The Sun.
London, England, 1853-01-17 00:00:00

CIRCULATION OF THE LONDON MORNING, PAPERS.

THE MORNING ADVERTISER.
The Stamp Returns of the circulatfcn of the MORNING
NEWSPAPERS in 1850, the latest pubtititid, give the following
results :
MORNING ADVERTISER . . . 1,549,843
Daily News 1,152,000
Morning Herald . . • . . 1,139,000
Morning Chronicle . . • . . 912,547
Morning Post • • • . 829,000
It will be observed from this statement that. omitting the " TimeS,"
the circulation of the MORNING ADVERTISER was then far
above that of its morning contemporaries. Early in 1851 the
MORNING ADVERTISER was permanently enlarged to a double
sheet, and since that time it has met with a measure of success,
both as regards the extent of its circulation, and the number of its
advertisements, which has no parallel in the annals of English
;ournalism. Were the Stamp Returns to be given down to the
present time. the relative circulation of the MORNING ADVER-
TISER to its four morning contemporaries (assuming that their
circulation has undergone no diminution) would be as follows :
MORNING ADVERTISER . . . 2,220,000
Daily News 1 152,000
Morning Herald . . . . . 1,139,000
Morning Chronicle . . . . . .912,547
Morning Post . . . . . . 828,000

It will be seen that the present circulation of THE MORNING
ADVERTISER is nearly double that of the two greatest of its four
contemporaries, and approaches to treble that of one of their num-
ber. This vast addition to the circulation of THE MORNING
ADVERTISER, obtained in less than two years, is the result of its
progress in all parts of the country, and among all classes of society.
8o proud a position among its contemporaries is to be regarded as
the best tribute that could be paid to its thorough independence of
all parties and Governments, and its earnest advocacy of the
popular cause.
January, 1853.
Published every Morning, at 127, Fleet-street, London.

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

THIS EVENING, JAN. 17,
Will be performed the popular and highly successful Comedy of
MASKS AND FACES; or, Before and Behind the Curtain—by
Messrs. Benjamin Webster, Leigh Murray, and Stuart ; Mrs. Stir-
ling, Mrs. Leigh Murray, Miss F. Maskell, and Miss Rosa Bennett.
After which, the gorgeous Extravaganza, entitled LEO THE
TERRIBLE.

To conclude With the Farce of BOX and COX MARRIED and
SETTLED.

ROYAL LYCEUM THEATRE.
Under the Management of Madame Yestrls.
THIS EVENING, lAN. 17,

Will be performed the Comic Drama called A PHENOMENON
1N A SMOCK-FROCK, Characters by Messrs. C. Mathews, F.
Matthews, and Horncastle ; Miss F. Baker and Miss C. Mitchell.
After which, the new and popular original Fairy Extravaganza,
entitled THE GOOD WOMAN IN THE WOOD, in which Messrs.
F. Matthews, Suter, Horncastie, and Templeton ; Madame Vestris,
Xiss Julia St. George, Miss Robertson, Miss Martindale, Miss Ellis,
Miss Wyndham, Miss Eglinton, and Miss Rosins Wright will appear.
To conclude with LITTLE TODDLEKINS.
Sole Agent for the Private Boxes, Mr. W. Allcroft, 15, blew
Bond-street.

THEATRE ROYAL ADELPHI.
proprietor, Mr. B. Webster. —Directress, Madame Celeste.
THIS EVENING, JAN. 17,

Will be presented the powerful new Drama of SLAVE LIFE ; or,
Uncle Tom's Cabin—by Messrs. Alfred Wigan, Cullenford, 0. Smith,
and Emery ; Madame Celeste, Miss Woolgar, Miss Laura Honey,
and Mrs. Keeley.

After which;the gloriously successful Comic Pantomime, called
NELL GWYNNE ; or, Harlequin Merrie Monarch. Principal
Danseuse, Mdlle. Auriol ; Clown, Flexmore.

ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE, OXFORD-STREET.
Under the Management of Mr. C. Kean.
THIS EVENING, JAN. 17,
Will be performed Shakspere's Play of KING JOHN. Principal
characters by Messrs. C. Kean, W. Lacy, Ryder, Addison, Meadows,
J. Vining, Terry, Graham, F. Cooke, Everett, Vezin, and Cathcart;
Miss Phillips, Miss Desborough, Miss Murray, Miss Kate Terry, Mrs.
Daly, and Mrs. C. Kean.
To conclude with the new and original Grand Comic Christ-
mas Pantomime, entitled HARLEQUIN CHERRY AND FAIR
STAR; or, The Green Bird, the Dancing Waters, and the
Singing Tree. Harlequin, Mr. Cormack ; Clown, Mr. Huline ; Pan-
taloon, Mr. Paulo; Columbine, Miss Carlotta Leelercq.

ROYAL OLYMPIC THEATRE.
Lessee and Manager, Mr. Farren.
THIS EVENING, JAN. 17,

Will be presented LILIAN GERVAIS. Supported by Messrs.
Compton, W. Farren, jun., Hoskins, Cooke, Edgar, Bender, and
Clifton; Miss Anderton and Miss H. Gordon.

After which, ROMEO AND JULIET; or, Harlequin Queen
blab and the World of Dreams. Clown, Mr. Edwin Edwardes,
with his highly-trained dogs.

Box-office open from Eleven till Four, under the superintendence
of Mr. Edward Chatterton.

ASTLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE.
Proprietor and Manager, Mr. W. Batty. .
Crowded Nightly to witness the Extraordinary Holiday Attractions
THIS EVENING, J. 17,
And during the Week. the Performances will commence with
UNCLE Tom's CABIN (50th time).
After which, Batty's peerless Scenes in the Arena.
To conclude with the successful Pantomime of FORTUNIO AND
HIS HORSE COMRADE ; or, Harlequin and the Seven Gifted
Men.

