The Sun.
London, England, 1853-08-25 00:00:00

LLO YD'S SHIPPING.-(TINS DA T.)

LONDON, Ang. 25.—Wind this day at N--„win S' ' lip
e,
and cloudy. d Tct°;
DEAL, Aug. 25.—Wind, W.S.W. Arriver --I
cl"
Monte Video ; Ann Isabella, Rio de la Hach° ; -.1-1"lore*
Barbadoes ; Index, St. Kitt's ; Medora, Havancni frocl
men, do., for Bremen ; Johann, New York. lived fr°Ø
the River—Lord G. Bentinck, for Madras. Arr.' -
the River, and sailed —Catherine, Calcutta. Oa° '
9.17 am.—Passed—Byron, from Matanzas, for 1),,, , for
Islander, Barbados, for London ; Agincourt, 3-351.1eili_!';
London ; Roseberry, Portland Bay, for Lond'n '1.10131'
Seville, for London ; Four Sisters; Sbielde,_ fcrr 0, I,ifr
Wilhelmina, Girgenti, for St. Petersburgh ; l'ilv.3sterlfl;
bon, for the Baltic ; Vila, London, for Malta ; bap, WlT'''
London, for Sydney. Ship Rajasthan for Bo._,ostlet
troops, August 19, all well ; brig Percy, from rd,.f:by th 6.
for Constantinople, four days out, August 2°,0,. the
Isla der, from Barbadoes. Sailed—Vaucluee '
river. Lahr:o'l7r:
FALMOUTH, Aug. 24.—Arrived—Boling,
_±....erti
Pelot Fish, Rio Janeiro ; Clio, Quebec. Off Fulud siwevi
lotte, Quebec, for Exmouth ; Selene, AkYeb, teic, fr,cl a
for Antwerp.—The Adonis, of and for Gaeen;"ved, fim
Quebec, was lost on Anticarti, July 27; crew gavel,
101
the master arrived here. 4 s Vir• Si ft
PORTSMOUTH, Aug. 24.—Wind, E.S.E. ,o -. of fre
—Ocean Queen, New York ; Daedalus, Queb
—Stenton, Shediac, for Hull. i__ThoeY"
MILFORD, Aug. 24.—Wind, N.W. Arrive"
Rowell, Quebec. afe11,„,,, Cl:
SWANSEA, Aug. 24. - Wind, E. Sailed
Table P" '
quimbo ; Wm. M`Gowan, Mauritius ; Sidonifk_,,. ,0,
FLEETWOOD, Aug. 24.—Arrived—Don, Qu, lobo a
BELFAST, Aug. 23.—Arrivod—Gilbert, Pa%oso 0
N. 8.; Herald, Miramichi ; Balfour, do.; P A
Sarah, Quebec. • ..1..--St•
„ergo
LERWICK, Aug. 22.—Wind, S. Avert. 401:1,
Greenland, with 30 tons of oil. =-„a.....0
WHITEHAVEN, Aug. 23.—Wind, E. Arriv
...,..,40
Qvebec. . •,,,a-21.41.-
BRISTOL, Aug. 24.—Wind, N.W. -cop Glow'
Ignacia, Havannah. Sailed—Lucy, Demerara; J.
New York ; British Queen, Quebec. Quebe i
CARDIFF, Aug. 24.—A1-rived—Medina, ~
QGood V e.s
Cl:Errand, do. Sailed—Port Durand, Cape c" oboe.
Clara Ann, New Orleans ; Marquis of Bute, O. 0
OFF TORY ISLAND.—SaIIy, Quebec, for Tr1e,411.,g;
ELSINORE, Aug. 23.--The Thetis, of Da', Ly
shore yesterday, after being in contact with Ttee, Pe"'
the latter received some damage.—The :Anne Oil
berg to Hull, has put in leaky. 1-,ndon tit S'
BREMEN, Aug. 23.—The Adonis (EL), -I. been a''"
port, is on shore in the Wesa; assistance has
her.

