The Sun.
London, England, 1852-03-10 00:00:00

CHELTENHAM.

The fact is no longer disguised that our present Mem-
ber, Mr. Grenville Berkeley, is to make way for his
cousin, the lion. Craven Berkeley, at the ensuing elec-
tion. Thera is nothing remarkable in this. That his
return will be opposed is a matter of certainty.—Chel-
tenham Journal.

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.
THE MUTINY IN THE MERSEY.

The -mutiny on bbard the American New York
packet-ship Queen of the West,' originated, it seems, in
the sailors having, in a threatening manner, attempted
to dictate to the captain the number of seamen that in
their opinion the crew should consist of for a heavy ship
of 1,200 tons. It would appear that in the summer
voyages the usual complement is not quite two men to
every 100 tons—viz., twenty-two men; and in winter
two men and a half to every 100 tons, or twenty-eight
seamen. _ _

Underwriters will do well to look into these matters
now that the navigation-laws are repealed and the work
likely to be performed in course of time entirely by
foreigners.
In the amended Passenger Bill lately introduced by
Mr. F. Peel, it will evidently be necessary to introduce
a clause obliging all emigrant ships, at any rate, to carry
a specified number fur every fifty tons. At present the
24th section only provides that " every passenger ship
shall;,b,, manned with an efficient crew fir her intended
voyage, to the satisfaction of the officer from whom a
clearance of such ships may be demanded."
A ship like. the Queen of the West, or any passenger
ship, should at least be compelled to carry three men
and a boy to every 100 tons on an American voyage;
and four men and a boy to every 100 tons when bound
beyond the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn.
It is to be hoped that the new Colonial Minister will
at once supply the omissions in the Bill, without fear of
the opposition of the Hon. Member for South Lanca-
shire, and the American agents at Liverpool, whose in-
terests and feelings are in their pockets—all anti-British.
—Herald.

Admiral Sir Thomas Briggs did not inspect the Ar-
rogant, 46, screw steam-frigate on Monday. The ship
was, however, prepared, and the life lines on the yards
ready for his reception. The Admiral will inspect her
in harbour. The shell-lighter and powder-boy went
alongside on Monday afternoon, and took out her powder
and live shells. She weighed on Tuesday at two o'clock,
and steamed into harbour. We trust that the crew of
this ship will not be paid off. The defects of the Arro-
gant will take some time to put to rights; but, in the
interim of repair, the crew might be turned over to
another vessel. At this season of the year, when the
Baltic, the Quebec, and Newfoundland trade is open, it
is hardly probable that many of her crew will re-enter
her Majesty's service.
Arethusa, 50, Captain Symonds, is taking en board
her sea-service stores. • She will come out of dcck at
Portsmouth on Thursday, when she will'receive hor old
bowsprit (which has been proved good), with new lower
yards that had been prepared for the Pembroke, 72.
Blenheim, 60,' screw steam guard-ship Captain Hen-
derson, C. 8., was taken out of the old basin at Ports-
mouth (having had all her defects rectified) and up to
her mooring in the harbour, where she will com-
plete her rigging and fit for summer service. She is
still some twenty or thirty A.B.'s short of her comple-
ment.

Dauntless, 33, screw steam-frigate, Captain E. P.
Halsted; arrived in Plymouth Sound about seven p.m.
on Sunday night, and saluted the flag of Admiral Om-
maney the following morning, which was returned by
the Impregnable. She has some defects, which will be
made good, when she will be paid wages, take on board
stores, &c, and rejoin Commodore Martin.
Fairy, Royal yacht serevr-tender, Master-Commander
Welsh, witti Captain Crispin on board, and 'Elfin, dis-
patch steamer, went down to Osborne yesterday morn-
ing and returned this afternoon.

Sirnoom, screw troop-frigate, Captain Kingcome, is
alongside the hulk Victorious, at Portsmouth, preparing
tor hr trial cruis,.. We bear her engines are somewhat
too slight tor this large vessel.
PORTSMOUTH, TUESDAY.—The yard-riggers are rig-
ging the Si. Vincent, 101; and a few of the Bicnheim's
men are rigging the Vixen, steam-sloop.
Rodney, 92, Captain Graham, C. 8., has drawn her
sea-service boats at Portsmouth, and is preparing to get
a. aunt; she gets seamen but slowly, and is still between
200 and 300 short.

