The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-01-31 00:00:00

PRUSSIA

BERLIN, JAN. 27.
THE STADE TOLL.
Yesterday I forwarded you the latest intelligence
on the subject of the negociations now going on in
Copenhagen for the redemption of the Sound Dues,
and to day I must call your attention to another
toll, which is a similar oppression of our commerce
with Hamburg and the rest of Germany, one which
meets our ships at their entrance into the Elbe-1
mean the Stade Toll. Towards the close of Novem-

ber last I brought this latter before the notice
of your readers in connexion with the Sound
Dues, as an oppressive burden, that ought not to
be left as an incubus on our trade with Hamburg,
Sze„ now that our Government had entered on the

praiseworthy career of freeing our over sea trade
from unnecessary fetters : since then I have had

the satisfaction Of learning that our Government
is bestirring itself in the matter, and has already
caused inquiries to be made of the Senate of Ham-
burg as to the amounts collected in that pert under
the name of Stade Toll, with a view to taking
measures to redeem this tax. As the two subjects

—Sound Dues and Stade Toll—will, in all proba-

bility, be brought before Parliament early in the
session, perhaps some particulars connected with
the history of the latter may be acceptable.
Stade, from which this toll takes •its name,
is an inconsiderable town on the left bank of

the Elbe, towards the mouth, but at some little

distance from the river, and in the middle ages
was a place of fluctuating importance, according as

the favour or disfavour of various sovereigns

accorded or refused it a right of staple. In those
days it was reckoned territorially to Bremen,
and was governed by a Protestant Archbishop,
as it had previously been under the rule of the
Catholic Archbishops of Bremen and of Ham-
btirg ; subsequently, the country about there
was occupied by the Swedes, and at the,
peace of Westphalia, in 16-18, was converted into
a duchy of Bremen. For three years, viz.' from
1676 to 1679, it became the property of the family
of Brunswick-Cette-Wolfenbuttel, and then again
came into the power of the Swedes ; in 1712 it was
conquered• by the Danes, and by them sold in 1715
to George I. of England, Elector of Hanover, and

Duke of Brunswick Luneburg, "for eight casks of
gold," as the treaty of Wismar expressly states. It
is only this latter date (1715) the period when
Stade came into the possession of England and
Hanover, that we need take as the starting point
of our remarks; we can leave it to antiquarians
to go back through black-letter deeds and monkish
parchments to the year 1038, when the Emperor
Conrad, being moved in his conscience and
impelled by gratitude for the Divine favour shown
him in his elevation to the imperial dignity,"
conferred on the Catholic Archbishop of Ham-
burg "the right of judicial jurisdiction, of levying
toll, and of coining, in a place called Stade,' the
praiseworthy object of which liberality was no less
than to provide the Christian Church in Hamburg
with funds for the re-building of sacred edifices,
which had just been destroye:l, together with great
part of the town, by-an irruption of the heathen
Vandals. This right of levying toll on the goods
brought to the comparatively inland market at
Stade, and which was granted to the Church for a
pious purpose, and but for a transient purpose,
was perpetuated by the various conquerors into
whose possession the territory came, and extended
to include a right to tax all vessels that passed the
distant bank ; and when at length it became the
property of our Kings of the Brunswick line, the
terror of the EnOish naval po ;vier enabled them both
to increase the rate of the tax, and aggravate the
hardships imposed on commerce and navigation by
, the manner in which it was collected. It was not

the desire of increasing Hanoverian territory, but
rather the intention of protecting English trade
with Hamburg, that induced Lord Townshend and
Ur. Walpole to make a present to Hanover of
£150,000, the price paid to the Danes for the
Duchy of Bremen and Verden, in which the town
of Stade lay; and as long as Hanover formed
part of the British dominions, the receipts of
the Stade Toll were allowed to flow into the

private coffers of the King ; since
,the accession
of her present Majesty, in 183 T, the Stade
Toll, which was bought, together with the
territory, about there, with British money, passed
over into the private fortune of the .King
of Hanover, without any repayment of the pur,
chase money having been made by Hanover,
or applied for by PAnglanl. NOW, tt:f.
over is no longer a British possession, England
has not only no interest in the maintenance of the
Stade Toll, but a direct and considerable interest, as
far as her own commerce is concerned, in its being
abolished ; and, as the capitalization of the amount
annually paid by British vessels and cargoespassing
up the Elbe, will hardly require more than £200,000,
the shipping interest should lose no time in petition-
ing Parliament to enable'Govei lament to apply this
or a similar sum to its redemption. The treaty in
virtue of which Great Britain adopted the pre
sent tariff of the Stade Toll was concluded with
Hanover in 1844 for a term of ten yetrS, after the
expiration of which time it was made competent
to both parties to give a years' notice of its deter-
mination ; it is therefore open to our government
to fix by negociation the amount to be paid for the
redemption of the tax, and then give the required
notice.