A LOCOMOTIVE VILLAGE.—The ///inois °
rah
that. a new plan of accommodating labourers n Dli
improvements is practised on the Chicago an .:0 ro
siPPi Railroad. The entire working force on PI
is 100 persons, who live in cars fitted up for the,the
pose of boarding the men, and are pushed atong 3, the
c havinbifog
rails are laid, thus securing the advantage 0. _ b Ar ' b
men always near their work. This locomotive ° with
ea c,AM 00
house, or village, comprises 15 large cover ~e, 4,
all the necesg- ,nvoniences for cooking, ea'ne's,loa. ,
sleeping. ' •fo
At
side, and a,
lags change:

essary convenieuL,v.
Theyputcianrrtyh
et hsetacloissv alongswh &etl3rojcboro-
otir,
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THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

pds, the huge pillars covered with hieroglyphics,
and the finished model of the Temple of Abio
Simbel, help one to a tolerable idea of what
is intended. The Greek and Roman Courts are
also having quietly gethered into them their respective
treasures of cart ; but the foundations of the Fountain
of Lions is still the chief outward and visible sign
of the Sydenham Alhambra. In a gallery overhead
the chef d'ceuvres of the great masters in different
countries and ages await their final distribution.
Mingled together, theypresent little in their pre-
sent state for useful description ; but a time will come
when, properly arranged, their extraordinary beau.
ties will be duly, appreciated, and when oppor-
tunities for comparison and study, never previously at-
tainable even by artists themselves, will be placed
within reach of the humblest classes. Mr. Digby
Wyatt's courts on the south side of the nave are not so
far advanced as those on the north. He commenced
his work late, and is rather behind-hand in consequence.
Within the last two or three months, however, his
department has begun to show considerable pro-
gress, and we have no doubt that it will be worthy
of him. The same love of art which leads his col-
league to build up the god Rha to a height
of seventy feet, and to exhaust a whole rainbow of
colours in painting him, induces Mr. Digby Wyatt to
collect within and around his workshops an amazing
collection of Christian monumental sculpture. Bishops,
knights. and abbesses appear there from all the cathe-
drals in the country, and it is to be hoped that the display
of them may give rise to no suspicions of sacrilege.

TILE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, AUGUST 25, 185 3,

THE SHREWSBURY AND BIRMINGHAM
RAILWAY COMPANY.

THE COMPANY V. THE HON. R. H. CLIVE AND OTHERS.

Yesterday, before Sir W. P. Wood, the Vice-Chan-
cellor, at the Bull Inn, Cambridge, an application was
made for an injunction, on the part of certain share-
holders of the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway
Company, to restrain the defendants from acting as
as
directors of the above company, or in any way dealing
with the property thereof.
The Solicitor-General said that this was a bill filed by
the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway Company
against the numerous gentlemen who were, or had been,
directors of the company, and he believed that all the
defendants appeared. The object of the application, the
notice of which was dated the 16th of the present month,
was, that the defendants, Robert Henry Clive, Joseph
Walker, Henry Hill, Richard Smith, Thomas Jefferies
Badger, Frederick Pratt Barlow, Thomas Bulkeley,
Charles Emery, Robert Roy, or such of them
as weredirectors of the company, might be removed from being
such directors, and that the said George Knox might
also be so removed, in case he had not already ceased to
be such director, and that the said George Knox, and
the said other defendants might be, in the meantime,
restrained from dealing with the plaintiffs' property or
effects, administering their affairs, or otherwise acting
as the plaintiffs' directors, and that the said defendants
might be restrained in like manner from permitting
the said George Knox to attend, and that the
said George Knox might be restrained from at-
tending at the offices of the company, and from
having access to or in any manner interfering with the
books or documents of the company, or otherwise than
as an ordinary shareholder, and under such inspection
as would preventing him from erasing, altering, or other-
wise improperly dealing with the same ' • and that he and
the said other defendants might be restrained in the like
manner from moving any of the books or documents of
the company from their office ; that the defendants,
Henry Hill, Thomas Jefferies Badger, and Joseph
Walker might be restrained from voting at any meeting
of the company in respect of the said company's shares
transferred into their names as trustees ; that the de-
fendant Henry Mortimer might be restrained from voting
at any meeting of the company in respect of the said
shares so transferred into his name ; and that the di-
rectors, generally, might be restrained by the like order
and injunction from presenting to the half-yearly general
meeting of the company, for the purpose of the coin-
pally'. Beal being affixed thereto, any -register of the
shareholders or stockholders of the persons deriving title
under a fictitious and colourable transfer of shares. _

