Northern Times. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-02-17 00:00:00

MORROW TO-MORROW, the 18th instant, at Twelve o'clock, at the Broker's Office, 7, Exchange-chambers, 1 ithebarn-street, 780 Bales Mexican FIBRE (part all faults), of superior quality, now landing ex Euphemia from Tampico.— For further particulars apply t o M essrs . Leech, Harrison, and Forwood, Merchants ; or to FRANCIS J. EATON, Broker On Tyrol",Ay next, the 22nd instant, at Twelve o'clock, ' 1,277 Casks EARTH OIL, ex Bonita.—Apply to DAVIES, SYERS; and Co., Brokers, No. 2, Lancaster-buildings. TO AGRICULTURISTS AND OTHERS. Postponed from Friday, the 18th instant, until TincsnAy next, the 22nd instant, at Twelve o'clock, at the Broker's Office, 16, Exchange-buildings, 607 Bags CASTOR PUMICE, just landed ex TY) Witt Clinton, from New York. Of this article, Mr. Johnson, Professor of Analytical and Agricultural Chemistry, Yale College, U.S., writes from the analysis (which can be had on application) :—" We may pronounce the Castor Pumice a most valuable fertiliser, fully equal to the average qualities of Linseed and Rape Cakes, which have long held a high rank as manuresin England and Germany. Its value as a concentrated fertiliser depends chiefly upon the two ingredients, Phosphoric Acid and Nitrogen, the latter of which passes into Ammonia as the pumice decays. Like Guano, and other Ammonia yielding manures it is of a quick and stimulating character, and may be used to great advantage, either as a direct application, or in the preparation of composts with swamp manure, &e., &c."—Apply to Messrs. Maclean, Maris, and Co., Merchants ; or to J. H.•RAYNER and Co., Brokers On ,Sare, JAMES BANKS, CASTLE-BUILDINGS, DERBY-SQUARE, LIVERPOOL. FENCING WIRE, Black, Bright, and Galvanised; -TELEGRAPH WIRE and SIGNAL CORD, Wholesale and for Exportation. 6,ammuciat csalts. THIS DAY THIS DAY, the 17th instant, at Twelve o'clock at the Broker's Office, , 3,000 Dry Salted lIIDES, 300 Dry HIDES, ex Isabella Ridley, from Bahia.—Apply to Messrs. Edward Johnston, Son, and Co., Merchants ; or to SAMUEL BECKWITH, Broker. THIS DAY, the 17th instant, at Twelve o'clock, at the Brokers' office, 11, Orange-court, Castle-street, 150 Tons' VALA, rrived ex Wilsons, from Smyrn ONl a.—Apply co JAMES GORDON and Co., Brokers - MIS DAY, the 17th instant, at Twelve o'clock, at the Brokers' Office, 2, Dale-street, 149 Cases BORAX, —Apply to . BROWNE, HUNTER, and Co., Brokers to be sold alI fault Tins DAY, the 17th instant, at Twelve o'clock, at the Commercial Saleroom, 25 Boxes Muscatel RAISINS, Damaged, 100 Ditto Ditto DITTO, Ditto. May be viewed in Gladstone's Bonded Warehouse, Union-court 112 Boxes Muscatel RAISINS, Layers, ex Excelsior, 180 Barrels Valentia ALMONDS, ex Ebro (s.s.), • And other GOODS. Apply to GEO. BADENACH and SON, Brokers. Tins DAT, the 17th instant, at Twelve o'clock, at the Commercial Saleroom, 230 Barrels CURRANTS, part damaged, 133 Ditto DITTO, ditto, est landed ex Jane, and Mclledghn, from Patras.—Apply to GEO. BADENACH and SON, Brokers Tina DAY, the 17th instant, at Twelve o'clock, at the Broker's Office, 16, Exchange-buildings, 12 Casks PALM NUT OIL. J. IL RAYNER and Co., Brokers Apply to Postponed from Tuesday, the 15th instant. Tuts DAY, the 17th instant, at Twelve o'clock, at tho Brokers' Office, 16, Exchange-buildings, 500 Bags American RED CLOVERSEED 30 Bags Styrian , 300 Bags TIMOTHY SEED, 200 Bales Italian RYEGRASS, :50 Hhds. Fine' New Dutch Sowing FLAX SEED. J. H. RAYNER and Co., Brokers pplyio To-eoanow, the 18th instant, at One o'clock, at the Brokers' Office, 11, Orange-court, Castle-street, 130 Tons BONES, 70 Tons BONE ASH, ex Garland, from Buenos Ayres ; discharging. in Birkenhead Dock.—Apply to Messrs. Williamson, Milligan, and Co., Mer chants; or to JAMES GORDON and Co., Brokers. NEXT WEEK J. R_ CAMERON, CHRONOMETER MANUFACTURER AND OPTICIAN, 54, SOUTH CASTLE-STREET, LIVERPOOL. MARINE CHRONOMETERS ON SALE OR HIRE. GOLD and SILVER WATCHES, SEXTANTS, QUADRANTS, BAROMETERS, TELESCOPES, 4.c, CHARTS FROM LATEST SURVEYS HISTORY OF THE WORKING CLASSES, Every Saturday, in the NOW/HERM DAILY TIMES, Price -- Penny ivARg WINTER CLOTHING, T HE GENTLEMAN'S OUTFITTING WAREHOUSES, 26, BOLD-STREET. P. L. MACTAGGAR T. 24 AND he INVERNESS WRAPPERS. OVER COATS. DRESSING GOWNS. DRAWERS AND PESTS. FANCY FLANNEL SHIRTS. RAILWAY RUGS AND PLAIDS MUFFLERS AND SCARFS. FLANNELS AND BLANKETS. BOYS' WINTER CLOTHING TO CORRESPONDENTS, Under no circumstances can we insert communications not accompanied by the author's real name and address, not neces sarily for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. AMUSEMENTS, MEETINGS, &c.—THIS DAY. TnicATRE ROYAL—Mr. and Mrs. Charles Mathews. ROYAL AMPHITTIF.ATRE—EngIish Opera Company. liaxotEß's CincarF. VAntwre—Miscellaneous Attractions. TIER PARISIAN GALLERY OF ANATOMY, Paradise-street. RANDERS' MEN, AGERIE - Foot of Shaw's-brow. CLAYTON 11A1.1.--ChriSty'S Minstrels. ST. GEORGE' llALL—Organ Performance. ir.Z. For particulars see advertisements on Bth page." Etif ilortOrn Eimts. