The Sun.
London, England, 1853-12-13 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY EVENI-G, DECEMBER 13, 1853.

CHRISTMAS PRESENT.
Now ready, Tenth Edition, with Fifteen Illustrations, 103. 6&,
THE CRESCENT AND THE CROSS.
By ELIOT WARBURTON.

"A book calculated to prove snore practically useful was never
penned than "The Crescent and the Cross,"—a work which sur-
passes all others In its homage for the sublime and its love for the
beautiful in those famsus regions consecrated to everlasting humor-
tal ity."—Sun .
• .

Published for Henry Colburn, by his successors, Hurst and
Blacett, 13, Great Marlborough-street.

TIIE BOOK OF BEAUTY FOE 1854.
Just ready, clotl► gilt, 21s. ; coloured plates, 425.

... . .
THE. COURT ALBUM ; or, Book of Beauty
for 1854. A series of portraits of the Female Aristocracy,
from draiyitigs by the best artists. With Biographical and Histori-
cal Memoirs. _ . .

David Bogue, Fleet-street.

lIEATIFS KEEPSAKE FOR 1854.
Just ready, price 215., elegantly bound,

'THE KEEPSAKE fok 1854.. Edited by Miss
1_ POWER; with contributions by the most pooul,r writers.
The Plates engrared under tile superintendence of Mr. FR EDE KICK
HEATH,

David Bogue, Fleet-street

PRESENT BOOKS FOR BOYS.
11:W YOUNG VOYAGEURS ; or, Adventures
in the FUR COUNTRIES of the FA' NORTH. By Captain
MAYNE REID. (Author of "The Boy•Henters," &c.) With
Twelve Illustrations by William Harvey. Fcap. 7s.
" A capital book for a Christmas present, a New-Year'c gift, or a
keepsake at any szason."- Epectator.

1,.
THE DESERT HOME ; or, the ENGLISH
FAMILY ROBINSON. By Captain MAYNE REID. With
Twelvo Illustrations by William Ilarvoy. Third Edition. Fcap. 7s.
cloth. . • .

THE SOY-HUNTERS ; or, Adventures in
SEARCH of a WHITE BUFFALO. By Captain MAYNE
REID. With Twelve Illustrations by William Harvey. Third Edi-
tion. Fcap. 7s. cloth.

,v.
FOOT-PRINTS of FAMOUS MEN. Biography
for Boys. By J. G. EDGAR (Author of " The BOyhood of
Great Men"). With Eight Illustrations by Birket Foster. , Fcap.
3s. 6d. cloth.

v.
'THE 'BOYHOOD OF GREAT MEN. By
J. G. EDGAR. With Eight Engravings by BIRKET
FOSTER. Second Edition. Imp , 3s. 6d. cloth.

VI.
PARLOUR MAGIC. New Edition, revised
and enlarged, with the addition of several Tricks from the
Performances of Messrs. Houdin, Robin, &c. 43. 6d. cloth.

THE BOY'S OWN BOOK. A completo
Encyc'opmdia of all the Diversions—Athletic, Scientific, and
Recreative—of Boyhood and Youth. New Fdition, greatly enlarged,
with Numerous additional Engravings. 813. 6d. cloth.
. .

David Bogue, Fleet street,

AMUSEMENT FOR CHRISTMAS PARTIES.

ROUND GAMES FOR ALL PARTIES.
A Collection of the greatest variety of Family Amusements
or the Fireside or Pic-nie, Games of Action, Games of Memory,
Catch Games, Games requiring the exercise of fancy, intelligence,
and imagination, directions for crying forfeits, &c. ss. cloth, gilt.

ACTING CHARADES; or, Deeds, not Words.
A Christmas Game to make a Long Evening Short.. ny the
BROTiIERS MAYLIE W. New Edition, profusely illustrated, ss.
cloth.

111.
ACRACKER BON-BON for CHRISTMAS
PARTIES; consisting of Christmas Pieces for Private Re-
presentation, and other Seasonable matter, in Prose and Verse: By
ROBERT B. BROUGH. Illustrated by Iltsz. 3s. 6d. cloth.

David Bogue, Fleet-street.

ILLUSTRATED BOOKS FOR PRESENTS.
In Fcap Bvo, price 55., cloth gilt,

ORIENTAL FAIRY TALES ; or, Fancy's
Wanderings in the East. With 34 Illustrations by W.
Harvey.
"One of the prettiest books that has been published for a long
time. The Tales are quite equal, if not superior to those of the
far-famed Hans Andersen. There is little d•ubt it will be generally
chosen as a book for the coming holidays."
Post 8 vo, price Bs. 6d., cloth gilt,
WOOD'S NATURAL HISTORY. Illustrated
with 450 Engravings, designed expressly for this work by
W. Harvey, forming the most correct and beautifully illustrated
volume that has appeared.
Price 45., cloth gilt,
A NCIENT CITIES of the WORLD, in their
.r 1 Glory and their Desolation. By the Rev. T. A. BUCKLEY. 8
Illustrations.

" Neatly illustrated and carefully written : it is ' the book' to put
into the hands of everyone."
Price Is , cloth gilt, .
GREAT CITIES of the MIDDLE AGES ; or,
The Landmarks of European Civilisation. Historical
Sketches. By the Rev. T. A. BUCKLEY. With Illustrations by W.
Harvey.
Pike 4s. 6d., cloth gilt,
BATTLES of the BRITISH ARMY. By
CHARLES MACFARLANE. Illustrated by W. Harvey. A nar-
rative of the Conflicts in which oar Armies have been engaged from
Crecy to Aliwal and Sobraon.

In 1 thick vol.. price 7s. 6d., cloth gilt.
RABIAN NIGHTS' (The) ENTERTAIN-
UL. MEETS. A new and thoroughly-revised Edition, with large
Engravings from ll:ustrations by Harvey.
London : George Rontledge and Co., 2, Farringdon-street.

Just published, Bvo., in cloth, price 55., by post free 6s.
THE PATHOLOGY and RATIONAL TREAT-
MENT of STRICTURE of the URETHRA, in all its Varie-
ties and Complications. With Practical Observations on the Use and
Abuse of Urethral Instruments. The whole illustrated by numeroas
cases, showing that this disease may be success, ully treated by means
at once simple and sate, even in its most inveterate and apparently
intractable fermi. By F. B. COURTENtY, M R.C.S.E. "We
believe Mr. Courtenay's experience in the treatment of stricture
during the last 20 years ha., equalled, if indeed it has not surpassed,
that of any of his contemporaries, and we know of no man to whose
care we would with greater confidence entrust the treatment of 'a
severe case of stricture of the urethra."—Medical Circular, July 27,
1853. H. ltailliere, 219, Regent-street.