Mr. Rolt, Q.C., for the defendants, said, that the
copy of the bill had been delivered to them on the 19th
inst. which was on Friday last, a portion of the affidavits
on inst.,
some on Monday, and some only yesterday.
The affidavits charged gentlemen of high character and
station with fraud, which he should have thought they
could hardly be supposed to have been guilty of, and
which they were able indignantly to deny and answer. At
the same time, of course, a great deal of care and consid-
eration were necessary in ascertaining the facts, and, as
these gentlemen lived in different parts of the country,
it was quite impossible that they could get their affidavits
ready in time.
The Solicitor-General said, if an undertaking were not
given to hold no meeting and not to deal with the shares
in the meantime, he must go into the case to show that
he was entitled to an interim order.
Mr. Rolt said, there was no intention of dealing with
th

.e shares.
His Honour—ls there any objection to give the un-
dertaking, then ?
The Solicitor-General said, the complaint was, that
there had been fraudulent creations and transfers of
shares. There had also been a meeting summoned by
these very defendants for the 14th of September, and,
unless he had some undertaking that nothing should be
done in the meantime, he must press for an interim
order. His object was that, in the interval between the
present time and the day of adjournment, things should
remain precisely in statu quo.
After considerable discussion upon the details of the
arrangement for adjourning, a document was drawn up
and signed by the counsel to the following effect :
" Copies of the affidavits to be delivered on or before
Saturday next, and copies in reply to be returned on or
before the Wednesday following. Motion to stand over
to Friday, September 2, at half-past 10, defendants un-
dertaking, in the meantime, not to deal in any manner
with any of the shares or debentures of, or belonging to,
the company, or to issue any proxies at the expense of
the company. Books and papers to remain at the com-
pany's office in their present custody."
The proceedings were then adjourned.

CONFESSION OF PLACE THE MURDERER.

THE

PROTEST AGAINST THE THIRD READING.
Dissentient,—Because, in a case where Committees of
Inquiry on the Affairs of India have been appointed by
both houses, it is inconsistent with reason, authority,
and precedent that this law should be passed without
awaiting the reports from such committees, and a com-
munication of the evidence already taken.

---------
Because, such a course tends to degrade in public
opinion the committees thus recklessly set aside, to les-
sen the weight of all Parliamentary inquiries, and to de-
prive the house and the public of the power of comparing
the new enactments proposed with the evidence given by
experienced and trustworthy witnesses.
Because, the interval between the Ist day of August,
the day on which the present bill was brought up from
the House of Commons, and the present time has not
been sufficient to admit of that calm deliberation, equally
requisite for the exercise of the judgment of this house,
for the maintenance of its dignity, and to give weight to
its final decision.
Because this rash course is the more inexcusable in a
case where the appointment of the select committees on
India was recommended on the highest authorities in
both houses, in order that " the Government should sub-
mit their proposition after the committees shall have
made their report," and that Parliament should be ena-
bled to ascertain on inquiry " whether the Court of Di-
rectors have been faithful stewards, and whether it is
wise to continue, to abrogate, or to modify the existing
system." _ _

Because, this hasty legislation, resting neither on re-
ports nor upon evidence, can hardly be considered as
supported by official experience or authority when within
a short ,period four successive Ministers have presided
over the affairs of India, and have not had time to
acquire that knowledge which, however eminent their
abilities, and untiring their industry, cannot but be re-
quired for so great a task as framing a bill for the
government of British India.
Because, this proceeding is the more inexcusable when

the late period of the session has already been relied on
as a sufficient justification for postponing or withdraw-
ing many other bills, from an acknowledged impossi-
bility of considering their enactments with that wise
and cautious deliberation which is indispensable to the
making of good laws.
Because, it has been sought to defend the passing of
this bill on the authority of a letter from the Governor-
General of India, said to recommend immediate legisla-
tion, which letter has been used to procure Parliament-
ary support and to influence public opinion, though at,
length admitted to be a document which, not being on
the table of this house, could not be referred to consist-
ently with acknowledged privilege or recorded prece-
dent.

