation. The two officers resisted the attempt of some young men to make them leave off smoking, but they were soon so mobbed that they were obliged to retreat to • a neighbouring guard-house. Some days ago, the Archduke Ferdinand Maxi milian quitted the Scala suddenly, because a part of the audience put on their hats, a proceeding which is contrary to Austrian etiquette. The re port that the Archduke Albrecht, who is now Governor-General of Hungary, is to go to Milan instead of the Archduke Ferdinand. Maximilian, is unfounded. Two war steamers have been sent to Zeng, a small port near Fiume, where they will take border troops on board, and convey them to Venice. Some further details relative to the demonstra tion made by the students at Padua have come to my knowledge. M. Zambra, a very learned man, who was professor of physics at Padua, was greatly esteemed by all parties. Being sickly, M. Zambra went to Treviso for the benefit of his health, and while there he died of tubercular consumption, after having directed that his remains should be taken to Padua for interment. The instructions of the dying man were followed, but the funeral took place at an earlier hour than had been originally fixed. This gave great umbrage to the students, and they repaired to the cemetery, where they opened the grave and tossed into it tricoloured cockades. As loud cries of "Evviva Italia !" were raised and revolutionary speeches made, a patrol, composed •of a few Husars, ordered the students to disperse. The hot headed lads at first refused to obey, but as soon as the Hussars fired their carbines, they took to their heels. In the meanwhile the garrison had taken possession of the University, and, in the course of the day, several students, who had more particularly distinguished themselves by the vio lence of their language, were arrested. A cor respondent of the Trieste Zeitung writes, that the misguided disturbers of the public peace, who have been removed to Venice, appear to have recovered from their political inebriation. The Oest-Deutsche Post, as the non-official organ of the Foreign Office, endeavours to excuse the conduct of the Austrian Government in the matter of the fortress of Belgrade ; but it appears to be that it has made bad worse. It should have been the policy of this Cabinet to avoid giving France any cause for complaint ; but when it authorized Count Coronini to render assistance to Osman Pasha, it took a step which gave the Emperor Napoleon the so long sought opportunity for picking a quarrel. As has already been said, not an Austrian soldier will be sent across the Save ; but the question is not yet settled, because Austria considers it in compatible with her dignity to rescind the order given to Count Coronini. No formal protests have yet been made against the present or future despatch of an Austrian corps to the assistance of the garrison of Belgrade, but it is morally certain that they will come, should Austria continue obstinate. It strikes me that Austria has quite enough occupation in Italy, but Count Buol and his Imperial master do not seem to be of the same opinion. A warm discussion is going on be tween Rome and the Swiss Confederation respect ing the rights of the Papal nuncio in Switzerland. What will be the end of the matter it is impossible to foretell, but in 1836 the Grand Council of Lucerne decreed, " that the jurisdiction of the Papal nuncio in spiritual matters was an abuse, and could not be permitted." The nuncio thereupon withdrew the canton Schwyz, in which, as you are perhaps aware, the Ultramontane party is almost omnipotent. Not long since Peter Meyar, the prelate of the Benedictine, convent of St. Florian, died at Rome, where he had gone with the intention of representing to his Holiness that men who were employed in teaching from morning till night could not live as the monks did in the sixth century, when the order was founded. THE STATE OF NAPLES NAPLES, Jan. 16 During the week a number of decorations have been granted to those whom Royalty delights to honour. Among these are the rifost noted spies of Naples, Commissaries of Police, and a mere boy, while the worth and the learning of the country are passed over. I may mention the names of Campagna, the noted Commissary of Police—of Faraone, the Court Inspector of Police, who, as I informed you, was deprived of his office in the autumn, in consequence of an act very much resembling a fraud, and shortly after restored to office and to favour. Two other names which have been honoured are Salvato and Pepo, well known here and not un known, perhaps, to many out of the country. The rod and the wise work on in silence, and re gret in vain the excesses and the follies which are preparing evil days for this unhappy country. A Minister of State has declared that the British Government is responsible for the infamous acts which have been perpetrated, this week in Naples. The authority i s high, c an connive at or sanction such •a G ins is arraigned beforeawl if the assertion be well founded, the s ooner th a t, d o e v s e p r c n t m i c e n p t r c w c h e ra h letter it w'_';l be for the honour of every the tribunal of public opin ion the IRELAND. —LEGAL APPOINTMENTS. DUBLIN, Thursday USE OF PATEAKAAT THE NORTHERN TIMES, FRIDAY, XANUARY 21, 1859 Englishman. I must confess that there is