The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-18 00:00:00

All LERICAL, MEDICAL, and GENERAL small, was powerful in the ability and experience
It
_i LIFE ASSURANCE SOCIETY.
The Assured may reside in most parts of the world, without of its leaders, would be speedily called to the
extra charge, and in all parts by payment of a small extra pre- rf
..muncils of their SOVEREIGN. They could control
minni.
The small share of Profit divisible in future among the Share- the balance of power, and make the scale incline
holders being now provided for, without intrenching on the amount to
either side as they might deem expedient ;
made by the regular business, the ASSURED will hereafter derive
all the benefits obtainable from a Mutual Office, with, at the same and it was known that overtures had been made
time. complete freedom from liability, secured by an ample Pro-
Drietary Capital—thus combining in the same office all the advan. from both sides—the DERBYITES and the Rus-
*ages of both systems.
FIVE BONUSES have been declared; at the last in January, SELLITES, who were equally desirous of obtaining
1852, the sum of 131.1251. was added to the Policies, producing a the co-operation of such efficient auxiliaries. It
Bonus varying with the different ages. from 2434 to 55 per cent. on
the Premiums paid during the five years ;or mom 51. to 121. 105. was on the refusal of Mr. GLADSTONE to join a
per cent, on the sum assured. The next and future Bonuses may be
re-
received in cash, or applied at the option of the Assured in any DERBY Administration that the late PREMIER.
aler way. linquished the attempt in the beginning of 1851 ;
On Policies for the whole of Life, one-half of the Annual Premi-
ums for the first five years may remain on Credit, and may either and Lord JOHN RUSSELL, when called on to con-
continue as a debt on the Policy, or may be paid off at any time. tinue in office, in vain endeavoured to secure .the
Claims paid in THABLEIRTY DAYS aftercases o proof fraudf of death, and all Poli-
cies are INDISPUT. services of GRAHAM and ABERDEEN, Of HERBERT
INVALID LIVES may be assured at rates proportioned to the The Ecclesiastical Titles Bill,
increased risk . and NEWCASTLE.
The Assurance Fund already invested amounts to 1.850,000, and however, constituted an impediment that could
the Income exceeds £136,000 per annum.
The Accounts and Balance Sheets are at all times omen to the not be overcome ; and, like their great leader,
inspection of the Assured, or of any Person who may
assure. desire to the PEDT,ITES were contented "to bide their
Tables of Rates and Forms of Proposal can be obtained of any of time," well knowing that sooner or later it must
the Society's Agents ; or of
GEO. H. PINCKARD, Resident Secretary arrive. It has at length arrived, and they are
99, Great Russell-street, Bloomsbury, London. about to reap the fruits of their patient tactics
and judicious strategy.
What share will they now demand in the new
Administration ? Although their numbers dimi-
nished at the last general election, their power was
increased as the others became more equal in
Istrength. They are well aware of that power ;
and if they do not demand the lion's share, it is
almost certain that they will not be contented
with anything less than a full and fair participa-
tion in that which is about to be distributed
among the Parliamentary expectants. It is gene-
rally believed that they will not consent to
become subordinate to Lord Jom RUSSELL, but
that if any of the late Whig Administration
will be permitted to assume the chief place, that
the Marquis of LANSDOWNE is the man. The un-
blemished reputation of the veteran statesman--
the universal respect entertained for his character
and consistency, lead to the belief that he would
be willingly accepted by all parties. But the great
age of the Noble Marquis, and we regret to
be obliged to add, his increasing infirmities, render
it, to say the least of it, exceedingly improbable
that he will undertake a position involving not
merely so great responsibilities, but such excessive
toil. He has already announced his intention of
returning to the enjoyment of the " otium cum dig
nitate," which he has so eminently deserved. We
have no doubt that he will exert all his powers
and all his influence, to smooth away asperities,
and remove the obstructions to a limited
Ministry. For this purpose he may consent to
hold a place in the Cabinet, either with or with-
out office. But we do not believe that he would un-
dertake the most onerous position—one that would
be utterly inconsistent with his advanced years.
The name of the Earl of ABERDEEN has also
been mentioned, and it is by no means unlikely
that the quondam Foreign Secretary may be
placed at the head of a Cabinet containing
many men superior to himself in talent and abi-
lity. Those who would refuse to serve under
Lord JOHN RUSSELL, or Sir JAMES GRAHAM, or
Mr. GLADSTONE, might consent to render allegiance
to the respectable mediocrity of " Cet-Excellent
ABERDEEN." His position would be something
similar to that formerly occupied by the Earl of
LIVERPOOL, and subsequently by Lord GODERICH
—a bond to cement the union between the conflict-
ing elements of the Cabinet, but scarcely possessing
the weight or influence that should belong to the