As long as any practice is secured by treaty, it
would in any argument to prove the expediency of
its abolition, be beside the point to dilate on the
abstract wrongfulness of its origin; it may, how-
ever, be worth attention in this matter to note that
the King of Hanover has never repaid the purchase
money of the territory, and does not in any way
perform any service to the navigation of the
Elbe in return for the toll he levies. England
maintains a lighthouse on Heligoland, towards the
cost of which every British ship trading with [the
Elbe has to pay dues to Trinity House ; while the

lighthouses at Cuxhaven and Newark, and all the
beacons and buoys that indicate the sailing channel
in the river itself, are laid down and maintained at
the expense of Hamburg. The only costs the
IC,ng of Hanover is put to consist of a battery and
an office at Brunshausen, where the ship's papers
must be delivered on passing up the river, and an
office at Hamburg, where the toll is paid by the
captains.
There is no longer even a guardship in the Elbe,
although the printed documents and the charges
made all allude to it as though still lying there. It
was withdrawn some few years ago in consequence
of a rude reply made by the master of an American
merchantman.who on sailing down the river on his
return from Hamburg was required by a blank shot
to heave to and send on board the guardsbip a
certificate from the Stade Toll office in Hamburg
that the toll had been duly paid on his cargo. As
this blank shot on not being attended to was fol-
lowed up by a shotted gun, the American returned
the compliment by sending a ball into the Hann
verian hull, and coolly sailed on his way; since
theta there has been no guardship.

The duty that was levied on goods coming up the
Elbe, while the Stade Toll was the property of the
Hanoverian Kings of England, amounted nominally
to only 1.16 h per cent of the value. In the eau-
ferences which were held at Hamburg betwer n Great
Britain and Hanover in 1841 for the future settle-
ment of this toll, our representative, Mr. Ward,
strove hard to retain this the original rate of taxa-
tion, but Hanover refused- to comply with these
terms. Subsequently, in 1844, after King Ernest
Augustus had paid a visit to London in May of that
year, a treaty was concluded there, bearing the
signatures of Lord,Aberdeen and Mr. Gladstone, by
which England agreed to pay per cent. on all
goods passing Brunshausen in English bottoms,
receiving, however, on certain staple goods of
English manufacture a reduction of one third
:of the amount. This concession, however, is
very illusory in practice from the following
arrangements. It has been agreed in that treaty
that the cocket shall be assumed to be a suf
ficient certificate of origin. Shonld, therefore, the
cocket not be forthcoming, or be in any way
incorrect or informal, when the British vessel
passes Brunshausen, all the goods to which it
refers must pay the full duty as though not of
British origin. Secondly, the weight of all goods is
reckoned according to the pound of the port the
ship sails from. Now an English pound is much
lighter than most other pounds, so that 100 lbs.
French, for instance, weigh as much as 110 lbs.
English; thus, at equal rates of taxation,_ English
goods pay ten per cent. more than French of equal
weight. Thirdly, it is the custom-of the Hanoverian
receivers of the Stade Toll to count any small
number of pounds over a quarter of a centner
(2b lbs.) as a full quarter, so that it results from
these two methods of computation that 2 cwt.
1 qr. 24 lbs , er 270 lbs. English, for instance,
being 1 lb. more than 21 centners, would be held
to be equal to 3 quintaux French, which, however,
are equivalent to 336 lb English ; the Frenchman
importing the three q.uintaux, or 300 lb, exactly 12
times 25 lb, pays toll on no more than an English-
man importing 276 lb, although his goods actuary
weigh as much as 336 lb English. To avail them-
selves as far as possible of this privilege of
reckoning any portion of a quarter centner as a
whole quarter, the Hanoverian officials, instead of
taking the whole weight of many casks or parcels
together as the bulk to be taxed, take each indi.
vidual 7-cask and parcel, and surcharge the odd .
pounds of each so as to bring it to a full quarter—
thus, four parcels of 26 lbs English each, equal to
3 qrs. 20 lb. altogether, would be brought up to a
total of 2 centners. Had they been of 251 b. each,
the whole would have computed as weighing only
one centner: To one who reads only the treaty of
1844, it would appear as if English goods pay
to the Stade Toll only one quarter per cent. of
their value, with an allowance of 33 per cent. on
the whole amount ; the man, however, who has to
import them finds out to his cost that the toll and
the charges connected with it exceed 5 per cent.
The liability to pay toll by vessels going up the
Elbe is incurred as soon as a vessel passes an
imaginary line drawn across the Elbe from the
mouth of the little river Schwinge, near Bruns.
hausen, to a point on the Holstein coast below
Haseldorf. The master of any merchantman, not
coming ashore himself, or sending some one in
his name, to deposit his ship's papers at the
Hanoverian office, would be brought to by a shot
from the battery, in the absence of the guardship ;
he or his representative, in addition to delivering
his charter party, bills of lading, manifest, &'.,
must undertake for the whole amount of the
toll leviable on the entire cargo, the particulars of
which h will learn at the Hanoverian office in
Hamburg, but which he is not at liberty to collect
himself. As the Hanoverian authories have access
to the Customhouse books and other official entries
in Hamburg, they have every means of detecting
and punishing any discrepancy, whether intentional
or unintentional, between the manifest and the
actual commodities landed. Thus it happened
once that the clerk of a Hull house, in making
the various bills of lading and declarations
of three bales of " cotton goods," committed
a clerical error, and wrote in one instance
" cotton twist." Embargo was laid on the
vessel, and the exporter had to pay £215 17s 6d
into the King of Hanover's private pocket for this
trifling error of his clerk. After the whole cargo
has been discharged and the toll collected in Ham-
burg, the captain must obtain a certificate to this
effect to present to the Hanoverian authorities on
returning past Brunshausen; should this "return
certificate" not be forthcoming, he would be liable
to be detained or fired at by.the battery.

