The Express.
London, England, 1847-10-30 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, SATURDAY EVE N ING, OCTOBER 104 7•

She dismission, car recommended diarnimiam. some
public fityldloclrks• ' • •
' .
•
FRANCE.—Parris, OCT. 2A.—!li fl, AND Ex-
tant 7 r04.1004--aThrrel~ Ify „wpm.
tin table of the merehandhlf fraftrOud and:averted daring
'the first nine mouths of 1847, 1846, ead 1845, ea well as the
movement of navigation during the some period of 1847 and
1846. The following are the principal-mob -in importe:
tiam(specialoommenos) may be remsWeekikelgi7. compared
with 1846, en augmentation 0f4,588,000 ftiatt quintals (the
metrical quintaUs 4,22141b5. English) la sominsiutl,4so-1111,►
metrical quitah fOr coals (01. n) ; 127 for east Ina
(Bildiant; 71,000 for colonial angst ; 76, Oar oleaginous
grain ; a 2,000 for sine, of first fueiou The
diminution amounts to 192,000 metrical quiatels tar
setion (Americus) ; 24,000 for raw wool ; 25,000 lir
Hasa threads and tissues ; 22,009 for foreign ewer, ha
Is exportation there is an augmentation of 267,000 bee.
Whew In potable liquors; 129,000 metrical quintals in salt;
36,000 metrical quintals in refined sugar ; 224,0001. in
eteans.engines and locomotives; 183,000 metrical quintab in
corn • 25,000 metrical quintal on dye-stufb, etc. The other'!
articles, whether for importation or exportation, remain sta-
tionary. The navigation during the first nine moetha of
1847, employed in arrivals 16,282 vessels, and 2,098,000 teas;
in departures, 10,630 vessels, and 1,175,1)00 tons; or 1e the
two movements, 2,972 vessels, and 328,000 tons same thou
for the corresponding period of 1846. The French flag has
lost 193 vessels, but has gained 48,000 tons. The part of the
foreign fisg has increasd by 2,169 vessels, and 179,000 tope ;
its progress is in particular perceptible in the arrivals. The
general increase of tonnage in 1847 iv due in great part to
the extraordinary transports of corn, and has been princi-
pally favourable, as appears from the above figures, to the
foreign flag.
ACCIDENT.—The Afoniteur Pariaien of Wednesday
evening has the following The poet-boat destined to act
as a botarde,au or breakwater between the present floating
dock at Cherbourg, was, in the evening of the 25th, put on
one of the slips of the building yard of Chantereine fur MIN
necessary repairs. Under this circumstance it was impos-
sible for vessels to go out of the dock at high tide without
great risk, and therefore it was resolved that the post boat
should be again launched when the tide fell. In performing
this operation the fistenings of the heavers by which she was
held gave way, and the hawsers and chain were broken, and
the boat came down the inclined plane with such velocity
that the shorn, by which it was supported, were scattered
with great force in all directions, and killed seven men em-
ployed in the yard, and wounded 23 others, more or less
severely. The latter were carried to the hospital, end have
every ere taken of them that their cases require, and the
Minister of the Merino has given orders for relief to be
afforded to their families."
MADLLE. DE Luzzv.—Madlle. de Lazzy is still
confined at the Conciergerie. At twelve o'clock on the 27th
she was seen walking in the court-yard, and reading a volume
which appeared to be the " Histoire des Girondins " of
M. de Laniartine. She was attired in black.
HOLLAND. Tun STATES-GENSIttL. Tim
HAMM, Ocr. 27.—This afternoon, the Second Chamber
voted by a majority of 48 to 2 the entire project of address in
reply to the King's speech. It will be sent up to the First
Chamber.

•
.
te d.Sistes-* interests pt this rest Op MO* 'l2,a
ill
devoted to the limn. My /mu mayor and
gmmet, Istrall remember this ;day to midslog how.—
11.)
It wee Use resolved that tke speak of tla• 011amberkin
and the ogelt of Mr. greoke be 'Meriden the,jourials oaths
court. 111 i; Brooks Omsk the hand of hiloweb* with
she members of the court. and retired smith/tweet applause.
THZ PICTEMB OV TN* KINIV•4O7 THZ Fat:Stew—The
Townnjolksweis=troar, addressed to the Lord
to =she gal=7"raVelatilfi glete.esr
test,.
comumbeelegle Mrsemmalso et *We sited to Menai it
the Chet 1 Ommose Osumi I lamina so this Is arrwordlag the '
emus tette So subsek• I Met aware; It will sand sings
Weft liceew to be, my Lad Mayor, year hub
Omaha esevoil. V. Nun. the Lord Mayor.
letter was misled to lee entered as the journals.
