The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1846-02-24 00:00:00

imptrial Varltannitt. HOUSE OF LORDS.-MONDAY. Lord BE;t7moNT moved — for ;select committee to in uire into the.bualens on real property. He had ever held that peculiar burdens and protection to agriculture were intimately connected ; that either both must be con tinued or both removed ; and if the choice were before him, he should prefer the continuation of both to the re peal of both. In a report of the Poor. law Commissioners he found twenty-four distinct rates as raised entirely from real property. but he wished to distinguish such of these as were raised for local purposes from those which affected the community at large. In this latter class the rates for the maintenance of the poor, for the defence of the coun try, and for the administration of justice, were raised from real property alone ; but yet the support of the poor was a national object, just as much as the maintenance of jus tice and the national defences; nor (lid the original poor law ever contemplate levying these rates from one parti cular .class of property. He would next refer to the highway-rate, which he considered a tax for general pur poses, since the towns profited so much, or more by the road than the farmer by whose land it ran. The noble lord, after exempting the tithe-charge and the land-tax, then passed in review the malt-tax, the excise on bricks, the hop duty, and the stamps on transfer of property, as peculiar burdens on the landed interest, who, besides, contributed their full share to the general taxation of the country :and proceeded to say that he brought forward the present motion as a matter of necessity, and not for the sake of interfering with the measures of the govern ment. The fact was, Sir Robert Peel had put forth cer tain measures as a compensation to the landed interest, which he (Lord Beaumont) considered as no compensation at all. In his opinion it was impossible to estimate the loss of protection, and he would defy the most ingenious calculator to arrive at a satisfactory result. He respected the courage and sincerity of Sir R. Peel, but if his mea sures were carried in the present parliament, it would not be by the triumph of opinion, but in a trial of complai sance. Let the right honourable baronet appeal then to the country, and gain his ends, if they were to be gained, backed by a majority of the nation, instead of trusting to an able manoeuvre in party politics. . . Lord STANLEY was anxious to enter his protest against the opinion put forth by Lord Beaumont, that tithe was not a peculiar burden on land ; on the contrary, he agreed with Lord Brougham in thinking that the land-tax and tithe were burdens upon land in the sense in which they were now talking of burdens, and that in throwing these on one side Lord Beaumont had thrown away the strong est part of his case. The claim of the titheowner. indeed, was as sacred as the claim of the landowner ; and the pur chaser, in his individual capacity, had no right to com plain of the burden of tithes ; because he paid less for his property in consequence of their existence ; but the ques tion was very different when they had to consider whether they were not in themselves a burden on land. Lord Beaumont had looked upon the tithe mad rent as identical, but he (Lord Stanley) denied their identity ; rent was the urplus after the return for capital and profits, while tithe was paid in the first instance before the farmer had any profit, and before the landlord received his rent ; if the land were unprofitable, the rent fell, but the claim of the titheowner was undiminished, and undiminished must be added to the price actually paid for tie produc tion of the corn. He concurred with Lord Beaumont in his desire that the opinion of the country should be deli berately taken on the question. The Duke of RICHMOND could not consider the corn laws settled, because he could not conceive any member of the House of Commons would he sufficiently daring to pass the bill contrary to every pledge they had given on the hustings. I f this measure passed, the excitement now go ing on would he still kept up, and he believed the League would never be content till it had destroyed the Esta blished Church, and every other institution which the house fel: called on to stand by and defend. Lord GREY felt convinced that the landowners would be found on investigation to bear less, instead of more, than their due share of taxation. Lord ASHBURTON had great doubts of the expediency of the proposed committee, which was more likely to be a scene of wrangling than productive of any important col lection of facts. It seemed impossible not to consider tithes as a tax upon land, and the house should consider that in the event of land going out of cultivation when protection ceased, the first portion to go would be that which paid tithe. The motion as amended was agreed to, and the commit tee was nominated. HOUSE OF COMMONS.—MoNnAY. The Earl of March, Mr. Halsey, Lord A. Churchill, Mr. Buck, and Sir J. Tyrrell, stoke against the govern ment measure. and Mr. M. Gibson, Mr. Dickenson, Sir W. Clay, Lord H. Vane, and Mr. James, in favour of it, after which, Sir R. PEEL said that two important questions bad oc cupied the attention of the house during the last nights' debate. The one, the manner in which a great party should be conducted ; the other, the mode of averting a great national calamity, and the way in which the future commercial policy of the country should be administered; and of these the former had occupied considerably the lar ger share of attention. 'With respect to that one, he would at once admit that he had no defence. These mea sures were the worst for party purposes that could have been devised ; but with respect to the latter, with a great calamity impending, his duty to his Sovereign and to his country forbade that he should be influenced by party mo tives when the very existence was at stake of a great por tion of the population. The right hon. baronet then re stated all the circumstances connected with his retire ment from office in December, and his shortly afterwards resuming it, expressing at the same time surprise that the noble lord had not formed a ministry, and his belief that if be had formed one he would have succeeded in carrying the measure. lie had nothing to complain of in the ex planation of the noble lord on a former evening, and in deed in a long course of opposition to each other he be lieved that no ground was given on either side for any thing like acrimonious feeling; but in order to prove the sincerity of the support he proffered to the noble lord, he quoted a letter written by himself at the time to her Ma jesty, in which he stated the measures he thought neces sary, and pledged himself to support his successor, know ing at the time from her Majesty that it was her intention to send for Lord John Russell. He also in the same let ter pledged himself to support any increase which the noble lord might think necessary to the army and navy under the peculiar circumstances of the country. He said that, to show that be was not disposed to rob others of the credit of measures which they had always advo cated, but that on the contrary he was prepared td give the noble lord the same cordial support which the noble lord made it his boast that he was about to give him. With respect to those of his party who had now with drawn from him their confidence, he must say that in his situation he must know men's motives, and he believed no gentlemen were ever actuated by more honourable motives than those which actuated them ; but he would tell them that the month of May would not arrive without convincing even them that he would have been guilty of treachery to his Sovereign and to that house if he had taken any other course than that which be had adopted. He would not attempt to conciliate parties by any expres sion of regret for the course he had pursued. So far from it, he most solemnly declared that he looked back, as the happiest moment of his life, to the day in which he had proposed the opening of the ports, feeling that the great object of a Minister ought to be, under such circumstan ces, to increase the quantity of food in the country. The right hon. baronet then, in order to show the extent of the calamity to be anticipated in Ireland, read letters which he had only that and the previous morning received from Sir David Roche, Lord Stuart de Decies, and others, giving the most deplorable state of the potato crop, and the consequent hazard of famine, if steps were not taken to ward it off. The Government was doing all in its power to meet the evil by establishing granaries from whence corn might he furnished at low prices in return for labour. If, as May approached, the danger should increase, could he come down to the house to ask for £300,000 or £400,000 out of the public purse, without calling upon the landed interest to