THOMAS SALT and CO.,
EAST INDIA PALE ALE BREWERS,
BURTON-ON-TRENT.
STOR 4S.
London.• •• .. 22, Hungerford-Whad.
Liverpool ...... •• •• 52, Henry-street.
Manchester •• .• •• .... 37, Brown-street.
Birmingham 2634, Bull-street.
Bristol ....•• ........ Back Hall, Baldwin-street.
Nottingham •• •• .. 14, Milton-street.
Dublin ...... 4, Crown-alley.
Edinburgh • .. 17, Downie-place.
Dundee .............. 13, New Inn Entry, High-street.

CONTRACT FOR COALS FOR BERMUDA.
Department of the Storekeeper General of the Navy,
Somerset-place, Dec. 8, 1853.
THE Commissioners for executing the Office of
Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, DO HEREBY GIVE NOTICE, that on TUESDAY,
the 27th instant, at One o'clock, they will bo ready to treat with
such persons as may be willing to Contract for supplying and deli-
vering into store at her Majesty's Navalyard at Bermuda
- - -

1,200 Tons of SOUT a WALES COALS,

fit for the service of her Majesty's steam-vessels.
A Form of the Tender may be seen at the said Office. No Tender
will be received after One o'clock on the day of treaty, nor will any
be noticed unless the party attends, or an agent for him duly autho-
rised in writing.
Every tender must bo addressed to the Secretary of the Admiralty,
and bear in the left-hand corner the words " Tender for Coals,"
and mast also be delivered at Somerset-place, accompanied by
a Letter signed by two responsible persons, engaging to become bound
with the person tendering, in the sum of 5001. for the duo perform-
ance of the Contract.

A NEW DISCOVERY IN TEETH.
MR. HOWARD, SURGEON-DENTIST, 52,
FLEET-STREET, has introduced an ENTIRELY. NEW
DESCRIPTION of ARTIFICIAL TEETH, fixed without springs,
wires, or ligatures. They so perfectly resemble the natural teeth,
As not to be distinguished from the originals by the closest observer;
they will never change colour or decay, and will be found superior to
any teeth ever before used. This method does not require the ex-
traction of roots, or any painful operation, and will suppDrt and pre-
servo teeth that are loose, and is guaranteed to restore articulation
and mastication. Decayed teeth rendered sound and useful in mas-
tication.
52, FLEET-STREET.—At home from Ten till Five.

114AJOR'S SYNOVITIC LOTION as modified
by Dr. Batchelour. Testimonials from the following per-
sona may be seen at Dr. Batcheiour's, 12, Finsbury-place tSouth,
Finsbury-square. CANCER: from Mrs. Brown, 2, Bevis-marks,
City ; Mrs. Wilton, 24, Do Beauvoir-terrace, Kingsland ; Mrs.
Tiping, Houton-place, Epsom. WHITE SWELLING: from Mrs.
Stevens. at Messrs. Berens & Co 'a 33 'it Paul's-churchyard.
SPINAL COMPLAINT: from Mr. Price, 23, Brick-lane, Spital-
fields ; Mr. W. Knight, Faversham. RHEUMATISM : from Mr. P.
Smart, Somerset-place, Rotherhithe. SCALD HEAD: From Mr.
Carter, 38, Elngsland-road.
Dr. Batchelour is acting in unison with Mr. Major, the inventor
of the lotion, the most wonderful medicinal agent of modern times.
The lotion, with directions for use, is sold at 12, Finsbury-place
South, Finsbury-square, and at George Watts', 17, Strand, in bottles
I Is. and 22e. each.

MEDICAL ADVICE
TH ON
AND THE SECRET INFIRMITIES OF
Y.
___

DR. SAMUEL LA'MERT, 37, BEDFORD-SQUARE, LONDON,
Doctor of Medicine, and Matriculated Member of the University of
Edinburgh, Honorary Member of the London Hospital Medical
Society. Licentiate of Apothecaries' Hall. London, &e., Etc.
MAY be consulted, personally, or by letter, on
the various disorders of the nervous and generative system,
resulting from juvenile irregularities and excesses, which have pro-
duced more misery in youth, degradation in manhood, and prema-
ture decay at all stages of life, than perhaps any other class of dis-
eases known to modern pathologists. Long and practical experience
in the treatment of these diseases has proved that there are in exist-
once secret causes of self-acquired miseries and disappointed hopes in
existence, traceable to certain pernicious habits, to which Nervous
Debility, various forms of Insanity, Unhappy and Unfruitfld Marri-
ages, Impotency, Local and Constitutional Weakness, and their
endless modifications owe their almost entire origin.
It is absolutely necessary that all men should know that there are
principles of personal management which cannot be violated without
incurring grievous penalties, and when wisdom and regret succeed
the heyday of inconsiderate self-indulgence, how these penalties
may be mitigated, how the sting of their bitterness may be removed,
and how the evil and its consequenc es may be avoided, and above all,
that there is scarcely any degree of physical infirmity or functional
derangement to which the timely aid of science cannot apply a cure.
DOCTOR LA'MERT has for a long series of years been engaged
in an extensive practice in the treatment of these delicate com-
plaints, and is the only legally qualified Physician who, regardless
of the taunts and envy of thehypocritical and mock-modest, has had
the confidence, through the medium of the public press, to direct
attention to these enormous evils, from which no grade of society is
free. In selecting this department of practice, he has been amply
rewarded by the great success that has attended his efforts in the
treatment of these cases, which are too generally confided to the
care of unqualified and ignorant empirics, who, with their pirated
publications, assumed foreign names and titles, and pretended virtues
of their patent nostrums, have inflicted serious injury on those who
have been induced to place faith in their pretensions.
At home for consultation daily from Eleven till Two, and from
Six till Eight. All letters mast contain the fee of l 1., and advice and
medicines can bo forwarded to any initials or address.
It 13 desirable that patients wishing to consult Dr. LA'MERT
should first obtain a copy of his work on
- -

SELF -PRE SERVATION.
A Medical Treatise on the Philosophy of Marriage and Nervous and
Generative Debility, illustrated by fifty-coloured engravings, and des-
cribing in detail the various disorders resulting from secret habits and
excesses. The perusal of this treatise will assist in the correct
description of their cases, and may be had, price 2s 6d, in English,
French, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, or German, of Messrs. Piper
Brothers.a.nd Co., 23, Paternoster-row; .llannay, 63, Oxford-street;
Mann, 39, Cornhill ; Storle, Titchbome-street, Ilaymarket ; or free
by -pat for forty-two stamps, to any oaten from the.Autti9fB rebi-
deuce, 37, Duaro3D-9QuARA LONDON.

QT. GEORGE'S . CHESS CLUB.—The
MEMBERS of this CLUB are requested to observe that a
GENRAL MEETING Will be' held at No. 53, St. James's-street,
on F IDAY next, the 16th init at 4 o'clock p in.

►THREEPENNY ILLUSTRATED NEWS-
PAPEI3.—" THE ILLUSTIUTED TIMES."—A Family
Newspaper for Town and Country.—No. I. of this Journal, contain-
ing all the Xew3 of the Week, and enriched with numerous beautinil
Engravings, will appear next Saturday, Dec. 17. Price Threepence
stamped.—Office, 113, Strand. Order of all newsvenders.