a long train of evidence in favour of such a supposition.. It is well known that both Lord Palmerston's and Lord Derby's Governments have made the libera tion of political prisoners the great, if not almost the only question. I think wrongly so; for it is just as easy to open as to shut a door, and the boon above mentioned involved no principle, changed no system. It is very clear, too, that Lord Derby has had a weakness for the King of Naples—that is to say, his tendencies have been towards a reconcilia tion. Even the Cagliari business was done in such a manner as to show that the object of it was to brush aside all difficulties, for there was criminal forbearance shown, and Sardinia, plucky Sardinia, our companion in suffering, our brother in political institutions and sympathies, was thrown aside, and Naples allowed to triumph over her. From that time to this, our Government has shown a number of undignified symptoms of a desire to court the favour of His Majesty of the Two Sicilies. " What can be done ? " it was asked at Cherbourg, " Would the great arbiter of the south of Italy send the poll= tical prisoners to America ?" The answer was in the negative—the great King would not. Let us knock at the door again—for some trifle or other, Mr. Fenton, of the Tuscan Legation, is sent down, and sees Signor Carafa about a matter which our able Acting Consul might have arranged. There was a pleasure, however, in lingering near the land of promise. Again the Consul, Captain Gallwey, dies, and an exequatur is demanded immediately, and a few days since a telegram from the Foreign Office arrives for Signor Carafa, Minister for Foreign Affairs. Throughout the whole of this short but, I believe, veracious history, there is a ridiculous and a disgraceful eagerness apparent to kiss and make it up with a Power which has resisted. our intercession, laughed at our feeble and contradictory efforts, and, in defiance of our wishes and our counsels, has steadily pur sued a system which is the disgrace of civili sation. Again, there is something worse to be found in this short history, and that is, the germ of the decrees which are now agitating Naples to its very foundations, and rendering necessary the extremest measures to preserve the public peace. Englishmen may well blush at the vacillating and tortuous policy of their Go vernment in Italy, and reasonably put in a claim to know something of what they are pledged to abroad before it is too late to recede. While England has been acting thus, France has done nothing, and will do nothing—she sees no sufficient grounds for sending back a Minister, and has not shown any desire to do so ; her part has been dignified, whatever her remote views may be. Naples has had the best of it, and played her part so well as almost to stop the mouth of our Govern ment, and to induce a divided action between France and England. To the latter' she can say, " I have granted what you asked ; I have liberated political prisoners, and done it according to your own insinuation---I have sent them to America. Send back your minister regardless of what France may do." In these words is well de scribed, I think, the actual policy of Naples. Events are marching on so rapidly and seri ously, that she sees the necessity of having here the minister of at least one of the great Western Powers. She chooses that one which is to be gained by an insignificant price, and calcu lates on dividing the allies. England is thus made the sport of Naples, and France, with all the sym pathies of the Italians rushing towards her, remains mistress of the position. How wretched are these results of English bluster for the last two or three years ! We cling to Austria from a sense of political necessity, as a counterbalance to France, and, in defiance of all principle, sacrifice the liberties of Italy. There can be no doubt that the time for intervention in the Peninsula is rapidly approaching, and such an intervention must be not in the interest of worn-out dynasties and despotic systems, but of the liberties of the people now trampled on and despised. France and England must act together, and whatever people may say of the difference of the political sympa thies of the Governments, they can do so better than is believed, for what Italy wants is not so much the full-blown institutions of England as social existence, material development, security of person and property,. strict observance of thelaw, all of which objects in the kingdom of the Two Sicilies are neglected or ignored. Above all, at this important crisis, let no British Minister appear in Naples at the whistle of its Sovereign, in hasty compliance with a telegram, to sanction enormities which may be compared to the deportations to Cayenne, and to sacrifice British honour. As yet no publicity has been given to the decrees which I have been denouncing ; they are executed in secret, nor has any inteligence of them been con veyed to the Diplomatic Body. INDIA AND CHINA MAILS. SOUTHAMPTON, Thursday Morning. The Indus has arrived with East India and China mails, and £12,000 specie, and dates from Alexandria to January 6, Malta the 11th, and Gibraltar the 15th. Several vessels have been wrecked at Malta. The Vulture lost anchor and cable at Gibraltar, owing to the heavy gales. Edmund Hayes, Esq., Solicitor-General, is ap