abate one letter of their law of pro tection ? It would be impossible. Under the pressure of the Irish case, it would be out of all character to talk of hoisting the banner of protection, of rousing the Bri tish lion, or of maintaining the corn laws in all their in tegrity. The right bon. baronet then referred to the course pursued in all former times of scarcity, and showed that in those cases the invariable remedy was to admit corn duty free. He had ample precedent, therefore, for the measures he proposed ; and had he done otherwise, be would only have thrown such odium on the protective duty as to excite strong public feeling against the landed interests. It was true that the most fitting times to have opened the ports would have been the first of November, but not having been done then, the necessity became greater for doing so now. But parliament was sit sing, and while sitting it would scarcely be proper for the executive to do that which he had invited the house by the measure before it to accomplish. The ports once opened for a few .months, he did not believe they would have ever been able to re-impose the duty. In the course of the lost session notice was given of a motion to admit maize free of duty, because it was useful for feeding cat tle. All were agreed that the duty on maize should be abated or taken off, but how was it possible to propose to parliament to take off the duty on maize, because it was useful to the farmer to feed his cattle and his pigs, while the duty was to remain on corn, which was the food for human beings ? The hon. baronet then proceeded to reply to the arguments of Mr. T. Baring and Mr. Scott, inti mating that the latter hon. gentleman seemed likely to rival Anacharsis Cloots, who had described himself as Attorney-General for the human race. He subsequently referred to the speeches of Mr. Colquhoun, Mr. B. Hope, Lord J. Manners (spoken in a former debate,) and Mr. Miles, who, he said, id most of his arguments was hand ling edged tools, as mischievous to himself as to his oppo nents. With respect to flax, to which the hon. member had alluded, what were the facts ? Ten years ago the duty on flax was taken off; and at this time three fourths of the cambrics used in this country came from France and one from Ireland. Now, however, these proportions ware reversed, and in the absence of protection the ista nufac.ure in Ireland had so far progressed now that three fourths of the cambric came from Ireland and only one fourth from France. Many of the agricultural members had said they preferred immediate repeal to the postpone ment for three years. He intended to adhere to the plan of the government, but should those hon. members, in conjunction with hon. members on the other side of lace him in a minority u p on t hi s the house. P point. bis only consideration then would be to give effect to the opinion of the house thus expressed upon this point against him, and to carry the immediate repeal of the corn-laws in such a way as to create as little confusion as possible in the country. The right hon. baronet then quoted some returns to show that agricultural prosperity did not altogether depend upon t 1 price of wheat. In the five years ending in the year 1815, the rental of England was thirty-two millions, and the average price of wheat wu 102,., while in the five years ending in 1842, the average price of wheat.fell, to 615., and the rental of Eng land rose to thirty-seven millions. The whole question raised by the amendment was only whether in our com mercial policy we were to advance or recede, for to stand still was in effect to recede. He was ashamed when he read some of the petitions presented to the house, and more particularly of that of the shipowners, which prayed the house to check all further rash experiments and resist the reduction of the duty on timber. And yet the aver age tonnage employed in the Canada trade with Liverpool was 163,000 tons, but since the removal the tonnage em ployed has risen to 194,000. Notwithstanding this, the shipowners, in their petition, spoke of hazardous experi ments. It was a fact that in Liverpool they had not a log of timber that would build a ship which would last twelve years, and yet it was shipowners that complained of his lowering the discriminating duties so as to enable them to obtain it. The right hon. baronet proceeded to show that in every instance in which it had been proposed to reduce protection, as in the case of potatoes, hops, silk, &c., predictions of ruin invariably assailed the minister, and yet in all those cases the results had been most bene ficial. England, he contended, had nothing to fear from competition, possessed, as she was, in addition to her skill and capital, of so many natural advantages. Other countries were waiting to follow her example. Sardinia had already adopted the principles of free trade; Naples would shortly follow ; Prussia was sha`<en ; and in France public opinion was rapidly advancing in the right channel. But whether they followed or not he called upon them, for their own sakes, to go on in a course of wisdom and sound policy without reference to the proceedings of other ❑ations. The right hon. baronet resumed his seat amidst loud cheering, after which Lord J. MANNERS moved the adjournment of the debate. HOUSE OF COMMONS.- TUESDAY. Mr. O'CoNNELL moved that on Monday, the 23d inst. the house should resolve itself into a committee of the whole house, to consider the condition of the Irish people, with a view of adopting means for their relief. Sir JAMES GRAHAM admitted the accuracy of the pain ful statements which Mr. O'Connell had made to the house. Government had obtained the most complete in formation by means of their officers, and they purposed losing no time in carrying out measures suited to this emergency. Already the sum of £168,000 was in progress of expenditure upon government works in Ireland ; and at least £2,000,000 would be expended in the present year upon Irish railways. Government, however, had not contented themselves with these palliations, but had adopted other precautionary measures, which he did not think it necessary to detail. He was prepared to give no tice, on behalf of government, of a measure for founding fever hospitals in Ireland, and he should propose, if ne cessary, still larger relief to be afforded. He wished the matter to be left with the executive. Mr. SHAW considered that the statements respecting the disease in the potato crop had been greatly exaggerated. Mr. OSWALD exhorted the house to take warning from the state of Ireland, and not to precipitate the people of England into similar destitution by repealing the corn laws. Mr. O'CoNNELL then withdrew his motion. The debate on the corn-laws was then resumed by Llrd Jetty MANNERS, who said thlr, apart from the merits or demerits of free trade, no case had been made out by the Government for proposing so sweeping a revolution, and that he felt perfectly justified in voting with the member for Shropshire for an appeal to the constituencies of Eng land. He should give his hearty vote in favour of pro tection. Mr. R. Palmer, Mr. Shaw, and Mr. Hudson also spoke in opposition to the measure ; Captain Layard, Sir C. Na pier, and Mr. Bright (at great length) in its favour. The debate was adjourned till Thursday. HOUSE OF LORDS.-THURSDAY. Lord DACRE presented a petition from the city of Exeter, praying the house to institute an inquiry into the practices of the Anti-corn Law League, and to take steps to prevent its improper interference with the electoral body. A conversation then ensued, in which Lord KINN AIRD defended the League, whose system, he said, was not more unconstitutional than that pursued by others who were in the habit of influencing elections; while Lord REDESDALE and Lord GREY expressed their disappro bation of the existence of that combination. Lord BEAUMONT the❑ moved for copies of any corres pondence which had passed between the French and Bri tish governments respecting the affairs of the River Plate, and after reviewing the origin of the quarrel between Buenos Ayres and Monte Video, commented very strongly upon the impolicy of the combined interference of France and England in a purely internal war. The Earl of ABERDEEN defended the policy of inter vention to put down a war accompanied by the most re volting atrocities, and which had proved most ruinous to British interests. The French and British governments had refrained as long as possible from hostile demonstra tions, and only had recourse to them eventually, with a view to a speedy peace—a result which recent overtures of General Rosas gave reason to hope would not long be deferred. In the present state of these negotiations, he hoped that Lord Beaumont would not press for the pro duction of the correspondence in question. After some further discussion, in which the Duke of Wellington and Lord Colchester took part, the motion was withdrawn. HOUSE OF COMMONS.