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1859. THE DAY'S NEWS The non-arrival of the French mail leaves us with a deficiency of Continental news this morn ing. The telegraphic accounts received, however, continue quite as ambiguous as before. La Presse maintains that the question of Central Italy cannot be separated from that of Northern Italy, and it foreshadows the possibility of Count Cavour's withdrawal from office, in the event of any hesita tion being displayed by France. There were 8,000 persons at the grand ball given by the city of Paris, on Monday night, in honour of the Princess Clotilda. The Austrian journals have been ordered to moderate the tone of their articles relative to France. Austria has proposed to the secondary German powers treaties of alliance, with a view to ascer tain eventualities, and three of them have con cluded a secret convention with her ; but it is only to be acted upon whe n the war shall be carried to a different theatre than Italy. So long as it shall be confined to that country, Austria prefers to act alone. Le Nord asserts that Prussi a , hay, to a certain extent, become the arbiter of the pr o esent situation. Prussia will not promise France t ai ntain her neutral attitude under any eventuality, no r can r interest she pledge herself to Austria to make ca use with her in any conflict in which e commonon and her honour, in her double quality of great German and great European power, shall not be engaged. The Queen of Spain has granted a pardon to Mr. P a rry, the Englishman who was condemned t o . death for having struck a Spanish sentinel. The Breslau Gazette says, that a new loan is i n co ntemplation in Prussia, should events take a threatening turn. In the Spanish Chambers of Deputies, on the 11th in.st., the President of the Council drew at tention to the necessity of increasing the defences of the country. He particnlarly alluded to Port Mahon, because England and France, in the event of a war, would endeavour to get possession of that island to command communications with Algeria. He also pointed out the necessity - of fortifying Ferrol, as an enemy might, in a week, destroy its arsenals, which had cost so many Owing to the resignation of Lord Ebrington, a vacancy is about to take place in the representation of Marylebone. A deputation has already Waited. upon Mr. Jacob •-Bell, but owing to this gentle man's distressing illness, he is reluctantly compelled to forego .the honour of representing the constituency. Various other names have been mentioned, and Mr. F. Romily has 'issued an address. Mr. Romily goes for Reform and the Ballot, and a policy of peace abroad, and will probably be returned unopposed. . In the House of Commons, last night, petitions were presented by Mr. Horsfall, from the ship owners of Liverpool, praying for an enquiry into the causes • which depress the shipping interest ; and Mr. A. Turner, from a dissenting body in Manchester, in favour of the bill for enabling dis senters-to become trustees of endowed grammar schools. Similar petitions were presented by Mr. Kershaw, from Stockport, and several other honourable members. Lord Bury moved the second reading of the Marriage Law Amendment Billithe object of which is to legalise marriage with a deceased wife's sister. Mr. A. B. Hope complained of the pertinacity with which this measure was revived session after session. After some discussion the bill passed a second reading. At the WeSt Derby Board, yesterday, there was some slight skirmishing between Mr. Kirkus and Mr., Shaw, but it did not amount to an actual " scene." The business transacted was not of much importance. At a special meeting of the Royal Infirmary trus tees yesterday, it was resolved to take some steps in the shape of an appeal to the public to aid the trustees in paying off a debt of £6,000, incurred in draining and improving the buildings. The annual meeting of the Liverpool Female Penitentiary was held yesterday. The institution is in an encouraging position. Mr. Gough was yesterday elected: a Commis sioner for Birkenhead, in the place of Mr, Eddowes. Mr. Gough polled 285 votes, and Mr. 87. Hughes, his opponent, 198 ; ma j or ity f or Gough, THE MERSEY DOCKS AND HARBOUR BILL. THE large majority by which the second reading of this Bill, in the House of Commons, was carried the other night, appears to have very agreeably surprised the town, after the formidable opposi tion with which it was thought to be threatened. False rumours of defeat, to which one of our contemporaries was but too ready to give extended currency, had occasioned, in certain quarters, considerable apprehension ; which, how ever, would seem to have been wholly unfounded, since the second reading was passed by a majority of seventy-nine, in a pretty full 'Rouse, a majority sufficiently decisive to show the- strong fealing of approbation with which the measure, is regarded. in Parliamen t. The opposition to the bill would seem: to be of a two-fold character. It is not by any means a lceal opposition, but one quite outside, and therefore very unreasonable. As Mr. FoßvooD• stated at the meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, the Dock lloard "did not expect that in going to Parliament for a bill of such a modest character, they should have met with an opposition , quite-ex traneous to the interests of the port—an. opposition not connected with