The Sun.
London, England, 1837-07-13 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING

caressed her, and uttered sounds which appeared to us. to
come from her little heart.). . . _

The LORD MAYOR—tile the bird home. lam very.
glad that you have found it, and I am convinced that tho
lady who has just lost the parrot's company will be glad
that it has found its kind mistress.

The applicant then put her hand to the door of the cage,
and Poll, having helped her to open it, sprang upon her
shoulder, and cried out, as if in perfect security, " Char-
lotte, bring a pot of beer."

JULY 13, 1837

REPORT OF THE POOR•LAW

COMMITTEE.

The Select Committee appointed to inquire into the Ad-
ministration of the Relief of the Poor under the Orders
and Regulations issued by the Commissioners appointed
under the Provisions of the Poor-law Amendment Act,
and who were empowered to report their opinion to the
House, have agreed to the following Report :
That your Committee have been suddenly interrupted in
their investigation of the matters referred to them by tin
unexpected approach of the conclusion of the Session of
Parliament.
They would otherwise have been anxious to extend their
inquiries generally to those parts of the country in which
the Act has been in operation, to large and populous towns
where unions have been formed, and to the manufacturinj
districts, which have hitherto been scarcely brought under
their observation. Their attention would also have been
more closely directed to some particular questions con-
nected with the administration of the law, and to some in-
terests which appear to be in an especial degree affected by
it, and into which they have been only able to inquire inci-
dentally, and in a manner too cursory to justify the ex-
pression of any positive opinion.
Before they entered on the examination of any wit-
nesses, your Committee were anxious, in the first place,
to determine what should be the general course of their
inquiry. It was suggested that it might be better at once
to call before them some of the Assistant Poor Law Com-
missioners, with a view to explain the circumstances and
condition of whole counties or districts under their charge.
•In this way the subject would have been opened to your
Committee by persons of great intelligence and experience,
and who were necessarily conversant with the administra-
tion of the law.

I On the other hand, some statements having been made
) in Parliament of particular instances of severity and abuse,
either in the law or in its administration, your Committee
) thought that they should best discharge their duty by pro-
ceeding at once to take those complaints into considera-
tion. They were the more induced to do so from a per-
suasion that, though their attention might in the first in-
stance be confined to some particular fact, yet that in the
course of such an inquiry the whole state of things within
the union, and the general operation of the:law, would be
brought under their notice.
With this view, and at the suggestion of the Hon. Mem-
ber who made the statements alluded' to, your Committee
proceeded first to inquire into the union formed at Pet-
worth, in Sussex. They examined, among other witnesses,
some members of the Board of Guardians, the Rector of
Petworth, and several labourers residing within the union.
The evidence of these parties would lead your Committee
to believe that the introduction of the new law has been
attended with considerable improvement in the character
and condition of the poor. The aged and infirm are re-
lieved whenever they prefer it at thir own homes, or at
the houses of relations or friends with whom they live ;
and by the general testimony of the witnesses their condi-
tion has been improved by an increase of pay (Question
2,664.) The employment of agricultural labour appears
to he greater (804) ; the morals and conduct of the labour-
ing poor are said to be improved (Questions, 779, 1,480,
2,943) ; they have become more provident, and more
anxious to obtain and keep their places. On the
other hand, the labourers with large families under an
age fit to work, are said to feel severely the loss of
the allowances which they formerly received in propor-
tion to the number of their children, and of the pay-
ment of a great part of the rent of their cottages. Wages
have been in some degree raised, but not more than in
proportion to the increased price of provisions (Questions
441 and 2,846) ; the rent of cottages appears also to have
fallen in some instances, but not generally, or to any great
extent. One man, a pauper, said that he still paid 8/. a
year for his house (2,425), an expense which no ordinary
rate of labourers' wages can supply. To meet these diffi-
culties, the members of the Board of Guardians seemed
generally inclined to take into the workhouse a certain
number of the children of parents married before the
change of the law. This has been done in particular in-
stances with the permission of the Poor-law Commissioners.
Your Committee then proceeded to examine the clerk
of West Hampnett Union, which adjoins Petworth. In
that union the wages appeared to be higher than in Pet-
worth, being 11s. instead of 10s. for the average class of
labourers ; and a strong statement was made by this witness
of the advantageous operation of the new law, and of the
great improvement in the condition and employment of
the poor. Your Committee did not at that time continue
to prosecute their inquiries into the West Hampnett
Union, beirb, desirous of directing their attention to
some cases of great abuse said to have occurred in
the unions of Fareham and Droxford, in Hampshire.
Three children belonging to Droxford had been placed
temporarily in the Fareham workhouse, until that at
Droxford should be finished. It appears from the evi-
dence that these children were treated with great neglect
and inhumanity, their food improperly reduced, and their
health for a time impaired. The Guardians of Droxford
and Fareham and the Assistant Poor-law Commissioner in-
stituted an immediate inquiry into these facts. The master
of the workhouse, the schoolmistress, and the medical of-
ficer appear to have been in different degrees to blame ;
they have been severely censured by the Fareham Board
of Guardians and by the Poor-law Commissioners.
Your Committee entertain a doubt whether any of the
parties implicated in this transaction should have been al-
lowed to retain their situations ; and they canaot refrain
from observing that the management of the workhouse, on
which the administration of the new law so much depends,
and the condition and treatment of their inmates, will at
all times require 'the most vigilant care from the Commis-
sioners and Boards of Guardians. They think that in no
case should children have any reduction made in the
amount of their food, by way of punishment. In the
Fareham workhouse (9,028), and at West Hampnett
(15,501), books appear to be kept, in which strangers are
permitted to enter their remarks. This practice seems
likely to be a useful check on mismanagement. Perhaps •
some regulations for the admission of strangers might be
desirable.