On THURSDAY, JAN. 20, another Grand JUVENILE NIGHT,
on which occasion the Pantomime will be played—first followed by
brilliant Pieces in the Circle, and concluding with a Laughable
FARCE.
Doors open at Half-past Six o'clock. To commence at Seven.
Box-office open daily from Eleven to Font'. Stage Manager, Mr.
W. West.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
l'nts DAY —Morning 1 min. after 7 I Evening 24 min.aft. 7
o-Moscow—Morning 48 min. after 7 1 Evening 18 min.aft. 8

DAILY WEATHER TABLE.

MONDAY, JAN. 17, 1853.
State of the wind and weather at each of the following
places at nine o'clock on Saturday morning. The stations
are arranged in order of latitude.
HAsTrNos—S.S.W., strong breeze—rain.
SOUTHAMPTON—S.W., strong breeze—rain.
TUNBRIDGE—S.W., hard wind—scud, rain.
BASINGSTOKE—N.W., hard wind—overcast.
GREENWICH—S., strong breeze—rain.
SwrN. noN—S.W., strong breeze—rain.
LuoliToN—S.W., strong breeze—rain.
CAMBRIDGE—S., gentle breeze—rain.
YARMOUTH— S. strong breeze—rain.
HOLYHEAD—S.W., strong breeze—rain.
LANCASTER—S.E., strong breeze—heavy rain.
WHITBY—S., strong breeze—rain.
DARLINGTON—E., Nig breeze—overcast, snow.
SHAD—E., strong breeze—snow.
The returns from the following places indicate the state
of the weather on Friday morning at nine o'clock :
LIMERICK—S.W., calm—partially cloudy.
MULLINGAR—S.E., gentle breeze—partially cloudy.
HOLYHEAD—N., gentle breeze—fine.
LANCASTER—N., gentle breeze—cloudless.
WHITBY—N.W. gentle breeze—principally clear.
DARLINGTON—W.N.W., strong breeze—cloudless,
sharp frost.
SNAP—W., calm—partially cloudy.

THE WEATHER.--Smt OFFICE, JAN. 16.
THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE.
44—highest since noon on Saturday.
33—lowest yesterday morning, and during Sat. night.
40—yesterday at noon.
BAROMETER, 29'26, but fell in the night as low as 29.11
WIND, S.E.—Dull, with rain all day.
JANUARY 17.
41—highest since noon yesterday.
34—lowest this morning and during the night.
38—this thy, at noon.
BAROMETER, 29'32—still rising.
WIND, N.N.W.—Morning, fine; afternoon, dull.

r 4. \ .47;
At
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E4AS
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.

LONDON, MONDAY, JANUARY 17, 1853. ‘

The companion picture to the Kafir War—
namely, the unfortunate war against the Bur-
mese—is becoming, with every successive mail, more
and more highly coloured. The intelligence from
the Irrawaddy serves, rather painfully, to remind
us that every age, that every state, that every
crisis, is not blessed in the hour of conflict with
the ripened genius of a HowE, or the matured
energies of a RADETZKY. We have learnt, by a
bitter experience, the folly of that extravagant
system which squanders in modern warfare gold,
and time, and blood, and life, for the sake of re-
taining in supreme command some very well-in-
tentioned but evidently worn-out octogenarian.
Judging from the course pursued in this respect,
for a considerable time past, by England, it would
seem that, as a nation, we place less reliance
upon youth than upon senility. It would appear
even that the British Empire itself, grown grey
in glory, has become enamoured of congenial
age—placing the symbols of authority, in all but
a few exceptions, within the grasp of veterans,
serviceable for more than the " sear and yellow
leaf" over which MACBETH lamented. It is thus,
indeed, of late, almost invariably. If the coun-
cils of the SOVEREIGN are broken up by a minis-
terial crisis—the chances are that the particular
statesman selected, is the very one whose decrepi-
tude has compelled him formally to retire from
public life, or to refrain from participating as fre-
quently as of yore in the stormy contests of the
Legisla,ture. If another struggle is known to
have commenced along the frontiers of our mag-
nificent dependencies in Hindostan, the sea-cap-
tain entrusted with the responsibility of conduct-
ing our fleets to the scene of action, is some old
flag-officer, who ought to have been spared the
ailments encountered among the swamps near
Rangoon, and to have been permitted to
wile away the closing years of an honoured and
protracted existence, dragged in a bath-chair al ng
the shady side of the tranquil ronienade at
Cheltenham. Instead of this, Admiral AUSTIN is
sent out to die on the coast of Burmah—a victim
to the system of which we have long complained—
surrounded at the period of his decease not by
chalybeate-spas, and fashionable physicians,
and all the other accessories of a favourite water-
ing-place, but by death in a thousand shapes of
anything but a heroic character—death not by
the bomb, or the bullet, or the bayonet, but by
jungle fever, and the Asiatic cholera, and
dysentery. Looking nearer home in regard to the
less destructive field of politics, we find the Pre-
naiership proffered, under a great emergency, to a
leader wh,o is himself compelled to decline the ten-