Tae LONDON AlaMmOtrime.—Deputy Allan brought up
the report of the Caen, Coal. and Finance Committee, ups
the reference "to AIM • rmeggoo i• on with the trustees and
managers of the Leaden , for the Mush, of the
property, and the satire management and control of the in-
stitution to the corporatism of London, to be enegnegtt
the inmates to be appointed by the Court of Commis
eff in such manner as tbey may think proper." —The report,
to which considerable immolator is attached, says :
We referred theism° to a meld emraittee, who have retorted to
us that they Mee proceeded datele, ead eneeted a seventies
smontly le the Mem Omer odd regent end*Ma awed amt.
kg *Mho sehmelasee te the eimiselea, hid Y.Yamib will to.
tees ey the lealtellem It hes he. tint the sten aid so-
et Me ilmasesse ISM he asoveyed to the e
tb tees nand laser men: sod, Is pmeneem:4=l::
that dust, the emmilMe et menemmeet have We day test en
New deesdre Obi Owlets is germ *emerge le the orpesullia at
lambs, er Mesa perms or wises es they may sopelet to mann
the esammisee. and the eyeaM simmlftes
be smemmeMen thet, mss
• Darr mom* eraseall. bikes amested by the tr
weehosid be eetleelled loam spes thedember br mohair ti
the
sawn et Os crease dim set
Me emes—amady, sheet
mot besared ameds, stile they hem gest=s=e
reset In tail welassneo NM Masse
And we beg farther t me* Met. the treeless sell sil
ties having any legal or seellehleniereet the prognety, have, in
cons ad with the resammeeildas at the lenmeherlt, 'Controller,
sada Midler. agreed es emery the property le the corporation
beteg damped MIL my seedlaisak the media onnoinee
is it te hethetriny to seessemend thin en km seen desell. IN
assenienes erhi 1b mosumennetles Not Meer Mem mem%
approved by Ude sem% met le Me =Was seek mama air-
semis as the evert weg Wok peeeerja==ts, suumliten egret
with the medal comailltee fa tear
After some conversation' in which it wee suggested, end
apparently with effect, that the word " allowances ' should
be substituted for t. endowments," the report was agreed to
and ordered to be printed.
°Azar CITY IMYROTEMINTB.—Deputy Allan brought in
-• • •

a bill for raising moneys for the purpi;see of improvements
within the City, under the London (City) Improvement Act
of 1847. The bill is founded upon the report from the im-
provement committee, sad reposes to raise 300,0001. for fin.
provernenta from Cannemeeetet to St. Paul's, sod 200,0001.
for improvements not yd determined upon. The bill was
read a first time, and °mimed to be read a second time.—Mr.
R. L. Jones brought up anapest from the improvement com-
mittee recommending thmteetribution ofsool.towardsthe pro-
posed improvement in Weed-et. A communication was at the
same time presented frau the commissioners of seism agree-
ing to vote 5001. in aid of ft sane object.—lt was agreed to
that the COMMiIIIiGIIBIII Of soma should be empowered to
refer the matter to ajar', if/omm Morley refused the offer
of compensation made by the sett
The court then adjourned.

MEETING OF THE ANTI-GOLD LAW LEAGUE.
The fifth public meeting of this newly formed
league was heldlut evening at the London Tavern, Bishops-
gate-street, in order to give the inhabitants of the City the
opportunity of hearing an expositioa of the principles of this
body. Mr. F. Bennoch, the chairman of the former meet-
ings, presided ; and there was a tolerably large attendance.
The CHAIUMAN opened the proceedings by remarking that
the late Mr. Rothschild had said that England, with an ample
currency, might become the manufacturing country of the
world, but that, with a restricted currency, her manufactures
must necessarily go toother countries. It was astonishing that
the government had not taken heed of this warning. Owing
to our restrictions of the currency. rival manufactories had
now sprung up all over the continent ; even in the wilds of
Sweden we had our opponents. By the act of the lyislature
of 1819, resolving everything into gold, it was rendered im-
possible to carry out the vast transactions of this empire, for
which the medium of gold was not sufficient for one-fiftieth
part. (Hear.) The act of 1819 hod the effect of adding
one-third to the national debt and to all annuities ;
thus robbing the public debtor to that extent.