Your Committee entertain no doubt that those establish-
ments are in all respects infinitely superior (6,486, &c.) to
the old parish poorhouses and workhouses, and in those in-
stances which have been brought under their notice, they
have been generally satisfied with the provision made for the
health and comfort of their inhabitants. In the cases of old
persons and of children, they are inclined to think, that,
under proper regulation, and subject to the controul of the
Commissioners and Guardians, permission might safely and
advantageously be given occasionally to go beyond the limits
of the workhouse. They have reason to believe that this
has been done in some instances without inconvenience. It
would obviously be more difficult in towns than in the coun-
try ; and in all cases the propriety of such an indulgence
must of course depend on the character and conduct of the
poor, and in some degree on the situation of the workhouse,
and of the extent of ground attached to it.
With respect to the general circumstances of the Drox-
ford Union, your Committee examined at great length seve-
ral witnesses in different conditions of life, and of various
opinions—members of the Board of Guardians, clergymen,
medical practitioners, farmers, and labourers. In this in-
stance, as in all others, your Committee have examined all
persons who were desirous of giving evidence, or who
were said to be able to substantiate any ground of
complaint. They have never refused a summons to
any one. The Board of Guardians of Droxford, composed
generally of the owners and occupiers of land, aear to
be perfectly convinced of the great improvement effectedp by
the alteration of the law, and to wish for no further change.
rileY, and some of the other witnesses (vide Mr. Harri-
son's evidence, and others), describe in strong terms the
evils of the former system ; the indiscriminate allowance on
account of children (3,979, and following answers), with-
out reference to the amount of wages ; that their allow-
ance was demanded as a right (3,798) ; that inferior la-
bourers, owing to these allowances, were sometimes better
off (6,636) than superior ones : they also state that a great
increase of agricultural employment has generally taken
place (6,695, 6,841, 7,633, 9,918, &c.) ; that wages have
been raised (6,597, 7,625) ; that children are more em-
ployed (8,475) ; that the work is done better, and with
better feeling (8,129) ; and that the general character of
the men has been improved (6,705). The relieving officer
in the Droxford Union visits every parish twice a week
(10,445), a practice which must evidently be attended with
advantage. In this Union the visits are made on fixed days
and hours, which seem to your Committee to be a better
plan than that of leaving the time uncertain.
These statements have been met by the production of
particular instances, in which the rules of the Commis-
sioners are said to have operated with severity, principally
upon labourers with numerous families of children too young
for work. It is impossible that the withdrawal of parish
allowance in such cases should not have been attended
with privations, unless met by a rise of wages, by more
constant work, or greater employment for the family. The
evidence received by your Committee leads them to be-
lieve that these results have followed the alteration of the
law ; wages have risen, and the amount of employment has