the port, nor, as far as heeould learn, from parties connected with the trade of the important counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire." Judging from the circumstance of the amendment for postponing the second reading having been moved by one of the members for Cheshire, it was apparently an opposition emanating altogetherfrom the opposite side of the Mersey, and thereibre of a most partial and interested character. ft was moreover, as directed against the second, reading, so unfair as to amount to a positive refusal of any opportunity to the Dock Board, to whom we must do the justice of giving due credit for their anxiety to promote the interests of the port, to urge their arguments in its favour before a Committee of the House. But there was another quarter also from which opposition. proceeded. Members of the late Ministry, as such, spoke as well as voted against the second reading. Mr. LOWE, formerly of the Board of Trade, charged the Dock Company with having failed in their engagements with that Board, in 1858,—declared that, in fact, the Company had altogther violated the conditions of the arrangements into which they had entered with it, the works they had then undertaken to c3mplete being still unfinished; and Sir BENJAMIN ILL, formerly of the Board of Works, asserted that this very Bill would be a violation of their engagement " not to expend more than a certain sum of money on the Liverpool side till the Birkenhead Doeks were in a state approaching completion." But the present President of the Board of Trade, Mr. HENLEY, who is acknow ledged to be a man of no ordinary discernment and penetration, evidently could not discover any violation of obligations which the Dock Company had contracted with that Board.. He could not understand, he declared, why all Dock im provement should cease at Liverpool until certain unremunerative works ' had been completed at Birkenhead. He believed, in the increasing com merce of Liverpool, and would therefore enable the Dock Company to provide the necessary Dock accommodation. Mr. TURNER, one of the members for Manchester, supported the Bill, expressing his belief that the works at Birken head would be carried out in their integrity ; but, at the same time, expressing his conviction that the commerce of the Mersey rendered further Dock accommodation absolutely necessary. And these sentiments evidently found a powerful, not to say a general echo in the House, which passed the second reading by the decisive majority we have mentioned. The Bill in question, as our local readers are aware, is mainly for power to raise £300,000 for the purpose of providing increased Dock accom modation on the Liverpool side of the Mersey. That this accommodation is to be obtained by the completion of some necessary works at the north end of the Docks, in order to afford greater facilities for the inland trade, and in connection with it to the timber trade. Whatever com plaint there may be, in any quarter, as to certain parts of the Dock Board's general management of the i m p ortant property under their carge, there can be no reasonable objection to such a proceeding as this. A Special Committee of the Dock Company has now the task in hand of investigating the working of the Docks and Quays, in which, it is thought; there has been hitherto considerable fault ; and the assur ance has been given that that Committee will endeavour to discharge its duties THE NORTHERN TIMES, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1850 fully and fairly, so as to secure the redress of whatever may be wrong.' In' the meantime, the Dock Board are bound to provide With as little delay as possible, such further accommodation as the growing necessities of the port demand ; and it is to enable them to do this that they make their present application to Parliameirt, in which it is certainly most important to the interests of our commerce that they should not be thwarted. investigation of titles—allowing a period of fifteen months for their examination and dispute ; and when 'the Court has made an adjudication, and issued a declaration thereon, the effect will be that it is efficacious in substance for the purposes of change of ownership; that is to say, that it is to be a declaratiOn 'which will enable a valid title to be conferred on sale or mortgage, or on lease or settlement, or in any other dealing which is described by the law as a dealing . for valuable consideration. And of this declaration an office copy shall be given to the owner, that will be a certificate of his title to the land ; while on the occasion of a sale the vendor and purchaser may apply to the Court, and instead of a declaration of title, there may be a conveyance from the Court to the purchaser. Such are the principal provisions of the Bill ; and they certainly appear calculated to afford an effectual remedy to the mischiefs and inconveniences of the present system. The Court is^ to be called the Landed Estate Court ; and the Tudges are to have been conveyancers, in practice for ten years; or to have sat in the Irish Encum bered Estates' Court 7 the salary of the first Judge to be £3,000, and of the second £2,500. It is expected, however, that the Court, after