The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-08 00:00:00

THE HOUSE OF MECKLENBURG.

The Princes of Mecklenburg date back beyond the
tenth century, at the moment even when in France
Hugues Capet mounted on the throne ; and it is well
known that the same House of Mecklenburg is the
only one of the sovereign houses of Germany which is of
Sclavonian origin. This is a clear proof of its antiquity.
It is not astonishing that this sovereign family should
have contracted matrimonial alliances with the most
powerful states of Europe. The enumeration of these
' alliances would be too numerous for our columns ; we
shall confine ourselves to remarking that the house of
Mecklenburg has given Queens to Russia, England,
and Prussia, and that Prince George of Mecklenburg
Strelitz, cousin of the Duchess of Orleans, has recently
married the Grand Duchess Catherine, daughter of the
Grand Duke Michel, brother of the Emperor Nicolas.
That celebrated Queen Louisa, so dear to the Prussians
from her courage, her misfortunes, and her beauty, was
also a Princess of Mecklenburg. It cannot be forgotten
that it was this illustrious princess who was treated so
cruelly at Tilsit by the victorious Napoleon. History,
indeed, furnishes curious facts.

FRENCH NAVIGATION RETURNS.—The French navi-
gation returns for 1852 show the following results.
There were employed in all the ports of France (out-
wards and inwards), 240,778 ships, having an aggregate
tonnage of 11,734,325, and crews amounting to 1,241,254
men. The ten ports of France which principally contri-
buted to this result are the following, placed in the
order of the amount of tonnage appertaining to each :
Marseilles, 15,366 ships, 1,672,323 tons, 133,960 men;
Havre, 9,615 ships, 1,254,607 tons, 88,101 men ; Bor-
deaux, 15,997 ships, 869,422 tons, 72,834 men ; Nantes,
14,935 ships, 580,843 tons, 61,573 men ; Rouen, 6,215
ships, 541,355 tons, 37,724 men; Calais, 3,337 ships,
390,021 tons, 54,318 men ; Cette, 3,903 ships, 367,487
tons, 32,725 men ; Dunkirk, 4,439 ships, 362,177 tons,
31,871 men ; Boulogne, 2,340 ships, 323,330 tons, 30,395
men ; Dieppe, 2,017 ships, 191,021 tons, 14,963 men.

COMMERCE OF AMERICA. —The commercial accounts
from New York this week tend to confirm the anticipa-
tions of an early resumption of moderate remittances of
specie to England. The present packet has brought
30,0001., and the abundance of money, coupled with the
activity of the import trade, rendered it likely that the
improvement in the rate of exchange would be progres-
sive. The news of the increase in the charge for dis-
count by the Bank of England had just been received,
and although it produced no effect upon the New York
markets, it was found that the orders brought at the
same time for railroad-bonds and State Stocks on London
account were less than had been expected, It had,
therefore, evidently had the effect of checking speculative
purchases from this side, and would thus hasten the
restoration of the balance of trade between the two
countries. The recent suspension of specie remittances
from New York to London is to be accounted for by
the rapid shipment of the cotton crop. Under ordinary
circumstances, however, when such an event now takes
place, it may always be concluded, even although there
may be no drain from this side, that the reciprocal trade
is not on its legitimate footing, since a vast number of
American bills from China are made payable here, and
funds are required to make provision for these, apart
from the regular returns to be expected in the course of
ordinary transactions.
THE FACTORY ACT.—MEETING ON THE TEN-HOURS'
BILL QUESTION.—On Wednesday evening last, a meet-
ing was held at the Public Hall, Raillie-street, Rochdale,
for the purpose of advocating the propriety of petitioning
the Legislature in favour of placing restrictions on the
moving power in factories. The meeting had been called
in compliance with a requisition numerously signed.
Thomas Livsey, Esq., chief constable, occupied the
chair. The body of the hall was well filled, and the
gallery was nearly half full. The meeting was addressed
by Mr. Howorth, Mr. Wolfenden, and Mr. Joshua
Fielden. It was resolved that a petition should be for-
warded to Mr. John Cobbett, M.P., for presentation to
the House of Commons, and another to the Duke of

Richmond, for presentation to the House of Lords. The
Rev. Joseph Raynor Stephens was called upon to sup-
port the adoption of the petitions, and was well received
by the audience. After adverting at some length to the
rise of the factory system, and to previous factory legis-
lation, he proceeded to compare the condition of chil-
dren of the present day with the condition of those of
former times, contending that more liberty was enjoyed
formerly than now. He also pointed out difficulties at-
tending the proper carrying out of the present Factory
Act. Mr. J. J. Hill moved a resolution, that contribu-
tions should be made towards meeting the expenses ne-
cessarily incurred in carrying on the agitation. The
amount for Rochdale and district to raise was about 1001.
He had no doubt that the factory operatives would be
willing to contribute to the objects which the committee
had in view. Mr. Leigh Gleave seconded the motion,
which was passed unanimously. After a vote of thanks
to the chairman, the proceedings were brought to a ter-
mination before half-past ten o'clock. Meeting at Mac-
clesfield. On Thursday evening a similar meeting to
that which was held at RochdalA took place in the Town-
hall, Macclesfield, when upwards of 1,200 of the inha-
bitants were present. Petities to both houses of Par-
liament, praying for the rest ration of Mr. John Fiel-
den's Ten Hours' Act, with atiestriction on the moving
power, were unanimously adopted, and their present-
ment to the Legislature entrusted to Mr. E. C. Egerton
and Earl Powis. Meeting at Bury.—On Friday night
a similar meeting was held at Bury. The meeting was
addressed by Mr. Fletcher, surgeon, Mr. Joshua Fiel-
chn__, the Rev. J. R. Stevens, &c.
DEPARTURES FOR AUSTRALIA.—The departures from
the port of London for the Australian colonies during
the past week were again numerous. They consisted of
three vessels to Sydney of an aggregate burden of 919
tons, two to Port Philip of 1,215 tons, one to Laun-
ceston of 401 tons, one to Hobart Town, of 381 tons,
and one to Auckland, New Zealand, of 365 tons. Their
total capacity was subsequently 3,281 tons. Large
shipments continue to be made of manufactured goods,
wine, beer, &c., but the late high quotations for freight
are not in all cases supported.