Because, the provisions of this bill are inconsistent
and irreconcileable, implying mistrust in the Court of
Directors while continuing them in the exercise of
many important functions, in the disposal of vast patron-
age, and in the nominal posession of sovereignty over
150,000,000 of the natives of India, depriving them of
the power of naming an assistant-surgeon or of nominat-
ing an Advocate-General without the approval of the
Board of Control, yet intrusting them with the Imperial
prerogative of recalling a Governor-General at their own
will and pleasure.
Because, the union, in the same deliberative body, of
two classes of men, the one nominees of the Crown, the
other elected by a constituency so indefensible as to have
found no advocate, is inconsistent with all good govern-
ment, and can hardly fail to produce jealousy, mistrust,
and discord.
Because, this unfortunate result is the more probable,
where the Crown nominees will in truth appear as six
living witnesses of the incompetency or misconduct at-
tributed to the Court of Directors ; and where supported
by the Board of Control which has appointed them,
they must act as an irritating but irresistible check on
the freedom and independence of their elected colleagues.
Because, this new constitution of the Court of Direc-
tors is not recommended by the success of any similar
experiments in the British Colonies, such experiments
having generally been unsatisfactory, and of late years
condemned and abandoned.

Because, this bill wholly fails in providing any ade-
quate security for the faithful fulfilment of its own enact-
ments by the Home Governrnent—an omission the more
unfortunate, when it appears from the evidence partially
reported that in the following important cases former
statutes have been disregarded and violated by those in-
trusted with their administration :

1. A lac of rupees was directed by the Charter Act of
1813 to be applied for the purposes of education. No
appropriation of this sum was made until the year 1824,
when the omission was brought to light by the inquiries
of the Committee of Public Instruction.
2. The Law Commission, though created by Parlia-
ment as a permanent body to provide improved equal
and intelligible laws for India, was advisedly allowed
to expire after the Court of Directors had themselves
announced officially that "the act of Parliament
creating these offices requires that new appointments
shall be made when vacancies arise ; and that it is
only by another act that this obligation can be sus-
pended and any new system substituted." No appli.
cation was, however, made to Parliament on this sub
ject. The directors prohibited the filling up of vacancies,
and the Law Commission became extinct by the act of
the home Government, in utter contempt and disregard
of that law to which alone those directors owed their
own authority, and which it was their bounden duty to
obey.
3. The various measures of law reform matured and
recommended by the Law Commission by an unparal-
leled succession of shifts and postponements have been
set aside by the home Government, or, to use the lan-
guage of an able and experienced servant of the company,
they have been "laid on the shelf." After reciting six
important measures recommended and prepared by the
Law Commission, Mr. Cameron, who filled with the
highest distinction the office of the fourth ordinary mem-
ber of Council, states that not one of these measures had
been carried into effect by the Government.
4. The last Charter Act (3d and 4th of William IV.,
c. 85) conferred a power of legislation on the Governor-
General and Council of India, unlimited except in re-
spect to certain specified cases, yet it appears conclu-
sively from the evidence of Mr. Cameron (2,074, 2,080,
2,084) that in more than one case an actual prohibition
was issued by the home Government restraining the
Legislative Council from passing certain legislative
measures without the previous sanction of the Court of
Directors. In the important question of the lex loci for
India, the law was approved by the Legislature, sanc-
tioned by the Governor-General, Sir Henry Hardinge, and
adopted in its principle by two eminent judicial authori-
ties, Sir L. Peel and Sir Henry Seton, yet the directors
wrote, May 1, 1845, " We think it proper to desire that
no law declaring the lex loci of India may be passed with-
out being submitted for our approbation." This inhibi-
tion is considered by Mr. Cameron to be contrary to law.
5. The act of the 3d and 4th of William IV., c. 85,
sec. 103, expressly prescribed that for every vacancy in
the civil service four candidates should be named, and
the beet candidate elected by examination. The de-
clared object of this enactment was that India was en-
titled to the highest talents that England could spare,
and that under the proposed system it was conceived
that young men would be sent out, superior either in
talents or in diligence ; yet these express enactments
were never carried into effect by the home Government,
and the former practice was persevered in, though ex-
pressly repealed by law. In 1837 a legislative sanction
was given to this practice, till then illegal. The act of
1837 is stated to have been founded upon an intention of
recommending to Parliament the abolition of the College
of Haileybury. No such proposal was ever made, yet
by its suggestion means were obtained to suspend the
system of appointing to the civil service by competition,
and the unrestricted private patronage of the directors,
which it had been the declared intention of Parliament
in 1833 to limit, has been during the last 20 years con-
tinued.
6. The 87th section of the last Charter Act provided
in unqualified terms for the unlimited eligibility of the
natives of India to all offices whatsoever, without exclu-
sion of any person on account of caste, colour, birth, or
religion. The declarations of the statesmen responsible
for the act of 1833 all concur in giving to this clause the
widest interpretation. It was described as a subject of
just exultation and pride that Parliament should have
passed this clause announcing " the only principle on
which India could be administered." Nor was it in-
tended that this should remain a barren declaration of
an abstract truth. On the contrary. The question
was asked, " Whether England could give knowledge
without awakening ambition, and whether it was meant
to awaken ambition, and not to provide it a legitimate
vent '?" The new and liberal system thus introduced
was strongly contrasted with that which had previously
existed, under which it was stated by one who had been
for many years President of the Board of Control, that
" instances were adduced of corruption and venality, but
these were the results of our own conduct ; duties of
importance devolved on the natives, without adequate
remuneration, either in rank or salary ; no reward or
promotion was given for fidelity." It was forcibly
asked, " Why complain of peculation and bribery we
made vices, and then punished them. Yet,afteerm, these
no
promises, and the enactment founded upon them,
sooner had the statute of 1833
regu-
lation which seems to have
from the committee of both houses,
been
hn
was boldly
t. I acted
an-
nounced, and has ever since been
distributorsunde
ialn gY
of all
upon by the Court of Directors, the carefullyassed than
kepta back
civil patronage. This regulation
of the 87th clause. The covenanted
vas declared to be exclusively confined to Europeans
\To the uncovenanted, or subordinate grades of the ser-
vice alone, the native subjects of the Queen were held
neutralized
service of
Indiaefft
effect
of
to be eligible. Thus, the unrestricted
statute and the gracious intentions from
defeated. To no one office which
efore the act of 1833 have
he natives were excluded b
the been since admitted, though it is undeniable that
of
Parliament
words ofha
t
been practically the
ve
trustworthiness
of
the
Home and
G ofo Government
ability.rnmen
t to-
been permitted to fill the natives have given
they have
idnureidnifeathtioesne
a2eodykeeereswtlhedegnea, tievnesd,hatvheeuragphidinlytadvanced
s
Because,
wards the natives, as above stated, rendered it expe-
dient to have guarded against a continuance of such
abuse by a declaratory and enacting law, which has
rfhtro work
publie the
empleyment:
disqualifica-
tion
been proposed and rejected, and the only security now
obtained for the fulfilment of the intention of Parlia-
mentthe highest
is to be found in the unqualified declaration of the
pthroeocfs conduct u
Minister of the Crown, having the conduct of this bill,
that no distinction between the covenanted and un-
This declaration, when taken in connection with the
proposed admission of natives to Haileybury College
and to high functions in India, coupled with the power
reserved to Parliament of amending the present statute
from year to year, will, it may be hoped, prevent the
ove n
eafn t
na
d is
e hereafter
irtte