the first yam., will be self-supporting. The Solicitor-Generale expressed his conviction, that the measure will not only lead to a substantial increase in the value of land, -but be of great advantage% to the interests- of commerce. And this, as the- learned gentleman observed without endangering any right of any person whatsoever, without interfering with any long established practice, and without any costly addition to ofEees or officials, a step at least will have been taken, and that neither a trifling nor unimportant one, towards removing the complexity and expense which has so long been the reproach of the law of this country.' THE POSITION OF PIEDMONT It was not very likely that a mere Principality of Italy would ever have assumed. the hostile posi tion that Piedmont has taken towards a great Power like Austria, had it not been backed by another great and rival Power. And it is impor tant, we think, to bear this circumstance in mind, in considering the case as it now stands—a case so full: of danger; as it has more and more become, to the peace of Europe. The King of Sardinia has that Italian. Principality as a portion' of his kingdom. Sardinia proper- is an island in the Mediterranean, the principal portion of which, is waste land. There is nothing of any political importance in its sovereignty ; on the contrary, it is only remarkable fe.r its political insignificance. The kingdom of Sardinia, it is true, extends•beyond• Piedmont, but it is this portion of it (as a Principality) which gives the King his importance in Italy. The seat of his government, and the seat of his residence, Turilt is the capital of Piedmont—Et fortified city of some note, the situation., of which, at the conflux of the Dania with the Po, is one of very considerable advantage. But with all this, the King of Sardinia, we repeat, was not very likely, with his 'comparatively limited resources, to assume a menacing attitude to the Austricin Empire, without that amount of support which,, through the recent alliance, he has secured from France. And:for what object, it may be asked, on the part of France, —or, rather France's Emperor ? for the nation itself has little to say in it Since there is no real grievance to either one or the other, that is, sought to be redressed, and there are treaties which justify Austria in her position, the object may not unreasonably be suspected to be an indefensible one, when judged of in connection with so mc mentous a question—and it cannot be fairly judged of apart from it—as the peace of Europe. The position of Piedmont cannot be shewn to be such as to warrant. the threatening demonstra tions which the Sardinian Government has made. Count de CAVOUR'S excuse is, that " without any fact having taken place either with us or in any other part of Europe, the Austrian Government an nounced that it should send a fresh corps d'armee into Italy, and that announcement was followed by the execution of it with a rapidity and determin ation which appeared to remind us of the warlike movements of the French Empire." But this is not strictly correct. A fact had taken place, the fact, namely, of the King of Sardinia having entered into an extraordinary alliance with the Emperor of the French, avowedly with reference to the Italian question. And quite enough has since been acknowledged, with regard to that question, t o shew that Austria had good cause for looking to the defence of her interests and her authority in Italy. Count de CAVOUR pretends, that " Austria assumed an attitude not defensive, but truly offensive, whilst nothing had taken place with Piedmont ; while it had made no movement of troops, and while there was a complete truce in diplomacy, as some time had elapsed since Piedmont had occasion to call the attention of Europe to the affairs of Italy." But it was this very circumstance that created all the suspicion. Had Piedmont called the attention of Europe to the affairs of Italy, it would have been one thing, and quite a legitimate one : it was quite another thing, and one full of alarm, for Piedmont to call the French Emperor's attention to it, by himself, and to enter into not only a political but a family alliance with him, involving the active co-opera tion of his vast armaments, and he the while himself sheaving hostile feeling towards Austria. There are Sardinian statesmen, we see, who take much the same view as this of the question in dispute. Count SOLAR DELLA MARGARIT4 for instance, has opposed, in the Piedmontese Chamber, the alleged necessity of any preparations for war. " He felt convinced," he said, " there was not a man present who could evince so abject a spirit as not to rally round the King at a moment of danger. But when a question was brought forward which involved the idea of war and all its concomitant calamities, the most patriotic might hesitate, and pnidence recommen ded a strict investigation into the truth of the assertion that the country was in danger." He naturally concluded, therefore, where there was no attestation of any such truth, that they were only provoking hostilities. And as " to approve of a loan for the purpose of arming troops and providing munitions of war, would be to not only sanction hostilities but