pointed Lord Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench, in the room of Judge Crampton, resigned. Mr. Francis Fitzgerald is appointed Baron of the Exchequer, in place of Baron Pennefather. SHOCKING MURDER IN LANARKSHIRE. —A old man, named Thomas Johnston, residing alone near the Hole, two miles west of Coatbridge, on the banks of the. Monkland Canal, was found murdered in his dwelling house on Monday morning. He was lying on his face near to the fireplace, with the back of his head smashed in. The house presented the appearance ..2f a desperate struggle The walls were found bespattered with blood, and an axe lying close beside the murdered man. John ston lived in the house —his own property—alone. The cupboard and drawers in the house had been broken open and ransacked. _ _ FISHERY STATION.—In connection with the recent investigation as to the best site for a Fishery Harbour on the Banffshire coast, Mr, Bryson, factor for the Earl of Seafield, collected and arranged a good many interest ing data. Adding all the stations together, it is found that the aggregate population is 10,555. The total number of boats is 587 large, and 148 small. The total number of boats employed at these ports in the herring fishing of 1858 was 300, employing 1,534 hands. The , number of boats engaged at the white fishing is 91 large and 148 small, employing 1,049 men. The number of . occasional fishermen at all the ports is 40§, and the total number of fishermen is 1,457. LOCKOUT OF FELT MAKERS AT DENTON.—On the Ist of January last, the Felt Hat Makers' Mike demanded a new list, involving not only an increase• of wages but also a curtailment of weights and sizes. The masters organised an association, while the men have determined to strike against the various firms one by one. The ballot having fallen upon the Messrs. Peacock, the other associated masters, after holding consultation with the adjacent districts, have refused work to all applicants until Messrs. Peacock's men return to work. In addition to the new list, the felt makers now require a dismissal of all journeymen who are reported by their Secretary as behindhand in their contributions to the funds, or who employ apprentices. It is to be hoped, for the benefit of both parties, that a speedy settlement of this unfortunate dispute will take place THE GOVERNMENT —A writer in the Press declares that, with the exception of a certain clique, "which seems to monopolise the astribution of alt the patronage," Lord Derby has not a single supporter in the House of Commons who has not given utterance to some such remark as the following : —"What an extraor dinary thing it is that such and such a place, or command, or- judicial situation, should be given by the present Government to a strong political opponent ! " - Thi s I s declared to be the case with Lord Malmesbury's diplomatic selections ; in the selection of members of commissions ; and, ".though last, not least, of all strong political partisans who havo been conspicuous during the last twenty years, forsooth, Sir Charles Trevelyan, the old Treasury Whig partisan, is to be Governor of the Presidency of Madras 1 " The writer concludes with asking, " Are the supporters of Lord Derby's policy, who have sat and toiled for thirty years on the cold shore of opposition, to:be ostracised by the dispensers of the pathmage . of the present administration " MR S COMMISSIONER JANE ON BANKRUPTCY REFORM Mr. Commissioner Fane has published the follow ing• observations on proposed reforms in the bank rup,'-,cv and insolvency laws :- 1, tdo not think that any legislative assistance should be giv.en to enable any majority of creditors, seeking what is called " liquidation" (which, however, is nothing.but a plausible word for "secrecy") to control any minority of creditors, however small. I would not allow even ninety-nine creditors to• control the hundredth creditor. The ninety-nine who advocate secrecy are public enemies. The hundredth man,. who insists on publicity, is the friend of the public. There is nothing so agreeable to an insolvent and his creditor as secrecy—nothing so disagreeable as publicity. The debtor is only too &l en a knave ; the creditors are almost all victims of their own readiness to give credit without inquiry. The debtor hates to have his knavery, the creditor hates to have his folly, exposed. They are in a conspiracy against honest mea t and their engine is "secrecy The usual course is this. When the debtor cannot longer delay the evil day, he calls his creditors together to hear his statement of debts and assets, and he submits a proposition, which is always to pay so many shillings in the pound. Generally he offers about as much as he can pay. The creditors consider his proposition, and almost always stipulate for something more. The debtor is so anxious for secrecy that he generally undertakes to pay the something more, but he proposes to pay it by acceptances, at three, six, nine, and twelve months Having thus bought secresy, he obtains during the* twelve months, of tradesmen who have not heard of his insol vency, the means of paying his existing creditors ; and thus Peter is robbed to pay Paul, and the result is the knave is turned loose on the world unexposed. The existing creditors do not trust him during the twelve months, because they know him ; new creditors do trust him, because they do not know him. Is this a system which the law should encourage ? If I could make the law, I would not only not give the smallest power to the majority of creditors to bind the minority ; I would go further, and would even enact that the creditor who established the bankruptcy should receive some advantage as a reward for having been the first to denounce the insolvent, and so stop his mischievous career. In a bankruptcy before me a short time ago, two eminent banking hoases in the city lost--ooe .