The Essex papers inform us that this wretched crimi
nal, who was executed at Ipswich on Wednesday last,
made a full confession of his guilt. It would appear
that on the night previous to his execution he expressed
a wish to make a statement, when he said to the chap.
lin and to the governor, "It was me that did the mur-
der. There was nobody else with me. All I said about
Moore was false. When I got to the rectory the door
was fastened. I knocked. Mrs. Steggles came to the
door. I knocked her down when she reached the kite-
ken. I struck her with my list. She fell. When down
she cried out violently. I then took a small case-knife
belonging to my folks. My little brother called it his.
I cut her throat with it, I think, in two places—at least
I cut twice. I then knocked her on the head with my
boots, or high-lows, the same that wdre produced at the
assizes. I kicked her seven or eight times. I knew
she was not quite dead when I left her and went up-
stairs. I took the pistol out of the rector's bedroom,
and hid it in the Mill Mount 2 - and the coin taken from
the same box as the purse I hid it the lane leading
from the road going to Mr. Pulhanes house. I went
up-stairs with the intention of plundering the house.
I took the purse and its contents, three sovereigns, and
a sixpence found in a box—the same box that held the
purse. The pin produced at the trial I know nothing
of. The knife I took from the sane box as the purse
I took a little gold brooch,
I believe , from the same
box, but I will not be sure. I left it on the outside of
the window at the back part of my father's house.
When I ran down stairs, after being up about ten mi-
nutes, I went to the kitchen and looked at the deceased.
She was lying on her back. I did not see her move,
but found she was breathing. I then kicked her two or
three times more on the head. Immediately after I
left
the house. Returning by Mrs. Ford's fields, in the
second field I washed my shoes, which were a little
bloody, in the ditch. I kept the footpath, except going
on to the Mount, all the way until I got to Mr- Sal-
mon's meadow, which I crossed, and I left the coin by
the brow of the ditch in the lane as stated before, under
a tuft of grass. From thence I went home. I went
and got my mother a pail of water, My brother John
and mother asked me to go up to Mrs. Francis's. I
went. I returned and stopped at home until I got my
dinner. I say most positively no one had any
band
in it but myself. I had thought of doing the
deed some days, even a fortnigh, before. I several
times dreamed about doing it, and once that I bad done
it, and that I was not found out. I went to the house
with the full intention of murdering Mrs. Steggles, and
to get what money I could find. I had been of the
house before on a Sunday—either a fortnight or three
weeks before, intending to do it, but could not. I did
not see any person about to prevent my doing it. Ido
not know that I had any spite against Mrs. Steggles,
but there always appeared something on my mind until
I had done it. None of my family knew of my having
committed the murder. They did not know that I had
any more money than usual.
As another proof of the awful state of ignorance of
the family of Flack, it is stated that soon after the
extreme sentence of the law had been inflicted, the father
who was at work at Bury St. Edmund's, purchased of
a hawker in the streets what purported to be the "last
dying speech and confession" of his son, observing that
he would keep it as a memento for the rest of his life.