The burden was still further aggravated by the repeal of the
taxes on property, on the mistaken ground that these were
war taxes. (Hear.) The bill of 1844 caused • still further
contraction; and the consequence was that in times of com-
mercial distress the price of money rose to an enormous
extent; then a tide of gold set in ; parties were glad to get
i rid of tat 21 or 3 per cent. ; and all kinds of wild specula-
tions were generated—men of straw being set up es compe-
titors to the regular merchant. Then came a crash, and all
the imaginary profit was sacrificed in a few months : the
progress was gradual; the sacrifice immediate. (Hear.) It
was said our currency was expansive, but if so, it expanded
when it ought to contract, and contracted when it ought to
expand—thus, in one sense, carrying slut the scriptural
maxim, that he who has much shall have more given him ,
and from him who has little all shall betaken. (Hear, hear.)
It was said that our currency had been rendered sell-adjust-
ing ; but this assertion had been falsified, as well as every
other on the same subject. Within the last two years, the
public stocks had fallen from 15 to 20 per cent. ; tea, from 40
to 70 ; sugar, from 30 to 40 ; coffee, from 30 to 60 ;
cern, 30 ; cotton, from 25 to 30; and houses, 20 per cent. ;
and manufactured goods of all kinds were all but unsaleable.
The loos to the country during the last twelve months was
nearly equal to the whole of the national debt. (Hoar,
hear.) This might go on for a year or two, and then we
should have a glut of gold ; an illegitimate and exotic trade
would be introduced ; to be followed by ruin; and we should
be thrown again in the dust. (Hear.) The foundation of
our monetary system was decidedly unjust; and as long as
that system continued would these consequences follow. The
League therefore declared unconditional war against the
bills of 1819 and 44. and demanded their total repeal. They
proposed to go on educating the public mind, till the
strength of numbers demanded a change. They must have
no tinkering or plastering; or, if any plaster were used, it
must be a paper plaster. Many had pleasure in hearing the
ring of a sovereign, and, having one in their hands, thought
themselves safe for one week at least—(hear) : but gold was
nothing to man; he could not eat it ; and a currency based
'on solid credit was far preferable. Many asked, " What !
would you have a currency without gold 1" Yes, without
gold, as regarded our domestic transactions ; but with it, it
a medium of exchange for foreign transactions, to be
bought and sold, like any other article, at its market
value. (Hear.) A paper cirealation might be ren.
dared ample, and far more safe than one based on gold.
It was not necessary to go far to see that paper might be
made safe. In Scotland paper had cleared the wilds, ren-
dered the Clyde navigable, reared manufactories, and given
an impetus to all trades. Paper had fought our battles up
to 1817, and finally conquered near Brussels. (Hear.) In
1825 a paper circulation of 1,600,0001. saved the Bank of
England from ruin. In 1847 it had saved many from going
into the Gazette, and had averted a civil revolution which
might have laid in the dust the greatness of this country.
(Hear, hear.) And, under proper regulations, nothing
more was necessary to ensure the continued and progressive
welfare of this nation. But a paper currency was denounced
as inconvertible. The truth was, the present currency was
so, because it professed to be convertible into gold, wlile
that metal was not equal to one fifth the circulation.
Those were the " inooneertibles" who professed to give
us a gold currency, and did not give one-fourth enough.
Bat it was pleasant to believe that we were on the eve of a
change. (Hear.) At their last meeting the list of unfortunate
traders was being swelled to an enormous extent ; merchants
were declaring themselves unable to meet their
engage
ments; links had begun to fail, some eripportedb,
richest proprietaries, and others tottered on the bank of
ruin. Then ministers became alarmed ; the " hopeful"
Wood began to think there was something in it, and Lord J.
Russell the same. Peel was called,•probably by the elec-
tric telegraph, to the rescue • this Mephistopheles, with his
wooden Faust, came to the celebrated nocturnal meeting in
Downing-street; and then, malgri the feelings of a parent
strangling hie line, it was decided that the bill should be
strangled, at least;for a time. (Hear) Still, it was mid
Lord Grey and Lord Palmerston had stood out for the inte-
grity at the bill ; Lord J. Russell and Sir C. Wood had de-
limit' themelvee net yy pared to carry on the government
salmi fi wee • and after a period of most anxious
semmemee, the eenesseileimmat was made from the bank, and
M gnaw up desk left with delight at the boon. In his
apish. there lad sever bees a clumsier concession. Minis-
tees had made a kind of awkward apology for their former
resistance. Then they fixed the terms—eight per cent.