£5,000, the other £1,500, by not knowing that a person who put his name to a bill as a second security had privately arranged with his creditors a year before. I, for one, will never lift a finger to assist private arrangement. The true policy is publicity. 2. I think there ought not to be two laws—a law of bankruptcy and a law of insolvency. • I think that there should be but one law, and that law should be the existing law of bankruptcy. The principle of the law of bankruptcy is right. It is this take possession of the bankrupt's property, realise it, and after paying expenses distribute it among the credi tors.. Inquire into the conduct of the bankrupt before and pending his bankruptcy, and treat him accordingly, so far as punishment goes ; but in any event, return him sooner or later tothe world of industry, entirely free from all former debts. Let him re-commence the struggle to maintain himself and his family ; do not impede, or, it might be said, neutralise his exertions by weighing him down with old debts. Creditors are nearly as much to blame as the debtors, and ought not to be permitted to oppress those whom they have themselves misled by the carelessness with which they have given credit. Assuming that there ought not to be two laws, a law of bankruptcy and a law of insolvency, and assuming that the main principles of the law of bankruptcy are right, it follows that the insolvent law should be dropped, and the bankrupt law substituted ; with such amendments as should be approved of. It is proposed to consolidate the Bankrupt and Insol vency Courts, and have only one court, the judges of which shall be called judges, not commissioners. This seems right. I think that the word bankruptcy should be dropped. The proper word is insolvency. The con solidated court should, therefore, be called the Court of Insolvency. But it would be inexpedient to have all the cases of insolvency managed by the same court, as there is great inconvenience in mixing the low with persons who have always moved in a higher sphere. The proposal, therefore, to retain the court-house and establishment in Portugal-street, as well as the building .and establishment in Basinghall-street, and use the former for the lower class of insolvents and the creditors, and the latter for the higher classes seems judicious. It is a great advantage that they are a mile and more from each other. Insolvents should be divided into two classes - say class A and class B. Class A should consist of those insolvents whose available assets would probably exceed £200; class B should consist of those whose available assets would probably not exceed that sum. Class A should be dealt with by the judges sitting in Basinghall-street and the Bankruptcy Courts in the country, class B by the judges sitting in Portugal street and the insolvency judges in the country. 3. The law which now enables a creditor who has got judgment to take the property of his debtor in execution for his own private use should be abolished. He ought to have 20s in the pound on the cost he has incurred, but should come in with the other creditors for a dividend on his debt. Under the existing system, the debtor is cons'a itly in league with the execution creditor, and the two con trive to cheat all the other creditors. Even if the demand of the creditor is an honest demand, it is most unjust that he should get 20s in the pound upon his debt, when the other creditors get little or nothing ; but if it is not an honest demand (and it is very difficult to find out whether it is or is not) it is a most revolting piece of knavery, because it is turning the law, which ought to be a pro -tection to honest men, into an instrument to cheat them. 4. The law should declare that it is the duty of every person, when unable to meet his engagements, to record the fact in the Court of Insolvency. The mode of pro ceeding should be for the debtor to go before the regis trar oethe day, accompanied by an attorney of the court to identify him, and declare himself unable to meet his en gagements. The court upon this ought to cause the insol vency to be gazetted, and the usual proceedings should take place. If the insolvent did not originate proceedings against himself, any unpaid creditor should be at liberty to go before the proper court, and state upon oath a primer facie case of debt due. There should not be any specific amount required. The smaller the debt due and unpaid, the stronger would be the proof it afforded of the insol vency of the debtor. He who cannot pay £5, cannot pay £5O. The judge should immediately issue his summons to the alleged debtor, calling upon him to attend the court on a fixed day, and show cause why he should not be judged insolvent. When the insolvent attended, the court would deal with the case