dered sway because of his age and consequent indis-
position—the veteran and venerable Marquis of
LANSDOWNE. It was not thus when PITT was
Minister at one-and-twenty. It was not thus
when SYDNEY SMITH Was post-captain while yet
a stripling—or when the eventful career of
HORATIO NELSON was closed in the forty-seventh
year of his age at the great battle of Trafalgar.
No. But the times would seem to have alto-
gether changed. England has grown older, and
in obedience to some preposterous non sequihcr, is
" therefore" confiding her destinies not to men in
the prime of their manhood, but to men totter-
ing on the verge of dissolution.. And so General
GODWIN is still in command of the British Forces
collected together to oppose the warlike Burmese
—an octogenarian remains in supreme power on
the banks of the Irrawaddy !
" Genius when young is Divine." It was the
apophthegm addressed by SIDONIA to CONINGSBY
—and illustrated by a thousand resplendent recol-
lections. England, in this particular, as in some
other things, does not appear to coincide with the
FY-CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER. It matters
not that AL-Plc-ANDER was little more than a boy
when he opened his Oriental conquests at the head
of the soldiers of Macedonia. It signifies nothing
that NAPOLEON was in the bloom of youth when
he routed the veteran Austrians on the plains of
Lombardy—when he overthrew the pride of the
Mamelukes under the shadow of the Pyramids—
when, with his good sword, he renewed more than
the success of MONTECUCULI, and won his way to
the iron crown and the golden throne of CHARLE-
MAGNE. It is nothing that CESAR was not
so old when he baffled the tactics of POMPEY,
or that SCIPIO was so young when he triumphed
over the giant mind and practised warriors of
HANNIBAL. England is stubborn against the
logic of experience. She sends Admiral AUSTIN
to die' near Rangoon, and fills up the vacant post
by a sailor-chief like Sir FLEETWOOD PELLEW---.
gallant enough, no doubt, as becomes one bearing
the name of our glorious ExMouTH—but
ill-
suited to the occasion and the emergency, as
having closed his services on the salt water as far
back as 1816, the year of the renowned victory
of his progenitor. Within that interval of six-
and-thirty years, we may not unreasonably pre-
sume, we may not unreasonably hope, that the
naval system has advanced, and that rather con-
siderably too, beyond the naval system with which
' Sir FLEET WOOD PELLEW had by 1816 become
accustomed to. Yet it is to an unpractised flag-
officer like this--unpractised, we mean, in the use
of all our maritime resources in steam, as well as
in our improved system of gunnery, and, in fact, in
the whole of our later and very considerable inno-
vations--that the ships-of-war off the coasts of
the Burmese territories have been confided. A
likely means, forsooth, for rousing General Gon-
wm from his prolonged and disastrous torpor—
that torpor which has produced in delays,
death, and discomfiture the fruits of the
over-prudence of an octogenarian. Every
successive budget of intelligence from Hindostan
reveals, alas ! only the more plainly, and, thence,
of course, only the more painfully, the melancholy
consequences of the timorous course followed dur-
ing so many months by General GODWIN, as
Commander-in-Chief of the forces assembled on the
Burmese territory. England, meanwhile, is pay-
ing dearly for this in men and even in provisions,
but still more seriously in time and in reputation.
A single instance will be sufficient evidence of this
without going further down the whole lamentable
catalogue of calamities and extravagances. There
was Sir J. CHEArs—according to the last dis-
patches—still lying inactive at Prome with 7,000
troops, waiting to be attacked by a " rabble force
of Burmese," inferior to his own in all respects,
even in point of numbers, subsisting all the while
upon inadequate supplies of salt-junk, ob-
tained at very considerable expense from
Calcutta and this, remember, in the very heart
of a country prolific in herds of bullocks. So
much for our military prowess and military promp-
titude t Then, again, our larger steamers are no
longer enabled by depth of water to paddle up and
down the current of the Irrawaddy. The Burmese
have, consequently, grown " impertinent," it is
the phrase of the Bengal Hurkaru, in their various
attacks upon the armaments of England, attacks
which have been multiplied by delays and encou-
raged by impunity. Such is the evidence of
the benefits secured by our naval energy,
'skill, and discrimination I Meanwhile—this
being our position—numerous misfortunes were
anticipated as upon the eve of crowding upon our
troops simultaneously about the period of the de-
parture from Bombay of the latest fragments of
intelligence. It was expected, for example, that
an army of 20,000 Burmese, was about to descend
in the hope of recapturing Martaban. It was
thought that 10,000 more were about to advance
suddenly upon Dalla, for the purpose of
a vigorous, and, if possible, decisive demon-
stration. It was deemed, moreover, by no
means unlikely that a third body of the
enemy, headed by a well-known chieftain, might,
by crossing the river Sitang, and penetrating the
country of Pegu, make a‘bold assault upon Ran-
goon, such must prove terribly destructive, if not
altogether triumphant. At such a crisis—after
such • experiences—with Europe observing the
march of our arms—with the prestige of our
authority in India at stake, is it (we ask
the question again and again) rational that in
this, as in so many other instances before now,
the fortunes of war, if not in some measure the
fate of England, should be confided to the clouded
vision and weakened grasp of a brave but
exhausted octogenarian.

The Chairman of the late Committee on Church-
rates, Mr. TRELAWNEY, published, last Septem-
ber, in our respectable Dissenting contemporary,
the Nonconformist, a long and very able let-
ter, which we may properly consider as the Report
of that Committee. Some of its members would
probably have objected to the definite proposal with
which the letter concludes, and it is just possible
that a very stiff Churchman would still main-
tain, in the face of the evidence, that Church-
rates are necessary ; but the vast majority of
candid rap of all parties will agree with the im-
partial conclusions of the late Member for Tavi-
stock, that " the evidence entiles him to consider
six propositions as conclusively established :

"I. That the law is inadequate for its pur-

pose.
" 11. That it is uncertain.
" 111. That it is expensive.
" IV. That it is unjust to Dissenters.
"V. That in special cases it is unjust to Church-
men.
" VI. That it is unnecessary."