Never before had a government fixed a minimum of inte-
rest; a the other hand, they had often interfered to pre-
vent the leeches of the commercial system from pillaging the
people by usury; but never before had a minimum rate of
discount been fixed by authority, to be legalised by a bill of
indemnity. There was nothing to prevent the rate of
discount rising to twenty per cent. Consols had
rushed up with • fearful velocity to 84 ; but this was
a mistaken movement, as the subsequent result bad
proved. Then there was a proviso that the people should
have a share of this extra profit. He should like to know
when the public would get the extra three per cent. Pro-
bably when the eight or ten millions advanced to Ireland
were repaid, which might be at the day of judgment, but not
before. (Hear.) This proviso was most unjust to the Bank ;
it threw on them all the odium of the measure, while the
Chancellor of the Exchequer sought to secure all the 'dean.
tags. (Her, • hear.) Not only was the league bound to
oppose the kW of 1814, bat afro that of 1819. It was said
the latter bill had placed the currency on a sound basis. If
so, how had it happened that it had fallen beneath the very
first trial ? (Hear.) Let them take care that there was uo
resuscitation of this bill—no galvaniaing of its e
(Laughter.) Let the new parliament, soon to ameZtill,
take care to be right on this question ; for on their just legis-
lation entirely depended the welfare of their constituents.
Let them support a fair, nano:tutting currency based on the
credit of the state ; then would England go on prospering
and to prosper, and become the manufacturing country of
the world. (Cheer.)

Mr. J. DUJICAN said the fundamental principle of the
league repudiated the idea that money was intrinsically
valuable. Money was the sign, not the thing sig.'
nified ; a token or symbol of the produce of la-
bour, which was the source of all wealth. In
that sense gold was a very fitting representative of
money, because it condensed labour; but iron, timber, or
adios, or any other substance, was just as fit a representative
of money. Money had two uses—to pay tales, and to carry
on industrial exchanges; and a perfectly valueless instrument
was quite sufficient to do this amongst ourselves. But to deal
with foreigners it was it- elms—then gold was repdred.

Conlin*, his remarks, therefore, to the sort of sway weer
lazy for our dotnestie operations., be would murk diet in a
good tad paternal government the subject aught net to be
Compelled to pay taxes Ia any way that was burdensome to
himself. And if the object could be obtained by the means
of iron, timber, or other material, payment ought see to be
reqcired in a foreign metal, not a 'relive of this teregigh and
which could not be retained here, even by the mews itself.
It was therefore umbra fa the crown to require the subjects
to Ito that milk& it *earl not do itself. (Hear.) Anciently,
all taxes WWI paid la Wed, sometimes even is labour per-
formed, as by thombing the corn of the sovereign. Ia pro-
ems edam Maimed* ef receiving taxes, from the heareating
beseini beerueeniest hence the baguettes of
reriblirgener' telly et weed, whack continued in me down
to Iffild, Ned a board of milli bed set fire to the late House
of Cominens. (Hear.) Mr. fees Taylor, in his " Essay on
Morley," gave a minute description of these tallies, and the
purposes they had served during six centuries. During that
period this empire had attained its greatness, founded its
colonies, and reared its political constitution, such as it was.
Durindthe same period, Spain, the great mint into which
the of the Mexican mines was enured, sank; while
England rose with her wooden tallies. (Hear.) Gold
equipped the armada under Philip—our timber money
destroyed it. (Cheers.) The guarantees dell the liberties
we had had been obtained while this money was in use •
and we might safely conclude that the greatness of thin
em would not be affected if all the gold and silver in the
universe were buried in the ocean. (Cheers.) Did the bul-
Batista imagine that the fields would not be ploughed with-
out a plough of gold, or that railways must have golden
rails ? Even the greatest of their opponents, the Times, with
its privileged inconsistency, had on Monday last conceded
the whole question, by admitting that gold had not a natural
and spontaneous existence in this country, and that we
ought not to have an exotic currency, the contrivance of the
state, forced upon us. (Cheers.) This was precisely the
description of the currency. Pity it was, that an influential
journal should be tolerated in such inconsistencies; but it
was for the public to correct and put down, as they best
knew how, inconsistencies so gross and insulting to its readers.
(Cheers.) One objection to this movement was that it would
be fraudulent to pay the public creditor with a paper pound.
Had he thought so, he never would have joined the league.
The capital or the country was estimated at 5,000 millions,
and, taking the national debt, for the sake of round num-
bers, at 1,000 millions, 4,000 millions were left. This ought
to be paid by some one—they said, by the propertied classes.