PRICE sd.

confessedly, and by the admission of adverse witnesses
9,326), increased. But your Committee cannot pretend to
s.), that in any state of things, or in any condition of so-
ciety, the possession of a numerous family dependent on the
efforts of their parents for support will not be felt as a
serious incumbrance. Much must always depend upan
the disposition and means of the employers of labour,
much upon the character and exertionsof the labourers,
and in these important respects the law appears to your
Committee to have placed both parties reciprocally upon a
better footing. Bad habits of long standing are, however,
not easily eradicated. The inclination to make the pa-
rish fund contribute to the payment of wages may for a time j
prevail with the employers of labour, and the labourer's dis-
position to rely on so easy a resource may not at once be
changed for greater activity and exertion ; but it is to be re-
marked that the new law has a direct tendency to produce
a better state of things, the employers of labour having an
immediate pecuniary interest in avoiding the expense of
maintaining whole families in the workhouse, and at the
same time the labourers are necessarily stimulated to in-
creased efforts and to greater regularity of conduct in order
to avoid the necessity of going there. While, therefore, it
is most desirable to employ all practicable means for the
alleviation of particular instances of pressure, great care
should be taken not to re-introduce in any shape the old
system of allowances, which had a decided tendency to
lower wages, and to deprive the labourer of his indepen-
dent character. The aged poor in Droxford and in all the
unions which have come before your Committee do not
appear to be materially affected by any rules which have
been issued for the regulation of their relief; in no instance
have they been compelled to reside in the workhouse, and
in those cases in which they are there it is owing to the
circumstance of their having no home or friends with whom
they could conveniently lodge, or from their own choice.
The same parties,. before the change of law, would have
been found in the parish poor houses. They generally re-
ceive their pay at the place where they live, and the
amount seems upon the whole to have increased rather
than diminished.
Your Committee collect from several witnesses, in the
unions to which their inquiry has extended, that there has been
a decrease in the number of bastards (911,953,6,569,7,094),
and no complaints of any moment have been made to them
on that branch of the subject.
With respect to the burials of paupers some questions
arose in the Petworth and Droxford unions. These re-
lated principally to the place of burial, to the use of a pall,
the tolling a bell, and the payment of fees. Your Com-
mittee having heard various statements from witnesses,
made some inquiries from the Poor Law Commissioners on
these points. They have printed, in the appendix to their
twelfth report, several letters, and they have examined the
secretary of the Commission. In a letter from the Com-
missioners to the clerk of the Langport Union, dated
August 15, 1836, they say, " that they do not direct the
disallowance of the charge for tolling the bell and the use
of the pall at the funerals of paupers, and presume that
the auditor will not do so, unless lie considers them ex-
cessive, with reference to the custom prevalent in the dis-
trict in which the union is situate." And in another letter,
also from the Poor Law Commissioners to the clerk of the

Dunmow Union, dated March 8, 1837, there are these
expressions :—" Although the Commissioners are of opinion
that all expense which partakes of the character of impo-
sition, or which may be incurred for the purpose of unne-
cessary display, should be avoided in the funeral of paupers,
still they think they ought in no way to differ from those of
individuals of the labouring classes, when conducted at
the expense of their families, assuming always that that
expense does not exceed such an amount as is necessary
to provide for a funeral according to those forms of deco-
rum and decency which the custom of the place may have
sanctioned."

The Secretary of the Commission (12,607, 13,576), with
reference to these letters, stated to your Committee that
these wore the rules by which, in the opinion of the Com-
missioners, the funerals of paupers should be conducted.
With respect to the place of burial, and the fees to the
clergy, the Commissioners, in a letter to the clerk of the
Pewsey Union, dated Jan. 30, 1837, propose that paupers
dying in a workhouse should, if it were thought desirable,
be buried in the parishes to which they belong, and for
this purpose they propose the use of a small hearse, drawn
by one horse. They say that the law with respect to the
payment of fees is in some respects obscure ; but that,
without giving an opinion on that point, they will not direct
the disallowance of such a fee as is usually paid for a per-
son dying in his own parish.—Vide Appendix to the Twelfth
Report.