On the first three propositions, there will
be no difference of opinion. If there
could be any, the facts mentioned by Mr. TRE-
LAWNEY under these heads would satisfy the
most incredulous ; all our readers, however, are
familiar with the Braintree case. That the tax is
unjust to Dissenters, many fairminded Churchmen,
as well as those who are unscrupulous sticklers for
the last penny of tribute to Ecclesiastical Supre-
macy, would be inclined to dispute. It is hope-
less to reason with the latter ; the former we
confidently refer to Mr. TRELAWNEY'S admir-
able summing up of the evidence on
this point. Admitting that at Common Law the
repair of the fabrics, and the necessaries for public
worship, are a parish charge ; that they may be
considered, theoretically, as deducted from the rent
by every tenant who hires a property, liable to
Church-rates ; and that to give them up is there-
fore to make a present of their amount to the
owners of the property—he observes, " that it
may, indeed, be right to continue a certain charge
which has existed for many centuries, but it does
not follow that the public are always bound to ap-
ply its produce to the same objects ; and if it has
ceased to give satisfaction to apply a portion of
the national wealth to the purpose of
diffusing particular tenets, those who disapprove
of such application have a right to its discon-
tinuance, and those who insist upon it are bound
to demonstrate its conduciveness to the public
good." Ile proceeds to show from the evidence
of Dr. LIISHINGTON, and Mr. HODGKIN, a barris-
ter, and member of the community of Friends, that
the tax originated in Catholic times, when it was

as a tax equal, and therefore just, dissent being
scarcely known, that the legislation for a long
time after the Reformation was based on complete,
uncompromising intolerance of dissent ; but that
the legal toleration of dissent necessarily altered
the state of the question, "the tax ceased to be
applicable to purposes in the benefit of which
all could partake, and then became unjust."
We may add that the liability of newly-created
property to Church-rates is defensible on no
ground whatever. Such property certainly has
not been liable to Church-rates " from time im-
memorial ;" and, so far as it goes, they hinder
the improvement of property, like copyhold ten-
ures and charges. The smallness of the impost is
an argument cutting both ways.
The injustice of Church-rates to Churchmen
themselves in the case of district churches paying
their own expenses, and those of the parish
church also, has often been felt, is sufficiently
obvious, and was established by clerical evidence ;
indeed, we remember more than one church-rate
having been defeated by Churchmen in these circum-
stances. The last, and main point, is, that Church-
rates are unnecessary. Most cordially do we wish
that Mr. TRELAWNEY may gain the concurrence of
all parties here. He ought to gain it. The facts
he adduces of what has been voluntarily done by
Churchmen themselves (especially by Dr. Hoox
at Leeds, and Mr. BURGESS at Chelsea) as well as
byDissenters, amount to moral demonstration; Mr.
REID NEWSO ME, churchwarden of Headingly, gave
very instructive evidence on the ease with which a
voluntary Church-rate canbe made. He charged the
house-rental of each person occupying a sitting.
" Out of a rate of 521.105. 7d. somade, 45/.55. 9d.
was raised ; and out of 53 persons, only 5 refused
an appeal to them for the requisite funds." All
that is needed, therefore, to meet the expenses of
worship, is an Actof Parliament legalising such volun-
tary rates, and making it the duty of Churchwardens
to call together the inhabitants, and declare the
amount needed for the year. But how is the
fabric of the churches to be upheld ? Now here
there must be a little concession on the part
of the more extreme Dissenters. If Church-
men will pay their own expenses for wor-
ship, as their part of the adjustment,
cannot Dissenters agree to regard the churches
themselves as valuable public property, which the
nation should not allow to become dilapidated ?
Some Dissenters will reply, of course, that while
the Churchmen are tenants of buildings which
have cost them nothing, and while Dissenters have
to repair chapels of which they themselves have
borne the cost of erection, Churchmen ought at
least to keep their buildings in repair, and be
grateful too. We admit the plausibility of the
reasoning ; but we appeal to them as men who
must wish to rescue Religion from the contentions,
heartburnings, and reproach of Church-rate
Meetings, to concede a little for the sake
of their common faith. We, would, if we
could, induce Churchmen everywhere to emu-
late Dissenters as successfully and efficiently as
they have done at Leeds ; but, failing this, we
would beseech Dissenters not to ride their hobby
of principle to death. As a large section of the
nation, they are in part landlords of the
national churches ; and if a landlord,
from some cause, cannot compel a tenant
to keep his house in repair, why, as a man of
prudence, he must repair it himself. Now of
all the proposals yet made, Mr. TRELAWNEY'S
must be, we should think, the least exceptionable
to Dissenters in regard to the mode of raising the
money. He would raise it from Church property
entirely. The Marquis of BLANDFORD has sup-
plied him with a fund. The Marquis, it will be
remembered, brought forward a scheme for Church
extension, through a fund to be raised by sel-
' ling a large -• part of the advowsons now in
the hands of the Lord Chancellor. Mr. TRE-
LAWNEY would apply this fund to Church Repairs.
The MARQUIS wants to build 600 new churches ;
Mr. TRELAWNEY would save the old ones from
going to ruin. For the details—which, indeed,
except as to the proposed application of them, are
the Marquis of BLANDFonn's—we must refer our
readers to Mr. TRELAWNEY'S admirable letter. It
is quite clear that, if Dissenters will be moderate
and Churchmen just, here is a fund which would
amply suffice for the repairs of all our
churches. To all who wish for a settlement
of this harassing question, we would merely
say, in conclusion, that it should be strongly
pressed upon the attention of the present Govern-
ment., Mr. TRELAWNEY himself, the author of
the letter to which we have called attention, most
handsomely declined to oppose Lord ALFRED
HARVEY at Brighton, and may, therefore, fairly
ask, at their hands, for the consideration of his
proposals. All parties are unanimous that a
more exceptionable mode than the present one
of raising funds for the repair of churches and the
conduct of worship could hardly be devised ; and
it may well be demanded of a Ministry which
is to be one of deeds and of progress, that it
should abolish this nuisance by some means. Sir
ROBERT PEEL, whom so large a portion of the pre-
sent Cabinet venerate as their highest authority,
stated distinctly that the subject could not
be left unsettled, " and yielded to no other
in emergency." The Whig Members of the
Ministry must be willing to renew their former
attempts under more favourable circumstances; and
even Lord DERBY (who was in office when Mr. TRE-
LAWNEY wrote) when previously in the Cabinet,
having stated that " the present condition of
Church-rates has al ways been considered a
very great grievance from which her MAJESTY'S
Government are prepared to grant substantial
relief," added, " Suppose that, year after year, the
Church should be triumphant in maintaining the'
payment of these rates to the uttermost farthing,
and maintaining every abuse connected with
their collection and distribution, does my Ron.
Friend think that such a course of proceeding
would be advantageous to the interests of the
Church, or lead to the promotion of true religion ?
Does my Hon. Friend consider the heartburnings,
the acrimonious revilings, the profanation of the
Church where these meetings take place, by
which, year after year, the cause of true Religion
is violated and profaned?' say that such.
calls for '
a state of things
imperatively
re-
lief." Zealous Dissenters, we know, covet
these opportunities of damaging the Church,
which they are sure of doing in every contested
rate, whether they lose or win ; but more mo-
derate Dissenters, and all Churchmen, aware of
their true interest, would, we think, do wisely,
Mr. TRELAWNEY'S proposition on the present
by a combined and vigorous movement, to press
Liberal-Conservative Government.