(Hear.) If the propertied classes would come forward and
pay this, there was an end of the matter ; if net, they ought
to be made to pay the haterest, which was paid at present by
the labouring classes through the customs and excise. One
of two things ought to be done. Either let the interest
of the debt be wholly paid by a tax on property, or let it be
paid in a paper depreciated by such an amount as to express
the indebtedness of the propertied clue. Taking this de-
predation at ten per cent. assuming the paper pound to be
worth 18s., this was no injustice, but merely a removal of
the burden from the shoulders of the weak to those of the
strong. (Cheen.) If all taxes were levied on property,
every article would sell for its real value; but if, in addition,
taxes were imposed on production in its different stages, the
result must be, an augmentation of the price of the article.
In such a state of things the untaxed foreigner would na-
turally be ab'e to undersell the domestic producer;
and hence, free trade without a free trade in gold,
was an injury. But let our domestic intercourse be
conducted by a paper currency, and we could not possibly
be injured by foreign competition. (Heir.) The Times on
Monday had said, " The pressure is already relieved, and
would be further relieved by a suspension of railway works
and a general contraction of mercantile engagements."
(Hear.) Pretty relief truly! to increase the capital of the
country by throwing thousands of labourers on the poor
rates, and compelling/ merchantsto sell their goods at a
ruinous loss. (Hear.) Another objection to the principles
of the League was founded on the assumption that the gold
pound was of a certain invariable weight. Thu was false;
originally the pound was 12 ounces, as its name implied, but
it had undereone no lour than 22 successive reductions. Why
then should Sir R. Peel compel the adoption now of a pound
of the same weight as the pound of 1797 ? (Hear.) The
system thus established was eminently injurious to the poor
man, for the wages of labourers had fallen in consequence of
the bill of 1819. The wages of the West India Dock labourers
had fallen from 20s. to 151. and the wages of labour in the
manufacturing districto had suffered a still greater diminu-
tion. This was a necessary consequence of the bill of 1819,
than which, with the bill of 1814, nothing more destructive
to the interests of the labourer could have been con-
ceived. Gold was the only article in the country
untaxed; when it rose, the price of every other
commodity, the price of labour included, suffered
• reduction. There were periods when the price of gold tell
below that of other articles ; then periods of prosperity and
enterprise ensued ; the foreigner came in, and finding gold
untaxed took it away, leaving taxed articles in the ware-
houses. (Hear.) Then the Sank put on what was vulgarly
celled the screw, refusing to discount good paper, in order to
reduce the price of taxed commodities below that of gold.
This effected, the foreigner brought back the gold ; but who
paid the cost ? The working man,—witne s the stoppage of
mills in Lancashire, of iron-works in Wales, and of railway
operations all over the country, as recommended by the
Times (Hear.) Yet, the gold was to be brought back, by
the infliction of famine, typhus fever, and death, on the
masses of the people ; then the public charity stepped in to
provide for them. The system in effect said to the working
mu,—" Yon bare been an industrious man, and a good
workman ; but the gold has gone ; you must be discharged;
and if you attempt to solicit relief an officer of justice will
lay hold of you ; your comfortable home. must be broken ate,
and you must find shelter in a union workhouse. This is
very had ; but you may thank Sir R. Peel and the bullionists
for this." (Cheers.) It had been justly observed by the
chairman that government had never before fixed
' a minimum of interest. Queen Elisabeth had fixed
the maximum at 10 per cent., and subsequent reduc-
tions had been attended, as Sir Josiah Child had well re-
marked, by a tenfold increase in the number of wealthy
merchant'. The proposal of the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, to share the exorbitant interest of 8 per cent, now
proposed, was an indirect tax on the working man, on whom
it would be thrown by the merchants and tradesmen. Under
such a state of things salaries would be reduced, and what
chance would the clerks of London now have of rising, as the
Lloyds and the Peels, the authors of the bill of 1844, had
done ? (Cheers.) Let etch, then, use his influence to
spread the principles of this society; and though they might
not be at once successful, they already had encouragement
in seeing what ministers had recently done to hope to obtain
the abrogation of this bill of 1841. Its present suspension
was a prelude to the turning round of Sir R. Peel, for
after Lord J. Russell had removed the buttress from his bill
of 1819, he would no longer be answerable fee: its effect.
This was, no doubt, what was passing now in Peel's mind;
but whatever might be done by him, by Lord J. Russell, or
Lord 0. Bentiock, this League cared nothing; they were
only seeking to promote the good of the nation at large.
Pdr.C4P73, in applying himself to the effect of our mone-
tary system upon our foreign trade, animadverted upon the
utter confusion which prevailed is the statements annually
furnished by the government to the country of the condition
of our imports and exports—a confusion which rendered it
impossible, without close study and exact investigation, to
arrive at the real facts of the case. The mystification
created, in reference to some classes of articles, by the dis-
tinction between official and declared values, was alone mill
cient to confuse all but the more initiated ; and the more so
that the official value was calculated upon a now wholly
antiquated scale of prime, whereas the declared value was
that which, from year to year, the foreign exporter calcu-
lated to realise for his goods. More than 20 years ago Mr.