as justice required. If the insolvency was declared, everything would proceed as now, till the insolvent had passed his last examination. He would then ask for' his. certificate, which would be granted, as of course, unless. opposed, the court granting a first, second; or third class,. according to the circumstances of the case ; but I think that no certificate but a third-class certificate should be' given, unless the court should be of opinion that the insolvent had produced assets which, if they had been sold accordin g to the usual course of business, would have amounted to 20 per cent. upon. his debts. There ought to be a code •of commercial crimes. or offences and punishment. The punishment should err on the side of mercy, not severity. A. law constructed on these principles would, I think, win public favour. lam very apprehensive that the bill, if passed as proposed, will throw us all into confusion, from which we shall not recover for a great length of tune. Tun NEWCASTLE DISTRICT BANK. — The subject of the ( scale , of remuneration to be paid to the three.liquidators 1 of this bank, and also to Mr. Coleman, the fourth liqui- clator, came on on Saturday - last before Vice-Chancellor Mir/eraley. Mr. Murray,. representing creditors of £3;000 and upwards, whose total debts were.£l,l2o,ooo, stated that all his clients were of opinion: that the remuneratien asked for bye the three licpida.tors.of £1,500 a year for three years 'VAS too high, and. that Mr. Cole man's claim was also much too high, Most of them thought that £5OO a year would be- ample, and two or three thought n,ooo.llberal, and none-of 'them thought £1,600 a proper sum, Some of the gentleman thought the remuneration should be a per tentage upon the assets, or upon the payments made, an gradually diminish in amount each year ; and that one per- cent. be paid to Mr. Coleman for two years, a rray then adduced the this would requiscale of re a sum of about L 21,00 0 ,. Mr.Mu payments to the liquidators of the Western Bank of Scot land,bank the Liverpool Borough Bank, and the North of Eng.. land, to show- that the stun proposed was not only ju s t but very liberal. Mr. Coleman said the liquisl a ti, r i a . s Gf the would probably extend over SiX, or seven years; that it f l u v l e l re ; I T: y d on t d ha a t u th co e m was very doubtful indeed if the liabilities would ever i ll-l i nk difficult to arrange than those of The difficulties were such as he even the I ) had with, even in the whole of his long practi ce , of the bank seemed to have been ch osen their stupidity rather than for thei r they might not-understand what conversation then followed expenses of clerks and account ants the sum to be awarded se parately, and it was 'and the method adopted. !Ism more British Bank. never before met The clerks on account of intelligence, so that on the was Ping on. Along question, whether the th should be included in e liquidators, v allowed T ers e tood that the latter should be all the gentlemen who h inee-Chancellor blving heard said he would take t hart any ablerrations to make, inform the i WO or throe ii . e Clal ef tiett of 1 1. ' --- I ' o ° --nrs to consider, and Chronicle, • . •• • `..s decision.—Newcastic ANOTHER CHILD POISON ED BY " INFANTS' PRESERVATIVE." An inquest was held at the Rycroft Inn, Ashton under-Lyne, on Wednesday afternoon last, - before Mr. .7 - 7 Rutter, county coroner, touching the death of an infant male child of John Ridgway, mechanic, Stockport-road, Ashton, the child having died suddenly, and it being understood that it had come to its death from the effects of a sleeping cordial given by the advice of the nurse. Mr. George Woollam, surgeon, Stamford-street, stated that he had attended the wife of Ridgway during her umh e a o aor ll li fi ihine rt egur e i ra naa rno eTl ydru t le , virei f ti r lhll o d.e in r hAo t e h cbc e oau 7 s it t o h of J discontinued nnint oe a op January hf a oe r icss y ks ; a 00i nsniat stl n lh,y d el o e a n t t t e h n e :13 t t h h , e leaving morningbo both. of the 15th, he was requested to call and see the child. When he got to its parent's house, he found it in a state of stupor ; the . pupils of its eyes were much enlarged, and it exhibited every symptoms of being affected with narcotic poison. He inquired what the child had had, when he was shown a bottle containing a blackish coloured fluid, and was told that the child had had half a tea spoonful of it. From the state the child was in, and having ascertained there was opiuni or laudanum in the mixture, as well as knowing that the 32nd part of a grain of opium had been sufficient, under such circumstanes, to cause death, Mr. Woollam had at once no hopes of the child's recovery ; and, notwithstand ing every attention, it eked about half-past four the pine afternoon. He ascertained that Mrs. Walker, a midwife, who had been attending the mother, had recom mended the stuff, and that her husband was the maker of it. Mr. Woollam expressed his positive opinion that the child had died from the effects of opium, and stated that under no circumstances should opium be ad ministered to a child of that age, nor would it be, except by persons ignorant of its properties. The coroner said, as the medicine had not been administered by Mrs. Walker, and as she was not present when it was ad