The Express.
London, England, 1850-03-04 00:00:00

COMMERCIAL INTELLIOFMCE.

Business throughout the Union was reported in a good
date

THE MONEY M Atli ET wan to money being plentiful,
and o`.tainable at previous rate,. Tl.e general trade of the
country is more sotialactory than It teas been for some time
past.
Bli/EADETI:FiIi.-14 these then wan little doing, prices
slightly receding. Western Canal flour, b dole. 124 c. to
5 dole. 25e. per barrel. Oennesses pnme wheat, 1 dol. 26e.
to 1 dol. 28c. per 60Ibe. ; southern wheat, 1 dol. 10c. to
1 dol. 12c. Indian Corn, round yell ,w, GOc. to 62e., steady ;
fiat yellow, 6k. per barbel; southern white, 58c. to gpo
Indian Meal, 2 dole. 871 e. to 3 dole. per barrel.
COTToll.—After the departure of the Niagara from
Boston, cotton experienced a fall of 1 cent. and on the
Earopa's arrival it fell fully half a cent., but afterwards
rallied, and on the 15th exhibited a rise of 1 cent. The pre-
sent quo :anima w: New Orleans and Mobile, mid fair to
fair, 131 e. to 131 e. par lb.; Upland, mid. fair to fair, 13:,. to
131 e.
EZZIONTS remain unchanged at steamer's departure, the
Baia( rates being for BMT to Liverpool 1.. 6d. to le. 94. per
barrel; grain to Liverpool, 514. to Od. per bushel; cotton to
Liverpool, Id. to 3-16 d. per lb.
bless Poaa (new) is dull, at 10 dole.
EICHANUB on London, 1091 to 1094, not well sustained;
oa Paris, 5 27. sales small ; on Hamburg, 25 to lit ; on
Bremen, 78 to 781.

PERSIA.—Dates from Teheran, of Jan. 2, state
that the capital has once again been the theatre of a
popular commotion. A few days previous to the
above date the people proceeded in • large body to the
house of the Immure ]ljoum•, in order to engage him
to accompany them to the Shah, and induce his Ma-
jesty to sip the destitution of Hirsth Taghi Khan,
the primo minister. The Imsum quitted his resi-
dence without giving any sign of acquiescence or re-
fusal. Upon this the populace dispersed, but an-
nounced the firm determination of acting with greater
success another time. This movement was followed
by several arrests, the most remarkable of
which are that of Suleiman Khan, the king's maternal
uncle; Ibrahim Halil Khan, en-commander of the
army of Khorasan ; Hassan Khan, chief of the staff;
and • number of persons accused or suspected of
being accomplices. Although public tranquillity had
not been troubled, popular discontent was not

smothered, and it is more than probable that ere long
the people, encouraged ra it is by the clergy, will act
in a decided manner, which will cause a general revo-
lution in Persia. All sympathise with the Hadji ;
the more as at the time of his nomination to the
mi .istry he was considered as the future, regenerator
of Persia.

THE RIPRESS, MONDAY EVENING, MARCH 4, 1850.

THE ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSION.-MR.
MURRAY'S DEFALCATIONS.