VTSHORTLY CLOSE.--DR. KHAN'S
ANATOMICAL MUSEUM. Portland Gallery, Regent-
street, opposite the Polytechnic.—Open for Gentlemen daily at the
usual hours, excepting on Wednesdays and Fridays, from Two to
Fire, during which hours Ladies only are admitted. Explanations
for Gentlemen by Dr. Leach, and for Ladies by Mrs. Leach. Ad-
mission, Is.

WEDNESDAY EVEEVENING CONCERTS,
ENETE HALL.
On the 14th December will be performed selections from
WILLIAM TELL.
A New MS. MARCH, the LAST COMPOSITION of ROSSINI,
written expressly for the (num) SULTAN. To give effect to this
extract dhutry work TWO distinct MILITARY BANDS I+ill be
added to the Orchestra.
Alter which, Signe of the most popular
- COMPOSITIONS OF Mr. BENEDICT.
To conclude with Music of a Li;ht and Miscellaneous charactir
from eminent ENGLISH COMPOSERS.
Principal Vocalists: —Madame Amedei, Miss Stabbach, the Misses
Brougham, !Mlle. Annie De Lara, Miss Chipp, Mr. George Perren,
Mr. Young, Mr. Weiss, &c.
Grand Pianoforte, MADAME DE BARRY.
BAND—SEVENTY-T +VO PERFORMERS.
Conductors, Mr. BENEDICT and IIERR MEYER LUTZ.
Leader, Mr. Thirlwall ; Director of the Music, Mr. Box : Chorus
Master, Mr. Smythsan ; Managing Director, Mr.„4llllrou Willott.
Programmes ami Tickets to be had at the Hall.

ROYAL POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION.
PATRON—H.R.H. PRINCE ALBERT.
FIR ,T EXHIBITION- of PtIOTOGRAPIIIC PICTURES MAGNI-
FIED about 40000 times on the Disc, with the DISSOLVING
VIEWS, daily at One o'clock and a Quarter-past Four.
LECTURES by Dr. BACHOFFXER on WILKINS'S NEW PATENT
UNIVERSAL ELECTRIC TELEGaAPH
LECTURE by J. 11. PEPPER, Esq., on Chemistry.
An HISTORICAL and MUSICAL LECTURE, illustrated with
DISSOLVING 'CENERY, entitled " The ROAD, the RIVER, and
the RAIL," by J. E. CARPENTER, Esq. (the popular Author and Song
Writer) assisted by Miss Blanche Yottnge, every evening, except
Saturday, at Nine o'clock.
Open Month= and Evenings. Admission, is ; Schools and
Childr.n under Ten years of age, Half-price.

LAURENT'S CASINO, ARGYLE Rooms,
(Lessee, CHAS. C. LAURENT. Onslow-house, Fmaam-road),
—The above Rooms are now OPEN FOR THE SEASON.
and will continue open every evening, with LAURENT'S
CELEBRATED BAND. Admission, Is. Doors open at half-past 8;
Dancing to commence at 9 o'clock, and teradnate at half-past 11.

MR. ALBERT SMITH'S MONT BLANC
.13-1/L TO-NIGHT (TUESDAY), and EVERY EVENING (ex-
cept Saturday) at Eight; TUESDAY and SATURDAY MORNINGS,
at Two. Stalls, 35., which can be taken from a plan at the box
office, every dry, from Eleven to Four; Area, 25.; Gallery, Is.
Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly.

ATKINSON and COMPANY, CABINET
MANUFACT'URERQ, UPHOLSTERERS, and CARPET
WAREEIOUAEMEN, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, and 75, Westminster-
bridge-road, Lambeth, London.

.ATKINSON arid CO' I.PANY, DRAPERS,
SILK MERCERS, LACEM +, &c., 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74,
and 75, Westminster-bridge-road, LI:111)0th, London.—Shawls, Furs,
Mantles, Family Mourning, &c.

THE WELLINGTON (late Crockford's) CLUB
HOUSE, entrance 20 Piccadilly. Gentlemen visiting Lon-
don can dine in the Splendid Dining Rooms of this celebrated esta-
blishment at a very moderate scale of charges. The Dining Room
is the largest in London ; the Cooking first:rate ; stud the choicest
Wines are supplied in the Imperial measure. Reading and Smoking-
rooms aro open for the accammodation of gentlemen after dinner.

TO the NOBILITY and PATRONS of WAR-
WICR-HOUSE, Regent-street.—The SELLING OFF will
COMMENCE at Ten o'clock each morning after this announcement,
and great bargains will necessarily be offered in Silks, Shawls,
Dresses, and Mantles.

The dissolution of partnership compels an immediate sale, how-
ever great the loss and it is deemed to be but proper that this early
information should be given to those who, for a quarter of a century,
have been accustomed to nonour this establishment with their patron-
age.-142 and 144, Regent-street.

THE RECENT FOGS-FOURTEEN VESSELS
WRECKED.

The dense fogs that have recently prevailed in Lon-
don appear not only to have extended over the entire
length and breadth of the country, but to the whole of
the continental countries, and to a great distance at sea,
where it occasioned many serious and fatal shipwrecks.
Among the many that have been reported at Lloyd's are
the following :
The barque Norfolk, Captain Beckham, from Shields
for London, with 550 tons of coals, got on to the rocks
at Flamborough Head, on .Tuesday night last, where, in
the course of the following morning, she slid off, and
went down broadside into deep water. A dense fog
prevailed the whole night. The crew took to the boats,
and thus saved their lives. The loss of the ship and
cargo is estimated at upwards of 6,0001.
On the same night a collision happened off the same
coast, the Dudgeon Light SS, distant about 15 miles,
between the brig Lily, Mr. Torode, master, bound to
Guernsey, from Newcastle, and the schooner Industry,
from Southampton. The accident was of that violent
character as to sink the latter-named vessel, the crew
having just time to save themselves.
Off Keiss, near Wick, on the same night, the brig
Sisters, Mr. Cowie, of Portgordon, got ashore and be-
come a complete•wreck.

Another vessel is supposed to have been lost, the
schooner Primrose, of Lossiemouth, from London, in
ballast. She was bound for the Baltic, and the owners
are apprehensive that she foundered, and that every soul
on board met with a watery grave.
Between Southwold and Sunderland, no fewer than
12 coasting vessels, colliers, belonging to the Tyne,
Stockton, and Hartlepool, were wrecked. The whole of
them were attributed to the fog. In the course of Satur-
day other losses were posted at Lloyd's.
The British ship, Lady Bulwer, Captain Thomas
Tobin, bound to Quebec, 1,100 tons burden, with 200
emigrants, foundered in 60 fathoms of water off Moose-
pecca Island, on the night of the 9th of last month.
All on board were saved by the boats. She belonged to
the Black Ball Liverpool lino of packets, and was in-
sured for 10,0001.
On Saturday, the ship Walter, Captain Heath, bound
to Fayal, was reported lost. She had upwards of 70
passengers on board, who, it is feared. all perished.

