Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-07-06 00:00:00

remark reported to have been made by Lord St. Leonard
the previous night, in the d seussion on the Great North-
ern Railway Bill, to the effectthat " the company were not
to be bound by fraud and forgeries of Redpath, and the
only question was one of policy with regard to operations
on the Stock Exchange." The simple facts of the case are
that Redpath. as the authorised registrar of the company,
issued fictitious certificates of stock to innocent purchasers,
and that the company were considered to be responsible
not only in a diroet manner for the ac s of their servant,
but indirectly for the culpable neglect by which those acts
were rendered possible. So complete has been the convic-
tion on this point that there has hi,herto been no attempt
to dispute it in any case. The Royal Swedish Railway
Company at once recognised the stock purported to have
been created by their chairman, &miller ; and the Crystal
Palace Company adopted a similar course in the case of
Robson. It is true that in America the conduct of a
public company under circumstances of this kind has
been different, and that the New York and
Newhaven Railway have sot the sufferers by the
frauds of their chairman, Schuyler, at defiance. Not
only, however, has the step been stigmatised as a painful
blot by all the respectable merchants in that city, but the
victims confident in the equity of their claim, have appeal-
ed to the law, which is the same as that in England, for
its enforcement.

In the London Produce Markets during the.
week the business transacted has been limited,
and prices are generally rather heavy. Sugar has
been very dull, and the demand is restricted, even
at a decline of 6d to is per cwt. Holders, however,
are firm, and show no disposition to supply the
market at reduced rates. The stock of this article
on the Ist inst. was 71,371 tons against 101,129
tons at the corresponding period of 1856. Coffee
has maintained full rates, and there has been a
steady inquiry. Cocoa has been quieter, but the
prices are firm ; tea has been in active request at
enhanced quotations, and in•riee there. have been
extensive operations at 6d per cwt. advance. Rum
tends downwards, saltpetre has risen is per cwt ,
and tallow is rather flat. About the usual amount
of business has been done in spices.
No material variation has taken place in the
state of trade in the manufacturing districts during
the week. In the Leeds warehouses a steady
business had been transacted, but the attendance
of buyers was not large. The shipping houses
were rather busy. At Bradford business had im-
proved, and wool had advanced Id. per lb. for
combing qualities. Yarns and piece goods realised
about former values. The piece goods and yarn
trade of Halifax had shown more activity, but
prices were still too low to fairly remunerate the
manufaoturer. Short wools were scarce, and com•
manded higher rates. Business at Manchester
continued steady, and some rather large sales had
been made for exportation. In the Yarn Market
there had been more activity, and the export de-
mand had rather improved. The hosiery trade at
Leicester has exhibited symptoms of improvement,
and orders for. the autumn demand had been rather
extensively given out. The average price of wool,
however, being high, there was little inducement
to manufacture for stock.

It seems possible that the revolt in India may
have some temporary effect on our indigo supplies
A private letter from Agra, of the 2214 of May,
after stating that the forts were being armed and
provisioned, and that there was a prospect of the
British residents being shut up and besieged, if
the outbreak should become general, adds, " The
indigo factories in this d:strict, and, indeed,
throughout the D.)ab, are at a standstill. Con-
tracts and business of every kind are suspended,
and Europeans are flocking in from all quarters for
refuge."

It is understood that the Bank Charter Com-
mittee are not likely to conclude their labours
during the present session. They will doubtless
report evidence, and be re-appointed at the next
assembling of Parliament. Consequently their
final report will probably not appear until the end
of 1858, or beginning of 1859.
Through the kindness of the Secretary of the
Association of the Liverpool Corn Trade, we are
enabled to lay before our readers the following
estimate of the stock of grain, &c., in the port of
Liverpool on the 30th June last :—Wheat, 78,895
qrs. ; barley, 13,892 qrs. ; rye, 128 qrs. ; matt,
5,795 qrs. ; oats, 26,391 qrs. ; beans, 9,829 qrs ;
peas, 4,753 qrs. ; Indian corn, 49,958 qrs. ; oat-
meal, 13,276 loads ; flour, 18,341 sacks, and 127,901
brls.