All these impositions and vexations are ren-
&Ted more intolerable by the step taken lately by
Hanover in declaring (August 6, 1850) that from
that date all goods entered at the Hanoverian
port of Harburg shall be free from Stade Toll.
Harburg is situate opposite to Hamburg, on
the other side of the estuary formed by the
widening of the Elbe ; and it is now endeavoured,
by means of the tolls, costs, and vexations
inflicted on. the trade to Hamburg to comnel it
to come over to the Hanoverian port of Harburg.
The attraction offered is, however, no boon to
England ; vessels of deep draught cannot come
up to Harburg well, and, while at Hamburg,
which is a
.free port, there are no unnecessary
vexations with Custom house authorities, Har-
burg is a port of the Zollverein, whose high pro-
tective duties are framed for the purpose of
rendering the sale of foreign goods difficult
Hamburg is a free port, is our old commercial ally,
and has gone to the expense of laying down buoys
and erecting lighthouses along. the Elbe, and,
therefore, we must stick by her, and do all we can
by redeeming the Stade Zoll, to prevent Hanover
and the Zollverein from taking an unfair advan-
tage over her.

BIRMINGHAM CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.—The half-yearly
meeting of this association was held yesterday afternoon•
Mr. Spooner, M.P., presided, but there was only a very
limited attendance of members. A long report, detailing
the proceedings of the Chamber' durinr the past six
months, was read by the secretary. The following report
of a sub-committee, intended as instructions to the depu.
tation now attending the Commercial Conference sitting
in London, created some little discussion ; but otherwise
the meeting was altogether destitute of interest. The
sub-committee reported ;—" With reference to the laws of
banking and the issue of bank notes, the Chamber is of
opinion that these subjects require re-consideration. 1.
Because since the passing of the Bank Charter, fixing the
animist of banking issues, the population has greatly
irtereased, the basis of commercial trading vastly extended,
and the annual taxation largely augmented, while the late
discoveries of gold in California and Australia have dis-
turbed the monetary relations of the country. 2 Because
the question is of vital importance, inasmach as, what-
ever the various opinions of men may be as to the basis
of the currency, it has been found that in periods of pagnie
an alleviation has been obtained by the suspension
of the laws in force. 3. Because the present is
peculiarly the time for consideration, because the Bank
Charter is open for revision, and, as the country is now
under the immediate pressure of distress or panic, the
subject may be more calmly discussed." The reading of
of this report led to a considerable discussion, at the close
of which it was resolved that a petition founded upon the
above be drawn and presented on behalf of the
Chamber of Commerce to both Houses of Parliament.
Other formal resolutions were adopted, and the meeting
broke up.

AN ACTRESS TAKING UP THE CUDGELS
AGAINST THE ciwrics.

Mrs. M'Mahon, a new aspirant to the honours of the
stage, recently made her debut at Buffalo, where she was
very severely criticised by the press. On the last night
of her engagement she replied in the following speech:—
Ladies and Gentlemen,—l thank you for your attendance
this evening, and I also take occasion to thank those who
have favoured me with their appearance on the five pre-
vious evenings. Perhaps you may think me bold in saying
what, in justice to myself, I feel bound to say on this
present occasion ; but I will here quote the sentence of
Mariana, in the play of " The Wife," when she is falsely
accused before he husband, "The heart of innocence is
bold ;" hence, ladies and gentlemen, I feel bold at the
present time. I came a perfect stranger among you,
knowing no one in this city, save the manager of this
establishment, consequently had no troops of friends to
fill the vacancies in this theatre. During my short stay
I have been most ferociously abused by the press here.
If I had fee'd them, as T was strongly advised to do,
in order to procure a favourable notice. doubtless on
Tuesday morning I should have branched out into a
second Rachel, with all the perfections which this
artist alone possesses ; but having failed to supply
the needful to their pockets, I appeared before the
people of Buffalo an impostor, which appellation, I
am forced to confess, a little surprised me. However,
have survived the week, and though it is the
first engagement I have ever played anywhere, it
will be my last before a Buffalo audience. The critic
of the Commercial says in Friday's piper, that I have not
improved any in my acting during the week. I will allow
you, ladies and gentlemen, to judge of the truth of this
criticism, when the gentleman in question was not in the
theatre, except on Monday and Thursday evenings, and
on the latter occasion expressed himself as having been
much better pleased than on the previous evening, though
I beg leave to differ with him, as I think my rendition of
Juliet far superior to that of Parthenia. The same critic
remarks that I am too homely to appear before an audi-
ence. Admitting such to be the case, I suspect, ladies and
gentlemen, I will not have been the first artist that has ap-
peared before the footlights with an ordinary exterior,
for Charlotte Cushman—though I have never had the
pleasure of seeing her—is, I am told. a very plain looking
person, but has the reputation of being a very superior
artist. 'the same critic further states in this evening's
paper, that this is my last appearance on any stage. This
is likewise false, he having no authority either from my
husband or myself to make this assertion. While at
rehearsal this morning I received an anonymous commu-
nication; the hand, such as it was, appeared to be a
female one, and doubtless was written by one of the
actresses attached to this theatre. I well know that
respectele people are not in the habit of paying any
regard to anonymous letters, but thinking that the actress
in question might be within hearing of my voice, and as
she has taken the liberty of giving me hrr advice, I
thought I would embrace the present occasion, and give
her mine. She says that I have not sufficient
personal attraction for the stage, and she advises
me to quit it, and that she is an ardent ad-
mirer of Shakespeare herself. I am happy to hear
this, as, ladies and gentlemen, I am a most devout wor-
shipper of the bard, and have devoted much of my time
for the last two years to the dissection of his sublime
language ; but, from the perusal of her letter, it is quite
evident that, in her extreme admiration of Shakespeare,
she has greatly neglected her grammar and orthography;
therefore, my advice would be, that she had better devote
many of her future hours to the study of Webster's
dictionary and Murray's grammar, as in my humble
opinion, ladies and gentlemen, one cannot appreciate the
sublime language of Shakespeare when they are deficient
in these two very important branches ofEnglish education;
and, perhaps, had I introduced to my face as much rouge
and powder as the actress in question, I might have looked
quite as well, if not a little better than she. lam well
aware, ladies and gentlemen, that the style of acting liked
in the Western cities is quite different from that which the
Eastern and Southern audiences admire ; you like mouth-
ing and conventionalities ; in a word, the more noise
your actor makes, the better you are pleased; '..hence
you are incapable of appreciating artistic perform-
ances, and I was aware of this previous to my
coming among you; consequently I came, not to be
appreciated, as if I had desired that, I should have
remained at home in New York, where I had friends not
deficient in quantity or quality. But I will take this
occasion to thank Mr. Carr for allowing me the use of his
theatre for six nights, in order that I might get accustomed
to the footlights, and merely practise " stage business." I
also thank the stage manager, also Mr. Hardenburgh, for
his renditions of Ingomar and Master Walter—his business
and cues were perfect ; hence, ladies and gentlemen, I
suffered no annoyance. Again, I thank you for your kind.
ness, and it is the last time that I shall ever appear upon
the boards of this theatre ; but during the month of Jan.