to aid in seeing them commenced," he could not vote for such a measure. The Marquis COSTA DE BEAUREGARD took a similar view of it. " Piedmont," he said, " was preparing for war, and Count de CAVOUR was doing all he could to provoke it." And this remark having been met with cries of " No, no,', he replied to them, emphatically, " Yes, yes " maintaining that the warlike policy that had been adopted has placed the kingdom in a perilous position. " And," added the Marquis, ." for my part, I will not give any encouragement to such a policy. I will not approve by a vote of confidence a policy which should always be opposed—a policy which has done' so much injury to the internal situation of the country." This policy, be it remembered,. is the alliance-with -France policy. It would never have been pursued had not Louis NAPOLEON come forward to suggest, to incite,. and to sustain it. The position of Piedmont, then, is a Use position, and one- as perilous as it is false. The King of Sardinia has committed al great mistake, and the sooner he retracts, and corrects it, the better will it be far his own peace;. and the peace of Europe at large. His Majesty's First Minister,. the- Count de C.I.VOUR, admitted that there is arrayed against his present policy " the opinions manifested by the English Government, the. English Ministers, and the principal speakers who took part in the discussion on the Address, having expressed opinions favourable to peace, and contrary to the pretended projects of Piedmont to enter on an aggressive war." Let him, then, ere it be too, late, advise his Royal master to , defer to those opinions. He may depend upon it, that they are opinions much sounder and more disinterested than any which the French Emperor would seem to have given ; and a regard to them will not only secure the real interests of Piedmont r but promote that great object, without which the progress of improvement, either there or anywhere else, can never be advanced— the peace and the tranquillity of Continental Europe. THE lONIAN QUESTION, THE difficulties of this- question, which Mr LANDED PROPERTY - WITH land, as with any other property which a man may own, whether by succession, by bequest, or by purchase, every thing depends upon his legal right to its possession And it is strange, that in a country like England, where land is so justly considered to be the highest investment, and the position of a landed proprietor is so properly regarded as one of honour and credit, that there should yet be the greatest difficulty, so often, in establishing its tenure. Of course the real foundation, of the right to it is the law of the land. Doubtless there is to be found a divine sanction of such a right ; and them can be• shewn to be good and sufficient reasons why, for the common weal,. it should. exist. The designs of Providence, in a state of settled society, could not apparently be falfilled without the institutim of property. And the law of property, therefore?. is obviously in strict accordance with the divine Yet is it a law—a law of the country int which it is ; and whereas the right of property depends upon the law, that right is possessed independently altogether of the manner or justice of the original acquisition, or of the• character of each subsequent change of possessious—so that only it be now possessed under the law. Neither does the owner's right depend upon the expediency of the law which secures it to him. It has been well observed, that " it is the•boast of au Englishman that his property is secure and all the world will grant, that a denerate administration of justice. is the best way to secure his property. Why have we so• many lawyers, but to secure our property ? why so many formalities, but to secure our property ? Not less than one hundred thousand families live in opulence, elegance, and ease, merely by securing our property." This was•: said nearly a century ago; and if it were true then, that so many families flourished on the profits of promoting and maintaining such security,.many more, one would think, must do so now. And certainly such a het as this: attests very strongly the importance that attaches to it. This• security of property, then, mainly rests. in the validity of the title• to it, which the law demand. Yet this law, as: respects landed estates, is full of complications andflegal fictions—it has to do with a severity of feudal tenures, and with a fictitious system of fines and recoveries, the diffi culties created by which may very reasonably account for our having so many lawyers fattening upon the one single thing of seeing to the security of that which the law, without doubt, confers the right to possess. Yes,, there is the law ;, but its forms are complicate, and some times indefinite. There must be, a good title to a landed estate, or else there is no security for its possession.,, and no The question, has been sked, and answered—" Is a man impoverished by purchase ? It is because he paid his; money for a lie, and took a bad title for good."' These forms of law were a greater grievance formerly, but were facility for its transfer made to bend to the advancing necessities of com merce, and the growing wants of the people. Yet this was