Your Committee cannot but express an opinion that
Teat care has evidently been bestowed on the considera-
ion of this subject, and the conclusions at which the Com-
missioners have arrived, and the directions they have given,
are in strict accordance with the religious feelings and ha-
bits of the country.
Your Committee observed with regret, in the case of
Droxford, that the ex officio guardians were rarely in the
habit of attending the meetings of the Board (6,728, 6,761).
Any appearance of a disinclination on the part of Magis-
trates to assist in the administration of the law must be
attended with bad effects to all the interests concerned.
Their advice might be often valuable, and their presence
would add weight to the decisions of the Board. And in
this great change of the law, affecting the condition of so
large a portion of the community, and from its nature so
liable to misapprehension, it is scarcely possible that the ad-
ministration of it should be satisfactory unless assisted by
the co-operation of all classes of society.
From Droxford, your Committee returned to the consi-
deration of the case of West Hampnett. The general cir-
cumstances of this union do not appear to differ materially
from those of Droxford. There is the same evidence of
the bad state of things under the former law (14,554), and
of improvement under the change. The moral conduct of
the labouring classes is said to be improved, and a better
feeling to exist between theta and their masters. The
amount of agricultural employment has greatly increased,
and in some parishes large numbers of man formerly em-
ployed by overseers and waywardens in an unprofitable
manner have either emigrated or found work. The num-
bers of a large benefit society (13,706), composed chiefly
of agricultural labourers, heve increased in a remarkable
degree within the last two years.
There are also the same statements as in the other unions,
of the severity with which the rule prohibiting all out-door
relief to the able-bodied has pressed in particular instances
on men with large families, and on widows with young chil-
dren. Some witnesses express an opinion that mendicancy
has increased (14,177), and that in many cases the labourers
are more in debt 04,554).
A remarkable illustration of the main principles of the
new Poor-law is afforded by the practice of a Board of
Guardians at Chichester, under a local Act. They have
recently, and with eminent success, adopted nearly the
same rules of relief as those which prevail under the or-
ders of the Poor-law Commissioners. In cases of bastardy
their rule is the same (14,974) the classification in the
workhouse is the same, or nearly so (14,988). They have
since October, 1833, put an end to out-door relief to the
able-bodied (14,991). All this has been done of their own
accord, without the interferences of any other authority ;
they have reduced (15,002 and 13,010) the general ex-
penses of the establishment for the poor from 6,3991. in
1831, to 2,2161. in 1836 ; and Itrinin the same period the
out-door relief has fallen from 3X271. to 5641. The per-
sons who formerly received this out-door relief are said to
he more decent in their appearance, and seem to be better
off, from improved habits of life, than they were before
(15,011-12 and 15,036).
In the early part of the year 18 36 there prevailed a con-
siderable mortality in the workhouse at West llampnett.
This is attributed by the medicii officers principally to the
character of the season, and sinne of the complaints are
supposed to have been aggravaee d by the too frequent wash-
ing and ventilation of the house.. Your Committee are de-
sirous of referring to the evideace of this medical officer,
and to that of a physician who. vas called in from Chiches-
ter, for a proof of the care and abundance with which the
paupers in the workhouse were provided, not merely with
medical attendance, but with every comfort and advantage
of diet which could have been commanded by their more
wealthy neighbours.
Haring concluded their inquiries into these unions,
your Committee were desirous of ascertaining what had
been the effect of the administration of the law in some
manufacturing districts, among: dense masses of people,
with habits very different from those of the rural parts of
England, and exposed to more -sudden and extreme vicissi-
tudes of fortune. With this ar!.ew they selected Bradford,
in Wiltshire, that being the mseaufacturing district in which
they were informed the new la et had been longest in ope-
ration. They had, however, E:Carcely commenced this part
of their inquiry, and had been only able to hear one day's
evidence with respect to Nottingham, where the law has
been exposed to a severe trial ,from an extreme depression
of trade, when the approaching: termination of the Session
obliged them abruptly to put an end to their own pro-
ceedings. Whatever impressicen may have been pro-
duced by the evidence which. they heard on that sub-
ject, and to which, from its valuable character, they
beg to call the attention ,o 9 the House, your Com-