I expect to appear before a New York audience capable
of appreciating an artistic style of acting, and it is not
necessity; but a pure love of art, that induces me to adopt
the profession of the stage.

A "LEGAL ACCIDENT" OF A FORMER TIME.—Mlny
years ago, when the late Sir Robert Peel was Secretary
of State for the Home Department, it happened that three,
men were placed in the dock of tha Ql,l Bailey on trial

for burglary, with violence, in the outskirts of London.
The witnesses for the prosecution—and there were
many of them—Swore positively to the identity of
the prisoners, who were found guilty, and on being asked
respectively what they had to say in their defence before
sentence was passed, they all three stated that " they were
at Astley's" at the time of the alleged burglary. Sentence of
death was passed on them in the usual form, and they
were left for execution. In those days the time allowed
to criminals between sentence and execution was much
less than it is now, and in this case it had nearly expired
when the Home Secretary ordered a respite in conse•
quence of a statem lit forwarded to him from the ordinary
of Newgate, who showed ground for believing that one of
the prisoner's was innocent. The judge's notes were
referred to, the evidence re-examined, and, no sufficient
cause appearing in mitigation of sentence, another day
was fixed for carrying out the law. The zealous ordinary
was unremitting in his attention to the condemned, and was
still so fully convinced in his own mind of the innocence
of one of them that he ventured to forward an express to
Sir Robert Peel, who had retired for relaxation to the Isle
of Wight, praying for a further respite. That high minded
man, whose fine sense of justice was pre-eminent among
his many noble qualities, came at once to London, the
condemned felon was again examined, and still give the
same answer as when in the dock, " I was at Astley's."
After much difficulty, for he was a very ignorant man, the
fact was extracted from him that his wife and children re-
turned from the play in a hackney coach while he sat on the
box, and he further recollected that his conversation with
the coachman was about a battle that had been fought that
morning between two great prize-fighters, if my mem:Ty
is correct, between Cribb and Molyneux. After very great
difficulties the driver of the coach, who was unknown to
the prisoner, was discovered, and fully emfirmed his
statement. It then further appeared that as this man
went first into the dock, his two fellow prisoners asked
him what he should say in his defence. He replied, " I
shall tell the truth. I was at Astley's," which defence
they adopted for want of a better; and this unfortunate
and innocent man would have been another victim to legal
accident, but for the facts above stated.
PARIS GOSSlP.—lmmense expenditure is still the order
of the day in Paris, now that the pressure upon money is
removed, and that popular discontent of high prices has
been soothed into its ordinary state of quiescence. Lodg-

. -
ingi are as dear as ever, food but little cheaper, but ameli-
orating influences have had their effect for the time, and
people cease to complain as before. No more placards
are stuck up threatening death to landlords. The "Kill
your proprietor, and I will kill mine is no longer heard.
Authority would appear, accordingly, to have taken new
heart. Improvements, which it was said were to be
suspended until more favourable times, are being perse-
vered in, and fresh money is of course, called for. The
Prefect of the Seine is about to borrow the little trifle,
fifty millions, which fur the last year he has had the
intention of raising. This loan is not, however, for the