THEATRE ROYAL, HAYMARKET.
Farewell Season of Mr. Benjamin Webster as Lessee and Manager.

station.

It is said that Lords LANSDOWNE and ABER-
DREN have gone to Osborne. It is, then, more
than probable that "the travelled Thane" will be
the nominal head of the new Government, and that
there will be a complete fusion of the Peelites and
Whigs, Lord JOHN RUSSELL taking the lead in
the House of Commons, either as one of the
SECRETARIES of STATE or CHANCELLOR of the Ex-
CHEQUER—most probably the former. We believe,
too, that the services of the GREY clique will be
dispensed with ; and that if the recent exertions
of Sir CHARLES WOOD should be considered to
entitle him to any position, it will not be at all
connected with the financial department.
Considerable doubts are entertained as to
whether the Manchester School will be repre-
sented in the New Cabinet. If not, if the basis be
not rendered very wide, we should not augur
very favourably as to the probable duration of
the New Cabinet. The question of the further
extension of the principle of direct taxation, and
the distinction between permanent and pre-
carious income, will constitute a great, if not
an insurmountable, impediment to this junc-
tion. It is, however, on the fiscal policy
of the Government, more especially on the
Property and Income Tax that all will depend.
Mr. DISRAELI has assumed a position on that
subject in accordance with the common sense of
the country, and if the crotchets of GLADSTONE
and GOULBURN are to be sustained, we cannot
anticipate any prolonged tenure of office for those
who set themselves in opposition to the tide of
public opinion. A few days must now solve
the problem. Nothing can, of course, be done
before the Christmas recess beyond the formation
of a Ministry ; and we must patiently await the
reassembling of Parliament for the development
of the new financial policy.

A simultaneous effort is being made to advance
the political and artistic education of the co =u-
nity. Deprived of the chance of any immediate
and comprehensive scheme of National Educa-
tion—familiarising the population with all the
various departments of human knowledge—the
people of the United Kingdom are to have their
taste cultivated by an enterprise about to grow up
in the market gardens between Brompton and
Kensington, while their minds are being agreeably
surfeited with Parliamentary Literature. The
paper duty is not to be remitted, but blue books
are to be supplied gratuitously to Mechanics' In-
stitutions. The nation, it seems, is to learn wis-
dom, not at the knees of GAMALIEL, but of Han-
sard. Learning, as well as Religion, is, it would
appear, to be henceforth regarded as by law esta-
blished. While we cannot but still regret
the apathy evinced by our rulers in re-
ference to the grandest of all the promo-
ters of civilisation, we are, nevertheless, so
profoundly impressed with the necessity of some-

thing being at once effected in the way of impart-
ing instruction of some sort to the multitude, that
we hail even the almost imperceptible movement
in that direction above indicated, with a pecu-
liar degree of satisfaction. Better for the people
to have blue books than no books at all. Better
for them to spell out the science of political eco-
nomy through the laborious researches of Com-
mittee-men and Chancellors of the Exchequer,
than to guess, without any guide or assistance
whatsoever, the drift of the arguments put for-
ward in the writings of ADAM SMITH, MILLS,
RICARDO, and M'CuLLocu. It is a step in ad-
vance, and, as such, is unquestionably entitled
to commendation. Like so many other changes
already hinted at, or already effected since
the DERBY Ministry came into power,
it betrays on their part a slight, but at the
same time, however slight, most gratifying recog-
nition of the responsibilities devolving upon the
Members of a Government. Whatever may be
thought of the inadequacy of the projected im-
provements--improvements they are admitted to
be on all hands—contrasting as they do so
strangely with the torpor or indifference of past
Administrations.