ministered, the verdict would be one of misadventure. Had Mrs. Walker been present when it was adminis tered, he should certainly have advised the Jury to have sent her for trial for manslaughter, as it was quite time these practices were put a stop to. A verdict was re turned in accordance with the opinion of the coroner. BURNS' CENTENARY.. TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN TIMES Sir, lam a Puritax of the true orthodox type, sound to the very letter upon all the points that constitute the creed called Calvinistic, yet, not withstanding the absolute character of the doc trines of my religious belief, I have been racking my brains to discover the cause, natural or acci dental, of the enthusiasm which appears to pervade nearly all ss at c i l o a ns e o s f , explodepraise o f the i n t poet, o e he t, a t n h d e 2 w s rh th in , h in is pi t . n ai Robert Burns. I have read the " immortal bard's" poems through and through, and have studied his life as written by pretty faithful biographers, a n d the conclusion I have come to is, that he was at once the wisest of men and the greatest of fools his country has produced. I humbly think that if he flourished at the present time, lived the same life, wrote the same poems, that, in spite of the bewitchery of his genius, he and his writings would be doomed to at least a temporary dis avowal by the common sense (omitting the pious) portion of the community. In fact, our publishers, now-a-days, are guided so much by principle or self-interest, that really even a Robert Burns might seek in vain, amongst the respectable of their class, to find one that would usher poems, of such varied moral character, into the reading world. Now, if these things are true, as I think they are, it is unaccountable that a generation sc. captious as ours should celebrate this poet's birth day as never poet's birthday was celebrated before.. Brutus honoured Ca sar for his affection, fortune, and valour; but he slew him for his ambition. Brutus did wrong, and so do all those that would. denounce Barns's claims to our admiration and. gratitude, because, amidst many virtues he had many vices. But who can forget that he was as much the creature of circumstances as most men— that he forsook the society of rank, fortune, and talents to associate with the idle, base, and the dis sipated—that in the zenith of his fame he hired him self to a West India planter, for VG a-year, to whip his slaves, and that many of his cleverest pieces countenance, if not recommend (as some say) obscenity and intemperance. Those of my peculiar cast of mind are quite in with the ob servance of Burns's centennial birthday, but we cannot understand how Cowper's (a more moral man and a rival genius) and Milton's (the author of works undoubtedly more imperishable, and, to boot, a hero of the Commonwealth) should be allowed to pass over unheeded. A satisfactory clearing up of this misty subject by some qualified pen like your own, would make us who stagger at everything which is not directly for the glory of God, or the good of living man, much more willing to eat, drink, sing, and dance in the grandest hall in Europe, on Tuesday next, in honour of Robert Burns. —I am, sir, yours, &c. CLTI BONO ? A lad, 17 -years of age, hanged himself last week at Carrickfergus, because his father would not buy him a whip and a pair of boots in Belfast ! The Palace of Tippoo Sultan, at Seringapatam, being- elaborately re-embellished. The natives have been allowed to exercise their own taste in the work, and have chosen to represent on a large cartoon the defeat of the British forces under Colone Bailie, by Tippoo Sultan. What is most singular is that the Sultan's tomb, which is very magnificent, was built by the British at an enormous cost, and a large 'grant is annually made, while a neglected monument of Colonel Bailie, raised by his grandson, is all the honour paid to the brave English soldier who died a prisoner in Tippoo's dungeons. 'What reason on earth have we to•perpetuate- the old tyrant's fame, and keep alive the memory of past Moslem glory among a dangerous and fanatical population ? HONOUR. IN BUSINESS.—Mr. Peter M'Laurin, of London, is a gentleman well-known in manufacturing circles. He was at one time resident in, and it his pre sent capacity has still an extensive business connection, with Galashiels. Mr. M‘Laurin was about ten years ago a partner in the firm of M'Laurin and Dunlop, of Glasgow, 'which house on two occasions was obliged to succumb to the pressure of 'the times. During this week, Mr. M'Laurin has been paying in full with interest for the time intervening, his share of the liabilities of that firm. In this manner a very considerable sum has come into the hands of our manufacturers, which, as the saying goes, is as good as found money. Such honourable conduct is beyond all praise,- Border- Advertiser. OUTRAGE BY THE MEXICAN AUTHORITIES. -In the Journal of Wedneday last allusion was made . to an outrage committed at Zacatecas on Mr. Newall ,_ a British merchant of the high est respectability. Mr. all, ral who Marquez,narrowly is a brotherescaped bei ng of in e s s h e orderbwyall, Esq.,f agent of the British Linen Company, New er at Newton Stewart. The latter gentleman write; us that Lord Malmesbury has taken up the matter very promptly, and that instructions have been wilt out to Mr. Otway, our minister in Mexico, to " demand" and " insist" on • reparation and "an ample apology." The complaints of the defencelessness of British. subjects in Mexico have been so numerous of late that the commercial public, we are sure, will be glad to learn that Lord Malmesbury is at length aroused into activity.