The Champion of the Seas has arrived from
Australia with 32,831 ounces, waled at 131,1241.

Subjoined are the particulars of the specie on
board the Colombo, which left Southampton to•lay
for India, China, &e. :-131mbay, silver, 290,5251
Ceylon, silver, 2861.; ditto, cold. 2541.; Madras, gold ,
3,1001. ; Calcutta, silver, 172,1551. ; Penang, silver,
1,250/. ; Singapore, silver, 43,550/. ; Hong Kong,
silver, 167,1991 ; Shanghai, silver, 180,9011. ; total,
589,220.

The amount of business done this week in the
north of Ireland, in the several departments of
commerce, is rather above average. A heahhy
rather than an active tone is the characteristic of
transactions. Our business men are evidently
cautious, not operating beyond the limits of safety,
but judiciously extending trade wherever there is
room for enternrise. The trade, consequently,. in
the district of Belfast partakes, in a large proper-

ion, of the prosperity which the Revenue Rilurns
ust issued show to have been enjoyed by th;,

empire at large. Fl :x has come forward in grotty
large lots at the market; and, forfine milled, so high as
13s per stone was paid this week. Handscutehed goes
off at 6s to 78 9.1. Reports from the most cele-
brated flax-growing districts are very favourable,
and the rains of to-day will have the best effect
on the crop. In the neighbourhoods. of Ban-
bridge, Dromore, and Lurgan there are at
present some of the finest crops seen in these
districts for several years past. Yarns had
a fair run last month ; and on the average of
numbers, quantity of stock held may be stated
to be
thebetsnder the quantity of last year. The
Thread trade is well supported. At the
Gilford, Hilden, and Lisburn factories all the
hands. are fully employed, chiefly for the foreign
markets. The exports of linen cloths, for the first
five months of the year, have exceeded, by upwards
of four millions of yards, those of the same period
of 1856, and by nearly twenty millions those of
the same period of the year 1855. White linens,
which had accumulated in the early part of last.
month, are moving off. The home trade is quiet.
I. Brown markets have been brisker, and drapers

look for higher prices. The handkerchief trade is
still rather heavy.

BREACH OF PROMISE OF MARRIAGE.

At the County Sheriff's Court, York, on. Friday, the
ease of Goodall v Stead came on for hearing_ Mr, Naylor,
of Leeds, was advocate for the plaintiff, a gardener and
beerseller, residing in Oxford-row, Leeds, and who had
brought an action against the defendant (an architect and
builder, by trade, twenty-five years of age, and at present
engaged as manager for Messrs Hyde, Roberts, and Co,
sanitary tube manufacturers, who have large establish-
ments in various parts of Englatri,) for breach of
promise of marriage to his daughter, an interesting-
looking girl, nineteen years of age. The case
savoured somewhat of romance. The defendant began
to pay his addresses to the plaintiff's daugh or
in November of last year, and in the course of
the following month it was arranged that they should be
married, the day fixed being the last of the year. When
the time came, the defendant failed to fulfil his part of the
contract ; but he managed to excuse himself, the courtship
was renewed, and he next fixed Ash Wednesday, (Feb. 25)
for the wedding-day. lie purchased wedding-dress
for his bride that was to be, bonnets were ord.:red for her
and her bridesmaid, and arrangemets were made for a
wedding breakfast, to which friends of the parties were in-
cited. Once more, however, the defendant made a hash of
the poor girl's hopes by not making hie appearance at the
appointed time ; and thenthe match was finally broken off,
the defendant assigning no valid reason for his conduct.
• Hence the action at law, which Mr. Stead did not appear,
either in propria persona, or by representative, to defend.
Thus admitting the breaches complained of, the duty of
the jury was confined to assessing the damages. Evidence
was given that the defendant had an income of something
like £2OO a-year, and the jury found a verdict for the
plaintiff, damages .50. The damages were laid at £5OO.
The plaintiff's daughter, prior to the defendant paying his
addresses' to her, had been in a situation as nurse and
lady's maid, -in the family of clergyman in the neigh-
bourhood of Middleham.