-THURSDAY. Mr. COLLETT moved for a committee of privilege to inquire into the interference of Peers at the recent elec tions fur Chichester, Newark, Woodstock, and Bucking ham. Mr. WILLIAMS seconded the motion. Sir R. PEEL was not disposed to deny that members of the peerage did, in common with other large landed proprietors, exercise the authority of wealth and station for the purposes which had been alleged. There was nothing objectionable in this, since peers had as much right as other men to give effect to their opinions upon the conduct of administrations. If inquiries of the kind suggested were to be prosecuted upon every vague ru mour, no individual would be safe. H e should offer the proposal his strenuous opposition. Mr. Collett had not offered a single proof of interference on the part of these noble dukes : he had produced no letters from them, he had not even ventured to say that he could bring evi dence of their having made a single suggestion on the subject to any person. He had, it was true, read certain extracts from newspapers; but God protect public men if they were to be condemned on the mere allegations of newspapers. Pass what laws you will, said Sir Robert, " while the constitution of England continues—and while the feeling of Englishmen remains what it is you never can extinguish that legitimate influence of which I speak. Take the case, for instance, of a peer of great property— the Lord Lientenant of his county—having devoted his life to the performance of local duties—having been kind to the tenantry—having set an example of improvement in his neighbourhood, being at the head of the local society of his county, not by rules, but by character and station, to tell me that you can extinguish that legitimate influ ence to which I allude • why, it is out of the ques ti on . And God forbid that the day should ever arrive when the virtues of a peer should not have their proper influence upon society." Mr. COLLETT then withdrew the motion. The adjourned debate was resumed by Lord Duncan, who, together with Sir W. Moleswortb, Mr. H. Berke ley, Mr. T. Duncombe, Lord A. Paget, and Mr. B. Bar ing, supported the government measures, which were op posed by Alderman Thompson, Mr. Bennett, Mr. Tolle mache, and Sir T. D. Acland. HOUSE OF COMMONS.-FRIDAY. The adjourned debate was resumed by Mr. C. Bruce, who spoke against the government measure, as did Mr. Newdegate and Captain Bennett ; Mr. P. Scrope, Mr. Barkly, and Mr.Muntz spoke in favour of it. Mr. D'ISRAELI said he would leave the right hon. baronet at the head of the government to settle the ques tion of the currency with his new supporter, merely ob serving that the speech of the hon. member for Birming ham was even a more powerful protectionist effusion than that of Lord Sandon on a former evening. He had no reason to complain that Sir Robert Peel had deferred so much to public opinion ; but he did complain of the right hon. baronet for having, in acting upon his changed opi nions, outraged public feeling. He believed that it was owing to the existence of a just, a judicious, and a mode rate protection, that the country had risen l ito its present state of prosperity. If he were even to admit that Prus sia was shaken, that the United States were coming round to free-trade principles, and that France was similarly situated, he would still doubt that the example now set by the Government would be extensively followed. The manufacturing interests in this country and in the United States were directly opposed to each other, and exactly as we gained the western we should lose the eastern states of the Union. With respect to France, also, he must say that he believed the statesmen of that country were, for the most part, in favour of high protection. He warned the government that it was incurring a serious responsi bility by furthering the policy of the school of Manches ter, and by suffering themselves to be actuated rather by panic than by prudence. The hon. gentleman argued at great length against the doctrines of free-trade, which, if carried out as proposed by the Government, could not fail to prove most injurious to the interests of agriculture in this country. Mr. G.*BANKES then moved the adjournment of the debate until Al onday, which was at once agreed. FOREIGN AND COLONIAL. THE WEST INDIAN MAIL. By the steamer Tay, R. Sharp, commander, which ar rived at Southampton on Friday afternoon, we have re ceived our usual files of papers. They contain, however, little news of interest. The traffic on the Kingston and Spanish-town Railway was progressively increasing, and appears very likely greatly to exoeed the anticipations of the projectors. No accident or interruption whatever bad occurred. In Jamaica the crops on the south side of the island had suffered from dry weather. On the north side the seasons had been more propitious, and a corresponding result was expected. The resignation of Sir R. Peel had caused some sensation, and the West Indians are somewhat alarmed at the prospect of an early adoption of free-trade measures. The Jamaica Despatch says— " The question of immigration thrusts itself with in creased force upon our attention, now that the prospect of an early competition with the produce of slave states seems all but certain. It is obvious that without a greatly in creased labouring population, and a consequent reduction in the price of labour, the British West Indian colonies cannot compete on equal terms with countries which pro duce the same material by the far less costly means of slave-labour ; and it behoves us, therefore, to neglect no opportunity of increasing our populati on from whatever source an increase might be derivable. The following we copy from the Trinidad papers : " The bark Senator arrived yesterday from Sierra Leone in 23 days, with 235 immigrants, of whom 145 are women. This will prove a timely and acceptable arrival to our planters, who are just now particularly in want of addi tional labour to gather in the crop. The people are chiefly liberated Africans." The weather has continued dry for some time at Bar b adoes, and had become very sultry, and there was little prospect of rain. The young canes were I:ast perishing in some places, and plants were scarce. Mr. Hancock, employed on the Kingston and Liguanea Water Company, had succeeded in finding water at the depth of 124 feet below the surface; he tapped the spring with a three-inch bore, and the water rose 5 feet 10 inches in 15 minutes. The supply promises to be abundant. The question of railways continued to be discussed fa vourably in all the papers. The respective engineers of the Trinidad project had arrived in the island, for the pur pose of commencing an immediate survey. The first Coolie ship of the season has arrived at Deme rara. The Gazette says,—" The first of the transports hired arrived from Madras on the 27th ult., with 233 im migrant 4, all in excellent health. Not a single death oc curred in the passage of 82 days, though one birth did. There were 37 females and 8 children to 118 males. Like former arrivals of their countrymen, the Coolies nave all been located in that fine and healthy part of the country generally known as the Arabian Coast. Emigration from Madeira still continues to flow into the province. The Portuguese, though existing in a wretched state of destitu tion in that beautiful, though not very extensive isle, are an intelligent race, and are sensibly alive to the advantages which a migration to this country rarely fails to secure to them. Scarcely a fortnight passes without a brig, a bri gantine, or a schooner coming to anchor in our river from Madeira, with a freight of hopeful human beings on board, varying from 80 or 90 to 140 or 150. This species of immigration, it should ever be noted, by way of indirect refutation of the slanderous detractors of our colonists in reference to free African immigration, is of a purely spontaneous character. The authorities of Madeira are hostile, rather than favourable, to the exportation of Donna Maria : still, in spite of all official obstructions, they manage, almost week after week, to smuggle them selves out of the island, and cross the Atlantic to the more favoured countries of the West Indies. We pay no bounty at present, as we did two or three years ago, on every Portuguese from Madeira landing on our shores. The day before yesterday a brig, called the Aguia, ar rived from that island with 77 emigrants—viz., 30 men, 24 women, and 23 children. Like the Bucks, or native Indians of Guiana, the people of Madeira seem to have the good custom of never travelling without their wives. To their habits of domesticity may, no doubt, be attri buted in a great measure their success here." The United States government are about to build im mediately several large steam vessels for carrying the mails to Europe. SPAIN.