—Glusgoze Journal. f the n d morning, nos t ois his furniture house, STARTLING NUPTIAL,INSCRIPTION.—On a f arm er named Quigley, residing at Kilcomrnou, King's County, was married, and after returnin g f rom t h e e, mar riageaceamfpacasntie, d at b a y n h e is ar b ly rid h e o , ur ie .lin smashed, and a notice. attached to his best four-poster, intimating that his. rec en t v i s i tors " woul d be the death o f him, married or single !"' Not a very pleasant- wel come. It is said that thbeing married bridegroom was about married to a Young Woman in the neighbourhood, whom he.deserted for a larger fortune, which has incensed her friends, wh o h ave i nstituted suc h a un i que ac ti on f or breach of promise. The Ribbon executive, as. is well known in the• counties where its dictates are most usually obeyed, does not confine its operations to agrarian mat ters, but. also assumes to regulate every sociel relation according. to its notions of justice. EXTRAORDINARY AND USEFUL INVENTION.,--There is nothing that housewives complain of with greater truth fulness, than the breaking of some favourite piece of glass, valuable china, or earthenware. In hundreds of cases such things cannot be matched, and of course cannot be mended. The latter want has been obviated by an extraordidary and effective invention, by Mr. Adshead, or Derby Pottery, near Derby .It is a cement that may be said to heal, in a perfect manner, all cracks and breaks in the articles spoken of; and not only in these, but in a T not ble, alabaster, &e. The benefit of this article need ia a t Mr. d be dwelt on. We have seen some of its effects Hall's, our neighbours, and the g lass than in any other. cemented by it is stronger in that p s ar t that, has been The article is very cheap, and no its sale Liverpool, ' all interested can judg e for themselves, by E. T look in at },is establishment. Agent Liverpool, for T . 23, S ou th John-street. Sold in bottles, Is. eao , or sent free on receipt of sixteen postage stamps. LIFE IN LONDON. THE SEQUEL. We yesterday characterised the statement made by the new Perdita, Miss lane Newell, as a "cock-and-bull " story, and the disclosures made during the last investigation at the Lambeth police court have amply verified our assumption. Miss Newell turns out to be an impudent, shameless, and forsworn little aventuriere—to use no harsher term ; and the charitable public have been made the dupes of a pair of worthless im posters. It is true that want of continence is not an indictable offence, and that unchaste women, so long as they do not offend against the irovi sions of the New Police Act, can. no longer be hauled off to Bridewell, there to be whipped and sent to pick oakum ; and the advocates of Jane Newell, if any she still have, might plead that the examination to which she was subjected was of somewhat an extra-judicial nature. But it must be remembered that her mother herself first solicited an investigation ; that the daughter sub mitted herself voluntarily for examination ; that her statements were made without coercion, and under no undue influence ; and that they contained accusations against persons who, thougli decidedly anything but morally white as the driven snow, have not been, in this especial case, criminal. The truth was elicited as by a corkscrew from the mendacious Miss Newell. One by one her card battlements of fiction fell to the ground, and she stood, at last, confessedly guilty of perjury, as wilful and as corrupt as ever was uttered in a court of justice. Miss Emily Hobbs is, it appears, perfectly inno cent of decoying the naughty ballet girl into the toils of the Philanthropist of Somerset-terrace ; and the now notorious Mrs. Ellis has not to accuse herself of detaining a pure and innocent girl a captive in her abominable bordello. The girl walked into the den with her eyes wide open, and of her own free will ; she elected to stay in that abode of infamy; and was content to share the wages of her shame with the entremetteuse. Nay, a letter was produced in court, written by Jane Newell to Mrs. Ellis, in which she concocts, and requests the dissemination of a lie as to her purity—in which she sends the woman her "kind love," and promises to stay with her altogether, soon, "with her mother's consent." The disregard evinced by Miss Jane Newell for the obligations of an oath is as extraordinary as it is shameless. She perjures herself over and over again in an unblushing and—as the report says — in a " pert and forward" manner. She swore she was virtuous, and then admitted that she hadbeen seduced by a musician, who allowed her a guinea a week. She swore that her only paramour had been one. Smith—a fellow who had the im pudence to appear in court, and was deservedly hooted out of it—and then she admitted having "seen" the six or seven "gentlemen" to whom Mrs. Ellis introduced her. She had declared that she was not allowed to quit the house in Somerset-terrace. The next day she confessed to