SERIOUS COLLISION IN THE TYNE.—A fearful collision
took place on Monday in Shields Harbour, by the Sir
John Easthope, screw collier, running into the William,
passenger steamer from Newcastle. It appears that in
the afternoon, about quarter flood, the Sir John East-
hope came in from sea, light, and was proceeding amongst
a fleet of keels and other light craft to the Spints to load
when the pilot encountered the William in the middle of
the harbour, lying-to to deliver passengers into a boat.
The Sir John Easthope is a heavy vessel, and was
propelled with her screw, and it seems was hugging
the south shore for the lrrrA water. The steersman
of the William tried to get out of her way by run-
ning in to the south, but fearing a jamb, he had
changed his mind, and had put his vessel with her
bow to the north, and was running across the
collier's hawser, when his vessel was struck a most tre-
mendous blow abaft her funnel by that vessel. She was
borne on the bow of the collier a few yards, and then on
falling off sunk, and all her passengers, men, women,
and children, were thrown into the water. A most
frightful scene ensued, and, bat for the cool intrepidity
of the seamen belonging to the vessels, near to, who put
off to their assistance, and police boats, and steamers
which ran to the aid of the drowning people, a most
fearful tragedy might have takea place. As it is, after
a most careful inquiry by the authorities to-day, no one
seems to be missing, and the only persons seriously in-
jured is the steersman Renwick, whose thigh is broken,
and a passenger of the name of Forsyth, whose arm is
also broken. The passengers, more especially the females
and children, were in a most exhausted condition when
brought ashore, and some of them were found to have
received severe cuts, but with care they were all brought
about last night. The passenger vessel lies sunk in
mid-channel. She has a quantity of ship's beef on board
of her.
RAILWAY COLLISION AT EUXTON.—An excursion
train from Leeds, by the Lincolnshire and Yorkshire
line, to one of the watering places on the coast near
Fleetwood, met with an accident at the junction of the
Lancashire and Yorkshire line with the London and
North-Western, at Euxton, near Preston, yesterday
morning, and a smash ensued, which had the effect of
blocking up both lines of railway for some hours, but we
are informed that no serious injury was sustained by
any of the passengers. The passenger train is said to
have run into a London and North-Western luggage

train.
THE DERBY ELECTION.—We understand, that in con-
sequence of certain proceedings which have been taken
out against the Conservatives (relative to the late Derby
election), measures are preparing and writs have been
issued for the purpose of bringing to justice some of the
pure men of Derby, profasing Radical politics ; and we
can state that other parties residing in the borough of
Shrewsbury, also Radicals, will come under the autho-
rity of the law, for their mal-practiees at the late elec-
tion, and for purloining certain letters and papers be-
longing to Mr. John Frail.—Eddowees Journal.

intentions of the Legislature from being again frus-
trated.