mainly done by devices, which were gene rally troublesome, and which still, indeed, to a considerable extent, exist as such. The Government, however, has now undertaken to reform this most undesirable state of things. The Solicitor-General has brought forward a bill in the House of Commons, to simplify the law relating to landed estates in England. It is sought to make the transfer of such an estate as easy, as expeditious, and as safe, as that of any other kind of property ; and, at the same time, and above all, to make the title to it as secure. "We know," said the learned member, " how the purchase of all other kinds of property is completed. If it be stock we do not require to be told how many hours are needed to make the transfer complete ; if it be railway or other shares you have the purchase completed in a few hours. Instances of the rapid transfer of some kinds of property in this country may be found in the case of ships. Take the Great Eastern or the Himalaya. You might make a con tract to purchase either the Great Eastern or the Himalaya, and have the transfer effected in the space of five minutes, and for an expense of less than ss."—advantages, as he truly remarked, which ought never to be forgotten by the owners of shipping property in this country; and which ought to be possessed, there can be but one opinion, by the owners of landed property. • Yet how different, at present, are the circum stances of the two cases. With regard to ship ping purchases and transfers, there are no stamp duties, and no difficulties in making out a title. There is a single document in a very simple form, and by a simple entry upon the registry of ship ping it is known a transfer has taken place. Com pare this with what is done in the case of landed property, as the Solicitor-General described it— " You buy an estate at auction, or enter into a contract for its purchase ; you ar - _ , anxious to get possession of the property you have bought ; the vendor is very anxious to get his money. But do you get possession, and does he get the money ? Upon the contrary, there begins-Itnd which occu pies a considerable portion of a man's life- -the preparation of abstracts, a comparison of deeds, searches for incumbrances, objections made to title, answers to those objections ; disputes arise upon the inquiries ; endeavours are made to cure defects, and in this way, as many of us know, years pass over in a history of this kind." These are certainly practical inconveniences, not to say positive griev ances ; and one's only wonder is that they have gone so long unredressed. It is the object of the Ministerial measure, to' e p s r u ov b i l de ishe a d, rem so edy for mewhat A as Co r w es ts to be p,:etsthe question of tenure and titles, to the Encumbered Estates' Court in Ireland, whose duty will be the GLADSTON 's mission has brought out, only go to how important it was that its settlement, one way or the other, should be undertaken, as it now has been, by some statesman of the requisite ability to grapple with them fairly and judiciously ; and it can never with any reason be denied, we think, that in the whole range of our public men, no one could have been selected better qualified in all respects for so onerous a task, than he whose brief but perplexing career as Lord High Com missioner has just been brought to a close. shew That Mr. GLADSTONE has overcome, all at once, the difficulties of the question, we do not mean. to say. But that he has paved the way for their being surmounted, at some period near at hand, is very evident from the state of the case as it stood at the date of the advices, which have come to hand this week. Had nothing more been done, than to convince the majority of the lonian Assembly that they had taken up a false position—that the object they sought was an unconstitutional, and therefore a forbidden one,—great good, would, doubtless have resulted from it. But when, in addition to this, they have had laid before them, by the Lord High Commissioner, measures of careful and well-considered reform in the working of their political institutions, with, the view of redressing the real grievances of which they have reason to complain, a confident hope and expecta tion may be entertained that the. Government of the Islands may now be so adjusted as to give satisfaction to the people, and, eventually to pro mote their permanent interests., They had had transmitted for them to this country, as our readers were already aware, their petition to the Queen for union with Greece; and they have now received her Majesty's reply, to the effect that she can neither consent to abandon the obligation she has undertaken as protectress o f the lonian State, nor can convey or permit any application to any other Power in furtherance of such or any similar design. This is, in fact, just what Mr. GLADSTONE had given them to under stand would be the case. Her Majesty has been constituted sole organ of that State in the Coun cils of Europe, and cannot be expected to abandon the duties to which she is committed. As protectress of the State, she has adopted, on her part, measures which she deems most conducive to the good of the lonian people, and she asks for the enlightened