Irving distinctly expressed his conviction that our scale of
official values ought to be raised 30 per cent. Mr. Capps
then dwelt ulare utter disadvantage in which the English
trader was , in reference to the foreign exporter, by our
imposing a led value upon gold. The foreigner came here and
in the first place got more for his goods by 30 per cent. than
he could obtain for them on the continent. Next, on look-
ing round for the best investment of bin realised price, he
found that he could get gold here at par perhaps 20 to 30
per cent. lees than he could purchase iton the continent ; and,
as • matter of course, be took gold with him instead of goods.
To get back our gold we had then to sell him our goods, at a
reduction equivalent to the price of our untaxed gold, and so
it went ea, to our yearly enormous loss. To show the dif-
ference between the results of our foreign trade, before and
after the ebeasse in ear system, he would read to the meeting
a table he had prepseml Orem Mr. Porter's " Progress of the
Nation," which woulketthe same time, illustrate the utter
discrepancy between _ and declared value. la 1800,
the official value of out exports was, in round numbers,
22 millions, the declared value being 36,showing a difference
of 14 millions. The following years can thus :
Official mine Deans/ Difference.
1801
45
11413
imi --- es as . 14
37 ...... 13
IOW
1807
1800
Mee
1810
11111 - -
1812 ...... 28
1814
1810 ..... 41
1818
1817
1818
1810
In the years preceding Peel's Bill, and pending the appre-
hension of that measure, the difference between the official
and declared value had thus been growing less and less. In
the years after, the difference wee altogether unfansurable,
so that in the past year the difference between the official
value of our exports and the declared was not less than 63
millions, being in the 'proportion of 100 millions to 47, a
seal of things veiled, however, by the systematic mystifica-
tion of our Custom-house returns. As to the interest on
money advaneed, taking the seals at the Bank, nothing could
be more fluctuating than it had been under the present sys-
tem. Take the past 10 years. In 1836 it was 3 per cent., in
1837, 41; in 1838, 21; 14 1839, 31; in 1840, 6; in 1841, 6;
in 1842, 4 ; in 1843, 21 • in 1844, 3 ; in 1845, 61; in 1846,
bl ;at which rate it hid remained till the present usurer
government just now fixed it at 8.
Mr. TAYLOR having replied to more quotient', the meet-
ing separated.

RAILWAY ACCIDENTS.—On Thursday afternoon,
es a goods train on the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincoln.
shire Railway was pausing through the tunnel at Woodhead,
it got off the line, and so broke up the rails, of which there
is but one pair, that the whole of the night, and up to
eleven o'clock yesterday, was spent in getting the tunnel
clear for the Uarne to proceed. No damage wu dose beyond
that.—Yesterday • platelayer on the Manchester and Liver-
pool line, named Jonah Woods, wee killed by • train,
through remaining t,o long at his work on the line.

SUICIDE OF A WEST INDIA MERCHANT....
INQUEST.

Last evening Mr. W. Payne held an inquest at the
Fountain Hotel, Whiteeross-street, to inquire into the er,.
enmstances attending the death of Mr. John Henry Boyfory.
aged 70 years, lately residing at 3S, Upper liarleyome&—'
and carrying on business es a West I adia merchant is Bil:
later-court, City.
John Richardson, assistant chemist, said about half.
eleven o'clock on Thursday morning the deceased cm:seines
Mr. Battley's shop, and inquired how Mr. Battle; was, sad
whether he was at home. Withers replied that he was it
the counting-house. The deceased said, " Oh, never wad-.
pray don't distarb him. I have known Mr. Batley tun
years ; my name is Dr. Rsndell." He then said Ito
wanted an ounce of hydrocyanic acid of Scheek's strength,
remarking that before witness gave it him he should wish to
see the bottle, as the strenZh and qualities of the acid varied
so much. Witness feelinglionfident that the deceased was
medical man, reached down the bottle containing the oeict.