A remission, we repeat, of the Paper Duties,
and a total abrogation of the tax levied upon Ad-
vertisements, would have been infinitely more ac-
ceptable to the intelligent part of the population.
Yet, in the absence of those great boons, we are
disposed now to welcome with an apparently clis-
proportioned ardour, the resolution lately ar-
rived at by the Legislature, to forward
periodically to our Mechanics' Institution's,
those voluminous documents which may be re-
garded as constituting the mass of Parliamentary
Literature. The adoption of this course would be
the more commendable if we could believe for one
moment that these
same institutions scattered
throughout England have really been provided
for, and are actually frequented by, mechanics.
To
would
suppose for one moment that such is the case
w
altogether preposterous—it would be
evidencing a ignorance of the condition and
ldbetotal

character of those establishments. We wish most
heartily that the fact could be rendered otherwise.
We wish that it had been veritably and not merely
nominally to mechanics that the Earl of CARLISLE
delivered his graceful disquisition upon the
genius of POPE, and upon the aspect of
the American Republic. We wish it had been
to mechanics that Sir BULWER LYTTON delivered,
at Hertford, his thoughtful and eloquent oration
upon knowledge. We should have rejoiced more
cordially if it had been to mechanics that the Earl
of BELFAST delivered his ingenious essays upon the
poetry of the recent and present generation. It
would have enhanced our satisfaction at the occur-

rence to have known that at Leeds, the other day,
mechanics in their fustian jackets, as well as
clerks in their broad cloth, had been among
the audience addressed by Lord JOHN RUSSELL :
and it would have increased the interest felt in
reference to the Lecture about to be delivered at
Hull by the learned and gifted Recorder, Mr.
WARREN, if we could credit the possibility of his
hearers numbering in their ranks the work-be-
grimed and horny-handed members of the indus-
trial population. As matters are, however, it is not
so—Mechanics' Institutions being apparently or-
ganised for the advantage of every one except
mechanics. So that the poorer classes of the com-
munity will reap no benefit at all from this pro-
ceeding in reference to what we have spoken of
before as Parliamentary Literature. The blue
books are to be supplied gratuitously to Mechanics'
Institutions—not to the rendezvous of mechanics,
but to Mechanics' Institutions--meaning to the
trades-people of our various towns assembling at
those miscalled establishments. From the very mea-
sure which is about to be (to a great extent, we be-
lieve, ineffectually) adopted in regard to those
well-known institutions, we are sanguine, that
there may ultimately arise their total re-organi-
sation. It is needed. It has long been required.
Let us change the names of those actually in ex-
istence, or in justice let us admit the artisans—
the cobblers, and tinkers, and carpenters—to a
participation in the benefits accruing from their
existence. A ridiculous injustice requires to be
removed, and .in effecting its removal we shall be
destroying a very grievous evil, while we are
conferring an incalculable blessing upon a consi-
derable and neglected class of the community.
For calling our attention to the necessity of this
improvement, we are indebted to the recent resolve
of the Legislature, to supply blue books gratuit-
ously to Mechanics' Institutions.

COURT CIRCULAR.

OSBORNE, DEc. 17,

Owing to the unfavourable weather the Queen and
Royal Family were unable to leave the house yesterday
afternoon.

The Prince of Leiningen, who remains on a visit to
her Majesty, was the only addition to the royal dinner
party.