Because; in those cases where this statute appearsZto
be founded upon just principles, it would seem that
timidi';y or irresolution prevented their full enforcement.
When it is considered that one of ' the advocates of the
bill admitted that all the best and most useful measures
of Lord William Bentinek met with the opposition of
the Home Government, and were made the matters of
censure where they merited praise, and when another
supporter of the present bill has stated that in propor-
tion as a province of India has been long under the
jurisdiction of the company its condition is unimproved
and its inhabitants are unprosperous, while it is in the
provinces latest acquired that success and advancement
are to be found, the enactments of the present bill can-
not but appear inadequate and incomplete for the fulfil-
ment of those duties which the Imperial Legislature of
England owes to the inhabitants of India.
MONTEAGLE OF BRANDON.

DIE FRENCH NAVY.-.PART V.

THE COMPOSITION OF THE FLEET.
(Continued.)

The commission arrived at its final conclusion
with respect to the composition of the fleet in June
and July, 1851. At this time 27 ships of the line
were afloat, and 20 building, reckoning only those
ships which were considerably advanced in their con-
struction. The commission advises that 45 ships of
the line shall be hereafter maintained-30 afloat,
and 15 nearly ready for launching—in fact, a
reserve upon the stocks ; and that the whole shall
be furnished with screw propellers ; but whether
a grand vitesse, or only with auxiliary power, the
commission suspends its opinion until the Napoleon
shall have been tried.
Only two of the ships of the line afloat were fitted
with screws. The commission recommends that 12
more of those afloat should be altered and fitted
with screws ; the remaining 13 are old ships,
which, though fit for service at present, are con-
sidered to be not worth altering, and to be only
likely to last an average period of four years.
Of the ships on the stocks, three, fitted with
screws, to be launched in 1851, would complete the
number of line-of-battle ships afloat to 30. The
remaining 17 to be altered and fitted wig screws.
would be launched to take the place of the old
ships as they were condemned. By the calculations
of the commission, it appears that four years are
considered sufficient for fitting the whole fleet of
ships of the line with screws.
A resolution is agreed to, that no more ships of
100 guns on two decks should be built, as they are
nearly as expensive and much less effective than
three-deckers.

The commission fixes the number of screw frigates
at 40 ; 20 with auxiliary power (fregates mixtes),
and 20 a grande vitesse (fregates rapides). One of
each class was already afloat—the Pomone and the
Isly. Those with auxiliary power are to be sailing
frigates, converted and fitted with engines in four
years ; they are to be capable of carrying at least
four months' provisions and are intended for distant
operations. The 19 frigates, a grande vitesse, are
to be built in the course of the ensuing 10 years ;
they are to combine extreme rapidity of movement
wish perfect efficiency of war, and are intended for
service en the coasts.

The screw corvettes are to be 50 in number :-
14 with auxiliary power, to consist of sailing cor-
vettes of the largest class, with upper decks ; these
are to be altered and fitted with engines in four
years, and are intended for distant expeditions.
The 36 a grande vltesse are to be built in the course
of 10 years, and are for service on the coasts.
There are also to be 80 vessels, of which 56 are to
be employed on the coasts, to consist, for the pre-
sent, of the paddle-wheel corvettes and avisos now
afloat.

The 20 paddle-wheel steam-frigates are to be here-
after called " transports."
The force specified by the commission is as fol-
lows :

45 screw line-of-battle ships-30 afloat, 15 a reserve
on the stocks.
20 screw frigates a grande vltesse (to be built).
20 ditto with auxiliary power (to be altered).
36 screw corvettes a grande vitesse (to be built).
14 ditto with auxiliary power (to be altered).
80 paddle-wheel corvettes and avisos, from 400 to
120-horse power (now afloat).
20 paddlewheel frigates, to be called "transports"
(now afloat).

235 total.