—The Spanish ministry, with General Narvaez at their head, resigned office on the 10th instant, and the Queen accepted their resignation. A new ministry has been formed, with the Marquis de Miraflores as president of the council and minister of foreign affairs. A woman, belonging to a little town of Mecklenburg, is in custody for havine killed no less than seven of her illegitimate children. She was assisted by the father, who, tormented by remorse, has denounced her, and confessed his own share in these horrible crimes. _ FREE TRADE ABROAD—A HJNT.—A sor t of panic has seized the silk-manufacturers of Lyons at the discovery that the Chinese can produce every description and co lour of silk as well as they can, and in some respects even better. Orders having been given by several ladies for articles of Chinese manufacture, the silk people have assembled in solemn conclave, and have called upon the French government to prohibit the importation of silks, &c., from China, as likely to be ruinous to their com merce. Yet—strange inconsistency—of all the trades of France there is none that cried so loudly, a little while ago, for free trade, as this of silk.—Letter from Paris. THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. IRELAND. On Saturday week, the corn store of Mr. Francis Egan at Limerick, was burned. It contained 1400 barrels of oats, and 210 of wheat, which were all destroyed. On the 10th inst. a man named Dunn, living at Shan rahan, Tipperary, had some angry words with his wife, during which he struck her with a hatchet in his hand and killed her. He has confessed his guilt. SUICIDE AT SEA.—On Thursday week, the master of the brig, Countess of Airlie, bound from Cork to Sligo, jumped overboard and was drowned. He had pi evi ously eiven way to inebriation. PUSF.YISM IN KILMORE.—NO reconciliation has vet taken place between ministers and people in this parish. The fiev. Mr. Mussen perseveres with his offensive mode of conducting divine service. There were but four members of the congregation present at church last Sunday.—Downpatrick Recorder. THREATENING NOTICE.—A threatening notice was found posted on Tuesday morning on some of the timbers at the place where the pier is building for the Chetwynd viaduct, on the Cork and Bandon Railway. The notice was headed with a drawing of a coffin, and cautioned the labourers not to work for less than 10s. a week, otherwise they would be visited when they least expected it, and get a most horrible death. It farther stated that if the con contractor (Mr. Hen right) refused to pay them 10s. a week per man, be had better at once prepare his coffin, for death would be near at hand.—Cork Constitution. POVERTY IN IRELAND.—At a meeting of the Cork Fever Hospital, last week, a conversation took place as to furnishing new straw for the poor patients to he on and burning the old, when one of the subscribers asked, " Are the bed ticks to be burned or wetted ?" The fol lowing touching reply was made by one of the physicians present:—" Ab, my dear sir, you are speaking of luxu ries which the poor do not enjoy. They only lie on straw and few know how they are off." [From such a poverty stricken people as this are the exactions for repeal and other nonsense forced. Last week £3OO was the amount of rent acknowledged at the repeal weekly meeting, which has been contributed by these wretched creatures, not merely suffering from their accustomed destitution, but from the accumulated weight of a season of alleged "fa mine and pestilence."] REPEAL ASSOCIATION.— The weekly meeting was held on Monday. A letter was read from Mr. O'Connell, de scribing the English parliament and government as most ready to coerce Ireland. but determined not to give to the Irish nation equal franchises, equal representation, equal rights, equal religious freedom—in short, equal laws with those enjoyed by the people of England. The following is an extract :—" I respectfully submit to the association that it ought immediately to call on all the Irish repeal mem bers, to attend in their places to meet the coercion bill as it comes from the Lords, and to meet it with the most de cided and unequivocal hostility. There must be no com promise, no bartering of present rights either for the pro mises or for the reality of future political liberties. Let us, if we can drive the minister to try the only certain or rational preventative of crime, namely, the concession of conciliation to be limited only by an equalisation with England or Scotland. Let us see the practical effect of such a plan before we give the slightest assent to any co ercive measures. Ours is the only effective plan,—try justice before you enact despotism; above all, I repeat, let there be nothing in the shape of compromise." THE POTATO CROP IN IRELAND.—Mr. F. Shaw, member for Dublin University, stated in the House of Commons last week, in reference to the statement of the Government Commissioners, that one half of the potato crop had been already lost, that " those gentlemen must have been imposed upon. There might be truth in the report of the commission at Dublin, that there was no county and no district in Ireland in which, more or less, the potato crops had not been affected by the prevailing disease; for, more or less, such was indeed the case. (Hear.) He knew, from his own observation, that the disease in the autumn had been wide-spread in the coun ties of Cork, Tipperary. Kilkenny. Carlow, and Wicklow, but he also knew, by proper precautions, a great part of the crop had been saved and the extending of the cala mity prevented ; and it was, further, his conviction that in most parts of Ireland there would still be found an average crop of potatoes. (Hear.) He had not been surprised by the announcements in the letters read by the right hon. baronet at the head of the government, for he was well aware that those documents emanated from dis tricts which had been the most heavily visited with scar city ; especially Mayo and Donegalin the north, and Kerry, Clare, Waterford, and Queen'a County in the south. FUNERAL Op BRYAN SEERY.—Under the imposing head of the " Mullingar Tragedy," the reporter of the Freeman furnishes that journal with a long and highly coloured account of the interment of Bryan Seery. The melancholy spectacle took place on Sunday in the pre sence of a vast number of country people, whose numbers were estimated by the writer to amount to 50,000 or 60,000 souls. The greatest decorum was observed throughout the day, there not being the slightest disposi tion evinced by the peasantry to commit a breach of the peace ; and this will appear more remarkable, and re dound more to the credit of the people, when it is learned that the clergymen in attendance, with doubtful taste, spared no pains to impress upon the immense body of spectators the idea of Seery's perfect innocence. The Dublin Mail states, that " there is evidence to show that the alibi, in all its minute details, was got up before the crime was committed, and that the Attorney-General is in possession of all the partizulars." Our contemporary adds :—" A conspiracy is raging in Ireland possessing all the characteristics of a civil war—a war of population against property—of creed against religion. But this is not all. It possesses this terrible ingredient—that it is religious in its essence, its nature, and its operation. It is a war of Papists against Protestants—the confederates, or conspirators, being exclusively Roman Catholics, and bound by a terrible oath to exterminate, even by death, the professors of the creed opposed to them. This is the Ribbon obligation described and denounced by Lord Plunket ; and we can imagine a Saurin or a Joy, in their capacity of Attorney-General, having the sturdy manli ness to *litre, in the face of the court and the country, when thersaw twenty Protestant gentlemen, the first in rank, station, character, and respectability in Westmeath —Deputy Lieutenants and Magistrates—peremptorily challenged by the prisoner —BECAUSE THEY WERE PRO TESTANTS—and for no other reason—we can, we repeat, . understand such men as we have named resolutely de claring, and honestly acting upon such a resolution, that no Roman Catholic should sit on the jury. Are the pp posite party to have all and everything their own way, and in cases in which either party possesses an equal right ? They challenge twenty Protestants, without reason given or cause assigned, and no one dares to question or impugn such a course of proceeding ; while, if three Roman Ca tholics are set aside, an outcry is raised that a dishonest verdict is procured, and innocent blood shed. No Roman Catholic was, however, set aside on Seery's second trial, and none on the first except those who on several occa sions had expressed a strong opinion as to the innocence of the accused." OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH.—On Sunday morn ing last, several hundred persons assembled in the North Cattle Market, the property of the corporation, and fought some " mains " of cocks, on which money to some amount changed hands. In the afternoon, a nu merous meeting was held in the market to hear Father Mathew, at which trumpets were blown, drums beat, and flags fluttered in the breeze.