Sampson, 6, steam-frigate, Captain Jones, was taken
out of dock at Portsmouth on Monday evening, and
brought alongside the pitch-house jetty to receive her
sea-scorer, coals, &c.
THE COURT-MARTIAL ON LIEUT. HALL, R.N.—The
court-martial on Ist Lieut. Henry Watson Hall of the
Ro3 al Marine Artillery, assembled at Forton Barracks
this morning at ten o'clock, when four witnesses—viz.,
Mr. W. Harrison, Mr. J. C. Harrison, Colour-sergeaa
W. Pink, and Lance-corporal T. W hitehead, were exa-
mined. At four o'clock the court adjourned till Wednes-
day (this) morning, when it will assembly at 11 o'clock.
PLYMOUTH, TUESDAY.—The frigate Dublin was yes-
terday towed by the Pike steam-vessel from her moor-
ings to the sheer hulk to.have her masts taken out.

GOVERNMENT STEAMERS V. MERCHANT STEAMERS.—
Her Majesty's steam-ship Dauntless left, ork at 1 P.N.
on Thursday, and arrived at Plyniouth..at half-past 8
Pm. on Sunday, making the passage in about 80 hours.
The Cork Steam-ship Company's steam-vessel Adler,
Captain Tooker, left Cork one hour after the Dauntless,
passed her outside, and arrived at Plymouth at 5 P.M.
on Friday, making the passage in 27 hours. The Adler
in four hours landed about 20 tone of butter, a quantity
of eggs, whisky, .porter, &c., shipped 70 packages of
cargo, a lot of empties, and 50 tons of coal, and, start-
ing a little after. .9. o'clock, reached London on Sunday
morning, long before the Dauntless arrived at Plymouth.
The Adler is a paddle-steamer, the Dauntless a screw,
but screw boats. belonging to the Irish': company would
undoubtedly have made the passage in less time than
the Government ship. A very strong contrary •wind
froni the eastward has prevailed-for several days. The
Mercury screw stetted- vessel, Captain Charlesworth, be-
longing to the Waterford Screw Company, left Dublin
on Saturday at 11.30 A is., and arrived at Plymouth at
8 P.m.-yesterday (Monday)—making the passage from
Dublin in 56i hours.
TWELVE O'CLOCK, AJI.—A passenger who passed
through this town yesterday stated that he landed on
Sunday at Falmouth...frcum.Sierra Leona, and that the
outward mail packet Bosphorus, Captain Hall, through
severe weather, Jon six days prior to her arrival at
Sierra Leone.
'A large steamers painted black, and Davin two fun-
'A
supposed to' be one of the Peninsular 'and Oriental
Steam-packet Company's mail boats, was. ell' this port
this morning at ten o'clock, under steam only, going up
Channel, against a head wind.
SHEERNESS, MARCH 9.—Her Majesty's steam-vessel
Fearless, Captain Bullock, employed on the survey c,f
the Thames and Medway, bile returned from Woolwich,
the defects in her cranks and firebars having been made
good.
Her Majesty's steamer 'Myrtle, having been under
repair, got up her steam yesterday for'the purpose of
trying her machinery.
Her Majesty's screw Captain
steam-frigate Horatio,
thm Hon. T. S. Carnegie, has had her sides scraped, and
is being painted. Sbe wants several WmC jackets to
complete her complement.
Captain C. Eden, late private secretary to sir F. T.
Baring, arrived here on Saturday on a visit to Vice-
Admiral the Hon. Joaceline Percy, and left for town on
Monday.
TOE PASSING OF MATES TO TEE RANK' OF Lis:lTE.
NANT IN THEtROFAL Avy.
P tWO years relative The Eregulstions in force
for the
..to mates who have passed
abroad, providing they should
either the first or Second
.:114 be at liberty to select
xe.m.ination-day after being
paid off. " have undergone revision." Is aonaevence of

TO THE SECRETARY OF THE BRADFORD
REFORM ASSOCIATION.