purposes of embellishing the city. It is for a purpose
that has an equally unfavourable look, however. That
exquisite institute the Caisse de la 13ouladgerie. by the
means of which bread is gold under the market rate,
cannot be kept up without expense. A great part of the
fifty millions is to be employed in paying off the debt
which the city of Paris has contracted with its bakers,
through the medium of the Caisse. The rest is to pay
" arrears" of expenses connected with the hospitals of
the city. People, not usually alarmists in tendency,
see only in these loans the source of future embarrass-
ment ; and, I must confess, I share their views. If the
money spent by the Government were a part of its
income, all might be well. No one would much object to
these advances to bakers, in order to permit them to sell
without profit, or to these payments for the destruction of
old houses in order to make way for new ; but all the money
spent thus, is unrirtunately, raised on loan. Everyone
knows what happens, in private life, when a man continu-
ally borrows; and lives on and upon the loans he has made.
Bankruptcy must come sooner or later. In the case of a
nation which follows the same course, something very nearly
approaching bankruptcy—using that word in its usual
sense—may never arrive; but embarrassment, difficulty and
distress, are almost inevitable. When the bomb bursts it
will do terrible damage on every side. In an amusing
and well written article In Tuesday's Moniteur, upon the
" Confessions of Cornelius Gregan," by Mr. Charles
Lever (the familiar abbreviation " Con," I think, is in
Mr. Lever's title, but this did no+, I sqp"st,,.. seem
polite to French ears), some surprise is expressed that
none of this author's writings have yet been introduced
into France. When we remember how extensively English
authors are translated into French, this omission seems
" surprising. All our most known works of recent years are
to be met with in a French dress, and at very reasonable
rates. Thackeray is translated, Dickens, Currer, Bell,
Mrs. Gaskell, Macaulay, and many other writers, have
been introduced to the French public under more or less
favourable circumstances. It is a marvel how Mr. Lever
has escaped, unless the idiomatic language he employs has
proved a stumbling block. Irish colloquial expressions
must certainly be rather obscure to most Frenchmen, and
would, with difficulty perhaps, find equivalents in the
French language. Pickwick, as I have seen it in French,
is a hopeless failure.

THE REV. MR. SPURGEON AT BIRMINGHAM.

On Tuesday Mr. Spurgeon made his first appearance at
Birmingham in the Music Hall. The service was to have
commenced at three o'clock, admission having been given
by ticket half an hour earlier. Long before that time,
however, large crowds collected round the doorseevery-
, body being eager for admittance, and pressing onward
just as people do on the occasion of any very attractive
entertainment. In a very few minutes after the doors
were opened, the whole of the hall was densely filled,
many persons seating themselves on the stairs, block-
ing up the doors, having a comfortable position,
stuck standing with their backs against the wall, or
favourably situated in a passage, with drafts of bitter cold
wind playing about their legs, and sometimes falling plump
like the first dash of a shower bath pattering upon the
head. There was a long interval after the Hall was full
before Mr. Spurgeon appeared ; but the scene itself pre-
sented many points of interest. There never was, we be-
lieve, such an audience collected within the walls before.
Men and women of all classes and denominations of
religious opinion were there. The clerical " cloth" was
unmistakeable, dotted about in different parts; the
peouliar garb of the Society of Friends was visible too;
there was the well known Unitarian, the Wesleyan
leader, the man of the Scotch Kirk, Baptists, Indepen-
dents, and professors of many other different creeds. The
place itself looked so glitteringly pretty in the sunshine,
that it seemed more fit for light enjoyment and merry-
making, than for anything more solemn; ,and the aspect
of the congregation themselves in some instances favoured
the notion that it was for some such purpose, and for
nothingelse in the world beside, that they had come there
at all. Two or three had evidently brought their dinners
with them ; and one thirsty gentleman had a pull now and
then at a gin bottle, which he brandished in the face of the
f elks as if it were a thing that nobody need be ashamed of.
After Mr. Spurgeon entered the temporary pulpit, he sat
for a few moments, and then rose to begin the service, the
congregation having before there a young man of some 23
years, who looks older than he is, with a massive head, a
broad, heavy, sallow face, and a sunken eye, with few
indications of high intellect, but having every mark about
him of strong physical force. As he uttered a brief
prayer, his voice, which is sonorous and powerful, we
thought capable of far greater modulation than lie gives
it. He is remarkably fluent—never pauses for a word—
and his style greatly resembles that of the old divines,
who rather grotesquely mingled laughter with their tears.
The Rev. T. H. Morgan then gave out a hymn, " Glory to
God on high," which uas sung to the tune of " God save
the Queen "—chosen probably on the hypothesis that
everybody could join in it. Mr. Spurgeon then read the
le3rd Psalm, upon which he commented, something after
the style of the Presbyterian Church, with rather more
elaboration. Some of his comments were acute and
able ; several of them rather odd. For example, he was
of opinion, he said, that every feeling and passion of man
ought to be brought out by religion, and even ridicule
might be yoked to the chariot of the Gavel for this pur-
pose. Why not ? he asked, which, by the way, is a
question he very frequently puts. The sins of a justified
man being scattered from him as far as the east is from
the west,, he was of opinion that even if Satan himself
wanted to bring them together he would have such a long
way to go, that before he got back we should be in heaven.
Mr. Spurgeon then offered up a very eloquent prayer,
earnest, forcible, quaint, and terse. The conclusion was
especially fine. Soddenly with change of voice,- with face
upturned, and arm outstretched, he cried, "Spirit of the
living God descend." It had a very sensible effect upon
the congregation. Another hymn was read by the Rev.
T. Swan, and sung, and then the sermon began. Mr.
Spurgeon took for his text the 21st verse of the first
chapter of Matthew, " She shell bring forth a
son, they shall call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins." He divided his dis-
course into two sections ; first, he noticed salvation, and
endeavoured to show what it really was ; and second, the
persons for whom salvation was promised. As a matter
of course, we have no intention of repeating his discourse.
It was marked now and then by great power of language
and felicity of illustration, had its solemnity relieved by a
poor joke once or twice, and was freely sprinkled with
anecdote. No doubt some of the expressions he used
seemed scarcely correct in the pulpit; hut we are bound
to say that the blasphemy, the vulgarity, coarseness and
buffoonery, of which we have seen Mr. Spurgeon accused
was invisible yesterday. and we are inclined to think they
have been very much exaggerated. To be sure it is some-
what startling to find our Saviour introduced in proprics
persona, taking part in a dialogue and argument with a
sinner in the most free and easy way, thus :—" Come
hither, sinner," says he, " thou knowest thyself to be
undone. I save thee. Go in peace." But apart from the
unusual character of such a dialogue, the dramatic form
assumed, makes perhaps, a far greater impression upon
the mass of the population than any mere narrative; and
Mr. Spurgeon's forte greatly lies in producing a vivid
effect. So, when he spoke of selling the Bible off in lots,
and being pretty sure of plenty of customers, some bidding
for 'the crowns without the white robes, or the harps,
some for the broad river, and not a few for the great
throne, the force of the thought is 'not weakened by the
(paint and even fastastic figure. But when he began to
speak of there being somewhat too much sectarianism
abroad, and of people making inquiries of the angel door-
keeper of heaven, as to whether any members of any parti-
cular denomination were within, there was such a dash of
the ridiculous about it that a laugh ran through the whole
place. "If you go," he said, to Paradise and ask for a
Baptist, I do_think the angel at the door would look you
in the face and ask you what you meant. If you asked
for a Wesleyan, a Presbyterian, or an Independent, he
would tell you that he never heard of one of them being
in the place. But if you ask for a Christian, Oh I' he
would say, there aro abundance of them here. " This
dealing with Paradise as if it were a shop in New-street.
was most ludicrous, scarcely less so than his punning.
He had no sympathy, he said, with those people who had
no creeds, no doctrines, no nothing, that wanted even a
new phraseology, which in his opinion was crazeology—a
pun which created another laugh, not at the wit it may be
presumed. At the conclusion of his sermon, which was
eminently calculated to awaken the attention of the
masses, a collection was made, and the service was brought
to a conclusion.—Birmingham Journal.