The'farmers themselves are, we perceive, making
a little stir again about the Malt Tax. Between
two and three hundred highly respectable persons
of this " depressed class" met at the Royal Hotel,
in the ancient capital of that pre-eminently agri-
cultural county, Norfolk, to " call the attention
of the public to the grievous, oppression of the
Malt and Hop Duties on the producing and con-
suming classes of the kingdom." So at least ran
the circular by which the meeting was convened.
It was composed, so far as the speakers were con-
cerned, of hearty, thoroughgoing Protectionists ;
and the Chairman, H. J. STRACEY, Esq., is the
reputed Tory candidate for East Norfolk at the
next election—a circumstance which, though un-
supported by anything said at the meeting, led
some to suppose that political objects were at the
bottom. The Chairman, however, and his farmer
friends, all treated Free Trade as a thoroughly
settled thing; they did not even gnash their teeth
at it; they only wanted it carried out thoroughly;
good. old Protectionists, too, they neither spoke long-
ingly thereof, nor complained contemptuously that
the unreachable grapes were sour. They had but
one burden to 'their song—that consistent Free-
traders, consistent friends of the consumer, con-
sistent " lighteners of the springs of industry,"
ought to grant them the repeal of the Malt Tax.
The only Senator amongst them was Mr.
EDmoND WODEHOUSE, Deputy Lieutenant, and
one of the East Norfolk Members, who elicited no
small measure of rather noisy dissent ; because,
although thirty years ago he had voted with Lord
WESTERN for the repeal of the Malt Duty, he had
told Mr. CAYLEY at the present time that the
eircumstancess„were, changed,..and he could not