(CONTINUED ON MONDAYS AND WEDNESDAYS.)
Sir,—The leader of the retrograde Ministry has
laid before the public the distinct proposition, that the
Reform Bill has produced an increase of bribery, and
been an instrument of evil and not of good. Of
course there is no need for him to say, that he will
go back to the better state of things when he is able.
The words reported to have been used are, " the
gross and disgraceful system of bribery which has
increased considerably in the last twenty years, and
which in the intensity of the evils it has produced has
thrown into the shade the evils which previously existed
in the local ityluences by which constituencies were
controlled." Do these words bear out the conclusion
above built on them, or not ?
If yes, then it is for the constituencies to determine
what is the accuracy of the proposition. They must
appeal to history, written end oral. They must ask
whether there was a constituency before the Reform
Bill, with the exception possibly of the Universities,
where elections were not settled by the open notori-
one payment of money which nobody denied or was
ashamed of, or else by the equally notorious exer-
tion of the powers of private ownership after the
manner of Old Sarum. If there was any such, the
onus is thrown on the Minister to show it. The con-
stituencies will declare by sound of trumpet there
was none, and throw down their gage to anybody
who shall maintain the contrary. There is no need
of struggle;—show it. Point to the letter of the
alphebet,—give hint of the combination of vocables,—
which may enable the student of the Gazetteer to
steer towards the phoenix in the list.
What was the condition of the olden constituee-
cies, is known to those who are old enough to• re-
member it. Well do, I recollect in early boyhoodi
as portion of a religious and in fact Methodistical
household, hearing the feminine portion of the thtnily,
always more direct and conscientious than those ex-
posed to greater contact with the world, inquire of
the patriarchal chief, on what principle it was that
a devoutly and religiously disposed Member of Pare
liament, of that " most straitest" sect then recognized
under the title of " the Saints," (men who did great
good in their generation, though dashed with some
evil), in a borough of no small pretensions to
piety and morality, paid habitually ten pounds
for a vote, and twenty pounds for a plumper.
I remember, in my boyish ignorance, asking
searching questions of the aforesaid chieftain,—
not a man given to encourage the iniqui-
ties of his times,—touching the precise market
value of a plumper; having, I believe, some childish
notion, that since a plumper did not count two, it
ought to stand at some intermediate rate between ten
pounds and twenty. I think I further troubled him
with a query, whether he got twenty pounds for the
plumper he gave in a neighbouring borough,—alas a
borough no more since the evil days referred to,—to
the candidate of his solicitude. To which I received
a frowning intimation, that there were ranks, and
dignities, and friendships. and proprieties, which little
boys were not capable of judging of; only confirm-
ing me in my conviction, that ten pounds was the
natural price of a vote, as surely as ever five per cent
was the natural rate of interest.
In fact everybody, who knows anything about it
at all, knows that this was the existing state. The
thing bad wrought its wary into good society ; or at all
events there was no society into which it had not
wrought. The theory was, that when everybody
was bribed, nobody was bribed. There was no secret
made about it ; and even to a comparatively late
period, the system was openly defended in the Housei
of Commons under the title of " Head-Money." The
Reform Bill produced the first visible instances of,
borough constituencies, in which the voters were not
openly paid either in meal or in malt.
Come then to the proof. It has been officially
stated, that " the intensity of the evils produced by
the Reform Bill has thrown into the shade the evils
which previously existed." Perhaps there is some
force or signification in the words which follow,—
" in the local influences by which constituencieS were
controlled." Take these also,---pro majori cauteld ,
as the lawyers say. Take the whole together, eon
see what can he made (fit. Where are the evils in the
local influences which throw the old ones into the
shade? What evil-disposed local influence has found
its sphere Widened by the Reform Bill ? What new
ones have been created, to balance the old ones which
were cut off in the blossoms of their sin ? Either
the proposition is accurate, or it is not. If it is not,
then it is bread cast upon the waters, to be found after
many days in the way of ssshtint,* to return to the
state of things before the Reform Bill.
Rumour throws light on the intended budget. Ru-;
mour is often wrong, but sometimes right ; and
though a rumour may be in some sort said to be hy-
pothetical, it may at all events be discussed hypotheti-
cally. Rumour then thinks it has light on the " gre'it
reform and revision of the tariff" which is hanging
over 11°. It says the malt-tax and the income-tex
arc to be done away with, and there is to be a tax 01
a shilling a ton upon coals at the pit's mouth. In
other words, the taxation is to be taken off the land-
lords and the rich ,and laid, in the shape of something
very like a poll-tax, on the poor. For as the peer does
not take a greater quantity of coals to make him
warm than the pauper, to this description it closely
approaches. It will be pleaded that the melt-tax fell
upon the poor; and so it did. But people die for
want of fire, and not for want of beer. The pro_
posed,tax goes down as far as those chariteanbeloeurpaegre-
sons who are combining their energies to
clubs for g,iving the poor man " goose or turkey at
Christmas. It is to be paid by the Irish hod-man,
on his Sunday's baked meats when he has them, d
on his potatoes when he rejoices in the same dinner"Bll
" barring the beet." But the malt-tax fell hard on
the land-owners; so the coal-owners are to represent
the two ducks which were to be substituted in chim-
ney-sweeping fur the goose. It is so natural that
men when they
have the power,
taxes
there lash
noy's should throw the
that
ussehonilders but their own,
pretending to be
scandalized. But this is nut ton terevent the thing being
seen. We are going with our eyes open into the jaws
of a Boa Constrictor of a arty. very
maker in the Strand rigs out the likeness of a bump-
kin, half idiotic and jubilant, to show us what. b,, grown into our master. And for the time being, tea
good hopes and expectations are waiting
re-
surrection morn, as for the