The deceased asked witness to allow him to smell it. Wit.,
ness took out the stopper and remarked that the deceased
would find the acid quite strong enough. At this moment
the deceeled knocked the stopper out of witness's hand, and,
seizing the neck of the bottle, said he knew well math
what hydrocyanic acid was. Witness struggled hard to get
the bottle back ; en observing which the deceased gave its
sudden jerk, and in so doing scattered the acid about his tea
and over witness's ann and clothes. The deceased thee
left go of the bottle, and witness said, "My go
sir, you have done for yourself." The deceased le.
plied hurriedly, " I wanted! I wanted !" and lss
toned out of the shop. Witness gave an alarm, soil
various parties were instantly dispatched in different direr
dons to seek the deceased. In a few moments Mr. Bettleye
porter returned, having discovered deceased in a beltaii
shop within a few paces distance. Witni es immediately
went there, taking with him some solution of anima*
which he administered to the deceased, under the dilutes
of a medical gentleman. Witness could not ay that the de
ceased ha i not swallowed some few drops of the arid, bathe
believed that the sprinkling aver his face and inhalation of
the vapour by the deceased would alone have been sufßeimt
to cause death. The deceased was perfectly collected in be
manner while talking to witness in the first instance.
Mr. Edward Joliffe proved having accompanied the lea
witness to superintend the administration of the aim:lona
The deceased lived for 10 minutes or a quieter of an hoer,
and from that circumstance witness was of opinion that ,
little, if soy acid had been taken internally. It there Dui
been deceased could not have lived so long.
Elizabeth Barrett, shopwoman to Mrs liendenon, balm,
of Red-cross street, deposed to the tact of deceased ham!
rushed into her mistress's shop. On doing so, he Mime.
diately seized a chair, and sat down. Several :artin hot
Mr. Battley's came shortly afterwards.
Mr. Southwood, Fore erect, to whose surgery the deemed
was removed from Mrs. Hendersou's shop, said that, 0,11 ro
moving the contents of the stomach by the stomach-pump,s
strong smell of prussic acid was perceptible. Oa analyst.
tion, however, no poison could he detected, and witness wn
of opinion that very little, if any, acid had been swallowed
by the deceased. Witness had never heard of death result-
ing from the inhalation of the vapour of prussic acid, hut
believed that it might do so under certain circumstances.
James Alder, butler in the service of the deceased, said be
last saw his master alive on Thursday morning, at half-pat
9 o'clock. He was then leaving Harley-strut for the City.
Witness had noticed the deceased to have been in a wry
nervous sad agitated state on several occasions lately, hat
was not aware of any cause for it.
Mr. William Charles Shams, clerk in the service of the
deceased, said he had observed a vast difference in the ele
ceased's manner during the past few weeks, and his aliens
to business questions were such as frequently to excite wit.
nese's surprise. Witness was not aware of anything homy
occurred to vex deceased's mind beyond deprecation in colo-
nial produce; and he knew that deceased nail a large balmier
in his banker's hands. Ti e deceased was a man of my
temperate and regular habits generally ; of late he bass
peered completely bewildered while transacting business a
the office. _ .

Mr. George H. Deffell, son of the deceased, said his Wm
had been particularly afflicted by the commercial =barns
menta and difficulties which bad prevailed fur some tine
past. On Saturday loot be remarked to witness that "nun
dreadful to think of the state of affairs." The failures which
bad occurred among the deceased's friends and neighbours
distressed him very much, and he himself, of course, suffer/1
from the general depreciation which had taken plate in es
lonia! produce. On Wednesday last witness particululy
observed that he wax very much changed in his manner, hi
strength appearing to hive failed him altogether.
There being no other evidence, the Coroner summed up,
remarking ou the melancholy nature of the case, and the
jury having consulted for a few momenta, returned a verdin
of " Temporary insanity."

THE SUICIDE LN ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL—
INQUEST.
Last evening Mr. W. Payne held an inquest in
the board-room of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, r,spectteg

the death of Mr. William Davison, aged 54 'year., a soiliciter,
lately residing at 21, Bloomsbury-square, and formerly a
member of the common council of the City of London.
J. Richards said he was a guide at St. Paul's Cathedral.
The deceased gentleman was received by him about half-
past eleven o'clock on Thursday morning, He first saw the
library, and subsequently the gee...,stric.al staircase; fres
than.. tns deceased to the western gal
lery, over the great western entrance. The deceased, while
in this gallery, inquired the exact height from the ground.
The deceased passed on from witness in the direction des
Whispering-gallery, where he was received by another
guide named Thompson.
W. Thompson said the deceased came to him in the
Whispering-gallery at the time stated. Witness desired
deceased to go round to the other side of the gallery,:t.di%
that he would whimper to him if he did so. The deceased
remained in the gallery some time and convened both with
witness sad other parties. After the lapse of about twenty
mloollso, dr other viaitore having retired from the gallery,
gad vital= being engaged in reading, he heard a hat fill,
sad, looking he observed the deceased at about 200 feet
distance tress hanging from the iron railing by in
buds. Witmer made a sudden exclamation of alarm, and
the next instant gam the deceased nuddenly fall from the
gallery to the pavement of the cathedral.