co-operation of their Parliament in carrying them into successful effect. But at the same time, her Majesty considers it right to inform them, that though she " does not desire to impose new fetters," she will yet " enforce, ' wherever it is placed in her charge, the sacred duty of obedience to the laws." Such was the reply which Mr. GLADSTONE read to them, in obedience to his Royal Mistress' commands, that he should " make it known, without loss of time, and in the most solemn manner, to the Legislative Assembly and to the lonian people, in order that both the one and the other may fully and clearly comprehend their actual position." And this having been done, Mr. GLADSTONE has next proceeded to state, in detail, how it was pro posed to improve, "up to their highest capability, and according to the circumstances of the times, the existing lonian institutions." This i F s t s o t, be as ~ First, done, he set forth to them, in two ways---- between the lonian and the British element of the Government, by extending the Sphere of the for mer, and by cautiously contracting the agency of the latter. Secondly, as between the different lonian elements, by dissociating powers that can not conveniently be exercised by the same instru ment, and by establishing the guarantees which experience has proved to be most effective for the rights and the liberties of all the classes of the community." Mr. GLADSTONE, speaking, it ap pears, in good Italian, described very circumstan tially, the provisions to be made for carrying this out ; and having performed this duty, it is said in a most impressive manner, entreated them " to con tradict, by the testimony of facts, the imputations of those who declare that in these Islands the spirit of restless demagoguism on the one hand, and th e inveterate traffic in place on the oilier, re nder go ocl and free government impracticable.' The Assenl bly, through their President, gave iv' ret urn an assurance that they would devote their best "atten tion to the grave and momentous subjects ° I. `— address. Iletx Now, whatever may be the result of d im or portant proceedings, it cannot with vO4 fairness be denied, that her Majesty's Mhi steri have but discharged a bounden duty in them, under the most unsatisfactory circumstance lared of the State in quesition, as having been p They selected , f°l' under her Majesty's charge f conducting them, a statesulP the purpose u than whom no other, we repeat,• could Pos sibly have been found more competent for the t They might, it is true, have passed over the trotr blesoir- .e affair, as their predecessors• had done: Bat they did not think it consistent with their obligations, as Ministe-os.of the Crowm,. to do s°* , They preferred to grapiple*wiih it, boldly and at . _ And even if the most able Lord Comte'' sioner Extraordinary should fail in the' o bject 1 ' view, there- will still be lnour and credit be t° all concerned, for having ufully engaged in difficult a daty, and for I fearlessly, so ably, and so faithfully ing dischargat 1 5' IMPERIAL PALIAME' HOUSE GV COMMONS.—WEDNEspii The Tramways (h-eland) Bill was read a second time, MARRIAGE LAW AMENDNErifT BILL. e • Lord Bury moved the second reading of the Marrigg Law'Amendment Bill, the object of which is the lega l , i l e i tion of marriage with a deceased wife'• sister in Eng i n; and Wales. The bill is precisely identical with t° introduced last year. Mr. J. B. Hope mod, as an amendment, that this be•read a second time.that day six months. lie a lleb- ce the•seandal and discord which the hilt would introduss into families, denying that it would be orany service, , e d was often argued, to the•lower orders. H e commen t t.is on the inconsistency of permitting a m in t o marry t ' er wife's sister, and refusing to allow a woman to marry husband's brother.; Mr. E. Stewart seconded the amendments Mr. A. Ball supported the bill, asserting that the, rc. l t i ; gious-societies were in its-fa vour , an d th a t- th e ma:l °r ' of the.metropolitan clergy.had petitioned for it. - Mr: Buxton also supported the bill. of Mr; H. Drummond said that it was c h arac teristic, $ the progress of the age, that they had in one we e Tiff bill to sanctify sacrilege ; and" i n th e nex t' -4.0 sancta inceat bsolutely re' 'Ackroyd supported the measure as quired by the social condition of the people. General Thompson said that the House was as Rag able to expound a text as the Bench o f Bi s h o ps, and• tended that such marriages .were not f or bidd en , but P— tively enjoined by the scriptures, t of Sir G. C. Lewis expressed his regret that the ac ej, 1835',..forbidding these marriages, had e ver been Pa ss po t and declared that the law could not remain in its Pr os ' state: , at Mn.. Secretary Walpole opposed the bill as inconsis' e o and dangerous, as pe rm itti ng one c l ass o f marr iage 0 15 refusing others not so o bj ec t iona bl e , an di ap plying 0 ,, n , 3 5 to ore part of the kingdom ; for the sake Gf a.few pet s ',- " they were about to fix a fea r f u l ev il on th e w hole co munity. NEW MEMBER. • At this stage of the debate, Baron Mayer de Rothschild, the new member Hythe, introduced by Lord' J. Russell an d M r . A. Sral l ' o , advanced to the t a bl e , an d th ere s t a t e d' t h at h e had e no ° 0 seiencious obje c ti ons t o th e , oat h as ten d ere d him; 511" this he retired. Mr. A. Smith then moved, iu accardance with the precedent of last sessi on , th a t the usual lbrm be dispelts p with in this instance. 