support the repeal now. The farmers, when
asked by him, loudly declared that five millions
could be spared ; and one of them, a shrewdish
son of the soil, told the County Legislator, that
when he could convince him that no pensions and
sinecures were paid out of the revenues of the
country; and that the luxuries of the rich were
taxed in an equal proportion to the necessaries of
the poor, he would then believe that the five mil-
lions could not be spared. Excellent tuition this
for nascent M.P.'s, and for old . Protectionist
M.P.'s too, —and to receive it from their-own
tenant-farmers ! Assuredly we shall soon have
the good old stock county members turning hearty
financial reformers. Had We been present we
could scarcely have avoided reminding the worthy
farmer that he was not a short time ago, while
clamouring for Corn Laws, so anxious to
lower the price of the " necessaries of
the poor ; " then, however, a Corn Tax
meant a higher price for wheat ; now, a Malt
Tax means, as he thinks, a lower price for barley.
Let all that pass, however, and let ustake our East-
Norfolk farmer friends for pure patriots—the im-
portant question is—Are they on the right tack ?
Now, we dp think there would be many advan-
tages in really cheap malt, especially if the Licens-
ing System were abolished, and the trade made
as free and open as that in most untaxed articles.
If everybody were as much at liberty to make
and sell beer as to sell haberdashery and grocery,
we should no doubt have abundance of it, both
unadultered and cheap. Competition would in-
sure both genuine quality, and a reasonable price.
It would also be procurable of numberless re-
spectable venders besides the publican and the
beer-shop keeper ; it would be a trade open not
only to persons of moderate capital, but to every
cleanly, good cottage housewife, who wished to
earn honestly a few additional shillings per week
by selling it to her near neighbour. Best of all
would it be if the cottager could brew his own
monthly bushel of malt at home ; the wife, who
in times of weakness often needs such nourish-
ment, enjoying it with her husband ; the grains
serving for their pig, and the fresh yeast itself
being no mean aid to the weekly cottage baking.
Nothing would be better for the morals of the
working man than thus to withdraw him from
the drugged beer and evil companions of
the public-house, and to retain him in
th© bosom of his family to enjoy his humble
luxuries and comforts there. One of the resolu-
lutions passed at the meeting distinctly expressed
the wish " to see again the spigot and the mash-
tub in the dwellings of the labouring poor." Is
this, however, chimerical to hope for ?—that is,
if the Malt-tax were repealed. We hardly think
it is. Notwithstanding the growing partiality,
even of working men, for tea and coffee, we are
confident that agricultural labourers at least do
not consume anything like the beer they wish for,
and need. Their wages and the price of malt
together make it an impossibility. Now their
wages are certainly somewhat improving, emigra-
tion- is reducing their number ; and more work
for each, better pay, and better living, is the
present course of things. If, then, the bushel of
malt be reduced 75 per cent. to them—if they
will be able to get for four or five shillings, or
less, what now costs them fully seven or eight—
their improving wages may enable them to com-
mand this important luxury—or necessary, as it
would perhaps be fairer to term it. If, how-
ever, the price be reduced by the full
amount of the duty (and a less reduc-
tion would not materially increase the
consumption), where would be the benefit
to the farmer ? For, patriotic as we be-
lieve tho gentlemen of the Norfolk Hotel to be,
we still fear they would scarcely trouble themselves
to meet together if they did not imagine them-
selves to be promoting the farmers' interest.
We reply that the only possible advantage to them
would be scope for increased profitable production
of barley. Barley is now proportionably the best
priced of all grain. It has risen rather than
dropped since the Budget was thrown out, prov-
ing that the present supply is insufficient ; but
taking off the duty would have one very impor-
tant consequence : it would make it profitable to
malt qualities, which now will scarcely pay for the
manufacture, because while the same high duty is
paid on all qualities none but the best barley will
afford to pay it. Hence foreign barley, which
generally is inferior to our own, would be very
largely imported, and at the same time lands
which will furnish but second-rate qualities here
would be encouraged to grow them. There might
be at first some rise of price, and it might be
slightly sustained for some time, but we think
the only benefit the farmer, as a producer,
could ultimately reap, would be a better market
for increased produce. If he cannot increase
his produce, the foreign producer would alone be
benefitted, since it is admitted on all hands, from
Mr. DISRAELI to the Royal Hotel speakers, that
the country will not tolerate the present prohibi-
tory duty on foreign malt a day after our own
Malt Tax is repealed. We think the gain to the
consumer would be by far the greatest, but unless
it would make beer, as extensively as bread, a
domestic manufacture, we do not think it would
compensate the community for the loss of five
millions of revenue.

We are, however, thoroughly pleased to see
our farmers meeting. They need to meet much
more. Like every other class they will improve
themselves by discussion. We want to see far
more of the municipal spirit amongst them, and
there must be more of it, if they are ever to have
the influence they ought to have in public matters.
We hope the time will come when every union of
parishes will become a kind of municipal district,
enjoying similar privileges and powers with those
of our present corporate towns. The farmers are
as thoroughly competent to form corporate bodies,
to elect magistrates, and manage their own local
affairs municipally, as their more favoured bre-
thren of our cities and towns.

LORD JOHN RUSSELL.

As considerable misapprehension appears to exist re-
garding Lord John Russell's position in the present
Government, and as it has even been stated, in quarters
usually better informed, that failing health would pro-
bably before long oblige him to give up the duties of the
office which he now holds, both his private friends and
political supporters will be glad to learn the true facts of
the case, which we can give from authority. The per-
manent arrangement made on the formation of the pre-
sent Government, and one made on public, not private
grounds, was that Lord John Russell should lead the
House of Com Mons and have a seat in the Cabinet
without office, and that Lord Clarendon should be the
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs ; but subject to
this arrangement, Lord John, at the urgent solicitation
of some of his colleagues, agreed to take the seals of the
Foreign-office till the meeting of Parliament, at which
time he would hand them Over to Lord Clarendon. No
change has since been made, and Lord John will, ac-
cordingly, in the course of a month, give up his tempo-
rary post to his successor.

COURT or COMMON ConNoth.—On Thursday next, the
first meeting of the Corporation of the City of London,
"in Common Council assembled," since St. Thomas's
day, will be held at the Guildhall. Several important
notices of motion, chiefly affecting the sanitary condi-
tion of the citizens, for the opening of the Guildhall
library free to the public • as to the progress of the city
improvements, and on other business, already appear
upon the notice paper, in addition to which a further
supplement, it is expected, will be issued to-day.
The Marquis of Breadalbane returned to Park-lane on
Saturday, from Windsor Castle, where his lordship re-
ceived his appointment as Lord Chamberlain.
EARL GRANVILLE.—The noble earl was sufficiently
recovered from the effects of his recent accident, to leave
his residence in a carriage, on Thursday, to attend the
Cabinet Council held on that day at the Foreign Office.
With this exception, his lordship has remained at his
house in Bruton-street during the past week.
TERMINABLE ANNUITIES.—A memorial, signed by the
chairmen of 61 leadinassurance offices, representing a
capital of at least 100,000,0001., was presented on
Friday, by a deputation to Lord Aberdeen. It sets forth
the glaring injustice of the operation of the income tax
on the purchasers of terminable annuities.
THE NEW COMEDY. —We understand that Mr.
Douglos Jerrold's new comedy—to be produced at
Windsor Castle on Friday next, and on the following
evening at the Princess's Theatre—bears the title of
St. Cupid ; or, .Dorothy's Portune.—Athenceum.
[ADVERTISEMENT.]—Diseases of the Kidneys, Bladder,
&c.—Dr. Denis Cronin has removed from Leicester-place
to 35, Bruton-street, Berkeley-square, where he may be
consulted, as usual, from ten till two, on his treatment
of affections of the kidneys, bladder, and prostrate gland,
in their connection with diseases of the stomach and
liver. Urinary Analysis (the importance of which to the
successful treatment of disease is now fully acknow-
ledged) conducted daily, in accordance with Dr. D.
Cron.n's new theory.