—Cork Constitution. SHAMEFUL OUTRAGE.—The Hon. James Hewitt, of Meenglass, near Stranorler, in the county of Donegal, had recently erected two new houses on a stock farm, but when ready fitted out for his tenants, some miscreants came by night and levelled them to the ground. Again they were erected ; but immediately after, the timber of the roofs was cut away, and the work of demolition once more completed. The perpetrators of this malicious act had not even in palliation of their conduct, the usual apology put forth by the Repeal press for such doings— namely, the ejectment of the former tenants, as this was a farm which had not before been in the possession of any tenan ts.—Londonderry Paper. MARKETHILL AGRICULTURAL DINNER.—The Newry Commercial Telegraph, of the sth instant, published a long and interesting report of the Markethill Agricultural Meeting, at which the speeches were highly creditable to the parties, as indicating sound views on farming subjects, and a growing desire amongst the landlords and tenants to introduce an improved and more profitable system. Lord Gosford presided, and the attendance was numerous and respectable. The competition for the challenge clock and silver cup, given by his lordship to be striven for by the owners of the best cultivated farms, seems to go on with undiminished spirit. As yet, no one has been able to hold either prize for the three years required to make it his own ; and success will become annually more difficult as the improvement of agriculture proceeds. The encour agement, also, so judiciously given by his lordship to the levelling of useless fences, has had a good effect, and the removal of the crooked small enclosures has greatly im proved the appearance of the country. Amongst the speakers was Mr. William Blacker, who eloquently des canted upon the subject of levelling unseemly ditches, by which much ground had already been gained, and much more remained to be redeemed. lie also strongly advo cated the feeding of cattle in the house or farm-yard as a great saving to the land, adding, that quarrelling amongst tenants took place about a foot or two of land, without their reflecting that they were losing fifty times as much by these useless ditches. In the list he had read, there were nearly ten acres of land saved in that locality, and perhaps ten times as much had been gained of which he had no account ; but still so much remained, that almost nothing, comparatively speaking, had been accomplished in this way. PRIESTLY INFLUENCE.—A lady named Caldbeck, pos sessed of property amounting to £2,400, died on the Ist of November, 1841, and by her will bequeathed her whole property to the Rev. Doctor Meyler, of Westland-row Chapel, and to the popish Archbishop of Dublin, in trust for the benefit of certain Roman Catholic charities. Miss Caldbeck, we may here remark, had been on the most affectionate terms with her brother, in whose house she lived for thirty years. She had executed another will pre pared by her own solicitor, and in it had made provision for her brother; but of this will no trace was forthcoming at the time of trial. The second—or what we may term the priest's wilt—was prepared under the directions of Dr. Meyler, the confessor of the testatrix, and by his attorney—by his confidential adviser—but a man totally unknown to Miss Caldbeck. This professional gentle man drew up a will from verbal instructions, and allowed several months to elapse between the preparation and the execution of the deed. The latter took place—not in the house of Miss Caldbeek's brother, but at the chapel in Westland-row, in the presence of the confessor, his coad jutor, and confidential attorney. Moreover, the custody of the document was not permitted to remain with the testatrix, so that she could have the power of destroying or obliterating it whenever she pleased ; hut it was kept in the possession of Dr. Meyler, who took good care to preserve the most profound silence on the subject. The judge of the Prerogative Court decided—first, that the testatrix was of sound mind at the time of making her will ; secondly, that there was no evidence of improper influence sufficient to set the will aside. He refused, however, to grant the defendants' costs, on the grounds that the next of kin was fully justified in coming forward, as he had done, in the suit, and that the defendants had not conducted the suit in a fair manner.—Dublin States man. [The judge remark, d that clergymen had quite enough to do in attending to the spiritual wants of their flock, and that the less they had to do with the pecuniary affairs of their congregations the better.] INTELLIGENCE OF POPERY.—A letter dated " Priests' Asylum, Achill, 22d January, and signed William J. Burke, and formerly P.P. of Liscannor, county Clare, and Vicar-General pro. tem. of Kilfenora," and addressed to the editor ef the Achill Herald, states two astounding facts, which the writer considers ought to induce those journalists who contemplate a state provision for the Irish Roman Catholic priesthood, and have been feeling the public pulse as to the expediency of such a measure, to pause before they proceed further in that object. The writer states that after he had been assisting a neighbour ing parish priest at a station of confession, shortly after the murder of Mr. Blood, near Corofin, county Clare, (and which took place in 1832,) a priest, two others, and the writer, walked out together, when the first told them that one of the murderers had just confessed to him the double crime of the murder and robbery, and admit ted that he had given him absolution. On the way home the writer of the letter met one of his parishioners, who regretted that he had not confessed to him, as his own parish priest, Father , refused giving him absolu tion, and would not hear his confession, on account of his being present at the baptism of a Protestant child in his father's house, the priest telling him he must go to the bishop to obtain forgiveness for the grievous sin, as he alone had the power. Thus the Romish priest could ab solve a murderer and robber, but had no power to grant absolution to one of his own parishioners for being pre sent at the baptism of the child of his Protestant friend and connexion, and this Romanist had to travel some miles to the Titular Bishop of seeing the baptism of an infant, the child of a true be liever ! The writer thus concludes :—" Gentlemen of England, these are the men to support whom your income tax is to be increased, and who are as willing this instant to drive their poor, confiding, credulous, but good-natured dupes to deeds of slaughter as ever they were." LAW INTELLIGENCE. COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH, THURSDAY. Sittings at Nisi Prius. _ MYERS V. PICKFORD AND OTHERS. The defendants in this case are the well-known carriers. The plaintiff is a tailor at Liverpool, and the action was brought to recover the value of a parcel composed of silk velvet and satin, which the defendants had been employed to carry from London to Liverpool, but which had been lost by the way. The whole parcel was of more value than £lO, but the silk portion by itself was not worth that sum. If the value of the velvet and satin may be taken into ac count, the case would be within the Carriers' Act, and the defendants would not be liable to a greater extent than £5, unless the plaintiff had complied with the exigencies of the act by giving notice of the nature of the contents, and pay ing a higher price than the general rate of carriage, which had not been done. The point for decision, therefore, was, whether the silk velvet and satin which, in the pre sent case, were shown to be both made of silk, ought pro perly to be classed under the denomination of silk goods, within the meaning of the Carriers' Act. Lord DENMAN said that the evidence which had been given for the defence was sufficient to show that the par cel had not been stolen by any of the servants of the de fendants He left it to the jury to say whether it had been lost by accident or neglect. The jury found a verdict for the defendants. After which, in answer to Lord Denman, they stated that the evidence did not shew that the goods had been either sto len or lost by neglect. They also found that the satin waistcoat material and silk velvet were silk goods within the meaning of the statute. VICE-CHANCELLOR'S COURT—FRIDAY. WITHAM AND MOON V. FRASER. Mr. Hallett applied, ex. parte, for a special injunction on behalf of Messrs. Moon and Witham, merchants of London, to restrain the defendant, who is a salvor and submarine engineer, from selling certain stock and ma chinery supplied to him for recovering the wreck of a vessel called the Crusader, which bad been lost off Liver pool. In October last an agreement was entered into by the