LONDON COMMISSIONERS TO ADMINISTER

OATHS 1N CHANCERY.

The Right Honourable Robert Monsey, Lord Cran-
worth, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, by
virtue of an act passed in the session of Parliament
holden in the 16th and 17th years of the reign of her
present Majesty, intituled "An Act relating to the ap-
pointment of persons to Administer Oaths in Chancery,
and to take Affidavits, made for purposes connected
with registration," and of all other powers enabling him
in that behalf, has been pleased to appoint the following
practising solicitors, whose place of business is within ten
miles from Lincoln's-inn-hall, to be London commissioners
to administer oaths in Chancery, so long as they shall
continue tot practise as solicitors within such ten miles
as aforesaid :
George Herbert Kinderley, 6, 'New-square, Lincoln's-
inn (President of the Incorporated Law Society,

U.K.)
John James Joseph Sudlow, 38, Bedford-row (Vice

President).
Benjamin Austen, 4, Raymond-buildings, Gray's-inn.
Edward Savage Bailey, 6, Berners-street, Oxford-street.
Keith Barnes, 7, Spring-gardens, Westminster.
Thomas Clarke, Ordnance-office, Pall-mall.
Wm. Strickland Cookson, 6, New-square, Lincoln's-inn.
John Coverdale, 4, Bedford-row.
William Loxham Farrer, 66, Lincoln's-inn-fields.
John Swarbreck Gregory, 1, Bedford-row.
Richard Harrison, 2, Gray's-inn-square.
Bryan Holme, 10, New-inn.
Henry Lake, 10, New-square, Lincoln's-inn.
Germain Lavie, 8, Frederick's-place, Old Jewry.
Edward Lawford, Drapers' Hall, Throgmorton-street.
James Leman, 51, Lincoln's-inn-fields.
Joseph Maynard, 57, Coleman-street, City.
William Henry Palmer, 24, Bedford-row.
Edward Rowland Pickering, 4, Stone-buildings, Lin-
coln's-inn.
William Sharpe, 41, Bedford-row.
William Tooke, 39, Bedford-row.
William Williams, 32, Lincoln's-inn-fields.
John Young, 6, Size-lane, Bucklersbury.
(Members of the Council.)
Robert Maugham, Law Society's Hall, Chancery-lane
(Secretary).
Dated the 6th day of December, 1853.
ROBERT MAUGHAM, Registrar of Solicitors.

MARYLEBONE PERU LIBRARY, 27, GLOUCESTER-
PLACE, NEW-ROAD.—The first free library established in
the metropolis will, we are informed, be opened in
January, 1854 ; its doors will be opened gratuitously to
the public from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., thus enabling all
classes to avail themselves of itsadvantages, which we
have no doubt they, will readily do, as the collection of
books is such as to gratify the taste of a large variety of
readers.

PRECINCT OF S, T. ANN, BLACKFRIARS.—The inhabi-
tants of the precinct are desired to take notice that a
precinct meeting will be held at the School-house in
Church entry, on Wednesday next, the 14th day of De-
cember inst., at 7 o'clock in the evening precisely, for
the purpose of returning ward officers for the year en-
suing, and on other business, Dated this 10th cloy of
I Dec, 1853.—J. S. NZWBON, vestry Clerk.

INDUSTRIAL COMMUNITIES.

We remember a favourite quotation of Thomas
Carlyle's used to be, " It never smokes but there's
a fire." The aphorism appears to be an unhappy
orphan, having neither father nor mother, and pro-
bably adopted by the peripatetic philosopher of
Cheyne-walk, Chelsea, out of -charity. At first
sight the proposition looks as obvious as the nose
on one's face ; but Mr. Cowell can prove to us that
it is all a mistake. To say nothing of a bottle of
smoke, it is pretty certain that the operatives of
Lancashire have centrived to render the atmosphere
abundantly fuliginous without the accompaniment
of either light or heat. The genius of Palmerston
has not yet reached Preston or Blackburn. Spin-
ners and piecers have not yet learnt to consume
their own smoke. It rolls in volumes of misty
muddle 'over the whole country, tending only to
make darkness visible—we might continue the
allusion, and add, that it " serves only to discover
sights of woe." Families in Dorset, Devon, and
Wilts, toil in contentment on 10s. or 12s. per week;
but in Lancashire and Cheshire they had rather be
idle and beg than put up with 30s. or 40s. We
think we detect them in the metropolis at every
turn of the street, hungering along and whispering
their wants, " for to beg they are ashamed," as
well they may be. That contrast of town and
country, of the plough and the shuttle, is remark-
able. Is there not in the atmosphere of the fac-
tory, of the huge upstart smoky town, with no
rural scenery within available reach, with a huge
shifting Babel population, and altogether sophisti-
cated accessories and pursuits, surrounded with the
vicious blandishments of a spurious civilisation,
that in place of ministering to the sober utilities
and ingenious conveniencies of life, feeds only with
the noisome garbage of artificial appetencies—