MONEY AND COMMERCIAL NEWS.

CITY, Two o'CLocK.

The sales of Cotton at Liverpool on Saturday
were estimated at 7,000 bales, of which 2,000 Ame-
rican were taken on speculation. The market
closed with animation, and prices of all kinds,
compared with Friday's rates, were extreme, ex-
cept Egyptian, Brazil dearer, and Maceios d.
to id. up. The sales comprised 5,000 American,
500 Pernam and Maranham at 6id. to 74d, 200
Egyptian at lid. to 10d, and 1,200 Surat at 31d.
to 41d. per lb. Railway Shares were dull at lower
prices.

The railway meetings announced are the fob
lowing :—Australian Agricultural, Jan. 21, London
Tavern ; London, Brighton, and South Coast, Jan.
28, Bridge House Hotel ; Maria Antonia, Feb:
14, Florence ; Paris and Rouen, Jan. 29, Paris ;
Western of Switzerland, Jan. 22, Lausanne.

There are various arrivals from different quar-
ters, and the news they bring is of general interest
rather than of special import.

The United States accounts describe the money
market as being easy, vessels having arrived at
New York with upwards of three millions of dol-
lars in gold from California.
The accounts by the Overland Mail from India
are fully given in another column. On the whole
they read well, and the prospect of the Burmese
war being terminated is, of itself, a subject for con-
gratulation.
There are dates of November 8 from Sydney and
November 12 from Melbourne, by this opportu-
nity. The " diggins " were yielding as plentifully
as ever. In the week preceding the date of these
advices, there had arrived at elbourne, by the
escort, 65,605 oz., and at Geelong, 12,714 oz. The
ratio of production, therefore, is evidently main-
tained. Notwithstanding the enormous influx of
emigrants, and the high price of food, the want of
labour is much complained of.

The following graphic account is from a private
letter written at Melbourne :

" I left home for the Bendigo gold field on the Ist of
the month. Rode up 100 miles in three days, over the
most execrable roads you can conceive. Got kicked on
the leg by a vicious brute of a horse, which laid me up
in my brother James's tent two or three days. Turned
my horse out amongst the ranges in hobbles to pick out
a livelihood as he best could, oats being 60s. per bushel
of 40 lbs. Walked here 15 or 20 miles each day, as the
circumstances required, purchasing gold from the various
storekeepers and diggers, scattered over a country 20 or
' 30 miles square—lumping home to my tent it may be
20 lbs. weight of gold, first having carried away all my
pockets, then tiring both arms, and at length carrying
the bag at the end of a stick over my shoulder, covered
with a handkerchief or a piece of calico, purchased in
that behalf at one or two shillings per yard. Go and
look after my horse in an interval of two or three days,
walk about the ranges all day in a drizzling rain. Can-
not find him, but meet in with a man instead,
who tells me he saw an animal very like mine going in
search of lost bullocks or horses, with a heavy man
upon his back with a blanket folded up for a saddle, and
a piece of rope as stirrups ; which circumstantial detail
sends me home swearing ! Oh, not at all. Reach the
tent wet and weary, every thing uncomfortably moist,
and the fire smoking most consumedly, no grog allowed
at the diggings, warm tea imbibed instead. Next day
sallied out with a keener relish for a bargain, calculating
my horse's loss at 301., consequently, returned with a
very light scrip—at this kind of work about a fortnight,
when I succeeded in investing all the money I had brought
up with me, viz., 3,0001. Went out again to look for
my horse, and lo ! I find him, returned to my brother's
horses, but my friend had forgot to leave the hobbles
on him. This slight omission I heartily forgave
led him to the tent in triumph tied him up
to the chimney-post for the night, with a nose-
, bag full of oats to amuse him, and draw his attention
away from the smoke. Started in company with
two friends for town—they carrying gold, also carried
revolvers. Mine transmitted by the armed escort at
6d. per oz., without responsibility. Rode 50 miles, and
swam one river, besides getting bogged times innumer-
able. Reached one inn at sun-down completely baked,
both horse and man. The former shoved into a
stable Without bedding, with doubtful oats, and de-
cidedly musty hay, and all the mud of all the swamps
of each of one of the 50 miles caked hard upon him.
Next morning, at six o'clock, horse saddled—looking
grey-houndish--hostler touches his cap—` 30s. to pay,
Sir.' Something to myself, Sir ?" D—n yourself,
you villian, look at my horse, utterly neglected.' A
good whip played a little around his face and shoulders,
and the cavalcade depart amidst showers of the warmest
expressions, and handfuls of mud or stones. That night
home, knock into a comfortable bed, and thorough
wash. Stiffish next day, and horse with decided symp-
toms of elephantiasis in the legs. Mounted another,
and rode into town to inquire about the price of gold
—gold, 675. 6d. Australian steamers delayed at Sydney
for want of men. In next day, and the next, and at
length to-day the steamer has arrived. Gold, 635. 9d.
In the afternoon sell for 695. ; and your friend is richer
by some 1401. or 1501., but alas still twelve and a half
stone weight to the contrary notwithstanding. There,
my dear friend, you have a vile picture of two or three
weeks divertisement to the diggings—for the remainder
see envelope."