plaintiffs with the defendant that they should furnish the means requisite for raising the vessel, and that he should conduct the operation, and a salvage society was formed, in which both parties bad shares. The project was subsequently abandoned, and the plaintiffs sent an agent to Liverpool to claim and take possession of the stock and machinery. The defendant refused to give them up, upon which the agent gave him into custody, which so irritated him that he threatened thereupon to proceed to an immediate sale of the stock. The injunction now asked was to restrain him from so doing. His Honour granted the injunction. EXTRAORDINARY TRIAL OF BREACH OF PROMISE OF MARRIAGE. We noticed in the STA ND ARD last week the commence ment of a trial of this nature in which the plaintiff was Miss Mary Elizabeth Smith, of Anstrey, Warwickshire, and the defendant Washington Earl Ferrers. The action was brought to recover compensation in damages for a breach of promise of marriage ; since such promise defen dant married Miss Isabella Chichester. The defendant, however, pleaded that he had not promised, and that at the time he made the promise he was under age. The plaintiff replied that the promise had been renewed after he came of age. In the early part of 1844 it was agreed that the union should take place in the month of May, but it was afterwards postponed till July or August. Every preparation was made—the dresses were prepared—the bridecake was ordered, and everything was done that was usual on such. occasions ; and it was only at the end of July (so it was alleged on the part of the plaintiff) that this unhappy young lady e as apprised of the fact that the defendant could not marry her, Ly reading in the news paper of the marriage of the Earl of Ferrers to Miss Chi chester. The trial occupied four days— Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and in consequence of theex traordinary character of the it case of each party to the ac tion,excited an unusual degree of interest. The young lady is just past her 21st year, and the Earl is two years older. The acquaintance of the parties is alleged to have commenced in 1839, and to have continued up to the period of the Earl's m arr i age i n 1844, d ur i ng w hi c h une quivocal promises were alleged, an d th e l e tters containing them put in as evidence. The defence was, that no promise had been made. Moreover, it was alleged that Earl Ferrers never was acquainted with the young lady at all, and that the letters produced were forgeries. The counsel engaged in this extraordinary case were— The Solicitor-General, Mr. M. Chambers, Mr. Robin'. son, and Mr. M. Symons for the plaintiff; and the At torney-General, Mr. Crowder, Mr. Humphrey, and Mr. Barstow for the defendant. On Saturday the Solicitor-General opened his client's case in a speech of great length, in the course of which he read a series of letters alleged to have been written by the noble defendant to the plaintiff. These were filled with the usual ardent protestations of attachment, and spoke of the intentions of the noble defendant to make his " dear est Mary," the plaintiff, who possesses considerable tier sonal attractions, his wife. They contained frequent al lusions to the anticipated marriage, house furnishing, &c. These epistles were mostly written on scraps of paper, a peculiarity, it was said, which Earl Ferrers had adopted. The Solicitor-General anticipated that it would be at tempted to be shewn, on the part of the defence, that Earl Ferrers never spoke to this young lady in his life, and that all the letters were one tissue of forgery and fabrication from beginning to end. All he could say was, that if it should turn out to be so, it would surpass anything among the possibilities of human life, that a young girl should have made such a claim upon a young nobleman, and carry it out in a manner which would have puzzled the most skilful and experienced imitator of handwriting. Such a defer ce was incomprehensible, and not to be credited. tie called a number of witnesses, some of whom spoke posi tively as to the letters being in the handwriting of the Earl, others only believing they were, and all of whom deposed to having, at one time or other, seen the Earl walking and talking with the plaintiff, or close to her. The witnesses were not all of a very respectable class, and one of them was so intoxicated that he was ordered out of court. The first witness called was the Rev. Edward Francis Harding, chaplain to Earl Ferrers, who proved the communications to be in his lordship's handwriting. In cross-examination Mr. Harding stated that he was 37 years old, that he held a curacy ; that the Earl was in the habit of going out as one of the Rebeccai'es ; that he (the Rev. Mr. Harding) had allowed his lordship to paint mustachios on his (Mr. H.'s) upper lip, and that with the Earl he had gone out disguised with his shirt over his clothes. He also joined in other "larks," and could not tell whether he was sober when he did so. Notwithstand ing this, he had never been deprived of his curacy! Other witnesses were examined as to the hand-writing, and as to the defendant having shown attention to M'ss Smith. On Monday the father and mother of the plaintiff were examined to prove the receipt of letters and presents from the noble defendant, and to speak to the preparations for the anticipated wedding. A younger sister of the plaintiff was also examined, to prove that the defendant came to Mr. Smith's house to visit Miss Smith. A labouring man was also called to prove that the plaintiff and defen dant had been seen walking together. Other witnesses deposed that they had received letters from the plaintiff to the defendant, and had put them into the post-office. The evidence i❑ chief went to prove the preparations for the marriage, in consequence of the letters received by the plaintiff, purporting to come from the defendant. In cross-examination of the plaintiff's parents, it was elicited that they had never seen her receive any letters that came from the defendant, but that she showed them to them generally a few days after they were dated ; also that they never came by post, but always by private hand. They were also rigidly cross-examined as to whether the hand writing of the letters was not similar to the plaintiff's. Some of the letters they said they believed to be plaintiff's handwriting, and others were like hers in some of the characters, but they did not think they were her writing. They had noticed the similarity previously, but accounted for it by the fact of her having had some of the defen dant's writing when young, and endeavoured to imitate it. The mother of the plaintiff also stated that she once went to a ball at Tamworth, with her dauehter, who wore a white rose in her hair, to meet Lord Ferrers by appoint ment, but his lordship was not there. The evidence of the plaintiff's sister was to prove two visits of the defen dant to the plaintiff at her father's house at Easter, and on the 9th December, 1843, after the defendant became of age. On Tuesday the examination of two or three more wit nesses closed the plaintiff's case, when the Attorney- General addressed the jury for the noble defendant. He admitted this to be a most extraordinary case ; but he undertook, however, to make it perfectly clear and plain, and he called on the jury to suspend their judgment. He admitted that their decision might send the plaintiff from the court with disgrace and infamy; but, on the other hand, what must be the effect of a decision that a noble man had e: gaged the affections of a young girl, and then wholly denied all connexion with her. He admitted the project of the plaintiff was extraordinary in one so young ; but, unfortunately, not without parallel ; and here he cited two remarkable cases of conspiracy. One was the case of a young woman who had left her employment, and in order to account for her absence told a falsehood, which led on to others, and at last got herself so involved, that she swore she had been taken away by two gipsies, whose lives had well nigh been forfeited, had not her perjury been detected, and she was transported. The other case was somewhat similar. He would show distinctly and clearly that this was a like case, and that it was from be ginning to end a base and infamous conspiracy, got up by the plaintiff herself, by a series of letters, for the purpose of involving his client in this action. In 1842, the defen dant arrived from the continent, and in two days after came to the title. About this time he received, from time to time, anonymous letters from some female, breathing the most ardent affection, which he, not duly appreciating then, generally destroyed, and after the most diligent search they had only been able to find four. These were read to the court. They contained protestations of ar dent attachment, and were signed " Isabel," "A. 8.," and " Marie." He was not aware who the fair corres• pondent might