ini—§*
I Ir, yours very sincerely,
AN OLD REFORMER.
Blackheath, 10th March, 1852.

ordßinlyYr
- -
AL INSTITUTE of BRITISH ARCUITECTS.—An
meeting of this society was held on Monday at the
Institution, Grosvernor-street. Mr. Fowler took the chair.
Mr. Donaldson resumed the discussion, which had been ad-
journed to the present meeting, upon the paper read by that
gentlOman upon the tomb of Edward the Confessor, in West-
minster Abbey. Mr. Donaldson then directed the attention
of the meeting to the dilapidated state of the monuments in
all of the more ancient edifices in the country. He mentioned
a variety of instances where this had been done through
neglect and ignorance. Mr. Scott then gave a short account
of the group of monuments in or near the shrine of Edward
the Confessor, which he stated was most probably erected by
Italian workmen, Odericns and Peter, a citizen of Rome, but
whose surname was obliterated. With regard to the subject
of restoring these monuments, there were two questions to
ask : first, would they, when restored, be the old monuments;
and secondly, if renovated, would they be held worthy of as
touorew: by
Hgeotahrdouignhgtmthoraet
tchaerreefnolluvghagt
much interest as they were at present? He considered the
best plan was only to preserve them in the state they were
all the ecclesiastical montiments in the kingdom, and engrav-
ings
or. models takenwhich • might be referred to hereafter in
a survey made of
restoring theM. The meeting then Adjourned- • -
injuries for the fu-
aitonsbte