• as. =ism, at work in the cathedral, proved having
wen 4111111111111 in the act of lolling.
Mr. J. Lamming, son-in-law of the deceased, said his
hther-in-law formerly practised in Bread-street, Cheapside,
86d bad resided in Bloomsbury-square during the past twelve
sleuths. Witness had been in the habit of seeing deceued
two or three times a week for the last two yearn, and had
latterly remarked him to be in a very low and desponding
,is. This, witness attributed to the indefinite delay of a
Pressey wit, in which he had been engaged for some yeas
urn Oa behalf of a client to whom he had made lair. ad
• The deemed kilt home on Thursday morning te
keep as riggelobarrat, width be did not fulfil. Witness en
waiting is NO blot at bis house in Blootastrurraquare, who
Intelligence of his death reached him.
Mr.W. Fogs, managing clerk to the deceased, gave en-
dance of a similar tendency as to the state of mind in wind
deceased had latterly been.
Mr. \V. P. Brodrilob, surgeon, of 12, Bloomsbury-Num
was next examined. He deposed to having attended decersi
professionally during the past 12 months, the latter poetics
of which he had observed him to suffer greatly from derees
aims of spirits.—The house surgeon described the extend
injuries deceased had received, which were remarkably
slight, considering the height from which the unfortunate
gentleman had fallen.
The jury returned as 'verdict—" That the doomed, Wd-
lism
Davison, destroyed himself while labouring undo OW
porary insanity. '

MURDER IN BIRMINGHAM.- MUST ON

THE MURDERESS.
An inquest was held last evening, in Birmingham,
on the body of the woman Wilkes, who murdered her four
children last Saturday, and who died on Thursday naming
in consequence of the injuries she inflicted on herself. Tke
witnesses were, with an exception or two, the same as that
who had been examined at the previous inquieinea ; the
following is the only additional evidence adduced :
The witness Banks spoke to the fact of the deemed
having stated in his house the day before the murder es
committed that she was in very bad circumstances ; east
that she bad been very unlucky ever since the death of le
husband ; further, that she had been to relieving *Sims kr
relief; that they made a sort of sneer at her. At that tat
she appeared perfectly sane.
Mr. 8. 8. Whittall, the resident medical officer at IN
Queen's Hospital, deposed to the effect that the demard,
at the time of her admission to that establishment tat
three incised wounds on her neck, one of them being a
aessls
of lathes in depth, with the edges somewhat irregular,
that the larger vessels had escaped. Deceased me MSS
time in a state of much collapse, and warmth was applia, a
were various remedies, but without effect, death hobs
suited on the day stated above. During the time dears e
was in the hoerntat she remained quiet and made no attesSt
to injure herself. On the Monday prior to her deed: too
said that she hoped she should riot get well, for that du
should have a deal to go through if she did; that [milt
._,
been to the board of guardians for relief, and they bodraa°
her abruptly from the door.
Mr. Langston Parker, surgeon to (the Queen's flo*
tal, mated that he had seen the deceased from day to aah
and that she unquestionably died from the wound is
throat: prior to that event she answered all Oa"!
rationally, and witness did not perceive any indicates
mental disorder.
The Rev. J. C. Miller, incumbent of St. Msztin'O, BO`
mingham, said, I remained with the deceased dariq
time she was in the Queen's licepital. She said
respecting the cause of her own suffering or probable desk.
A good deal passed between us on the rulject of the dads
of the children. In the course of this conversation she C*
hoed to me her guilt of the murder of the children, sad Cl
impression is that the time she specified wan two IS tho
morning. I questioned her as to her motive, and the !ea
was an impression on my mind that it was the strataa!
of her circumstances, although not actual destituum.
asked .her if they wanted bread, to which she a'_„
` No, we were not so bad as that." She dr
impute blame to any person ; but spoke of harlot apps .0
have her children taken into the parish asylum,
relieving °Moor had told her they could only take a I"`"''a,.
them, either two or three. She also spoke of having boa -
the workhouse to attend the board of guardians ea the e
Tiou. Wednesday, but that she was told to wait, sad
ill welt unable to do so. In all my conversations with
there were no indications of unsoundness of mind.
The jury had not delivered their verdict at the this
parcel was despatched, but, looking at the nature of ta
dente, there aka be no doubt as to what its tamer Math