Like a sick man's appetite,
Which most affects what would increase his evil
is there, we repeat, not something in the very call-
ing and life of the factory only too obviously cal-
culated to foster diseased fancies, and brood over
imaginary wrongs ? In London here, even the
middle classes, who throw themselves into the
work of the counting-house, and live in an ether of
town and toil, confinement and thought, get
diseased in mind—how much more the artisan,
oscillating between .his factory and his court or
alley. Before Peterloo and since, these men have
never been at rest, except when they have been
exhausted to prostration by the self-imposed priva-
tions of their mutinies. Socialism, Chartism,
Ludditism, Republicanism, short time, exclusion
of women and children from work, and we know not
how many vagaries beside, have had their turn as
each dog has his day. But the sum of the whole.
is caromc restlessness and discontent—be the times 1
prosperous or disastrous. Sometimes it takes out
plugs and breaks machines ' sometimes mobs
guardianp and beadles of " Poor Law Basfiles ;"
now it flies to emigration, or affects communism ;
again it arms itself with the Chartist pike, drills
at midnight, proposes a sacred month of abstinence
from taxable commodities, and doesn't do it, be-
cause appetite is stronger than even fanaticism.
To-day, it tries to get up barricades, street pick-
pocket mobs, and schemes to force the Bank of
England, to set fire to London ; and to-morrow it
turns out, strikes, guts a town, and demolishes a
factory. The minute, sedentary, monotonous em-
ployment, aggravated in its effects on the nervous
system by an artificial atmosphere, and a perhaps
dangerous and promiscuous proximity of the sexes,
by tobacco and opium, or laudanum, helped by
beer or gin in the discussion society, or the music
saloons and deepened by penny novels, and worse
trash about " pampered menials" and " minions"
and " haughty aristocrats," and " liberty, equality,
fraternity," fully prepare the shattered mind for the
O'Connors, and O'Briens, and Newtons, and
Cowells ; and now, by way of something fresh,"
we are treated to the proposal of a " labour Parlia-
ment," whose chief object shall be to collect a
fund, and—to see what we shall see. Parliament
is literally a place of parley—of talk—a " jawing
house," as Sir Isaac Coffin termed it ; labour is to
do—to work. What have these in common ? Will
the talkers be the workers ? No. The young will
be the dupes ; the old, quiet, steady, will be the
victims of romantic enthusiasts or designing glib
loafers, who will excite the inexperienced, and
terrify the sober-minded into passive concurrence.
A " Labour Parliament !" Why not a cheese-
! monger's or greengrocer's, or distressed curate's, or
hungry poet's Parliament? There was a Chartist
Parliament, called a Convention, pretending to
have elected itself in some such way as now pro-
posed. It had delegates, and met in Bolt-court.
Did it get the Charter ? Did it not annually dis-
appear when the weekly remittance stopped, and
the beer was done ! What will a labour Parliament
do when it meets ? Once upon a time wages were
fixed by act of Parliament or municipal edicts. The
price of beer and bread and beef were also " settled
by authority." Who should, and who should not,
work at certain handicrafts—who, and how many,
should be apprentices and journeymen in each trade,
were determined by charters and guilds. That was
done when men were serfs—in the dark ages.
Much of our civilisation has been made up of get-
ting rid of these barbarisms and slaveries--and here
are our operatives, proposing to roll back the tide of
time and light, and go back to the dispensation of
fettered capital and shackled labour ! We repeat the
q . ueeion—will the proposed Sanhedrim of wiseacres
make the horse drink as well as go to the water. They
may decree good wages and constant employment—
six days' pay for four days' work—" don't they wish
they may get it ?" Suppose their edicts had the
force of an Act of Parliament. Could a statute of
the realm itself regulate the voluntary and free en-
gagements of employers and employed 7 Would
capital submit to the tyranny ?—could trade sur-
vive the restriction ?—would the laws of production
sustain the shock of the interference with their in-
exorable decrees 7 God's own Parliament has long
ago legislated for labour and capital. All human
meddle%omeness with those laws of political eco-
nomy which aro engraved in the heart of human
society and on the face of nature, is mere presump-
tion, quackery, unmixed evil. Should it succeed
in temporarily thwarting the inevitable course of
that relationship which Providence has established
betwixt employer and employed, and in substitut-
ing for free exchange and unrestricted liberty of
contract the notions of Newton or the crotchets of
Cowell, it would most deeply injure those for
whose fitncied benefit the interposition was devised.
The defiance of the scheme of Providence could not
possibly last, and to obey and conform to the
statutes which heaven itself has made, requires no
aid or direction from mere human law-makers,
whether they be seated at St. Stephen's or at
Manchester. It is in quite another direction that
our energies and perspicacity should be turned.
We should rather fix our capacities upon the inves-
tigation of those acts of human, especially lawyer
stupidity, which have emulated the nonsense of
the proposed Labour Parliament, by overlaying
the instincts of mankind and the voluntary action of
society with the folly of what is facetiously termed
jurisprudence. These " turn-outs" are, after all,
only caricaturing the silly example of their betters.
Why is the trade in land restricted and fettered?
Why is not money made a free article of commerce,
without Bullion Acts and Bank of England Char-
ters of Manopoly ? Why does it require Acts of
Parliament or Royal Charters to surround volun-
tary commercial associations with the natural rights
of trade ? Why is a sleeping partner in a firm
whose name has never been disclosed, and whose
credit has never been interposed to encourage cre-
ditors in trusting it, to be made liable to his last
shilling, for the debts of those upon whose respon-
sibility solely the trust was given ? Why is one
partner to be made universally liable for the trans-
actions of another partner, whether these really
' form part of the legitimate business of the concern
or not ? Why is partnership en, commanditg not
permitted ? There is nothing on our statute-books
on the subject. The most important of our laws
have all been made without any consultation with
the people, or their representatives, by solemn en-
tlemen in horsehair wigs at Westminster-hall. 1-14 e
real workers in this country want the aid of 'its
capitalists, and cannot obtain it, because they can;
not get their liability restricted to the amount of
their investment, but incur an universal liablZ
for the solvency of the concern to which
they
p with
it. Nor can the workers enter into p.
one another, with the privilege of res-tlrrintedrlitahbeillty-
Why is it that theinventor, the mechanician,eddepent all
pro-
jector, remains a poor devil, a wrsetcrow
into million-
his life, while sordid numskull g
of their brains, and
, aires, by availing themselves
vending their discoveriesuisn their productive shape ?
cannot enter into part-
It is because the n_
nership with them 'without the risk of ruin by the
conGsoumovneirat:
absence of all restrictioLiooofkliaatbiltihtye.
wholesale warelum se.
tact© and skill shownin
the ribbons, the lace, the
shawls.
These are the chief causes of
their sale ; Y
velvets, theet
who gets the profit ? Not the
artist nor the designer—
not the pattern dralifer or
discoverer. .
They are in the garret beating the
rats off from the cheese, or the mouse out of their
milk jug, while the produce of their genius is

[ PRICE SD,

making fat the. dull-eyed capitalist, rendered so
did and selfish by the profits of vicarious ability.
The working men propose to form industrial com-
munities, and are stopped by this law of partner-
ship. We believe that their theory is inherently
vicious, that in practice it has failed, will, and
must fail. But we demand liberty of action for
them. If sanguine, humane, or generous capital-
ists are disposed to lend their money on condition
of sharing profits, it is a scandal to the law to
prevent the marriage on equal terms of money-and
merit. Every saving is now sent to the Stock
Exchange, because it cannot be employed in legi-
timate trade as a joint adventure with the regular
merchant. Our commerce might be greatly ex-
tended, and our manufactures made more produc-
tive of profit to the operative classes were limited
Liability to enable those who now invest their means
in railways or mines to become partners in trading
profits, without running the hazard of total ruin.
We have but touched on a subject demanding en-
larged discussion. But it is clear that the com-
munity are not in a condition to preach
to the working man, free trade
tions upon so long as it places re.stric•
the contract of voluntary partnership.
—Weekly Dispatch.

IRE COLONY OP VICTORIA.

The i

Ltelli

-0 In .gence whichhas just reached us by
the Victoria from Australia is of extreme interest.
In order fully to appreciate its importance we must
recall a few facts intimately connected with each
other, though separated by considerable intervals
of time. Our readers will remember that immedi-
ately on the discovery of the goldfields in May,
1851, we lost no time in warning the Government
of the dangers with which a discovery apparently
so full of promise was fraught. We showed that
a large number of men of Lawless habits and des-
perate character would be drawn together by
the common attraction of the goldfields ; that they
would learn from their numbers the secret of
their own strength ; and that if they had the
will they would certainly have the power to dictate
their own terms to the executive Government. We
urged an increase of the police to defend public
property and enforce obedience to the law, and we
pointed out that it was the duty of the Government
not to allow the rich golden deposits—the un-
doubted property of the public—to be rifled by the
first corner for a consideration scarcely more than
nominal. How well subsequent events have justi-
fied our foresight is now, unhappily, only too ap
parent.