questiors in trigonorretrr and algrhra being now added u POYAL ARTILLERY.
,
to the usual college examination papers, mates pesoieg li7Coeeveca, Martell 94.—Capteeizi. Hamilton's nom- for the rank of lieutenant are to have the benefit of s - : ii,cy, 2d battalion, marched from lb g r.-rison this after-
lecting the third examination-clay after their arriiel in eoeu to 4efre Wintf, arid ftribatkc(l iA, cost f the
Englan7!; er, in case of officers having been paid off in a Vicolv,lai itp,aP-tersiet:- FfilPflkil-a,:i4.4 Plel, and
shi9, the bTLcfit of a third examinetion-day arter the C-iz,o:ie fo Ito Tuston-squ :1,, i_::,-..ay Termien,. end
date o 7 their having been so paid cif.- It is .to be dis- prece eded by that mode ot cerveyance to Liverpool, en
finally undorstood that %bottle'
.an officer neglect to Pe's route to Dublin, to reiicve-C.4tain Fitzmayer7e company
on one of thQee tiire,'' exatnirlattou-days, of should li be 3d, baralion.,..ordered •to return to hea'crtibiirteris at -
he will forfeit ali Oahu to have his se--eioeity Woolwich, from Ireland. Captain Fitzmayeep coitipany,
rejected, h'n hay— f lir rriffar
dated from t-, - 0 ~Er- 0 g passing. These re- had been stationed at Kelkeney for some time past, but • I
gulationa are to apply to -masters assistant-and second have le cently returnee to Dublin on being relieved by
masters 4 le -:. - • - ' " - Captain Petk's company, Ist battalion, from.that station.
,• To telegraphs at the various coast-guard stations on Captain Crawford's company, fish battalion, having
the eouth coast of England are to be placed in an effi--
cleat state, as well as those on the - Essex and Norfolk finnished a course of field battery instruction, will em-
bark to-morrow in one of the Leith steamers for Scot-
coasts, and those from the South Foreland to Sheerness,. laud,
quarters.
to relieve Captain Travers company, sth bans.
by which means communications can he made from any , ii,m,
at Leieh Fort, under orders to return to head-
, of her Majesty's vessels cruising ire the Channel to shy
or all of thereat naval arsenals. The ships in ordinaiy DEATR
oz
3114
joR.
GENERAL LACY, R.A.—This
in the river Themes and Medway arc to be so stationed gallant officer died at his official residence as Director-
as to convey .intelligence to Chatham and Woolwich' " a
—era' rif Artillery; at the - Re 3 al Arsenal, at two
dockyards, and from the latter places to head-quarters at o'clock A M., to-day, having hen ill for some time past.
will in_ many as second lieutenant on
Whitehall. Twenty years have elapsed since these tole- Richard John James Lacy eittered the Royal Artillery
i graphs were used, and consequently they
August 8, 1796; was promoted
' places have to be replaced by new ones. The last time to first lieutenant on March 17, 1798; captain, July 20,
they were in operation was when Captain, now AdrUirUt 1804; brevet-major, June 4, 1814; lieutenant-colonel,
Sir Hugh Pigot, commanded the Talavera guard-ship In Dec. 31, 1827; colonel, May 4, 1840; and major-
the Downs, which service ceased in 1831. general, Nov. 9, 1846. Major-General Lacy Was an
WOOLWICH officer of considerable scientific APPMENTS.
acquirements, which were
,Ms 9.OIN
—T Lieutenant—Hen Weit of great service to him as a member of the Select Come
(1846), who recently brought home and paid off the Do mittee, which office he held for a lengthened period, and
steam-vessel from the Cape of Good Hope, to command was greatly appreciated by inventors
and others, owing
the Pluto steam-vessel at Woolwich. It was originally to his affable and pleasing manners on all occasions, On
intended that the Pluto should proceed to the coast of the Ist of January, 1849, he was appointed Director-
Africa, under the charge of Commander C. G. PhillipS, General of Artillery, haying previeusly been inspector
of the Polyphemus steam-sloop, bat the Pluto is no of the royal carriage department. On July 8, 1851, he
in consequenee, his office as
commissioned by Lieutenant-Commander Henry Wes, was appointed colonel-commandant of the 6th battalion,
to serve independently, except under the Commander- and was to have vacated,
in-Chief on the west coast of Africa. - director-general of Artillery at the beginning
of the
Assistant-Surgeon—John Barnard Ricards (1847), financial year in April next. By the death of Major-
fromeManaor-General Frederick Campbell
cf takes place in the command of
the Rodney (90), to the Pioneer screw stearei-
vessel, at Woolwich, for service with Captain Sir B.
Belcher's Arctic Expedition. the
n e6rtabl Lb
aa cttyalaiovna,
' being next in seniority for colonel-commandant.
Assistant-Engineers—William Piggy and John An-
derson, to the Pluto.
• ,
Second Master—Henry N. Ray (1849), to the'Victory
flag-ship, at Portsmouth.
Master's-Assistant—John Butler, to the Plato.
Clerk—Charles G. Smith (1850), to the Fisgard flag-
ship, at Woolwich.
Clerk's-Assistant—T. J. Woodward, to the Magi-
cienne steam-frigate, at Devonport.

NEW CLOSU RE, B RITIS HMUSE um.
This enclosure is now nearly completed; and what-
ever opinions may be entertained as to the expediency
or otherwise of putting up so large and costly a railing,
it must be pronounced a fine work of its class. The
iron-work has been executed by Messrs. Walker, of
York; and the very great pains they have taken from
first to last, to carry out their contract in all respects,
well deserves commendation. The models were exe-
cuted by various parties: they were commenced by
Lovati, an artist of considerable talent, who, however,
died before he had made much progress: they were than
taken up and completed by Mr. Thomas and by Messrs.
Collman and Davis. The frieze is wholly of hammered
iron: the remainder of the iron-work is cast from
metal moulds, and was chiefly piece moulded, in order
to obtain relief. The carriage gates are opened by a
windlass; both sides opening simultaneously. Eaoh
half of these gates weigh upwards of five tons. An
underground passage gives access to the works for oil-
ing the machinery and pivots, &c. The height of the
granite curb varies from 2 ft. 9 in. to 3 ft. 9 in.: the
height of the iron-work is 9 ft. up to the top rail: the
length of the whole palisade, from one extremity to
the other, is about 800 feet. The iron-work was con-
tracted for by Mr. Walker, whose tender, amounting to
6,7561. was the lowest. The actual coat will probably
be a trifle less, on account of some small omissions. The
granite pedestals are intended to receive sitting statues
of Shukspere, Bacon, Milton, and Newton, small sketches
for which have been modelled by Sir Richard Westma-
cott.—Builder.