Her Serene Highness the Princess Hohenlolie arrived at
Dover at six o'clock on Thursday evening from the Con-
tinent. The princess was received on landing by Sir
George Cooper, who had arrived from London on the
previous day. Her serene highness coro's to town this
morning, and is expected to arrive at Clarence House
before mid-day.
THE EMPEROR AND I"HE POPE.—THE ORLEANS FAMILY.
—The In?periaP,St. and Fusionist circles of Paris are
occupied now with very interesting statements. In
the former it is confidently asserted that his Holiness the
Pope has at last consented to crown the Emperor at
Rheims in the month of May, and has given the sanction
of the Church to the new order of things in France. In
the latter a contract of marriage is announced between
the Comte de Paris and the daughter of the Duchess
Regent of Parma, who is the only sister of the. Duc de
Bordeaux. By this alliance the fusion will, it is hoped,
be complete, and the conflicting pretensions of the Houses
of Bourbon and Orleans be reconciled. At present, how-
ever, the youthful princess and future bride is only in her
eighth year.
ENGLISH HIGH LIFE.—The following is extracted from
a letter written by an officer of the Merrimac frigate,
when she lay at Southampton, in October. We find it in
the Washington (N.C.) Journal :—"Much attention has been
paid us ashore, too, especially by two families—one, that
of an old East India general, the other that of Lord
Hardwicke. General Frazer has passed most of his life in.
India, and now lives in ease and comfort on the F.outh.
ampton water. At a dinner at his house we had an
opportunity of seeing how the aristocracy here live,
Lord Hardwicke and family and several other guests were
there to meet us, and everything was in splendid style.
One turbaned Indian, with several other servants, waited at
table. The plate was superb and the dinner most recherche.
We sat down to table at half-past seven o'clock. These are
always epaulette and sword occasions. Lord Hardwicke's
family consists of his countess, his eldest son (about 18 or
20, and Lord Royston by oourtesy), three of the finest
looking daughters you ever saw, and several younger sons.
The daughters—Lady Elizabeth, Lady Mary, and Lady
Agnita—are surpassingly beautiful ; such development,
such rosy cheeks, laughing eyes, and unaffected manners
you rarely see combined. They take a great deal of out-
door exercise, and came aboard the Merrimac in a heavy
rain, with Irish thicker soled shoes than you or I ever
wore, and cloaks and dresses almost impervious to wet,'
They steer their father's yacht, walk the Lind
knows how many miles, and don't care a cent about
rain, besides doing a host of other things that would
shock our ladies to death, and yet in the
parlour they are the most elegant women in their satin
shoes and diamonds I ever saw. The countess in her
coronet of jewels, is an elegant lady, and looks like a fit
mother for three such women. His lordship has given, us
three or four dinners. He lives here merely during the
yachting season, and leaves hero on Friday for his country
seat at Cambridge, where he spends his winter, as do all
English gentlemen of means, in hunting, &c., and when
parliament is in session he lives in London in his town
house. Hero he has a host of servants, and they wear the
gaudiest livery white coats with big silver buttons,
white cravats, plush knee breeches and vest, white silk
stockings, and low shoes. Lord Hardwicke's brother
is Dean of York, a high church dignitary, has !two
pretty daughters, and is himself a jolty gentleman.
After dinner the ladies play and sing for ub
and the other night they got up a game of blind mans on
in which the ladies said we had the advantage, inasmuch
a 0 their petticoats rustled, so that they were
I
e easily
caught' caught.' They call things by their names nesometw oon, fell
or three of the
course of the game Lord Hardwieke himselfe wasover
b his
n di
"
folded, and, trying to catch s
daughter's lap on the 11 )or, whe
ndragged his lordship,
girls caught him by the legs
and
roaring with laughter, a
were, on his back into the
appear on a perfect equal
middle of the floor. Yet s
itwthyne yawlailtrhe peearefehctolythreers.pecltnfulf,abeutt
the English are a great people. Two clubs here have
offered us the use of their rooms.