On the 7th of May, 1852, we recorded with shame
and indignation that Mr. Latrobe, the Governor
of Port Philip, having announced his intention of
raising the license fee from thirty shillings to three
pounds a-month, the miners assembled together to
the number of a thousand, and passed a resolution
pledging themselves to protect any miner against
whom the fee might be sought to be enforced. The
Government gave way without a struggle, and the
miners were for a moment satisfied ; but we took
occasion to observe that after such a concession the
authority of a Government is gone, its weakness
is confessed, and it only exists by the sufferance
of a lawless multitude, to whom it has taught the
terrible secret of their own strength. The same
will which repealed with a breath the reasonable
demand of Government can break through other
restrictions. There are no longer two parties to
the contract between the gold-seeker and the
Government. They take as much and pay as little
as they please. The evil is only in its commence-
ment. As these persons have met together by no
concert, some time must elapse before they can be
brought to act in unison, but every day brings us
nearer to such a result. We have not forgotten
the ridicule with which these opinions were received
by our contemporaries of the English press, or the
abuse levelled at them in the colony. We 'have
waited for time to do us justice, and that time has
come at least as soon as we expected. Instead of
the police being made really efficient, it seems,
through a mistaken and most prodigal economy,
to have been allowed to fall into absolute contempt.
The inadequacy of salaries caused the best officers
and men to resign, and they were replaced by per-
sons morally and physically unfit for the duty. The
diggers became enlightened, as we predicted they
would be, as to the secret of their own strength,
and also as to the weakness of the body which pro-
fessed to control them. They were not slow to
profit by the lesson. In June arid July of this
year meetings were held denouncing the license
fee, and agreeing to a. memorial to the Governor
praying for its reduction to ten shillings. At these
meetings the most sanguinary threats were uttered,
and one of them concluded with an attack on the
police, who fled from it in terror. On the Ist of
August the deputation waited on the Governor
with a memorial, signed by seven thousand miners,
requiring the immediate reduction of the license
fee, as established by law, from thirty to ten shil-
lings.
Mr. Latrobe answered, "What you ask me is
impossible ; I cannot destroy the law ; I am
sworn to do my duty, and am prepared for any-
thing. While the license fee is law it must be
observed ; there are other and more important
interests than the gold-diggers' to be considered."
This answer brought matters to a crisis. The
miners assembled with flags and agreed to pay no
more than ten shillings license fee, and to appoint
a deputation to tender that sum to the Commis-
sioner. In answer to this demonstration Mr.
Latrobe published a letter, already commented on
in these columns, in which he argued the matter in
dispute with calmness and ability. On the 28th
of August a tumultuous meeting was held at Ben-
digo, and the ten shillings, in full payment for
licenses, tendered to and refused by the Commis-
sioner. Guns were fired, a badge of resistance, a
red riband, was adopted, the miners abstained
from taking out licenses for the next month, and
separated after announcing their intention to re-
assemble on the Ist of September. They had no
occasion to do so ; on the 30th day of that very
August, on the Ist of which Mr. Latrobe had so
emphatically refused to lower the license fee, the
Legislative Council of Victoria , met, and it was
thus that a panic-striken Governor addressed a
craven Legislature :—"The objections to the
present license fee, and' the practical difficulties
in the way of collecting it, have forced themselves
latterly so forcibly upon me that I am disposed
to propose to you its total abolition, merely
reserving a registration fee for police
A loss of revenue to a large amount will thus be
incurred, which I propose to supply by a revision
of the tariff, including an export duty on
On the Ist of September the gum trees
at thegeglodhl."-
fields were placarded with notices of the intentions
of the ,Government, but drawn up in such abject
terror that of two documents, prepared on the same
day, one asserted and the other denied that the
license for the current month would be collected.
A hurried committee of the Legislative Council
recommended, as a matter of urgency, the passing
of a temporary act, fixing the license fee at forty
shillings for the remaining three months of the year
—a sum which, after the declaration of the Gover-
nor, will, of course, never be collected, and can
only be considered as a decent prelude to allowing
the tax to drop altogether.
Thus, then, has one of our most unfavourablel
predictions been more than realised
;tie
Govern-
ment of Victoria is humbled in the dust before a
lawless mob ; the reign of order and the supremacy
of the law are at an n 1
mining population, theec ; With regard to the
publicl,e—a cowardly Legis-
lature property is aban-
doned to uncontrolled
li
ine
ne ne
ot are
s forced
multitude,
to
iwAituti
lature and a recreant G)
register the edicts of
al1111:1:1-teerrnog ti
and the sufferance. As was the
ons still left to the colony
exist avowedly
aueigiteil the attempt to increase
case when theythe miners fora moment are satis-
fied, license
feeshort-lived tranquillity is procured.
fied, and
who shaall say how long that tranquillity shall
But
,„• long will those who refuse to pay a
last ?public property which they
compensation for. the
appropriate submit to pay it. indirectly.. in the form
appr
of an export duty ? What injustice can be greater
than to impede the operations of commerce
merce and
the acquisition of the necessaries of life, in order
to grant perfect impunity to a class already in pos-
session of incredible riches ? And what greater
aggravation of this injustice can there be than the
consideration that it is inflicted under the dictation
of violence and the influence of terror ? Of course,
the abandonment of the license fee in Victoria will
draw after it its abolition in New South Wales,
and just at the moment when an increased revenue
is required the colonies will find themselves stripped
of that they already possess. We are weary of the
part of Cassandra, but if this plague can be ar-
rested the Home GoYerriment ought not to lose
one moment in taking the most efficient and coercive
measures for the purpose ; and, if it cannot, they
had better surrender a government they
administer h C ley
administer under the dictation of a Mob comprising
in its numbers the most desperate of adventurers
and the vilest of criminals.—Tirnes.

The shipments of specie by the General Screw steamer
Calcutta amount to 31,Q.00/. of which "26,000/. is gOld
for the Mauritius, and 5,000/, silver for Madras.