The Earl of Derby left town at three o'clock yester-
day afternoon, by the London and South-Western Rail-
way, for Osborne, Isle of Wight, to have an audience of
the Queen.
Baron de Brunnow, the Russian Minister, transacted
business yesterday at the Foreign-office.
Mr. Charles Turner and Mr. Richard Lambert had
interviews with Mr. Secretary Walpole yesterday, at
the Home-office.

Dispatches were sent yesterday from the Colonial
office to the Governor-General of Canada.

His Excellency Lord Howard de Walden has left
Harcourt House (the Duke of Portland's) to resume his
diplomatic functions at Brussels. His lordship had audi-
ence of the King on Wednesday, at which he presented
Mr. Bates, the chairman of the Namur and Liege Railway.
THE MINISTRY.—It may be right to mention that her
Majesty was not taken by surprise, either by the vote of
the House of Commons yesterday morning, or by the con-
sequent resolution of Lord Derby to resign. His lordship
prepared her Majesty for both contingencies, on Tuesday
morning, after learning the determination unanimously
come to of the Irish Liberal members to vote against the
resolutions moved by Mr. Disraeli. From that moment he
saw that the doom of his Administration was sealed. The
great question now is—Who is to be the successor of Lord
Derby? The prevalent opinion at the West-end was, that
his lordship would advise her Majesty to send for Lord
Aberdeen, and that to the latter noble lord would be con-
fided the task of forming a new Administration. In the
course of to-day we shall doubtless learn whether this im-
pression be or be not correct. The noble earl had not, up
to a late hour last night, received her Majesty's commands
to proceed to Osborne House, but it is possible he may re-
ceive them early this morning. It is stated that Lord
John Russell will not offer any opposition to an Aberdeen
Government ; but that he will, on the contrary, give it
his support, provided it bring forward no important mea-
sure of an objectionable kind. It is added that the ex-
Whig Premier deems this the wisest course which he could,
in existing circumstances, pursue, because by giving a
helping hand to an Aberdeen Ministry for two or three
months, he will have time allowed him to bring about a
better understanding among the various sections of Liberals
than at present exists. As affording presumptive confir-
mation of this view of matters, we may mention that a
meeting took place, some days ago, at the Duke of Bed-
ford's, at which the Duke himself, Lord John Russell, Lord
Aberdeen, and Mr. Gladstone were present. It is believed
that at this meeting of these four important political per-
sonages the adoption of the course of conduct which we
have indicated was determined on.—Morning Advertiser.
CONTRACT FOR Rum FOR THE NAVY.—The contract
for rum for the navy, to be delivered at Deptford, was
taken by Messrs. Lemon Hart and Son, of Fenchurch-
street, on the 9th instant ; and the contract for rum also
for the navy, to be delivered at Gosport, was yesterday
taken by the same firm.
THE CONVICT JOHN HORLER.—This unfortunate con-
vict who was tried on Thursday, before Mr. Justice Wight-
man, remains in a most desponding way since the sentence.
A petition is in the course of signature, praying her Gra-
cious Majesty's mercy may be extended to this unfortunate
young man. The petitioners urge their prayer on the
grounds of temporary insanity occasioned by imagined in-
juries received from the wife's relatives. The petition will
be forwarded to the Home Secretary.
SUICIDE OF A REDUCED SURGEON BY TAKING CHLORO-
FORM.—Yesterday an inquest was taken by Mr. William
Payne, the coroner, in the Vestry-hall, of St. John's, Fair-
street, Horsleydown, touching the death of Mr. Theophilus
Webb Green, aged 45 years, formerly a surgeon and licen-
tiate of Apothecaries' Hall, who committed suicide by
swallowing a quantity of chloroform. The jury returned
a verdict of Temporary insanity." A. subscription was
raised for the benefit of the widow and children of the de-
ceased, and the sum of 2/. Mi. was collected, including a
contribution by the worthy coroner.
THE ROBBERY AT MESSRS. WHITTAKER'S.--Just be-
fore the adjournment of the Central Criminal Court on
Thursday evening, John Cooper, who was convicted at the
November session of robbing his employers, the represen-
tatives of the well-known firm of Whittaker and Co.,