be, and destroyed most of the letters as he received them. Some, however, had been found, which the learned counsel read. The first was from a stranger, recommending Lord Ferrers to go to a ball at Tamworth, and see a young lady who would be there with a white rose in her hair. The charms of this young lady were most extravagantly extolled in this letter. After reading it, the Attarnev-General asked if they under stood the case now ? The plaintiff's mother had spoken as to the white rose in the hair to be worn at the ball. He had admitted that letters were received by Lord Ferrers, directed to him. Had they the slightest doubt that this girl, deceiving some, assisted by others, had been con triving, from the beginning to the end, a scene of the grossest and most scandalous iniquity. [The style and even some of the expressions in the anonymous letters are very similar to those in the letters purporting to be written by Lord Ferrers.] Some witnesses, among whom were the guardian and sister of the defendant, were then examined, who expressed a very decided opinion that the letters were not in Earl Ferrers's hand-writing. It was also proved that Earl Ferrers was in another part of the country on the 2nd of December, whe❑ it was said, by the plaintiff, that he had paid her a visit. This extraordinary case came to as extraordinary a ter mination on Wednesday. The Hon. D. Shirley was ex amined with reference to two letters which it was alleged by the plaintiff had been written by him to her on the sub ject of the attachment between the plaintiff and defendant. Mr. Shirley, however, positively denied ever having writ ten such letters, or that he (Mr. Shirley) had ever sent the plaintiff a jacynth ring at the request of the defendant. These letters which have since been published, purport to be written by Mr. Shirley, from Chartley Castle, where the defendant (Mr. Shirley's brother) is represented as lying dangerously ill, and making repeated inquiries about the plaintiff in his intervals of consciousness. After this evidence had been gone through, the Solici tor-General entered the court, stating that the four let ters which had been produced on the previous day had come upoir him by surprise, and also upon the solicitor for the plaintiff; that surprise being shared in by the members of the plaintiff's family. After a conference held on the subject that morning, the result was, that as there would be no time during the trial to institute those inquiries which were necessary in order to bring the whole facts to light relative to that mysterious part of this most mysterious case, he bad felt it his duty, with the concur• rence of his learned friends, and with the consent of the plaintiff, whom he represented, as no explanation could now be given to those letters, to withdraw from the pre sent contest, without making any observations relative to either plaintiff or defendant. The Attorney-General then applied to the Court, that the letters produced in support of the plaintiff's case might be impounded in court; and the Solicitor. General made a like application as to the four letters produced on the other side. The learned judge granted both applica tions preparatory to an indictment for conspiracy being laid against the plaintiff and the other parties concerned in the concoction of the plot, and the plaintiff was non suited. _ _ _ Justice WIGHTMAN, addressing the Jury, said that unless those four letters could he most fully and completely accounted for and explained, it would be im possible to believe that those alleged to have been written by the defendant had really been written by him. As they were not accounted for nor explained, the jury could not believe that the letters that had been read as those of the defendant, had really been written by him. The public, however, have not done with this strange case as yet, for independent of ulterior proceedings to be adopted with regard to it, they are likely to be amused with another case arising out of it, as the notice paper of the Court of Queen's Bench contains an announcement of a case in which the parties are" Erpe v. Earl Ferrero," the canoe of action being a claim by the plaintiff, the grandfather of Miss Smith, for £lOO against Lord Fer rero. which he, Mr. Erpe, contends was a loan made by him to the Earl, upon the representation of his grand daughter, to pay for presents, which she stated his lord ship had made her. Mr. Sergeant Warren goes down special to Roscom mon and Sligo, to prosecute Ribbonmen, in custody, under charges of committing agrarian outrages—the new name for shooting one's landlord. COUNTERFEITING ENGLISH MARES.—The Messrs. Taylor, of Leicester, England, have obtained a verdict of 800 dollars against Daniels and Carpenter, in the United States Circuit Court, for counterfeiting their marks on their " Persian thread," by which the interests of the Messrs. Taylor were injured. TIIE QUEEN V.THE MIDLAND COUNTIES' RAILWAY. —Lord Denman delivered the judgment of the Court in this case. A rule has been granted to bring up an inqui sition that had been held at Nottingham, on the body of a person who had been killed on the line, on the ground of the informality of the proceeding. The Court was of opinion that the inquisition ought to be quashed on the grounds shown. In the Court of Common Pleas, on Tuesday, a case of " Parrott v. Collins" was tried before the Chief Jus tice. In this cue the defendant, who was described as Calwell Hall, Worcestershire, and Thomas Edwards, of No. 6, Smithfield-place, Camberwell, Surrey, were the two only registered provisional committee-men of the " Railway Banking Company" —a speculation in which nobody had either paid for a share or applied for one. The plaintiff is an advertising agent. He claimed the sum of £94 15s. for advertisements inserted in the Lon don papers. Having proved the demand, and also a promise to pay on part of defendant, the Chief Justice summed up, and there being no defence, the jury found a verdict for the plaintiff, for the amount claimed. Feb. 24, 1846. UNIVERSITY AND CLERICAL NEWS. OXFORD, FEB. 19.—1 n a convocation held this day the Rev. P. Alpe, M.A., of Corpus Christi College, Cam bridge, was admitted ad eundum. At the same time the following degrees were conferred :—Musters of Arts-- Rev. C. Ward, and Rev. J. Jackson, Exeter College. -- Bachelors of Arts—T. Jones, Brasennoze ' • A. H. 11 0 „s' mer, Oriel •, J. E. Hill, G. C. Irving, A. C. Smith, r• Lear, and G. G. Kennaway, Christ Church ; J. W. Tom kin, and W. J. Springett, Wadham ; it. J. Halke, Wor cester. The Archbishop of York, now in his 83rd year, has been fifty years on the episcopal bench. The Rev. C. A. Thurlow, rector of Malpas, and ho norary canon of Chester, has been appointed a prebend of York Cathedral. The Times contradicts the statement which has been " going the round of the press," that Miss Burdett Coutts has devoted the sum of £30,000 to the building and endowing of a new church in the metropolis. A very superb and costly silver salver, weighing 180 ounces, has been presented by the parishioners of Gosport and Alverstoke to Dr. Samuel Wilberforce, their late rec tor, (now Bishop of Oxford.) INCORPORATED SOCIETY FOR BUILDING CHURCHES , &c.—At the meeting of this society on Monday last, it was stated, that notwithstanding some liberal donations recently received, the sum for which this excellent insti tution is responsible is not less than £65,592 sterling; that large sum being the amount of outstanding grants; whilst the means at its disposal are only about £46,000; thus leaving a deficiency of about £16.000, which, how ever, it is hoped will, ere long, be supplied amply by those who, being blessed with the means, feel that they ought gratefully to assist in promoting the spiritual education of their fellow-subjects. THE WILL OF THE REV. DR. D'OYLY.—" I intend this as my will and testament. I, George D'Oyly, D.D., rector of Lambeth, bequeath all my property of every de scription whatsoever which I may possess at the time of my decease, to my dearly beloved wife, Maria Frances D'Oyly. Ido this in the full and entire confidence that she will dispose of it at her decease amongst my children in the manner which she deems most equitable, and which , she knows to be consistent with my wishes and intentions. Dated 7th of March, 1838. (Signed) GEORGE D'OYLY, D.D. WiT nesses, EDWARD MILLER, M.A., JOHN PEAT, M.A.," No executor being appointed, administration with the will annexed has been granted to the widow. The personal effects were estimated at £48,000. ACCIDENT TO THE REV. E. BICRERSTETH.