The hAlf yearly examination at this College took place
yesterday, and, as ti,sua,l-. upon similar 'occasions, the
directors of the Company and a large party of friends
went down by special train, shortly after 10 o'clock,
from the Shoreditch terminus,,to witness the proceedings.
Among those who attended were Mr. Russell Ellice, the
chairman ; Major Oliphant, the deputy-chairman ; Mr.
Masterman, M.P. ; Mr. W. 8.. Bayley, Mr. J. Shep-
herd, Mr. W. H. C. Plowden, Mr. F.Jacnaughten
Major J. A. Moore, Mr. J. Astell,J. prik,en'
Mr. D. C. Majoribanks, M.P., Sir H. Willeozk, Mr.
C. Whiteman, Sir T. Currie, Lieutenant-Colonel Mel-
ville, Colonel Sir Colin Campbell, K.C.8., the Rev.
R. M. Master, Mr. T. Masterman, Mr. Henry Kemble,
Colonel Alexander, Colonel Ovans, the Hon. J. C.
Erskine, Lieutenant-Colonel Abbott, Major French,
Captain Evans, Mr. T. N. Waterfield, Mr. G. W. Nor-
man, Major Turner, Captain Mangles, and the Rev. C.
B. Elliott. Some interest attached to the occasion as
being the last under the old nomination system, for the
act, passed last session, which throws the College open
to competition, and abolishes the patronage of the direc-
tors with reference to the civil service of India, comes
into operation next year.
The following is the list of medals, prizes, and other
honourable distinctions awarded to students leaving Col-
lege this term.
Mangles7-highly distinguished, with medal in classics ;
ditto Persian, prize in Sanscrit.
Trotter—highly distinguished, with medal in political
economy and history ; prize in classics, ditto Hindustani.
Master —highly distinguished, with medal in law ; do.
Teloogoo.

Proi)yn—highly distinguished, with medal in mathe•
maties.

C. P. Elliott—highly distinguished, with prize in
Hindi.

Skinner—highly distinguished, with prize in Persian.
Moriarty, Gonne, H. S. Alexander, G. W. Elliott,
Magniac, and Anderson—highly distinguished.
Webster—passed with great credit.
The prizes and other honourable distinctions of students
remaining in college, December, 1853, are as follows :

LONDON, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1853.

If ever there has been reason for interference
between Russia and Turkey, on the part of France
and England, it is visible now—now, when the
Muscovite armaments are no longer acting on the
defensive, but openly and daringly on the aggres-
sive : and this both by sea and by land, in the
Euxine and in Wallachia. The intelligence received
yesterday in reference to the maritime combat in the
Black Sea is to a considerable extent confirmed. As
we anticipated, of course, the accounts transmitted
to us by way of Vienna were characterised by a
monstrous exaggeration—so that the destruction
of an entire squadron dwindles down to the
seizure of a single vessel, and that vessel so worth-
less to its Russian captors that they were com-
pelled to abandon it midway between Sinope and
Sebastopol. Nevertheless, the intrinsic impor-
tance of the naval action cannot be essentially
affected by the accidental circumstance of its rela-
tive magnitude orinsignificance. It matters scarcely
anything, comparatively speaking, so far as the
alternative of extended peace or war is concerned
whether one ship, or a dozen ships bearing the
banner of the Crescent, may have fallen into the
possession of the war-vessels of the AUTOCRAT.
The fact of those war-vessels having attacked a
portion of the marine forces of the SULTAN is the
principal point in this matter requiring our con-
sideration. We question whether anything at
all deserving the title of a maritime victory has
been gained by the Russians—but we do not in
the least question the possibility of their having
assailed a convoy bearing the flag of the Ottoman
Government. In which event, the course to be
pursued by France and England must be
obvious enough under the circumstances. Es-
pecially when it is remarked, that the
aggressive acts of Russia are not re-
stricted to the waters of the Euxine,
but are observable at three points in the seat of
war in Wallachia. It is notorious, for example,
that the Muscovite forces under GORTZCHAKOFF
have already advanced their infantry to Braila,
that they have already garrisoned Giurgevo, that
they have already pushed forward fresh troops in
the direction of Kalafat. As we have observed,
therefore, the war on the part of Russia is no
longer a defensive war. Strictly speaking, it
never was a defensive war—from the commence-
ment—from the passage of the Pruth—from the
invasion of Moldavia. In testimony of which it
need only be inquired—ln whose dominions has
the struggle all along been maintained ? Why,
surely in the dominions of the Sublime Porte,
and not in those of the AUTOCRAT. Wherefore
it
must be perfectly obvious to the smallest capacity,
it must be quite manifest to the comprehension
even of childhood
, that the war all along has been,
strictly epeaatin
a!, an aggressive war on the part of
the Muscovite
Nevertheless, it has hitherto
suited the policy ,f the CZAR to assume for the
nonce that the struggle
in his regard has been one
simply defensive in its character.. According to
his version of occurrences, thepeecccupation of the
Danubian Principalities by
kAORTZCIIAKOFF'S
army was nothing more than the grfts„in,..
of a
material guarantee, and not in any 6
.Y a violation
of the rights of the Turkish Sovereignty. At
length, however, the attitude assumed by Russia
has undergone a manifest alteration. The threats
of the CZAR have been already in a great measure
fulfilled. He has revealed plainly enough
by this time that he was really in earnest in
throwing down the gage of battle so haughtily in
the presence of the observant races of Christendom.
At this juncture he is proving the sincerity of
his declaration in that respect in no less than four
different directions. In the advance of his in-
antry upon Braila—in his garrisoning of Gila.

gevo—in his pressing onwards directly upon
Kalafat—and now, finally, and in consummation
of all his flagrant acts of aggression upon Turkey
—in the attack made on the 30th ultimo by his
ships of war upon the Moslem port of Sinope.
Here, then, is the climax of provocation.
England and France have exhausted all their
efforts at an. amicable settlement of differences
between the Cabinets of the SULTAN and the
AUTOCRAT. It is preposterous, therefore,
to talk of any re-organisation of an already
thrice-abortive conference. It is sheer folly
and senile fatuity to babble about a revival
of diplomatic negotiations. After the mission of
MENSCHIKOFF, and the passage of the Pruth, and
the occupation of Moldavia and Wallachia, and
the virtual dethronement of the Hospodars, and
the refusal of any compromise, and the rejection
of the famous modifications—comes this daring
and flagitious attack by Russian war-vessels upon
a Turkish port, the port of Sinope. Therein,
consequently, may be recognised the final
and irresistible signal for retaliation. Turkey
ought now, boldly and promptly, to take the initia-
tive in this work of retaliation. Russia having
attacked one of her ports, site in return ought at
once to attack one of the ports of Russia. She
ought urgently to demand from Lord STRATFORD
DE REDCLIFFE and from General BARAGUAY D'HIL-
LIERS the promised support of the combined
fleets sent out to the Bosphorus for that
purpose by the allied Governments of France
and England • and having urged this de-
mand upon the British and French Ambassa-
dors, she ouglit then forthwith to despatch a
powerful maritime armament across the Black
Sea, and to bombard Sebastopol. Let us yet hope
that some such course may actually by this time
have been resolved upon at Constantinople. Nay,
more, that the Divan may have been incited to its
adoption by the representatives of the two Western
Governments. Otherwise the strength of the posi-
tion assumed throughout the whole of this memor-
able contention by Turkey may have been in a
great measure jeopardised, and the glory, and the
honour, and the dignity of France and England
more than ever deplorably compromised. It
should at least be remembered by the ABERDEEN
Coalition that for that glory, for that honour, for
that dignity, so far as concerns the reputation of
Great Britain, they must before many additional
weeks have elapsed be answerable before the
Imperial Parliament.