mittee do not feel that they can express any opi-
nion with reference to the manufacturing districts. They
regret that, with respect to other parts of the coun-
try, they have not had the opportunity of making a more
( xtended inquiry : they have given to the subject an unre-
mitting and laborious attention faom their first appoint-
ment ; and if it should appear that in some instaric, s much
time has been occupied in the investigation of minute de-
tails, your Committee can only say that, considering the na-
ture of the subject, the great public intertst which atteched
to every part of it, and the complaints which have been
made, they were above all things anxious to leave no points
in the case before them unexamined or unexplained.
! Upon the whole, and speaking of those unions to which
their evidence relates, your Committee arc distinctly of opi-
nion that the operation of the new Poor-law is satisfactory,
and that it ought to be maintained. They entertain no
doubt of the general efficiency of its provisior.s. They
think also that the administration of the law has been, in
the main, judicious. The Boards of Guardians appear to
be most attentive to their duties, and to be generally
very sensible of the great improvement resulting from
the change. It is obvious that Boards so consti-
tuted must bring to the consideration of cases connected
with the circumstances and character of the poor a de-
gree of intelligence and experience utterly unknown
before, except, perhaps, in a few rare instances. The
distribution of relief, and the superintendence of the poor by
the relieving officers, are among the most important parts of
the system. The propriety of their frequently visiting their
respective parishes has already been adverted to. No pains
should be spared to render their agency as efficient. and per-
fect as possible. An opinion has been expressed that the
poor may not be always sufficiently aware of the cases in
which, in the absence of the relieving officers, they may
apply to the churchwarden, overseer, or to the magistrate.
Some of the parish officers themselves may possibly be not
much more familiar with the provisions of the law. In so
great a change it is natural that for a time some uncertainty
should prevail ; but as inconvenience and unnecessary suf-
fering may be the consequence of any ignorance nn this
point, your Committee are anxious that information respect-
ing it should be conveyed to every parish. The authority
of the Poor-law Commissioners has, in the opinion of your
Committee, and as far as they have had an opportunity of
observing it, been exercised with great discretion. A more
difficult task could scarcely have devolved on any depart-
ment of Government.

Your Committee have now only to recommend that in a
future Session of Parliament this subject should be resumed,
and the following points appear to them to deserve especial
consideration as matters for further inquiry :
The situation of widows with several children too young
to work ; that of able-bOdied labourers married before the
passing of the Poor-law Amendment Act, with large fa-
milies under an age fit for work, and in districts where
employment should not be readily obtained.
. The circumstances by which the size of unions should he
determined, and the state of medical relief as to the quali-
fications, number, mode of appointment, and remuneration
of the medical officers.

Whether in any and what cases it might be better that
the medicine should be supplied by the union.
The propriety of rating the owners rather than the oc-
cupiers of cottages under a certain value, has also been
pressed on your Committee from various parts of England
by magistrates and private individuals. Many suggestions
have also been made of alterations in several particulars of
the law. With respect to these and to the numerous peti-
tions which have been referred to them, your Committee
would have felt it their duty to consider them with atten-
tion ; and they will take care to make arrangements by
which they may be preserved as materials for any future
inquiry which may be instituted by the House.
(The figures in the report refer to the evidence as num-
bered).—July, 1837.

THE RIVER AND WATERING

PLACES.