FRENCH RAILWAY TRAFFIC.
The following are the last returns of the gross re-
ceipts of the principal French Railways :
NORTHERN.—From Feb. 19 to Feb. 25 : Passengers,
200,653 t.; goods, 250,7791.; total, 451.432 f.
ROUEN.—From Feb. 22 to Feb. 28.
64,8951.; goods, 89,726 f.; total, 154,621%
HAVRE.—From Feb. 22 ti Feb. 28 : Passengers,
23,8561.; goods, 41.781 f.; total 65.637 f.
ORLEANS.—From Feb. 23 to F. b. 29: Passengers,
65.6061: ; goods, 140,6901.; total, 206,2961.
BORDEAUX.—From F. b. 17 to Feb. 23: Passengers,
43,3601.; goods, 70,588 t.; total, 114,2181.
VIERZON —From F(6. 23 to Feb. 29: Passengers,
25,350 f.; goods, 54.8421,; total. 80,192 f,
NANTES.—From Feb. 19 to Feb. 25 : Passengers,
28,0641.; goods, 26,1321.; tend, 54 196 f.
:!".TRASBURCI —From Feb. 19 to Feb. 25: Passengers,
90,1851.; goods, 120,962 i.; total, 211.147 f.
BALL—From Feb. 18 to Feb. 22 :
19,130 h; goods, 22,301 f.; t0ta1,41,451f.
MONTEREAM—From Feb. 19 to Feb. 25: Passengers,
7,775 t.; goods, 13,234 !. ; total, 21,0091.
MARREILLES.—From Feb. 22 to Feb. 28: Passengers,
34,1941.; goods, 27,959 f.; total, 62,1531.
Lvolcs.—From Feb. 15 to F.D. 21 :
179,200 f.; goods. 169,415 f.; total, 288,6151.
CHARTRES.—From Feb. 23 to Feb. 29: Passengers,
20,86 e.; goodF, 25,360 f ; 46,228

Passengers,

Passengers,

Pa sgengers,

STATE of ROYAL TOMBS in WESTMINSTER

ABBEY.

In a paper read at the Architectural Institute on the
23rd February, Mr. T. L. Donaldson says:—West-
rninster Abbey is emphatically the public building in
England which most attracts the regard of the foreigner,
filling him with respect, and producing the most lasting
impression upon his imagination. I must own that I felt
ashamed, as I drew the attention of my Parisian friend to
monument after monument of our sovereigns, princes, and
nobles, and particularly to the shrine of the Confessor.
I edeavoured to palliate the state of ruin in which these
precious memorials of the history of our country, its
arts, and it's greatness, were allowed to remain. From
want • of timely care they are gradually falling into
decay, and threatening, in some cases, absolute destruc-
tion. " What!" said my companion' "can it be true
that your Government so disregards these speaking
monuments of past achievements, that it will not rescue
them from utter ruin? What! is the father, is the son
of the Black Prince so disregarded by you, that you
will not preserve, even as works of art, and ere it be
too late, the marble that encases their remains, and the
bronzes which hand down their lineaments? Have
your Edwards and your Henrys bled for this? Have
they for this perpetuated England's glory in the 13th,
14th, and 15th centuries, and you allow them to be for-
gotten? Have these queens been in vain distinguished
for their public and domestic virtues; in vain renowned
for their piety, and you permit their sacred deposits to
be despoiled, degraded, trampled upon?"—Correspondent
of the Builder.