THE NATIONAL SUNDAY* LEAGUE.

EXTRAORDINARY STOPPAGE OF A PUBLIC
MEETING.

On Wednesday evening, some excitement took place in
the 'vicinity of the National Hall, Holborn, London, in
consequence of the attendance of a large number of persons,
drawn thither by an advertisement in the London papers,
that a public district meeting would be held at that place
at eight o'clock, in connection with the Sunday League, to
review the recent progress of the League, and to consider
what:should be done by the people to stem the reactionary
current of Sabbatarianism, and also to hear from the
representatives of the League of their recent provincial
meetings, and of the extraordinary conduct of their oppo-
nents. Mr. Stevens, the British wine manufactdrer, of
D can street, Holborn, was to have presided. It appears
however, that from some source or other information was,
forwarded to the police, and the Government inspector,
Mr. Brown, went on Saturday evening to ascertain the
truth of the information, viz., that the building was not
sufficiently sate for the meeting to be held. On Saturday
evening,•however, the surveyor was informed that the Hall
was not then lighted, and it would not be convenient for him
to see it. Without making known his business or autho-
rity, he -went away, and notices were served on Mr.
Lovett, the leaseholder of the hall, on Monday last, by
Captain Douglas Labalmondiere, Commissioner of the
Metropolitan Police, and also on Mr. Heap, Secretary to
the Sunday League. The notice of the police commis-
sioners was under the Metropolitan Buildings Act, 18 and
19 Vic., cap. 122, part 2, relating to dangerous structures,
and after the usual formal recital, the notice proceeds :
"I do by this writing give you notice, and require you to
take down the side walls of that structure, from
the level of the gallery stairs, where bulged out of
the perpendicular, or otherwise defective ; build brick
piers, 18 inches square, from the foundation upwards, to
carry the roof, strengthen the framing and joists to the
gallery floors, and the floor of coffeeroom, and otherwise
render secure the same structure within three days from
the date hereof.

" Dated, 26th January."
Simultaneously with the foregoing, the following com-
munication was received by the secretary of the League :
"Metropolitan Police Office, 4, Whitehall place,
27th January, 1857.
-- - -

' " Sir, Observing that your name is attached to a notice
calling a public meeting to assemble in the National Hall,
Holborn, for to-morrow evening, the 28th inst., I beg to
enclose you a copy of a notice which has been served,
according to the provisions of the Act 18 and 19 Vic.,
cap. 122, part 2, upon the owner and occupier of that struc-
ture, as a heavy responsibility will devolve upon you
should the meeting still be persevered in, and any accident
result from it.—l am, sir, your obedient servant,

" D. LABALMONDIRE.

"To the Secretary of the National Sunday

Mr. Heap, the Secretary of the League, at the same
time (yesterday) received the following from the proprie-
tor of the hall :

" National Hall, July 28.
" Dear Sir,—lt is with extreme regret that I am obliged
to put your meeting on Wednesday, having received
notice from the police that the place will not be secure for
a crowded meeting until certain alterations are made in the
east wall of the building.—l am, &c, "W. LOVNTT."
On Wednesday, however, Mr. Brown, the Government
Surveyor, proceeded to inspect the hall, but the result of
his observations were of course not made public. The hall-
keeper avers that the wall does not show any signs of decay,
btu Mr. Lovett, anxious to meet the views of the Police
Commissioners, has forbidden several meetings that were to
have been held there this week. It would be an extremely
difficult task to describe the feeling which exists with
restard to the stoppage of the meeting, it being the
opinion of a great many persons, that the information has
been given to the police commissioners by some of the
opponents of the League. The consequence is, that the
meeting will still be held, and arrangements are in course
of settlement for a great demonstration to be held at St.
Martin's Hall, the date of which, however, is not. yet fixed.