In consequence of the general closing of the shops and
factories on Saturday, and the suspension of trade owing to
the day being appointed for the funeral of our late most
excellent Monarch, immense numbers availed themselves of
the opportunity afforded them to visit Greenwich, Wool-
wich, and Gravesend, and from morn to night the river pre-
sented a scene of bustle and confusion such as was never
before witnessed. On the day of the funeral of King
George the Fourth not less than 10,000 persons embarked
and disembarked at the St. Katharine's wharf, which was
then the only place appropriated to the accommodation of
steam-boat passengers, and the conduct of the people who
visited Gravesend and other places on that occasion was
marked by the greatest excesses little in accordance with
the melancholy occasion, and the public-houses and tea-
gardens were filled with noisy and drunken people. On
Saturday, between eight o'clock in the forenoon and seven
in the evening, upwards of eighty thousand persons em-
barked in the steamers at London Bridge wharf, for Mar-
gate, Ramsgate, Southend, Harwich, Herne Bay, Graves-
end, Woolwich, and Greenwich, of whom about two-thirds
returned at night. Gravesend was never so full before-
-14,500 persons landed during the day at the Terrace Pier
and Town Quay. The Star and Diamond Companies
could not provide enough vessels, and the Albion, Royal
Sovereign, and several other steamers were put in requisi-
tion for Gravesend. Every packet which went down in the
morning and the early part of the -afternoon was crammed
with passengers fore and aft, above and below. The Star
conveyed 1,000 persons, the Mercury 960, the Comet 800,
the Planet 700, and the Medway about the same number
in the first trip. These large and powerful steamers, after
landing their living freights at Terrace-Pier, returned to
London for more, and were running backwards and for-
wards until midnight with passengers. Every tavern, eat-
ing-house, and place of refreshment in Gravesend was
crowded. The townspeople were quite taken by surprise
by the great influx of visitors, who consumed all the provi-
sions in the place, and every bed was engaged. At night
Bs. was the price demanded for beds, and they were eagerly
sought after at that price. At half-past eight, when the
Comet brought down the last draft of passengers, not a bed
was to be procured at any price, and numbers offered half-
a-sovereigrf and 16s. each for the accommodation of a
stable and a loft, but without success. In this dilemma the
Star Company sent back the Comet at ten o'clock, and she
arrived at London Bridge at twenty minutes past twelve,
having come all the way up in the dark with 250 passen-
gers, who, to avoid perambulating the streets of Gravesend
all night, returned to their homes. All business was sus-
pended at Gravesend except that of supplying the visitors
with refreshments, the shops were all closed, and the bells
of Gravesend and Milton churches were tolling during the
evening ; while the colours on the shipping were hoisted
half-mast high. The number of visitors to Gravesend was

however trifling as compared with the countless multitudes
who went down in the steamers from Hungerford Market,
Dyer's Hall Wharf, and London Bridge Wharf to Green-
wich and Woolwich. It was startling to see steamer after
steamer proceeding down the stream, with their decks
crowded with passengers, consisting. principally of mecha-
nics and shopmen, wedged together as closely as sheep in
the Smithfield pens. The numbers who embarked at the
two places exceeded 100,000, twenty-five steamers being in
requisition all the day. In Greenwich and Woolwich busi-
ness was likewise suspended, and the tolling of the bells
and the firing of minute guns, together with the sombre
appearance of the people, who were all attired in decent
mourning, raised a feeling of melancholy and awe. The
above-brAge steamers were also crowded with people, and
the small boats were also busily engaged. Notwithstand-
inz the vast numbers who were on the river, and the nu-
merous steamers passing and repassing each other, we
heard of no accidents. The conduct of the people was
marked by the strictest decorum, and none of that revelry
and boisterous mirth which distinguished the day on which
George the Fourth was buried was observable. One feel-
ing of deep sorrow pervaded the minds of the people from
the highest to the lowest. The same decorous behaviour
characterized the people assembled at the tea gardens and
other places of :csort in and about the metropolis.