141 Mr. Newdegate complained that he was taken surprise, no notice havin g been _given., After an observation from. Sir G. Grey, Mr. Coningham said that the. present scene Was 0 aegument against the imposition of - any oath whatev upon members of that House : H e h o p e d that all ea t would hereafter be aboli'shed as impious and Pagan. to Lord J. Russell said that it was for the SPeak, :fi er decide whether the resolution of l as t sess i on was B "'` . force. The Speaker said that resolutions passed in any se sa ne , expired with it; the-present session was the propel' t o t The resolution was then agreed to, as was a second,. the words "on the true faith of a Christian" be °n u "' in this instance. After a protest from Mr. Newdegate, is Baron M. De ItQthschild was then sworn, and tack seat on the front opposition bench. MARRIAGE . . Lord John Russell resumed the TALL debate on the ti 'a ° bill. He was satisfi e d th a t th ere was no religious tion to the bill. H e th oug ht, h owever, t h a t it w° he tend to weaken, the relation betwe e n f am ili e s,. still er admitted that the middling, and still more the I° ; € , s , classes, had a strong feeling in favonr of such inar r° ' r e which was impossible to check. H e th oug ht, there that it was more prudent to legalise those marriage'. 0 should, ther e f ore , su pp or t th e bill, urg i ng, at the ' 3 t o time, that equal permission should .b e g i ven t o Woale il marry their husband's brother. Mr. Walter said that what was given by this bill 05 not equal to what was taken away. +her Lord Bury replied, saying, that as regarded degrees of relationship, they ought not to be mixed wn with the consideration of this bill, which stood on its merits. T T The House then divided, when the second reading ' c3s carried by 133 to 77. House adjourned at 3.30 p.m THE RT. e The Duchess of C am b r idge, CO th U e Princess Mary, ralei t at Duke of Cambridge, visited the Queen on TuesdaY , Buckingham Palace. Majo — r-General Peel had an audience of the QUe en by The Prince C onsor t ro d e on horseback, attende d Captain the Hon. D. de Ros. The Princesses Alice and Helena rode in the ridi rig. house.. The Queen and Prince Consort, accompanied 1 1,,„ c e Princesses Alice and Helena' honoured the perform'ce of the English ope r a, Covent Garden, with their Preroly in the evening. Th e ro y a l su it e cons i ste d o f inn) , Churchill, the Hon. Beat r i ce By ng , th e E ar l o f Verlo'" Col. F. R. Seymour, and Captain the Hon. D. de 13° ,0 1 Her Majesty will h o ld l evees a t S t. J ames ' s Palacisra the following days, a t t wo o ' c l oc k :—Wednesday, 4l l e inst. ; Wednesday, the 2nd of March next. ticl' The Lord Cha nce ll or h as appointed Charles -P: -c, t i t, Fisher, of Ventn or an d S andown, in the Isle of l'„1"3 illeh to be a commi ss i oner t o adm i nister oaths in the ° Court of Chancery in England. ha d A deputdtion on th e su bj ect of the Mersey Docks, oil an interview with the Right Hon. J. W. lienleYj au • Tuesday, at the office of the Board of Trade. The rr u n - ile• tation consisted of Sir Phillip Egerton, M.P., Mr. ) ,elicl mache, M.P., Earl Grosvenor, M.P., Mr. Towns j i" o o. Mainwaring, M.P., the Earl of Shelburne, and the v i r , F. Ponsonby (Great Western Railway Company)) ife - rs, Salisbury, M.P., Mr. Bancroft, Mr. Stokon, Mr. . I '. ° ,,r. and Mr. Petizers, (Birkenhead Railway CompanY); sr. Laird (Birkenhead Improvement Commissioner) , . o of Alderman Eaton and Mr. T. Q. R o b er t s (C or poratO o d, Chester), and Mr. C. Mainwaring, Mr. C. Towns and Mr. Penny (landowners). 9 1% 13. The following deputati o n s , i n t ro d uce d by ikir.; . , g for Horsf all, M.P., and Mr. J. C. E war t, M.P., menlue.,:sclaY, Liverpool, had an interview with M r . H en l ey , o n Dl' Bill, on the subject of the Mersey Docks and Ilarboursino namely: —Messrs. Quentin Fleming and James 13 . oat; Timber Association), Messr s . J o h n Bibb y an d B. a n d Steam-ship Association), Messrs. Josiah Booll essr e. rancis A. Clint (Shipown ers ' A ssoc i a ti on ) , and ' coPl" Charles Saunders and George Melly (Chamber of merce). 0 r ",.:. HONOURS TO LORD AND LADY NAPIER.--W e lo s-, York Herald) understand that a committee ha s Il derillt7, ° been constituted in this city for the purpose of tea d e loY to Lord and Lady Napier a grand ball at thewille3 gill of Music. It is proposed that the affair shall take I F the during the month of March, and immediately after the close of the session of Congress, when the eilte - be in diplomatic, political, and fashionable world New York. The new British Minister Lord 1 4'14 probably arr i ve a b out the same time that the ball . _ gee be given to his predecessor. It is stated that the will be the most mag n ifi cen t a ff a i r o f t h e kind thatieilia the ever been projected i n t h e U n i te d St a t es , both _ or al quality of the guests And the splp /4 4 0 1,g 0 - tio g u arrangements,