The conclusions of the commission are founded
upon the report of a sub-commission drawn up by
M. Collas, which states that when this transforma-
tion shall be accomplished, without counting the
13 old. ships of the line, which will probably have

been erased from the list of the fleet, France will
have 158 ships over and above the force here de-
cided on—viz., " 18 frigates," and 140 corvettes,
brigs, schooners, cutters, and sailing transports.
These, it advisor, should be sold, and the pro-
ceeds applied to diminish the expense of the screw
fleet.
But if 19 new frigates and 36 new corvettes be
added to the 366 vessels which M. Collas in the
same report states the fleet to consist of in 1851,
the excess over the force specified by the commis-
sion will not be 158, but 173. A reference to M.
Collas's list of existing sailing frigates shows that 38
were afloat and 88 on the stocks, the latter for the
most part nearly ready for launching, the average
state of advancement towards completion being
17-24ths. The 19 frigates a grande vitesse are to
be entirely new ships, the expense being expressly
calculated for this object, and not for conversions.
These 19 new ships being added to the 56 already
in existence gives an excess of 35 over the number
specified by the commission ; and if, therefore, 18
are got rid of (those recommended to be sold are
vessels of the old class, measuring only 1,000 tons
—smaller, indeed, than the new corvettes), there
would remain 40 screw fricrates, and 17 large sail-
ing frigates, besides the 20' paddle-wheel steam-fri-
gates which are to be called "transports."
The expense of the transformation of the existing
fleet, of building 56 new ships, and of supplying
the whole with steam engines is estimated at
90,706,000 f. ; of which 55,000,000 f. are to be ex-
pended in the alterations to be effected in the next
four years, and the remainder in the course of the
six following years.

It will be recollected that in 1846 the Chambers
unanimously voted 93,000,000 f. specially for creat-
ing the paddle-wheel fleet. This sum was to be
divided over a period of seven years, but in the fol-
lowing year the Minister stated, " that in mani-

fest harmony with the wish of the Chambers the
new ships should be proceeded with as speedily as
possible ;" and accordingly, the steam fleet was
completed within four years ; and within five the
commission of the National Assembly, with similar
unanimity, recommends that 90,000,000 f. more
should be expended in replacing it with a screw
fleet.

An ordonnance of the same year decreed tha,
the future naval force should consist of 326 ves-
sels ; but, in January, 1851, this number was very
largely exceeded. Among the larger class of ves-
sels there were 50 ships of the line instead of 40,
66 sailing frigates instead of 50, and 20 paddle-
wheel steam-frigates instead of 10, as fixed by the
ordonnance.
Experience, therefore, does not warrant the be-
lief, that, either those 10 years will elapse before
the screw fleet is completed, or that it will be
limited to the force specified by the commission.
It will, however, be more difficult hereafter to
ascertain what may be done in this respect, as the
list of ships in the navy, which has always hitherto
appeared in the Annuaire de la Marine, has been
suppressed in the number published in the present
year.
The commission, indeed, loudly complains of the
inferior quality and deficient quantity of the timber
in store at the arsenals, and passed a resolution that
the supply was "dessasorti, impuissant, et insuffi-
sant." But, though great mismanagement had un-
doubtedly occurred, the opinion expressed as to the
insufficiency of the quantity was probably formed
in reference not so much to the ordinary consump-
tion as to the great works the commission had i)
contemplation. Several English officers well quali-
fied to form an opinion have recently visited the
concur French dockyards, and they in the opinion
that the supply of timber
isabundant and far
larger than in our own. At all events, a deficiency
so strongly and authoritatively stated is not likely
to remain long without remedy.
Again, the Government steam. factories are at
present barely capable of producing the amount of
machinery that would be required within the time
specified. The factory at Indret can produce 4,000-
horse power per annum ; Cherbourg, Brest, Roche-
fort, and. L'Orient about 2,000 more ; and Toulon
has only the means of repairing engines. But the
commission recommends that Cherbourg, Brest,
and Toulon should have the means of building and
repairing the largest engines, and we understand
that measures for this purpose are being vigorously
carried out. The sub-commission moreover states,
that the private establishments in France are in
" a condition to furnish the navy with all the en-
gines it can require ;" but if it were otherwise,
there could be no difficulty in having engines built
to an amount fully equal to supply any deficiency,
in England or in the United States. We are per-
suaded that no obstacles will prevent the speedy
construction of a powerful steam-fleet, and that,
according to the precedent already alluded to, it
will exceed in force, and anticipate in point of time,
the recommendations of the commission.
If such a force could be created, while we per-
sisted in building only sailing vessels or paddle-
wheel steamers, the consequences might be serious,
for our fleet must be equal at least in efficiency to
that of any assailant, and superior, numerically, in

mins;