A parliamentary return just tuned affords a "
rs
copy
of the to had by the Reclesisstical Commissioners
ter Eeittr ea gs
the matter of the defalcation of their late
secretary sad treasurer, Mr. Murray."
B Beel.risittelocument it appears that, at a emetic, of the
Commissioner,, held the 25th Sept., 1849, Mr.
Aston, in the aluenee of the secretary, laid before the board
the dinetions which he had received from Lord John Rowell
to call a special meeting of the commissioners under the
second 'Wading order.
Mr. Aston stated to the board, that having discovered that
eertsia same which had been received by the treasurer had
not been placed to the account of the commissioners at the
Bank of England, he considered it his duty to make kaown
the kelt. the Archbishop of Canterbury and to Lord John
Russell. That, on subsequent inquiry and communication
with the treasurer, r • had maim to believe that the auras so
withheld from the Bank of England amounted to about
7,0001.
The board communicated to Mr. Murray (the treasurer),
that such a statement had been made to th'.m, aid requested
to be informed whether he wished to be penult and to hear
Mr. Aston's statement; and on Mr. Murray's having ex•
pressed a with to attend the board, if the commissioners
pleased to admit him under such painful cireun.atances, he
was admitted, and stated to the board that he fi id no wish to
give the commiuienets the trouble of again hearing
Mr. Aston ; that ho assumed that Mr. Aston had told the
truth ; that he was quite ready to abide by his statement;
that he could say nothing in extenuatien ; that he knew
the nature of his offence, and had not a word to say in
extenuation • that he threw himself entirely on the mercy
of the board, and oily trusted that the commissioners would
not judge of his previous conduct as a servant of the
board by the sad event which had now occurred. Mr. Mur-
ray further added, that he placed himself entirely in the
hands of the board, and left it to Mr. Meadows White, the
solicitor to the board, to make any further statement which
might be necessary on his behalf.
Mr. White, on being called in, stated that he was not in a
situation to maks any additional communication to the
board, but was desirous of informing the board that when
Mr. Murray stated that he placed himself in the hands of
the 00111113iilli011til, he intended to offer the resignation of
the office of treasurer and secretary, which be, Mr. White,
was fully authorieed to tender; Mr. Murray considering
himself to be no longer an officer of the hoard.
A letter from Mr. C. K Murray was then read, resigning
the office of treasurer and secretary.
At a meeting of the commissioners, held Oet. 6, 1849, the
board, at its special meeting, held on :he 25th ultimo, having
directed the accountant to address letters to all those agents
who appear, from the hooks of the office, to be in
with the exception of those whole remittances were admitted
by the late treasurer to bay* been received by bins, the com-
mittee procte led, in the tire instance, to ascertain the result
of the inquiries thus made,
From the answers returned by the agents, and from a fur-
ther examination of Mr. Aston, the committee have come to
the conclusion that the late treasurer had truly represented
the amount improperly converted to his own use, and re-
maining due by him to the eonunissienen on the 'pith of
September.
They find this amount to have been 6,9191. sc, in re-pect
of which the treasurer bad paid 6001. on the said 25th of
September; thus leaving a balance still due of 6,3791. se.
(A statement of the particulars is annexed.)
The committee conceiving that the only chance of reco-
vering any part of the balsam due was by adopting the most
prompt legal proceedings, gave instructions,without delay, to
the solicitor of the treasury, who was placed in commu-
nication with them by Lord John Russell, to take the
necessary s'eps for this purpose as quickly as possible. They
thought it right to do this at once, and without waiting for
any meeting of the board.
The circumstances connected with the present deficiency
are fully stated in the minute of the board at its apecisi meet-
ing on the 25th ult.
It appears that the mode in which the misappropriation
was effected, was by Mr. Murray applying to his own private
use certain drafts remitted to him as treasurer, and keeping
back from the knowledge of the commissioners, or any of
their officers, the letters of advice which were addressed to
him as secretary. It was only, therefore, after personal ap•
plication for payment nude by the accountant to one of the
parties, who appeared to be in a beyond the ordinary
period, that the misapplication of money was discovered ;
and this did not occur Co soon as would have been the case if
Mr. Murray had not, in more than one instance, called for
and obtained from the messenger, and thus kept back from
the post, the letters of reminder which the accountant had,
in ordinary course, addressed to parties appearing to be an.
duly in sneer.
'the statute 3 and 4 -act., e. 113, e. 71, permanently
united the offic. s of treasurer and secretary, and conferred
them upon Mr. Murray by name during goal behaviour.
The committee presume that this arrangement was made
with a view to economy ; but it is now evident that it has
proved a means of facilitating fraud, and they therefore
consider an alteration io the law io this respect to he neces-
sary ; and until thin can be effected, they recommend that
no appointment of a successor to Mr. Murray in either office
shall be made.

In aldttion to the directions which have been given by the
board with respect to the opening of letters and the receipt
of money, the committee have deemed it proper to direct a
circulsr l•tter to be written to all the agents, requiring them
to make their payments in future to the Bank of England
in Llt.don, or to one of the bra- ches in the country, ►nd in
the case of eget, payment, to address a letter of advice to the
odic., which, under the directions now given by the board,
will be opened in the preeence of the assistant secretory and
the accountant; and it will be the duty of the latter con-
stantly to compare suck letters with the entries of receipts
by the Bank of England; and the committee turtht r recom-
mend that the letters of advice and the bank book shall be
laid upon the table at every meeting both of the board and
of •he finance committee.