ELOPEMENT.-A detective officer arrived at Glastonbury
on Monday afternoon, in pursuit of a fugitive couple, from
the vicinity of Bristol, whose luggage, left at an inn, it
appeared, led to their discovery during their temporary
absence. Busy rumour represented the fair one es a rich
heiress, of extreme youth and exceeding beauty. The
officer waited their retarn, and accosting the gentleman,
intimated his object; but alas, too late, the attached
co Tie having in the interim plighted their vows at St.
Cuthbert's, Wells. The certificate being produced, it
remained only for the baffled officer to use his best
endeavours to effect a reconcilation.

MELBOURNE.—In addition to the atrocities pub-
lished in yesterday's paper, we extract the following
from the Melbourne ilerald:—" A number of con-
victs,headedby a desperado named Mitchell, made
an attempt to escape from Port Phillip Harbour in
broad daylight. They killed two of their keepers, in
the attempt—were themselves fired upon by the
guard ship, and one of their number was killed.
A verdict of wilful murder was returned against
nine convicts, the whole of whom will probably be
hanged. The two leaders were undergoing sen-
tences of thirty. two and twenty-two years respec-
tively, so that they must have been criminals of
the deepest dye."
VOLUNTARY EDUCATION.— On Tuesday evening, a public
meeting, in connection with the Yorkshire Auxiliary to the
Congregational Board of Edna dion. was held in the Music
Saloon, Wood street,Wakefield ; J. Crossley, Esq., of Halif,x,
in the chair. The principal speaker was Mr. Edward
Baine', of the Leeds Mercury, who advocated the voluntary
principle of education. The speaker condemned the
Application of the public money for theepurpose of fostering
e' systems of education and religious teaching. In con-
elusion, Mr. Baines alluded to the various schemes which
had been priTounded by the Manchester school: They
appeared to issue :e Many fresh educational schemes a 3
pieces of calico. They had one or two schemes every year,
and they had now a piece of mongrel patchwork manufac-
tured between Sir John Pakington and the secularists, and
brought forward by Manchester; but these frequent changes
proved that education was a thing that must be untram-
melled—that it must be uncontrolled—that no stereotyped
edition of it would do—that, like the English constitution
it must grow and develope itself in freedom. The meeting
was afterwards addressed by Mr. Ross, Dr. Perry, Dr.
Penglars, the Rev. M. Eastmead, and the Rev. Mr.
Sntohburgs. The proceedings concluded by singing the
Doxology. There was no collection.
JUSTICES JUSTICE IN SUNDERLAND.—The last, we beg
pardon—the latest instance of our bench of magistrates
outraging the aim of justice occurred yesterday afternoon.
Two ladies—Mrs. Webster and Mrs. Stack—standing in
the relation to each other of sisters, had a quarrel. It
appears that Mrs. Webster has been lodging with
Mrs. Stack, and, a quarrel taking place, Mrs. Web-
ster wee about to shift her quarters, but that she
was not allowed to take away her clothes until
DertAin demands for board and lodging were set-
tled. These were not complied with, and the oppor-
tunity was taken to tell each other " a bit of their minds."
Though these individuals have each received the benefit of
a good education—though they both move in respectable
spheres of society—though they must have known what
was due to each other not only as sisters, but as members
of society, the two ladies were not content with their
tongues expressing their respective grievance, but- they
found it necessary, in order to give due expression to the
intensity of their feelings, to get to fhticuffe It is even
said that Mrs, Stack presented a pistol at her sister, and
threatened vengeance by the alarming medium of powder
and shot. The injured one oiled to her aid the
powers of the law, and had her sister apprehended on
a warrant. The casa was heard—or, rather ought to have
been heard in the Police Court yesterday, but it
suited the fancy of the magistrates to take it into their
private room. Great secrecy was observed about it, but if
the simple dispensers of law imagined they could " diddle"
the press in that fashion, they reckoned without their host.
The übiquitous reporters got scent of the attempted smug-
gling, and made a demand to be admitted to the secret con-
elave. The magistrates, however, refused to comply with
their request, and compelled them to withdraw. These
magistrates were the Mayor, Joseph Simpon, Joseph
Brown, and John Lindsay, Esqrs. Now let us see what
would have been done bad the scene of the scuffle been in
Numbers Garth or Maud's lane, and the parties been called
some such name as Peggy Potts and Polly Johnson. The
case would have been heard in open court of course. When
the complainant had given her evidence, the facetious Mr.
Simpson would have given one of those expressive shakes
of his venerable grey head, and one of those well known
waves of his arm, and uttered some sententious remark or
other for which he has already been immortalised in
Punch. "Ah !" he no doubt would have said, " I'm
glad you brought her here ! We'll deal with her, if the
and ,
mayor my brother magistrates agree with me !
The case being duly proved, the mayor would have
pitched into"
the culprit, and delivered one of those.
long-winded harangues for which his mayoralty is
• to be famous
going —enough to make anybody fancy he
Was going to sentence the unhappy prisoner at the bar to
be hung, drawn, and quartered—endirff with the prophetic
assertion that the gallows would get her at last, and
vowing almost eternal ,malediction if she ever came there
again ! Now, what is the difference between Peggy Potts
and Polly Johnson, and Mrs. Slack and Mrs. Webster,
when the conduct of the latter is similar to that of the
former? We can see a difference; but that difference
consists in making the offence of high-born ladies infinitely
greater when they break the laws, than when the trans-
gression is committed by the denizens of the Low street,
or Love lane. Oh ! what a thing it is to be able to
wear a flee dress, and live in a fine house.—Sunderland
Daily News.