-0a Wednesday week, as the Rev. E. Bickersteth was pro ceeding in a four-wheeled chaise to the Hertford Railway Station, for the purpose of going to the metropolis to at tend a Committee of the Evangelical Alliance, he over took a cart laden with flour sacks, at the moment that another cart laden with bricks was passing in the opposite direction. In trying to pass between the two, Mr. Bick ersteth's carriage was caught by the cart coming from Ware, with such force, that he was thrown over the bead of his own horse under the wheel of the cart which he was passing. The wheel passed over his legs, neither of which, wonderful to say, were fractured, though his left leg is seriously injured. He also received severe wounds on the head from the fall, but his own vehicle was providentially hindered frtm passing over him. The reverend gentle man was insensible for several hours, and though some alarming symptoms were presented at first, he is now likely to recover. Tim Ray. T. D. GREGG.—At a meeting of the Dub lin Protestant Association last week, the rev. gentleman (whose chapel, as we stated last week, has been attempted to be closed by the Archbishop of Dublin) related an " outrage" perpetrated on him by the Archbishop. After the publication of the discussion with Father Maguire, Mr. Gregg sent a copy to his Grace, accompanied by a polite note. The reception which the gift met with we will give in the rev. gentleman's own words, merely say ing that we consider Mr. Gregg to be a very ill-used man. He has done much for the cause of Protestantism—few men more—and we are sorry to see him so opposed by the archbishop. Mr. Gregg says, " After I sent to the archbishop that copy of the discussion, his Grace sent it to the Diocesan Lending Library, with an insulting inscrip tion on the tit'-page. (Shame.) The inscription was, in fact, written under Mr. Maguire's name and my own, par nubile fratrum, otherwise a • pretty pair of black guards.' (Shame.) Though indignant at the insult, I considered it beneath notice ; but having been a short time ago at Mr. Oldham's, in whose house the library is held, I asked that gentleman whether it was so, and if he would allow me to see the book. He replied in the affir mative, and got it for me. When I found in the arch bishop's handwriting, with which I was acquainted, not merely the insulting inscription spoken of, but two others of a like character, one in Greek and one in Latin (Shame); and, not only so, but pasted in the fly-leaf be fore the title-page of the very identical letter with which, in my courtesy and anxiety to confer an humble favour, I had accompanied the book. (Loud and indignant cries of • Shame,' and Send him back to England.') No, my friends, he is nothing the worse for being an Englishman. (Cries of He is.') No, no, he is not; but this much I can say, that when I found my polite attention, my Christian anxiety, to show all honour to authority, my own good nature in fact changed into a whip of scorpions wherewith to lash me—taken advan tage of to inflict a perpetual wound in the eyes of my bre thren—why should I not have been sent fur, why not pri vately spoken to ? Such would have been the conduct proper to a father in God, a clergyman, or a gentleman; but such was not the course pursued towards me; and when I saw all this, I confess to you my Irish blood boiled within me. It was not merely I who was insulted, but my adversary too, and, in the person of us both, our country ; and having perceived as much, I instantly tore out the fly-leaf, title-page ; letter, and all, everything that I was quite certain the archbishop had touched—l rent them into pieces, and flung them into th e fi re . (Tre mendous cheers for some time.) Mr. Oldham was quite blameless in the matter: he remonstrated with me about it ; he told me that he was responsible for the book, and that he did not think another copy which I proffered for the library would be valued as much as the one in ques tion. "fhen,' said I, ' you must tell the committee, with my compliments, that I know no so proper a rebuke for so monstrous an outrage as a counter-outrage ; and I think that they themselves owed it to a brother and a countryman to refuse to be made parties to the infliction of an insult on him.' (Cheers.) lam happy, for the character of Irish gentlemen, to state that I learned that, when the subject was brought before the committee, they said that they could not justify the course adopted by the archbishop, and therefore they could not blame me." THE APOSTOLIC CATHOLICS OF GERMANY. (From the Church and State Gazette.) A committee of clergymen and laymen in England have recently despatched a "commissioner" into Germany, to inquire into the actual state of the religious movement in that country. The results have been most unsatisfactory ; but amid so much that it is unpl"asant to learn, we glean some comfort nevertheless. That the movement commenced - by Ronge has become rationalistic, and plunged into errors as great as those with which Ronge was trammelled when in the toils of Popery, is matter now of public notoriety.' but the movement will not on that account be without its great and successful ends. All who have left Rome have DOW flung themselves headlong into the abyss of ration alism ; they have stood on the brink of the precipice to counsel those who were insanely willing to take the des perate leap ; but, finding remonstrance of no avail, the faithful have come out from among those who have ex changed one despotism to another ; and hope shines again on the remnant who seek God. By this remnant, the rationalistic Leiesic confession has been denounced as a " confession by which men con fess not that they are Christians." And to this remnant —the true apostolical catholics of Germany, hadly know ing where to look for aid—the envoy of the commii tee in England has made a most judicious present of books, with the " English Liturgy " at their head. Both Dr. Pribil, and several individuals of his flock, have expressed their grateful sense of the instruction and comfort which they have derived from the use of the beautiful prayers of our Church, as well as their admiration of many of its ser vices. Dr. Pribil himself, says the commissioner, " made use of it at the meetings of his congregation on the Sa bath, two of which I attended ; and it continues to be so used." This was in Berlin. In the other parts of Prussia, with the solitary exception of the congregation at Thorn, which at once signified its sympathy, the invitations made to them to secede from the Rongists have not met with equal success. A commencement, however, has been made, which, conducted with prudence and in the spirit of prayer, will yet, we confidently believe, terminate in triumph. The committee ask for aid ; but we must say, that the cause is one that ought to ensure its own victory. Still, if aid be really necessary, particularly of books, let it be given, and given' liberally. The thing chiefly wanted is instruction, and not money. Nay, when we hear Dr. Pribil, the head of the protesters against Ronge, tell the latter, in answer to his inquiry of what he wants, that he , wants what Ronge cannot give him :—" I want (says Dr. Pribil) Jesus Christ; and him you know not." To this Ronge replied, " But we have Christ." " Yes (returned Pribil) ; but it is Jesus the son of man not the son of the living God. You hold Christ to be a mere teacher, such as you or I ; but know him not as the only Son, our Lord. If you do, and will sign a declaration to that effect, as well as subscribe the Apostles' Creed, I will give you my hand." " No (answered Ronge) ' • I will not subscribe to any such thing. I cannot believe, I cannot swallow, such antiquated leaven ! When we hea r thi s , we can hardly assert that the Apostolical Catholics of Germany need instruction; or refrain of asserting that the Friends of Light are not in desperate need of our sorrow and our pity. The latter, when they raised their banner against Rome, called under it a host anxious to be freed from the bondage of the old superstition ; but that banner floats now in defiance against the Trinity ; it has inscribed on it a denial of the divinity of the Son, and limits that of the Holy Ghost to " an exercise of the divine power which sinks into the soul, and enables it to attain its end." Thus, those who fancied they were rallying for Christianity find themselves enrolled in defence of infidelity. This movement, begun to enable them to recover their position, is one which we shall anxiously watch. THE COURT er FASHIONABLE WORLD. Among those who are most likely to be well informed , it is confidently stated that her Majesty's confinement is not expected before the end of May. The Queen and Prince Albert, accompAnied by the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal, left Claremon t for town on Tuesday afternoon in a carriage and four, es; corted by a party of Light Dragoons. Prince Alfred and the Princess Alice, accompanied by the Dowager Lad? Lyttelton, were in another carriage and four. Sir Wm. Stanley will entertain a large party at Bee' ton-park, on the 2nd o f M arc h, f or th e Liverpool steeple chase. Sir William is at pr( sent in London. The preliminaries for the marriage between Lord Cas; tlereagh and Lady Powerscourt have been finally arranged' bq Ip~ A 6 ex, t o tr c cr,