TIIE IMPROVEMENT OF IRELAND.—It cannot have
'escaped the notice even of the most unobservant, that Irish
affairs have for many years past occupied a very large portion
of the time and attention of the Legislature ; and moreover
that very little if any benefit has arisen from the repeated
discussions. There has been a general concurrence on one
point only—that the soil, the
'climate, the. fisheries, and in
fact every element of a nations. prosperity—every means of
in
employing a numerous population and ensuring a profitable
return for capital—that all these. exist in Inland to an
tent that requires only the judicious application of moneexy,
and moral greatness as it is now debased in
intellect, and labour to render tbat country as eminenteher.iipgiheta.Thesbooetihairehsappepcitns.essWe observe with pleasure in the -
the West of Ireland Land Company a step in 1113"?spect".
object will be
direc-
tion. The company is constituted on souadntdthpteri
adequate return return for the
list of trustees i-, a sufficient guarantee sound
cannot t doubtan
tiai
faithfully and honestly carried out •
that, with a good prospect of an
capital employed, the scheme, which promises
ecsa nsnu
benefits will soon be in active Operation ristol Journal.
EXPLOSION AT A TAR F ACT() *
morn-
ing, shortly before eight o'clock, • hitY..—Y. esteniay
were alarmed. in consequence of . e inhabitants of Deptford
place in the premises of Mr. Edwardau explosion
and fire taking
tar manufacturer, Raven's B Dorset, naphtha" and
after the men Lad commenced ?ndcreek, Deptford. Shortly
were something like twenty feet w'ork, the premises, which
and
.the stock in trade was' high, wire soon in a blaze,
that it soon became of
such a c. nibustible character
ignited, and ran in liquid fire over the
ground, and having entered the creek. a sailing barge. fnar-
destroyed. A, sit was one side o the
vessel was extensively
explosion, that
ascorched.
..tmich was the force of the
heat/.y steam-boiler, eight feet wide, was
lifted irons its ' 4.*eight feet
high,
and
One
eifatLhiteawniaarknind thrown
cooveLri:uwslajl!
injured by
the hot liquid, as to be obli'ead tow be ''removed to the hespitaL
The engines from Messrs.g Penn's factory, one from the
Dockyard, two of the London Brigade, that of the West of
• iigland Company, and another from the Nk atling-street
Bi i, a
ga-e, attended. ' By that limo every portion of the
building is which the misfortune commenced was in flames,
consequently not the least chance remained of saving any of
the contents. The whole of the property in that part of the
works where the fire began was destroyed. Unfortunately
the sufferer was not insured.

LINENDRAPERS' INSTITIITION.—The anniversary
dinner of the members of this society was held Isisterday at
the London Tavern. The Lord Mayor, who was supported
by the Sheriffs of London and Middlesex, occupied the
chair. In proposing the toast of the evening, his Lordship
congratulated the members of the institution on having ar-
rived at their majority, this being their 21st anniversary.
Ile was haPPY to Perceiv,e, from. their report, that so large
an increase had been made in the funds of the society during
the preceding year. In the space of nine years the sums
awarded for relief had increased nine-fold. The report
stated that 3,0241. had been received during the past year.
The capital stock of the institution at present amounts to
24,5771. Three per Cent. Consolidated Annuities; and
, and there
10,000/. Three-and-a-Quarter per Cent. Annuities. In 1841
the relief afforded was 155/ • in 1851, 1,5134 which had
been granted to 75 applicantk Mr. Pearce, the president,
of the institution, remarked that many individuals engaged
in the trade did not meet the exertions of the director, and
especially the junior branches.
permanent
fundhs peodf tthhaetaoothieeyty
v. OTu
The
de
now find additional support, and in the curse of their 21st
Year doable the original
was an increase in the annual subscriptions of 94 guinea,.
donations collected in the room amounted to 8741.
The commercial advises from New yort,
Yorkthis
week are not important, but the amount of specie
packet (140,000/. ) brought
by the present is larger than had bE
anticipated, since it waso supposed the reduction of a pennyn
in the purchasing rate f the Bank of England would have temporary check. It a ave
operated as _ ppeare, however,
have been at once met b y a corresponding rise in to
the prise
service of bills. At Washington the contract packet
Brill parties inter
ill a subject of keen contest between theice ViaB
in these monopolies and their opponents. Crotchetsested
the propriety of maintaining the standard of value were
as to
also being revived, and a variety of u
seemed likely to be made to induce unsuccessful attempts
com-
mence a system of meddling. the Legislature to
papers, Claussen's method ofAccording to some of the
considerable attention, and preparing flax was attracting
Union it , 11 eight of the States of the
the right of using had b
parties, who were also seeking bow purchased by various
the raw material. From to encourage the growth of
were to the 31st of j the city of Mexico the last ad-
vicesbut they contained &unary, being seven days later,
nothing of the slightest interest. The
season in some parts
severe. of Mexico had been aripreeedently

LORD GoDOLPIIIN's YACHT.—The Coquette, While
turning out of Exmouth harbour on Monday, sprung her
mainmast, and put back to get a new one.