\Ve arc inuell deceived if the tra,:ellers to Constan-

tinoplc, Modern Greece, the lonian Islands, and that " Sea
Sybele"— Venice, be cot greatly augmented by the publication
of Mr. Claridge's Guide along the Danube, &c., which
sketches out so delightful a tour, occupying four months, and
affording every enjoyment on the road ; while it demonstrates
that it may be made at a coat scarcely exectd.lng a hundred
pounds!
On Sunday evening, between eight and nine o'clock,
an accident occurred in the Long-line, leading from the
London-road into Epping Forest, which, in a few minutes
afterwards, proved of fatal consequences to a young lady,
about 22 years of age, returning home in a gig. It appears
that the unfortunate deceased, company with another lady
and gentleman, were returning to the west end of London in
a gig, from the fair, when the wheels of a coach caught those
of the gig, and the vehicle c-,-erset, and the party were pre-
cipitated to the ground, about 100 yards from the May Pole
public-house ; they were assisted up, and on raising the un-
fortunate lady from the ground the blood streamed from a
desperate wound on the back part of her head. She was
conveyed to the May Pole public-house, where
she expired
before surgical assistance could be procured.
MoRE " BUBBLES."—Wc understand that what
.
the amusing author of " Bubbles," &c. has done for the Brun-
nens of Nassau, a much more elaborate pen is about to do for
the other, and infinitely more important Spas that exist in
ofto ap work,Grwaolivicilhlei,stohne
various parts of Germany. We all,uedoe
the point of appearing, learn the I
object of which is to supply at once a professional guide, and
a pleasant companion to those hitherto little known, but infi-
nitely important agents in the cure of almost every physical ill
which " flesh is heir to." We can scarcely conceive a more
1 valuable offering at the shrine of public utility: for the igno-
ranee that at present prevails in this country on the highly in-
teresting subject in question would really amount to the
ridi-
culous, if it were not so truly lamentable.

PRICES OF STOCKS THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK.
Bank Stock. ..-- ...... ......... 208%% JndiaStoelt....... .. ..... . .......... 255
3 per Cent. lied 91:1,4 , Ditto Bonds 4:2 41 44 pm..
3 per Cent. Cons ..
3%, per Cent......... ..... ...... 1/9! Old Annuities .... ..... .......
Ditto Red..-- ... ... .....MY, 74 %.74 !New Ditto —
New 3% per Cent.. 984 !4 % 3 per Cent. Annuities, 1751...
New 5 per Cent.. ....... Exch. Bills, £l,OOO 42 44 40 43 pm.
Bark LougAnnuitiestoexpi re i Ditto ...............500 42 44 40 43 pm.
Jan. 5, 1860 1414 13-10' Ditto Small ..- ..... 42 44 41 43 pm.
Oct. 10. 1859
Jan. 5, 1400 14!4 Ditto Advertised —— pm
Jan. 5, P.48(1 ..... i Bank Stock for Acc0unt.........
April .5, 1880..................., --llndia Stock for Account
Jan. 5, 1670...-...... ..... «.. —. Consols for Account ... ..... 91Ms'i %
Omnium ....... ............. -.....— pm.

PRICES OF FOREIGN FUNDS THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK.
Austrian Bonds ... — Peruvian Bonds .......... .........
Be:gian Bonds .......... ........ 101 5f,;,;i Ditto Account ......»..........
Ditto Account.... ..... — Portuguese 80nd5..—.... ........
Brazilian Bonds ..............» 9451'i ; Ditto Account —
Ditto Account ~...... . . ...... 84 Ditto New Bonds 43
271
Bee-los Ayres Bonds ..—.1.. ..... Ditto, 3 per cent
Ditto Account ....»....».....—; Ditto Account !27li
Ct•illian Bcita's .............,..... , Prussian Bonds.— ....... . ... ~ --
.....»....».... Ditto Acc0un.....»....»....—i Russian Bonds, 11329. 10914
c,idrohian Bonds — Ditto Account —
Ditto Account ........ Ditto Metallic ...... ..... .......
C dunibian Bonds, "824. — Spanish Bonds —
Ditto Account . l— Ditto Account
1) nith ..Dim5...............••••• •••
7355 i , Ditto floods, Mt 2l
;dtta Account
Greek 80nd5................:—..... French, 5 per cent.... ....• —f —4.
Ditto Buns, 1925 —' --- 4 pc: cent. —l. .—e.
Ditto Account - 3 per cent. , .—t
Metican Bones, 5 per cent — i ---- Exchange —f, —r%
Ditto Account —...... ........ Dutch, 21 der cent. ...... ..... 52% 2
l'it,. fi per cent. ............ Ditto Account 52%
Ditto Account .—....... —... —' Ditto, 5 per cent
Napolitsn ...... ............. ..... —, Ditto Account

PRICES OF SHARES THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK.
Paid. Per Share,
GI -,,at Western Railway Company.... ......... 45 50'4 I
rtrigt.ton Railway Company (Stevenson's) 5 NIA
P-righton (Gibbin Railway I 13,?2 11}
B.igl,ton (Rennie's) -
L ,nd on and Birmingham Railway Company B5 135