booksellers, of Ave Maria-lane, was placed at the bar for
judgment. Before sentence was passed the prisoner so-
lemnly asserted his innocence, and said that he had entered
the service of Mr. Hood, the prosecutor, with the highest
testimonials, and during the fifteen years he had been in
the employment of the firm no complaint had ever been
made against him. Mr. Justice Wightman, the presiding
judge, said he knew nothing of the facts of' the case, and
all he had to do was to pronounce the sentence which Mr.
Baron Alderson, who tied it, considered ought to be
awarded to meet the requirements of justice, which was,
that he should be transported for ten years.
EASTERN COUNTIES RAlLWAY.—Yesterday, a special
general meeting of the Eastern Counties Company was
held at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate-street, for the pur-
pose of receiving a statement from the directors as to the
measures intended to be brought forward in Parliament
in the ensuing session on behalf of the company, or
by other parties, and which affect the interests of
this company. Mr. D. Waddington took the chair, and
stated that, amongst the various schemes to be brought
forward, was one by the New Electric Telegraph Com-
pany, which required watching. In respect to the Har-
wich Docks, no agreement for a guarantee from this com-
pany would be come to, without first calling a meeting of
the shareholders. The proposition of the Eastern Union
to make a line from Wisbeach to Spalding, would require
the vigilance of the directors to see it did not injure the
prospects of this company. The line to the Victoria Docks
would be beneficial both to the Dock Company and the
Eastern Counties Line. The proposed line to Woodford
and Leyton would pay the average dividend of 5 per cent.,
and was recommended as a pleasure line, which could be
constructed for 105,0001. The chairman having pointed
out the advantage of capitalising the mortgage debt by
preference shares, at a low interest, stated that in the act
it would be left to the shareholders to nominate the direc-
tors on vacancies happening betwixt the general meetings.
The meeting having expressed their thanks to the chairman
for his explanations, adjourned.
MORE INUNDATIONS.—The metropolis and suburban
districts were, on Thursday night and yesterday morning,
again visited by tremendous showers of rain, which accu-
mulated in such vast streams in the corn-fields and market-
gardens as to cause a still greater destruction of property ;
and—what is a very unusual circumstance at this time of
year—heavy peals of thunder reverberated for some hours
during the height of the storm, whilst the lightning shone
forth so vividly as at times to light up the streets of Lon-
don. The river, in some places, again rose several inches ;
but in the marshes and low lands it was between two and
three feet high. The whole of the railways are stated to
have received considerable damage by the great accumula-
tion of water upon the surface of the permanent ways, but
more so in the cuttings. In several places, especially on
the South-Western line, as the trains pass over the metals,
the sleepers are forced down to such an extent as to cause
the water and soil to ooze up. Careful surveys are being
made, and wherever the least danger is apprehended fresh
ballast is thrown down, and every precaution taken to pre-
vent accidents. The accident, which took place at the
tunnel near Winchester, on Thursday, is attributable en-
tirely to the heavy fall of rain, which so loosened the chalk
as to cause several tons weight to fall and choke up the
rails. Before anything was known of the accident, one of
the long. goods trains ran into the tunnel, and the driver of
the engine was first informed of what had occurred by the
wheels of the locomotive running on the chalk, and the
train being thrown off the metals. The mail was not then
near due, consequently sufficient time elapsed to signal it
of the accident which had happened, more especially as it
was seven minutes after time in reaching that spot. For-
tunately no one was hurt, and after the space of three
hours or a little more, one of the rails was cleared, but it
was late in the day before the two lines were perfectly
cleared of all obstruction. The tunnel during yesterday
was sufficiently protected as to prevent the possibility of a
similar occurrence.