The c:nrinittee---conildently trust that under thee* regal'.
awls made with reference to the immediate urgency of the
case, the security of the funds belongiug to the commis-
sionen will be effectually ensured.
The alterations which may be T.:gaited in the law, and
the permanent arrangements for the eanduct of the business,
must necessarily be left for the deliberate consideration of
the board.

The following is the official statement of partieulan :
Charles Knight Murray, Eig ,
Dr. to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England.
For the following amounts receind by him
asunder; viz. :
From the Honourable and Rieerend H. C.

Cost, in respect of the suspended canonries
Windsor Chapel, Feb., 1849, 2,8111. 12s. ;
from 11. R. Evans, jun., in respect of Elm-
cu 3.-Emneth Sinecure Rectory, Ely diocese,
Feb., 1819. 1,5001.; fro n Valentine Davis,
in respect of the suspended canonry and
vses•cd preferm-nts in St. David's cathe-
dral, July, 1849,2921. 181. 9d. ; from Edward
Davies, in respect of the separate estates of
the deanery and vacated preferments in
Wells cathedral, and prebend of Chard-
stock, Salisbury cathedral, S.pt., 1849,
1,2551. 14,. 4il
For the following amount remaining in his
hands in respect of current official salaries
and incidentals 1,133 5 0

6,999 10 1
Deduct payment by treuurer in April, ISO,
in respect of Elm cum Rmneth Sinecure
Rectory, 31. 31. ; deduct amount of certain
travelling expenses written off in the official
incidental account, Sept., 1849, 17/. 25.; de-
duct amount received on account, 25th
Sept., 1819, 6001 620 5 1

Balance due to the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners £6,379 6 1
From George Mauls to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for
Englund.
Treasury, Nov. 23, 1849.
y Lords and Gentlemen,—ln obedience to your direc•
Sns, that I should take proeeedings for recovering the
balance appearing to be due on Mr. C. K. Murray's accounts,
I take the liberty of reporting that Mr. Murray having con-
sorted to cont, es a judgment in favour of the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners for England, I took the necessary steps to
complete the same; whereupon I issued execution, under
which the sheriff levied; and I have now in my hands the
sum of 2871. 17s. 6d., being the net proceeds of the sale of
the furniture, after payment of poundage and costs ; in 'dal-
,ion to which, I have received the sum of 431. 16s 6d. paid
to me for rent due to Mr. Murray for the occupation of hie
house. 1 hold these sums, amounting together to the sum
of 3311. 14*., at your disposal, and shall be obliged by direc
tions thereon. This I believe is all that is available towards
liquidation of the balance.—l have, dm,
(Signed) Geo. Manx.
Charlu Kedges, Murray, Reg ,
Dr. to she EeeleeisurA cal Commissioners for England.
1849: Sept. 25. To balance of account (as
before stated)
Cr.
1849: Nov. 28. By each of solicitors to the
Treasury) 331 14 0
Balance still due to the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners for England
By order of the &teed,
(Signed) J. J. CHALK, Assistant-Secretary.
5, Whitehall-place, Feb. 22, 1850.

FIRE AT WATFORD UNION WORKTIOUSR.—A fire
occurred on the night of Wednesday last at this workhouse,
which was nearly attended with fearful lose of life among
the inmates. The alarm was first raised by the governor,
Mr. Long, who was awakened about Minimal two o'clock in
the morning from a sense of suffocation. His apartment
was hued with smoke, flames were issuing up through the
flooring, and there was barely time to snatch up his ;laughter
and making his escape with her in his arms, when the apart-
ment was in a blaze, and he was severely scorched in getting
out of the place. He next aroused the paupers, all of whom
were got out in safety. Expresses were sent off to the Wat-
ford and other neighbouring .nctines,and, in the meanwhile,
the governor mustered the able-bodied paupers, and worked
at the pump to fill the tanks on the top of the buililii.g, by
which means a stream of water was brought to play on the
burning portion of the premises. Fortunately, by this means,
the governor was enabled to prevent the flames extending,
until the arrival of the engines. They were got to work,
and, after considerable exertion, the conflagration was soh-
dued. That part of the workhouse in which the fire Gum-
maned was completely gutted. The tire was eventually
traced as having originated through the overheating of a
stove flue.