Among the many serious grievances to which
the Hindoo subjects of her MAJESTY are subjected,
there are none of greater magnitude or requiting
more speedy attention than that relating to the
administration, or rather the mal-administration,
of civil and criminal justice in India. Loud and
frequent complaints have from time to time been
put forward, and these resting on no trivial or
insufficient grounds, but attested by every disin-
terested person who was in any degree acquainted
with the details or practical results of the demo-
ralising system. It was shown that the process,
besides " involving large unnecessary expenses,"
was " slow, complicated, and imperfect." The
most vexatious technicalities of the English law
had been introduced, not only without any ade-
quate knowledge of the peculiar customs and feel-
ings of the people whose rights were to be vindi-
cated before these tribunals, but with the most
profound indifference as to their operation. The
opinions and prejudices of the native population
were totally disregarded, and the result of such a
course was what might have been anticipated, and
which had been so ably exposed in Mr. NORTON'S
pamphlet, to which we have already repeatedly
directed public attention. Perjury and bribery
prevailed, or, what was nearly as bad, were be-
lieved to prevail, in all the local courts. No
confidence could be placed in obtaining justice,
no matter how clear and unquestionable the claims
put forward, or the evidence by which they might
be sustained. If " the glorious uncertainty of
the law" had passed into a proverb even in this
country, in consequence of the abuses that had
crept into the whole judicial system, still more
might it have been noticed in British India,
where no final decision could be obtained so long
as the litigants possessed the means of carrying
on the contest, until, in fact, one party was sucked
completely dry, and was compelled to yield to the
longer purse and more extensive resources of
his opponent. It was not difficult to obtain
evidence on any point that might be re-
quired. Perjury appears to have been a mere
" drug in the market." False oaths could at any
time be obtained on the most reasonable terms.
Three-halfpence English currency was sufficient to
procure the testimony of a witness ready and
willing to prove anything and everything for
either side. Mr. NORTON has put this deplorable
state of things so clearly and distinctly forward
that we shall merely quote his words :—" In-
forming a native," says the Honourable and
Learned Gentleman, "of a point which it is ne-
cessary for him to prove in order to substantiate
his case, is almost tantamount to bidding him go
into the bazaar, where witnesses to any fact may
be procured at an anna (lid.) a-head, and setting
in motion all the secret springs of a complicated
machinery of forgery and subornation of perjury !"
If we are to " judge of the tree by its fruits,"
what can be said of a system that has led to such
lamentable results, when almost every cause in
the local courts produces such an effect ? It may
be said that these fearful evils cannot fairly be
attributed to the system ; that it is the total dis-
regard of the obligation of an oath evinced by the
natives that is in fault. We deny this assertion
in toto. The practice would speedily be put
down if it were not attended in many instances
with success, and in almost all with impunity.
If we offered similar premiums in our tribunals
for such conduct, we should find that the country
where " straw bail" was so long recognised would
have little to boast of in any comparison that
might be instituted.

Half a century ago the complaints were as fre-
quent and as urgent as at present ; and twenty
years since there were pceans almost as joyous on
account of an anticipated remedy as those recently
chaunted on the appointment of a new Commis-
sion. In 1833 provisions were made for the ap-
pointment of a Law Commission, which was
to prepare a code of laws, amending and con-
solidating the various laws in force in British
India, and establishing, so far as practicable, a
uniform common law for the entire population.
Sanguine expectations were entertained as to the
beneficial results of the labours of the intelligent
and talented members of that commission. Under
the auspices of its President—a gentleman who
has justly achieved high distinction in many pur-
suits, who had gained verdant laurels as poet,
historian, orator, and statesman—a penal code
was prepared, the first fruit of the genius and
industry of the parties engaged in the arduous
and important duties. But THOMAS BABINGTON
MACAULAY was not permitted to add a wreath
acquired as a law reformer to those achieved in
other fields. The new code was first submitted
to the various local authorities—thence to the
place from whence it came, Calcutta, to be recon-
sidered, along with the various suggestions offered
by the different parties whose opinions had been
requested in respect thereof. Then came the real
difficulty. The oft-considered report was transmit-
ted to England, where, according to custom, it oscil-
lated between Leadenhall-street and Cannon-row,
according to the approved forms of procrastination.
During the time thus occupied, it was frequently
returned to Calcutta for further information and
transmitted back again, until, as stated during the
debate—we believe by Mr. BRIGHT—it was kept
wandering to and fro, "like an unsettled spirit."
A casual pauper, whose settlement was disputed,
and who was bandied backwards and forwards by
opposing parishes during the progress of the liti-
gation, might furnish an apt illustration of the
treatment afforded to the report from which so
much had been anticipated, lulta it finally 4

settled down, and was permitted to rest with-
out disturbance on the shelves of the India
House. The first gentleman had returned to
England, to devote his brilliant talents to pursuits
calculated to produce more practical results. The
second differed in many essential particulars from
his predecessor, and commenced nearly de novo.
His code, however, met with no better fate.
Death terminated his proceedings, and a third
gentleman was appointed, but, according to the
chief panegyrist of the "Double Government,"
he was ignorant of many of the habits and customs
of the Hindoos, with which it was most desirable
that a person performing such a duty should be
acquainted. It is scarcely necessary to allude to
the fact that nothing has been effected, and that
complaints are still rife throughout the length
and breadth of British India, and that the defec-
tive administration of justice affords but too solid
a foundation for many of the remonstrances that
have been put forward by the inhabitants of the
Anglo-Indian Empire.
Now, another movement has taken place. A
new Commission has been inaugurated. New in-
quiries are to be entered into. With the composi-
tion of that Commission we are perfectly satisfied.
We are convinced that the distinguished and
talented gentlemen of which it is composed will
faithfully and efficiently discharge their duties.
There was little necessity of fixing a period within
which the Reports should be presented, so far as
they are concerned. But what security do we
possess that their Report may not be treated in
the same way as those of their predecessor—that
it may not hang suspended, like another MAHO-
MET'S coffin, between the Board of Control and
the Court of Directors ? We would fain hope
that something practical may at length be achieved
—that the reproach which has so long hung over
Hindostan may be removed, even at the eleventh
hour. But we have but little confidence in the
Government provided by the new Charter for
India. Though we may place every reliance in
Sir JOHN ROMILLY and his coadjutors, we cannot
do so in the President of the India Board, or the
Directors, collectively or individually; we there-
fore fear that, until the Act of last Session has
been altogether repealed, or materially modified,
the population of British India must be contented
with things as they are, and that legal reform will
only follow a total alteration in the system of
government of that important and extensive ter-
ritory.