Buenos Ayres letters of late date have been re-
ceived by the steamer Tay. Political disturbances
had arisen, and a contest, which might degenerate
into a war, was going on with Urquiza. The local
demand for goods was therefore languid, although
credit and confidence are described as being strong.
The Money Market was tranquil.
At Rio de Janeiro, on the 2d Dec., an average
business was doing. The imports were on a large
scale. Money was easy. Coffee less firm. Exchange
271 d. to 28d.
The Stock Market is firm this morning, but very
inactive. With finer weather, a revival of confi-
dence at Paris, and the further arrivals known to
be on the way from Australia, two vessels that had
left Melbourne having about 700,0001. on board,
there may be expected to be a slow improvement
unless something new and untoward occurs. The
interview between the Governor and Deputy-Go-
vernor of the Bank of England, and Lord Aberdeen,
last week, is supposed to have had reference to the in-
come-tax, in its bearing upon terminable annuities,
a matter in which the insurance offices are also
greatly interested. Consols have been quoted 992
The settlement of the account takes place
to-morrow, and this likewise has its influence upon
prices, various " puts" being likely to come off.
The New 3 per Cents. are 1034 if, and the 3 per
Cents. 10 Bank Stock is steady at 225.
Exchequer ills have been at 61s. to 655., and
India Bonds at 78s. premium.
The Foreign Securities have been quiet. Mexi-
can are dull, at 23 -1--the Ministry having again
resigned. Equador Bonds have been at 4- to 5.
Grenada Deferred are worth 12k. Brazilian New
Bowls are at 984. Chilian Stock is firm at 106.
Tie Turkish Loan is at 1 premium. Portuguese
4 per Cents. are supported at 40. Spanish Threes
are 23 for the New Deferred, and 47 fortheThrees.
French 44 per Cents. are worth 104 75, with the
Exchange at 104 75. Dutch 4 per Cents. bring
972 to 981.
The Railway Share Market opened rather more
buoyant than on Saturday, having participated in
the improvement in the Funds, but has since be-
come flat: The advance • was at first generally
about 4 per cent. Among the exceptions now are
North British, which have dropped 12 to ; South-
Eastern, which are down 11., and York an North
Midland 4 to 1. Midland and Lancashire and
Yorkshire are cheaper. French shares are steadier.
The Gold Companies have risen. Some of the
Companies have excellent advices, and their staffs
remained with the agents, among them the
Freehold.

Land Companies are flatter, though property
had further risen in Australia.

BRITISH FUNDS THIS DAY.
(From the (Vidal List.)
Business aone.
Bank Stock
3 pe Cent. Reduced Annuities
3 per Cent. Consols Annuities
New 3/ per Cent. Annuities.......... 1036 ii
Long Annuities, Expire sth Jan., 1860 —
Ditto 30 Years, Expire 10th Oct., 1859
Ditto 30 Years, Expire sth Jan., 1860 6l
India Bonds, £lOOO 7B
Ditto, under £lOOO 75
Consols for Opening 18th January
Exchequer Bills lid. March. Juno.
£1000....
PRICE OF FOREIGN FUNDS THIS DAY.
Austrian Scrip, 5 per Cent
18016
Brazilian Bonds, 5 per Cent.
Ditto New, 1852, 4i per Cent 986
Chilian Bonds, 6 per Cent ..... ....... 106
Danish 5 per Cent.
Ditto 3 per Cent B6
Equador Bonds 4h.
Grenada Bonds, Deferred,

Mexican 3 per Cent 23i i
Portuguese 4 per Cent. 4O 39i
Russian Bonds, 5 per Cent.
I)itto 4:3 per Cent
Sardinian Bonds, 5 per Cent ....... ........... 93:1 4 3
Spanish Bonds, 3 per Cent 4701 }
Ditto New Deferred, 3 per Cent 23
Spanish Committee Cert. of Coup. not fun, 5 p e
Turkish Loan, 6er Cent., 1852 i P
French Reutes, 4i per Cent ....... -... 104 f 75c Ex: 25f 15c
Dutch Exchange 2i per Cent 661 x d
Ditto 4 per Cent. Certificates.... ..... ,

THREE O'CLOCK.
Consols for Opening 18th January 99i x 4

Tnn INvesioN.—We understand that the Government
have lately been making inquiries at the various rail-
ways for the purpose of ascertaining what number of
carriages, waggons, and engines could be placed at their
disposal, and what facilities could be afforded in the event
of any sudden emergency, for the conveyance of troops,
horses, and artillery to any given point. These inquiries
are merely made wiih the object of ascertaining how far the
railways may be rendered serviceable in concentrating
and rendering available the military resources of the
country should the necessity unhappily arrive.

LAW INTEILIGENCE.-(THIS DAY.)

QUEEN'S BENCH.
•
'SHE QUEEN (ON MR PROS ECIITION OF DR. ACHILL]) V,

NEWMAN.

This case, in which a rule for a new trial had been
obtained, stood this morning second on the list of cases
to be argued before the Com t.

Sir Frederick Thesiger suggested that it would he
more convenient if a day were fixed specially for hearing
the arguments.

Lord Campbell said Mr. Justice Erie was at present
engaged elsewhere, and the Court were unable to have
the assistance of Mr. Justice Crompton, as he had been
one of the counsel at the trial. Under these circum-
stances, he thought it would be better to place the case
first on the list for Thursday next.
That day was accordingly fixed for arguing the rule.

ROLLS COURT.
YORK AND NORTH MIDLAND RAILWAY COMPANY V,

HUDSON, M.P.
The Solicitor-General (Mr. Bethell), Mr. Roundell
Palmer, and Mr. Flobhouse with him, opened this case,
which is a bill filed against the M.P. for Sunderland, to
account for the proceeds of certain shares, amounting to
50,0001., alleged to have been misappropriated by the
defendant in his character of director.
Sir F. Kelly, with Mr. Rolt and Mr. Grove, were de-
fendant's counsel ; and as his case was not opened, we
forbear, for obvious reasons, giving a detailed report.