having attended a masquerade at some low dancing saloon, attired as a page ; being all the time resident at the lupanar in Pimlico. Nobody asked her to invent these fig ments. Her lies were as gratuitous, her perjuries as gross and as malevolent, as those of Alice Grey, or those of Elizabeth Canning, whose name we yesterday incidentally mentioned,l and whose case, under curiously analogous circumstances, created an immense sensation upwards of a century ago. We can only ascribe the mendacity of Jane Newell to an utter perversion of the moral sense, or to in nate depravity. It is not without relutance that we have again adverted to this most crapulous transaction. From its squalid evil, however, may come good in demonstrating to the noisy brawlers on the intolerable sin of the Social Evil, as exemplified in the forlorn creatures in rouge and rags and ribbons who parade our streets after nightfall, that there is sterner work cut out for them in attempting to stem the strong undercurrent of semi-respect able vice and immorality that is flowing through the social fabric. The managers of our much . maligned theatres do not seem immediately to blame for the pranks of Miss Newell, and such as she. We are introduced to a shabby Bohemia, A dingy demi-monde, full of dubious " Mr. Smiths" and equivocal " Mrs. Ellises," of misty Tunses of debauchery, of whom stat nominis umbra, who come like shadows, pay "two pounds" and " three pounds," and so depart. We wander into oyster shops and fifth-rate masquerades, and we are haunted by the nightmares of those übiquitous " lady friends" whom every man and woman in this extraordinary Newell case seems to possess. However, there is an end of it, so far as the public are concerned. The stage-managers of the Metropolitan Theatres will no longer be very anxious, we opine, to number the black sheep, Jane Newell, among their snowy-fleeced lambkins; and the best persons to look after the benevolent Mrs. Ellis are the parochial authorities of Pimlico. For let not this woman imagine that, though scot-free from the charge of kidnapping Jane Newell, she is absolved in the eyes of society or the law. Her infamous trade is known, her guilty earnings are computed ; by all honest and right minded persons she must be held in utter loathing and abhorrence ; and unless she takes exceeding good care into what channels her philantrophy is in future diverted, we greatly err if justice do not lay her speedily by the heels. It is very melancholy and very humiliating to think that many benevolent persons whose hearts have been opened, and whose sympathies awakened by the recital of Mrs. Newell as it originally ap peared, may be disgusted, and discouraged from further responses to the appeals of misfortune, by the disgraceful imposture that has been practised in this case. It is even possible that the stream of charity that flows into the poor-boxes of our police courts may - be checked for awhile by the publicity given to the utterly undeserving cha racter of the Newells. That the check will only be temporary we hope and believe.; for, thank Heaven, the bounty of our country men and countrywomen is too exuberant, too spontaneous, to be long kept within the bounds of over-caution. Yet we may be permitted, in furtherance of the sacred cause of benevolence, respectfully to counsel those beneficent persons whose first impulse on reading a tale of distress in the newspapers is. to write a cheque, to cut a bank note into halves,. to thrust a sovereign into the incision in a card,. or to cram a quantity of postage stamps into an envelope, and send the donation at once packing, with a crowd of bewildering initials, to the sitting, magisirate—to withhold their kind hearted contributions till the tale in question has undergone a thorough and searching investigation at the hands of the proper authorities.. The metropolitan police bench is, we rejoice to say, in the occupation of a body of gentlemen whose learning.. whose probity, and whose impartiality are only equalled by their kindness of heart and their knowledge of the world. They, have been for years. the faithful and discreet almoners of the anonymous bounty of the public; and the juin dons. distribution of the funds committed to their guardianship is certain, But it is saddling them with most irksome labour, to render them trustees for' undeserving objects ; it is imposing on. them a most ungratefult task to have to announce•to. their unknown correspondents that the persons they desire to release have been tried in the balance and found wanting. Let the kind-hearted readers of the newspapers, therefore,, exercise a little patience. Let them wait till te magistrate has declared himself satisfied with the truth of the statement made before him ; and then the bene volent may come forward, and. oast into the chest without stint, and without the unpleasant uncer tainty of relieving rogues instead of deserving objects.—Daily Telegraph. On Sunday, ripe blackberrin were found growing in a hedge on the road to Carrickfergus. it is stated that the Rev. Dr. M'Crie, in c h is antiquarian b x pl or ations of London , h a s discovered The Minutes of the Westminster Assembly," in manuscript, extending over the whole period, of its sittings. Dr Leo, principal of Edinburgh University, believed they had been destroyed by fire,